שָׂטַן

אָיַב ʼâyab · H340 · to be (someone's) enemy, enemy

Hebrew verb meaning 'to be an enemy, be hostile' — overlaps semantically with שָׂטַן in expressing adversarial relationship, though אָיַב emphasizes the state of enmity itself while שָׂטַן emphasizes the active opposition or resistance. Both can describe hostile action against someone.

צָרַר tsârar · H6887 · bound up, wrapped up, to bind up

Hebrew verb meaning 'to be narrow, be in distress, be an adversary' — in Qal can mean 'to show hostility toward' or 'to act as adversary,' overlapping with שָׂטַן's sense of adversarial opposition. The root produces צַר 'adversary,' closely parallel to שָׂטָן 'adversary.'

עָזַר ʻâzar · H5826 · to be helped, to receive help, to help

Hebrew verb meaning 'to help, assist, support' — the lexical opposite of 'oppose/resist.' Where שָׂטַן means to act against someone as an adversary, עָזַר means to act for someone as a helper. This is a genuine functional opposite in terms of relational stance and action.

ἀντίκειμαι antíkeimai · G480 · to oppose, to be hostile toward, to show hostility

Greek verb meaning 'to be opposed to, to be an adversary' — the standard LXX rendering for the adversarial sense of שָׂטַן, used when Satan 'opposed' David (1 Chr 21:1 LXX) and when adversaries 'resisted' Solomon (1 Kgs 11:25 LXX). A direct functional equivalent for the verb 'to act as adversary.'

ἀντιδιατίθεμαι antidiatíthemai · G475 · to oppose, to be hostile toward, to show hostility

Greek verb meaning 'to set oneself in opposition, resist' — attested as a LXX equivalent for שָׂטַן in contexts of active resistance and adversarial action (Ps 38:20 LXX 37:21, Ps 109:4 LXX 108:4). Captures the active sense of opposing or resisting.

Conflict002003002006

The verb behind "adversary/accuser," used repeatedly in the psalmist's laments over enemies who act as his accusers and speak evil against his soul (Psalm 109:4, 109:20, 109:29) and those who seek to injure him (Psalm 71:13).

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.