SATAN, ZEUS, BAAL, AND THE PRINCE OF ROME by Douglas Van Dorn (May 24, 2019, slightly revised Feb 27, 2024) Abstract: Who is Satan? It’s a question not asked a lot. In this paper, we will look at several reasons for understanding that Satan is the same entity at Baal in the OT, who also happens to be Zeus, who became Jupiter and is therefore the Prince of Rome. 1. Stating the Question Who is the chief supernatural opponent of Christians in the New Testament? I think most people would say Satan, and this would be correct. But how about the Old Testament? Would you give the same answer? This is tempting, given that the New Testament seems to call that creature in the Garden of Eden “Satan.” “And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years” (Rev 20:2). But if you only had an Old Testament, as Jews and the earliest Christians had, it would be more difficult to make this connection since the creature in Eden is only called a “serpent,” and since the word “satan” does not seem to appear as a proper noun even a single time. 1 Given such difficulties and other possible candidates, here is my initial answer to the question: Baal. I say “initial answer” because as we will see, things may not be as they seem on the surface. Most people would probably say that Baal is just a made-up god and would therefore equate him with an idol which has no actual existence. But curiously, when it comes to Satan, most have no problem admitting that he is a real being. At least two 1 There are a few instances where many English translations choose to render the word as a proper name (1 Chr 21:1; Job 1:6; 2:1; Zech 3:1-2). While in some or all of these instances it may very well be the being called Satan that is in mind, the word actually appears with the definite article in front of it making it “the satan.” The single exception is 1 Chr 21:1. The problem is, just as in English (with the exception of “The Donald”), proper names never have the definite article in Hebrew. It is better to render it The Adversary, as even a good being like the Angel of the LORD (Num 22:22) or even humans (1Sa 29:4) can be called “the satan.”