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NASB | John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and it is your will to practice the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks what it natural to him, for he is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths. |
Bible Question: IS THE DEVIL REALLY A DRAGON OR SNAKE, SOMETIMES WHEN I READ REV. IN THE BIBLE IT USES THAT TERM? |
Bible Answer: Originally, only the epithet of "the satan" or "the adversary" was used to denote the character in the Hebrew deity's court that later became known as "the Devil". The article was lost and this title became a proper name: Satan. There is no unambiguous basis for the Devil in the Torah, the Prophets, or the Writings. Zechariah 3:1--"And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and ha-satan standing at his right hand to resist him." This reading has since been erroneously interpreted by some to mean Satan, "the Devil", but such is not the case. The Hebrew Bible views ha-satan as an angel ministering to the desires of God, acting as Chief Prosecutor. The tempter: Gospel of Matthew 4:3--"And when the tempter came to him." None escape his temptations. He is continually soliciting men to sin. In Gospel of Matthew 10:25 and 12:24, Mark 3:22, and openly in Luke 11:18-19 there is an implied connection between Satan and Beelzebub (originally a Semitic deity called Baal-zebul, one of the Baals.) Beelzebub (lit. "Lord of the Flies") has now come to be analogous to Satan. The wicked one: Matt. 13:19--"Then cometh the wicked one." Matt. 6:13; 1 John 5:19. This title suggests that Satan is one who is wicked himself. Abrahamic religions generally regarded sin as a physical manifestation of opposition to God, and therefore evil; dissent only comes from the topic of 'where does sin come from?' In John 12:31 and 14:30 Satan is called Prince of this World; this became a nickname for him. 1 Peter 5:8--"Your adversary the devil." By adversary is meant one who takes a stand against another. In the Christian worldview, Satan is the adversary of both God and humanity. The Devil, diabolos: This name is ascribed to Satan at least 33 times in the Christian scriptures and indicates that Satan is an accuser or slanderer (Rev. 12:9). Dragon or The Old Serpent: These epithets are used extensively in the Book of Revelation. The Beast (Book of Revelation 13:1-18) is a term John the Evangelist used to refer to a "puppet" of the dragon's (Satan), and a term supposedly used by John in Revelation 17:3-17 to designate the Devil (or the Antichrist); this name appears several times in the book of Revelation, and it became another nickname for Satan. Abaddon or Apollyon: Referred to in Revelation 9:11, commonly interpreted as the name of Satan in Hebrew and Greek respectively. |