“Ha-Satan” — Is that in the Book of Job? (Sorry: a “fine points” question, but I still find that literature interesting on several levels ...)

@The-Krzyz yep, job. i am not sure if he shows up anywhere else. there is no devil as christians know him in the jewish bible. it's just not a jewish concept (despite their being demons in jewish folklore -- folklore is always different, as santa claus well knows!)

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@genessa Hey: Proud of my guess! I think Job is unique in Jewish myth with the depiction of Satan as being in league with the diety, a partner of sorts, playing the D.A. god’s Defense Attorney. It’s an interesting view of life, and I think it resonates in many cultures. Borrowed from Mesopotamian myth, I think. (I am fascinated with folklore and myth, and see them as poetic ways of describing the world in ways that everyday lnguage just doesn’t. Taking these literally, however, is problematic ...).

@The-Krzyz ha. yes taking it literally would be... well, as i like to sum up the practical possibility of the bible's literal reality in two words: "talking snake."

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@genessa But, but ... that’s the only part I believe in ..

@genessa It's my understanding that Satan and the "war in heaven" were adopted into lore when the Zoroastrians conquered the jews and adopted some of the folklore of the conquerors. Yahweh before becoming the one and only god was a part of a polytheist system where he was just a minor war god. Thus, the first of the ten commandments to put no other gods before him. I seem to recall there beign a dispute between his followers and and the followers of Bel El, Both names are still mentioned in the old testametn as the name of god.

@snytiger6 uh... the name of god is never mentioned in torah and i sure isn't yahweh. beth el just means son of god. not god's name, his title, el. not sure what bel is.

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@genessa Hadn't read the actual Torah, even in translation. I can probably assume from what you said that it isn't quite the same as the Old Testament of the bible then. As god is named in the old testament.

@snytiger6 correct, it is different.

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