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Notes: The terms διάβολος and Σατανᾶς appear to function both as titles and as proper names. This results from the fact that the referent in each instance is unique. In the text of the Greek NT Σατανᾶς was traditionally written with an initial capital letter, while διάβολος was normally written with a lower case initial letter, except for the occurrences of Διάβολος in RV REV 12:9 · LV REV 12:9 · Read together REV 12:9 and RV REV 20:2 · LV REV 20:2 · Read together REV 20:2.
Part of speech: adjc.
Inflections: διάβολος; -ον
Related lemmas: βάλλω
Semantic entry: 12.34
Semantic domains: Supernatural Beings and Powers
Subdomains: Supernatural Beings
Definition: (a title for the Devil, literally ‘slanderer’) the principal supernatural evil being{N:001}
Notes: In a number of languages there is a well known proper name for the Devil as the chief of all demons. In other instances, however, he is given a descriptive name, for example, ‘the ruler of the evil spirits,’ ‘the chief of the demons,’ ‘the truly bad one,’ ‘the left-handed one’ (as the one who is opposed to all which is right or correct), ‘the no-good one,’ ‘the avaricious one.’ In some instances a term for the Devil may be highly idiomatic as, for example, ‘the barking one,’ a reference to the Devil’s presumed activity in animal guise.|Some translators have attempted to construct a term for Devil on the basis of the meaning of the Greek term διάβολος as ‘slanderer.’ This, however, has rarely been advisable, largely because in practically all languages there is a far more relevant way of speaking about the Devil. Other translators have attempted to render the term Devil by simply borrowing the form of the word from a dominant language, but this may also introduce complications, since one cannot always control the manner in which such a term will be understood. In one language, for example, the borrowed term ‘devil’ was identified simply as a small spirit that spreads fever among people, while in another area the borrowed term ended up meaning only a spirit which induces insanity. In this latter instance, the translators finally used an expression for the Devil which meant literally ‘the lord of all sin.’|Some translators have employed for ‘Devil’ the proper name Satan, but this is often not a satisfactory solution. In one language in West Africa, for example, the term Satan had already been borrowed but was understood in the sense of the culture hero of the people and not as a designation for the chief of demons.
MAT 4:1: RV MAT 4:1 · LV MAT 4:1 · Read together MAT 4:1
MAT 4:5: RV MAT 4:5 · LV MAT 4:5 · Read together MAT 4:5
MAT: RV MAT 4:1 · RV MAT 4:5 · RV MAT 4:8 · RV MAT 4:11 · RV MAT 13:39 · RV MAT 25:41 · LV MAT 4:1 · LV MAT 4:5 · LV MAT 4:8 · LV MAT 4:11 · LV MAT 13:39 · LV MAT 25:41 · Read together MAT 4:1 · Read together MAT 4:5 · Read together MAT 4:8 · Read together MAT 4:11 · Read together MAT 13:39 · Read together MAT 25:41
LUK: RV LUK 4:2–3 · RV LUK 4:6 · RV LUK 4:13 · RV LUK 8:12 · LV LUK 4:2–3 · LV LUK 4:6 · LV LUK 4:13 · LV LUK 8:12 · Read together LUK 4:2–3 · Read together LUK 4:6 · Read together LUK 4:13 · Read together LUK 8:12
JHN: RV JHN 8:44 · RV JHN 13:2 · LV JHN 8:44 · LV JHN 13:2 · Read together JHN 8:44 · Read together JHN 13:2
ACT: RV ACT 10:38 · RV ACT 13:10 · LV ACT 10:38 · LV ACT 13:10 · Read together ACT 10:38 · Read together ACT 13:10
EPH: RV EPH 4:27 · RV EPH 6:11 · LV EPH 4:27 · LV EPH 6:11 · Read together EPH 4:27 · Read together EPH 6:11
