Satan offered Jesus the nations that had been disinherited by Yahweh at Babel. Coming from the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31), the offer was not a hollow one. As the original rebel, the nachash of Genesis 3 (cf. Rev 12:9) had, by New Testament times, achieved the status of the lead opposition to Yahweh.3 This was part of the logic of attributing the term saṭan to him as a proper personal name. Recall as well that the nachash has been cast down to the ʾerets, a term that referred not only to “earth” but also the realm of the dead, Sheol.4 The “original rebel,” whose domain became
...more
