Who is the Devil?
The Devil, as he is commonly referred to, is not who we think. If you look at the origins of the word, they inform us about the exact meaning of his name, and reveal that the interpretation and ideas we have, are often wrong.
Origins of the Devil
The word 'devil' originates from the Greed diabolos, meaning literally, "he who casts here and there, disunites, separates, and confuses". It was used by the Greek translators of the Bible to translate the Hebrew satan, the prosecutor. Indeed, according to Hebraic tradition, one of the functions of the Evil One, was to prosecute the righteous in God's Tribunal. For the Greeks, diabolos was an accuser, a slanderer, and a rather unpleasant character.
It was only during the 19th century that the Latin diabolus gave the old French words diaule and deable, meaning demon. According to the original meaning of the word, there is nothing bad, negative, or ill-bearing about a demon.
It was only at the start of the 16th century that 'demon' took on the meaning of diabolical spirit, evil angel, fallen angel or devil. Before that time, the Greek 'daimon' possessed the divine and beneficial power to allocate and to share out.
A 'daimon' was the genie, or protective spirit attached to each man or to each element of nature. In other words, he had the same attributes and the same functions as the famous Genies of Nature who inspired Dionysius the Areopagite to devise his celestial hierarchy of angels.
Satan, Evil incarnate, is often described as a sinister being, with a horned forehead and hoofed fee.
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