Definition

an opponent; especially (with the article prefixed) Satan, the arch-enemy of good

Etymology

from H7853 (שָׂטַן);

Where the KJV renders it

• adversary
• Satan
• withstand

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.