Who Is Satan in Judaism? The Truth Behind His Role and Purpose

Eli asks: “Shalom. As we know, we believe in the sovereignty of the Creator of the universe, who is above matter and time, who rules the world and judges all souls. How does this fit with the existence of a spiritual being called ‘Satan’? Is he also part of God’s creation? Many people believe that Satan is some kind of spiritual being who fights against, or opposes, God’s kingship. Who is he really, what is his role, his place, and how do we explain the things he does? Thank you.”

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Christians were formerly pagan Romans who believed in many competing deities, each fighting for control of the world. When they later converted and accepted belief in the Bible, they distorted much of Judaism’s teaching and presented it in a twisted way. Out of this emerged the familiar imaginary red figure with horns and a pitchfork, which they claimed was a “fallen angel” ruling independently from “hell,” opposing God who rules “heaven.”

This belief is essentially a remnant of pagan dualism. To this day, Christians often attribute all suffering, sickness, and evil to “Satan,” while assigning only goodness to God. In effect, they believe in two powers struggling over human souls.

The Tanach is clear that God alone is the cause of all causes, filling the heavens and the earth, sustaining all existence. Nothing can exist for even a moment without His will:

• “If a man hides himself, will I not see him? says the Lord. Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” (Jeremiah 23:24)

• “The Lord your God — He is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God…” (Deuteronomy 10:17)

• “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the kidneys, to give every man according to his ways…” (Jeremiah 17:10)

• “The Lord brings death and gives life, brings down to the grave and raises up.” (1 Samuel 2:6)

The prophets also teach that even what seems to us as “bad” is within His will:

• “See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil.” (Deuteronomy 30:15)

• “As a man chastises his son, so the Lord your God chastises you.” (Deuteronomy 8:5)

• “I form light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these.” (Isaiah 45:7)

Thus the first principle of Jewish faith is that God alone creates and governs all things. There is no room in Judaism for the Christian myth of Satan as an independent rival power.

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Satan in Jewish Sources

In the Bible, the word malach (angel) means “messenger.” Angels are agents carrying out God’s will: “He makes His angels winds, His servants a flaming fire.” (Psalms 104:4).

Because God’s direct presence is too overwhelming for creatures to endure (“no man can see Me and live” – Exodus 33:20), angels function as intermediaries or forces carrying out His decrees.

In this sense, “Satan” is simply another angel with a particular task. The word itself in Tanach is a title meaning “accuser” or “adversary,” not a personal name. For example:

• “The Lord has given me rest all around; there is neither adversary (satan) nor evil occurrence.” (Kings I, 5:18)

• “And the Lord raised up an adversary (satan) to Solomon: Hadad the Edomite…” (Kings I, 11:14).

The book of Job introduces “the Satan” as an angelic prosecutor, testing humans with suffering, but always under God’s command:

• “The Lord said to the Satan: Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself put not forth your hand.” (Job 1:12).

Satan is a messenger assigned to test, accuse, or punish, but never independent of God.

Satan and the Evil Inclination

The sages explained: “He is the Satan, he is the evil inclination, he is the Angel of Death.” (Bava Batra 16a).

Thus “Satan” can mean:

• the inner urge tempting us to sin

• the accuser in Heaven who prosecutes after we sin

• the force that brings punishment or death

In all these roles, Satan is still only God’s agent, no different than a surgeon’s scalpel — sometimes painful, but ultimately for healing and correction.

Even the evil inclination has a positive role. Without it, said the sages, no one would build a house, marry, or raise children (Bereishit Rabbah 9:7). The Torah instructs us to serve God “with all your heart” — meaning, with both inclinations, the good and the bad (Berakhot 9:5).

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Satan as the Consequence of Our Deeds

The rabbis further taught that our own actions create our advocates and our accusers:

• “Whoever does one mitzvah acquires one defender, and whoever commits one sin acquires one accuser.” (Avot 4:11).

The Nefesh HaChaim (Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin) explains that Gehenna is not a punishment of revenge, but the natural result of one’s sins — the destructive forces a person himself creates through wrongdoing come back upon him. The Satan is, in a sense, our own creation.

The End of Satan

Because Satan is only a role within creation and not an eternal being, Jewish tradition teaches that with the final redemption, his role will end:

• “No evil or destruction will be anywhere on My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord…” (Isaiah 11:9).

• “In the future, God will bring the evil inclination and slaughter it before the righteous and the wicked…” (Sukkah 52a).

For the righteous, overcoming Satan will appear as if they conquered a great mountain; for the wicked, as if they failed against a mere strand of hair.

Satan in Judaism is not a rival god, nor an independent power. He is an angel, an instrument of God, whose task is to test, accuse, and sometimes punish. He is also the embodiment of our evil inclination and the consequences of our sins. His role is temporary and purposeful — to refine us, to give us free will, and to increase our reward. With the coming of the final redemption, his role will cease, and only the good will remain.