Satan as Apostates in Justin Martyr and Irenaeus in the Light of the Description of the Angel Rebellion in the 2 Enoch (29,2–5; 31,3–6)

In the writings of Justin Martyr and Irenaeus we encounter the conviction that the Hebrew and Aramaic term satan is translated into Greek as apostates. From the point of view of the meanings of this word in the compass of first languages this is an incorrect assumption. This text develops the hypothesis of the explanation of this issue which I gave in the article „The problem of the relations between Satan and the apostasy in the work of Irenaeus” (Studia Religiologica 39/2006), based on additional source texts. In my opinion the semantic identity of the terms satan and apostates is rooted in the Jewish mythology of the angel rebellion, based on the demonological interpretation of the 14th chapter of the Book of Isaiah, which received its written form in apocryphal texts, especially Vita Adae et Evae and the 2 Enoch 29,2–5; 31,3–6. They present Satan and his deeds in a way which permitted him to be described in Greek as an apostate, which in turn was the start of this epithet being identified with the name of the fallen angel.

In the writings of Justin Martyr and Irenaeus we encounter the conviction that the Hebrew and Aramaic term satan is translated into Greek as apostates. From the point of view of the meanings of this word in the compass of first languages this is an incorrect assumption. This text develops the hypothesis of the explanation of this issue which I gave in the article „The problem of the relations between Satan and the apostasy in the work of Irenaeus” (Studia Religiologica 39/2006), based on additional source texts. In my opinion the semantic identity of the terms satan and apostates is rooted in the Jewish mythology of the angel rebellion, based on the demonological interpretation of the 14th chapter of the Book of Isaiah, which received its written form in apocryphal texts, especially Vita Adae et Evae and the 2 Enoch 29,2–5; 31,3–6. They present Satan and his deeds in a way which permitted him to be described in Greek as an apostate, which in turn was the start of this epithet being identified with the name of the fallen angel.