Satan

Also known as: Samael · Family: Angels · Role: the greatest of the angels in heaven · First appears: The Fall Of Satan

Satan, also known as Samael, was described as the greatest of the angels in heaven. In The Fall Of Satan, after Adam correctly named the animals and Satan had to acknowledge his superiority, God cast Satan and his host down to earth; “from that moment dates the enmity between Satan and man.” In Adam’s Repentance, Satan deceived Eve into leaving the Tigris and led her to Adam. He confessed that jealousy of Adam had led him to plot Adam’s expulsion from Paradise, and disappeared after Adam prayed.

In The Birth Of Cain, Satan approached Eve in the guise of a serpent, and their union resulted in Cain, described as the ancestor of impious generations. Later, Satan entered Enosh’s clay image, making it walk and leading people to worship it. In The Holy Book, Satan, accompanied by a lad, left his little son in Eve’s care until he returned. Eve told Adam the child was Samael’s; the slain boy’s voice declared that it would remain in Adam and Eve’s hearts and in the hearts of their descendants.

In The Curse Of Drunkenness, Satan proposed a partnership with Noah to plant a vineyard, and Noah agreed. On the day Abraham celebrated Isaac’s birth, a beggar turned away from the banquet accused Abraham before God, and Satan accused him of forsaking God. During the journey to Moriah, Satan tried to dissuade Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, urged Isaac not to obey his father, and turned himself into a brook to obstruct their journey; Abraham rebuked him, and the water disappeared. Satan also told Sarah that Abraham had taken Isaac to sacrifice him.