TI1: RV TI1 3:6–7 · LV TI1 3:6–7 · Read together TI1 3:6–7
TI2: RV TI2 2:26 · LV TI2 2:26 · Read together TI2 2:26
HEB: RV HEB 2:14 · LV HEB 2:14 · Read together HEB 2:14
JAM: RV JAM 4:7 · LV JAM 4:7 · Read together JAM 4:7
PE1: RV PE1 5:8 · LV PE1 5:8 · Read together PE1 5:8
JN1: RV JN1 3:8 · RV JN1 3:10 · LV JN1 3:8 · LV JN1 3:10 · Read together JN1 3:8 · Read together JN1 3:10
JDE: RV JDE 1:9 · LV JDE 1:9 · Read together JDE 1:9
REV: RV REV 2:10 · RV REV 12:9 · RV REV 12:12 · RV REV 20:2 · RV REV 20:10 · LV REV 2:10 · LV REV 12:9 · LV REV 12:12 · LV REV 20:2 · LV REV 20:10 · Read together REV 2:10 · Read together REV 12:9 · Read together REV 12:12 · Read together REV 20:2 · Read together REV 20:10
Semantic entry: 12.37
Semantic domains: Supernatural Beings and Powers
Subdomains: Supernatural Beings
Definition: an evil supernatural being or spirit
Notes: While in a number of languages the Devil may be spoken of as ‘the chief of the demons,’ sometimes the demons are simply called ‘the spirits of the Devil’ or ‘the servants of the Devil.’|In a number of languages the difficulty in terminology for demons is not the absence of a term, but the abundance of different terms for different kinds of demons, each one of which may be responsible for particular kinds of human behavior, for example, insanity, depression, epilepsy, sex perversion, and violent assault. Sometimes demons are classified as ‘those of the home’ and ‘those of the forest,’ in which case the latter are normally regarded as more violent and virulent. When there is an abundance of different terms for demons and no generic term for all types of demons, one can usually select a class of demons which parallels most closely the descriptions of demon activity in the NT and use such a term with appropriate contextual qualifications so as to suggest that such a term is to be understood in a general sense.|For another interpretation of διάβολος in RV JHN 6:70 · LV JHN 6:70 · Read together JHN 6:70, see 88.124: διάβολος.
JHN 6:70: RV JHN 6:70 · LV JHN 6:70 · Read together JHN 6:70
Semantic entry: 33.397
Semantic domains: Communication
Subdomains: Insult, Slander
Definition: (derivative of διαβάλλω ‘to slander,’ not occurring in the NT) one who engages in slander
Notes: In RV TI1 3:11 · LV TI1 3:11 · Read together TI1 3:11 it may be appropriate to render διαβόλους as ‘gossipers.’
TI1 3:11: RV TI1 3:11 · LV TI1 3:11 · Read together TI1 3:11
TI2 3:3: RV TI2 3:3 · LV TI2 3:3 · Read together TI2 3:3
TI1: RV TI1 3:11 · LV TI1 3:11 · Read together TI1 3:11
TI2: RV TI2 3:3 · LV TI2 3:3 · Read together TI2 3:3
TIT: RV TIT 2:3 · LV TIT 2:3 · Read together TIT 2:3
Semantic entry: 88.124
Semantic domains: Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior
Subdomains: Bad, Evil, Harmful, Damaging
Definition: (a figurative extension of meaning of διάβολος[a] ‘Devil,’ 12.34: διάβολος / 12.34: Σατανᾶς) a wicked person who has a number of characteristics typical of the Devil
Notes: In some languages it would not be possible to translate RV JHN 6:70 · LV JHN 6:70 · Read together JHN 6:70 literally as ‘one of you is a devil.’ The closest equivalent in such circumstances may be a simile, for example, ‘one of you is just like the Devil.’ For another interpretation of διάβολος in RV JHN 6:70 · LV JHN 6:70 · Read together JHN 6:70, see 12.37: δαιμόνιον / 12.37: δαίμων / 12.37: διάβολος / 12.37: πνεῦμα.
JHN 6:70: RV JHN 6:70 · LV JHN 6:70 · Read together JHN 6:70
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