The Satan is a Tendril?

Question

ntiyshah – Nun Tet Yod Shin Hei – tendrils plant battlements.

This word has woven within it Shin Tet Nun – satan. Could Satan , super human adversary, accuser, archenemy of good, be likened to a vine, tendril, tree? What is the hidden connection between ntiyshah – Nun Tet Yod Shin Hei, and Shin Tet Nun – satan?

1Samuel 25:25: For as his name is, so is he.

1

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    Yes, the Satan is a tendril! The concept of the Satan being an independent power and in conflict with God is a Christian one and totally alien to Judaism. It is clear that the Satan is an integral part of God’s creation and fulfills God’s bidding. The Talmud states (Bava Batra 16a) that the Angel of Death and the Yetzer Harah (the evil inclination) is the Satan. In the Book of Job it is clear that the Angel of Death/Satan is regarded as an emissary of God.

    The Yetzer Harah is a tool used by God to force us to confront ourselves and to help us reach upwards beyond our comfort zone. The Yetzer Harah makes us focus on our weaknesses and actually serves as a catalyst to begin the process of identifying the problems and to becoming stronger because of them (not despite them). Rabbi S. R. Hirsch actually writes that one should not be frightened of the Yetzer Harah as it is the Yetzer Harah that draws us upwards into the spiritual realms.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team