ACCUSER, adversary — one who opposes, obstructs, or brings a charge. ⚠ In Job it always appears as HA-satan, WITH THE DEFINITE ARTICLE (all fourteen times), and Hebrew does not put 'the' in front of a proper name: it is an office, not yet a name. The same titled figure prosecutes the high priest in Zechariah 3:1-2, and in Numbers 22:22 the angel of Jehovah himself stands in the road 'as a satan' against Balaam — the plainest proof that the word is a role. The one occurrence without the article, and so possibly a name, is 1 Chronicles 21:1 — the latest of the texts, retelling a story in which 2 Samuel 24 has JEHOVAH incite David. The word's growth into a name is visible inside the Bible. → first discussed at Job 1:6