Job & the High Priest
When Satan appears in Sacred Scripture—at least when he is identified by that name—he is most often described as a tempter who endeavors to lead men astray (e.g., 1 Chron. 21:1; Mark 1:13; Matt. 4:10; Luke 22:31; John 13:27; Acts 5:3; 1 Tim. 5:15).
Sometimes, however, the Bible portrays Satan as a kind of prosecuting attorney, or at least an accuser, who testifies in a quasi-forensic setting, bringing legal cases against the servants of God or trying to show them in a bad light. In fact, among the Bible's final references to him, Satan is called "the accuser (ho katégor) of our brothers, who accused (ho kategorón) them day and night before our God" (Rev. 12:10).
It is as an accuser that Satan is described in what appear to be the two earliest biblical scenes in which he appears. The Bible specifically speaks of two men accused by Satan: Job and Joshua, the high priest chosen to oversee the construction of the Second Temple.
The story of Joshua seems to be the earlier of the two. In this case, Satan stands in God's presence, testifying against the high priest, declaring his unworthiness for the great task assigned to him. The prophet Zechariah sets the scene: "And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan was standing to the right in order to accuse him (lesitno)." (The prophet relates the name "Satan" to the verbal cognate of sitnah, "accusation.")
In the following verses, the Lord rebukes Satan, taking the side of the accused priest. Then, as a sign of Joshua's acquittal, he commands that the high priest be clothed with "clean garments," the priestly vestments (Zech. 3:1–5). In a later scene of Zechariah, "crowns" (῾ataroth) are prepared for Joshua, further to indicate his worthiness (6:11).
Job's Vindicator
Satan's second appearance is found in the better-known opening chapters of the Book of Job, where the accuser stands in the divine presence. Here, in fact, the trial of Job has not even begun, and already Satan argues that the Lord's servant will fail the test.
Then, when the actual trial does begin, Job's accusers turn out to be his own friends, who spend much of the book indicting him—with absolutely no evidence—for his suspected infidelities to God. Each of their several testimonies is followed by a rebuttal from Job. Finally, the accused man delivers his defense summary in chapters 29—31.
When Job's trial began, he did not seem to know that he was actually on trial, much less that God had agreed to it! We sense that Job's mind would be greatly relieved if he only knew that he was being tested for his fidelity. Through the course of the book, the notion of a trial has gradually been imposed on Job's mind, not only by the misfortunes that he has suffered, but by the steady flow of accusations brought against him by his alleged friends.
This is all absurd, Job contends. Even before the trial started, he realizes, he has already been sentenced. In fact, the sentence was even now being executed! Everything was proceeding backwards. This was cosmic chaos! (One may profitably compare his experience to that of Joseph K. in Franz Kafka's Der Prozess or The Trial.)
No matter, says Job; his defense will be made, no matter what. So he "swears himself in" and proceeds with a detailed testimony to his own innocence. Job runs through a fairly high code of ethics and rings the changes on his "not guilty" plea, giving specific rebuttal to the slanderous testimony of his accusers.
In this summation, Job repeatedly employs the normal Hebrew formula for a legal oath or imprecation: "If I have done such-and-such, may the Lord do this-and-that to me." Often, in this formula, only the antecedent, not the consequent, is explicitly spoken, implying that the person swears that the accusation against him is untrue. Job employs both the complete and the truncated form of this oath rather frequently in his summation.
Is Job correct and proper in all these affirmations and denials? Does his defense actually prove him to be innocent? In the sight of men, perhaps, but not in the eyes of God. Ultimately Job's self-defense counts for nothing. It is the Lord himself who vindicates his servant. The "crowns" (῾ataroth) of justification for which Job longs (Job 31:36) can be delivered only by his Vindicator (19:25).
For most of this book, of course, God remains silent, and human beings are left to figure out the problem as best they can. None of them succeeds, of course, but one of them does remain faithful. The Lord speaks only at the beginning and end of this book, and in each place he refers to "my servant Job" (1:8; 2:3; 42:7–8). That is all the vindication Job needs.
As for Satan, after the book's opening scenes he is nowhere to be found. Embarrassment, perhaps, or a case of nerves.
Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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