Why the name Satan was mention only in 3 books of the Old Testament?

The word Satan was first mentioned in 1 Chronicles 21.1. The second time was in the books of Job and the last in the book of Ezekiel. Does it mean the early people did not know Satan?

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Some see Job as the first book written, Job being, they say, contemporary with Abraham's grandfather. How do you define 'early people' ? The word 'Satan' is used 19 times in the Hebrew scripture (see Young's Analytical Concordance and Biblehub - Strong 4566. The word means 'adversary' and, as such, is rendered thus seven times in the KJV (again, see Young's Analytical Concordance).

Commented Jan 1, 2023 at 13:36

The word 'Satan' occurs in Psalm 109:6, and Zechariah 3:1 and 2. I cannot find it in Ezekiel. (See Young's Analytical Concordance).The Chronicles reference is 1 Chronicles (not 2 Chronicles). The word 'adversary' (for satan) is present in the KJV in Numbers, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 Kings (see Young's Analytical Concordance).

Commented Jan 1, 2023 at 13:41

2 Answers 2

The Hebrew word שָׂטָן (satan) simply means "accuser", or, "adversary" and occurs 27 times in the OT. Its occurrences in the OT can be divided into two types:

those that have the article, הַשָּׂטָ֖ן (hasatan = literally, "the satan")
those that do not have the article

These are all summarized the table below.

Old Testament Hebrew	הַשָּׂטָ֖ן = hasatan, ie, with the article	שָׂטָ֖ן = satan, ie, without the article
Translated "accuser" or "adversary"	--	Num 22:22, 32, 1 Sam 29:4, 2 Sam 19:22, 1 Kings 11:14, 23, 25, Ps 109:6 (most versions)
Translated "Satan", ie, as a proper name	Job 1:6, 7(x2), 8, 9, 12(x2), 2:1, 2(x2), 3, 4, 6, 7, Zech 3:1, 2(x2)	1 Chron 21:1, Ps 109:6 (KJV, Aramaic, LXX="the devil", GWT)

Unlike the OP I can find no instance of שָׂטָן (satan) in the book of Ezekiel.

We observe several things about this survey:

the majority of instances of שָׂטָן (satan) occur with the article and thus are translated "Satan"
there is only one real instance of "Satan" being translated from an instance without an article
if, according to Jewish tradition, Moses wrote the book of Job and is the earliest (ie, oldest) book of the Bible, then the idea of "Satan" as a personal "superhuman adversary" (BDB) is very ancient.

According the BDB, Strongs, NAS, etc, the noun is of uncertain origin but obviously related to the verb שָׂטַן (satan) = "accuse", "oppose" and only occurs in 6 places: Ps 38:20, 71:13, 109:4, 20, 29, Zech 3:1.

Just why, in the providence of God, the noun occurs only where it does in the Canon of Scripture, is a matter for God's sovereign inspiration alone.

APPENDIX - Satan in the NT

In the NT, "Satan", Σατανᾶς is a transliteration of the Hebrew, שָׂטָן and occurs 36 times in the NT from Matthew to Revelation. Significantly, as BDAG describes this word thus:

in our literature, only as a title or name: (the) Satan , in a very special sense, the enemy of God and all those who belong to God, simply, Satan, the enemy . almost always with the article. [For more details in the extensive entry, see BDAG.]

Note that not only does Σατανᾶς almost always appear with the article, but it also occurs in the vocative case, eg, Matt 4:10, 16:23, Mark 8:33, where Jesus directly addresses Satan.