THE IDENTITY OF ןטָשָּׂהַ (HASSATAN, “THE SATAN”)
Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Discovering the Supernatural World of the Bible, EXPANDED EDITION. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2025), 17.
My position on the שׁחָנָ (nachash, “serpent”) of Genesis 3 is best summarized in terms of what I am saying and not saying.
Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Discovering the Supernatural World of the Bible, EXPANDED EDITION. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2025), 23.
The ancient Near Eastern background of Genesis 6:1–4 and the meaning of the term םילִפִנְ (nephilim) are the focus points of chapter 13.
Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Discovering the Supernatural World of the Bible, EXPANDED EDITION. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2025), 29.
No other understanding of the term accounts for everything. Understanding the term as meaning “those who fall upon” or “those who fell” requires a different morphology: םילִפְנֹ (nophelim). Likewise, the passive “those who are fallen” requires םילִוּפנְ (nephulim).
Some scholars refer the discussion to Ezekiel 32:27, where we have the term םילִפְנֹ (nophelim). The verse has some other terms found in Genesis 6: “And they do not lie with the mighty (םירִוֹבּגִּ, gibborim), the fallen (nophelim) from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men (gibborim) was in the land of the living” (ESV).
Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Discovering the Supernatural World of the Bible, EXPANDED EDITION. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2025), 30.
Readers of The Unseen Realm will know I identify Jesus with Yahweh, who is Lord of the council.7 In support of this, and against the notion that the plural םיהִלֹאֱ (elohim) of Psalm 82 are human, I would suggest that Jesus’ quotation of Psalm 82:6 in John 10:34 has been fundamentally misunderstood by New Testament scholars who approach it with little or no background knowledge of the divine council.
7 7 Regarding this, I wrote a paper for a regional SBL conference that addressed the use of Psalm 82:6 in John 10:34. See Michael S. Heiser, “Jesus’ Quotation of Psalm 82:6 in John 10:34: A Different View of John‘s Theological Strategy,” paper presented at the Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA, May 2012, https://www.thedivinecouncil.com/Heiser%20Psa82inJohn10%20RegSBL2011.pdf.
Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Discovering the Supernatural World of the Bible, EXPANDED EDITION. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2025), 9.
I said, “You are gods (םיהִלֹאֱ, elohim),
even sons of the Most High (ןוֹילְעֶ ינֵבְ, beney elyon), all of you;
nevertheless, like humans you will die,
and fall like any prince.”
Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Discovering the Supernatural World of the Bible, EXPANDED EDITION. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2025), 10.
Lexham I hope the print book is not like the digital edition. If it is this is really sloppy editorial work.
