Demonology In The Old Testament

There are only scarce references to demons in the entire Old Testament, and the references that are present are usually more vague than those in the New Testament, which themselves provide fewer details than many Christians seem to realize.  The singular demon about which the general Bible elaborates upon the most is Satan, though even he, as I have written of before, is never fully equated with the angelic being that turns against God as recounted in Ezekiel 28:11-19.  Without ever calling this being Lucifer, Satan, or the devil, Ezekiel 28 says that the "king of Tyre" was created directly by God (28:15) and morally perfect, walking in Eden (28:13) as a guardian cherub (28:14), until arrogance seized its heart (28:17)--this chapter speaks of both a human king (28:1-10) before introducing a separate lament for the king of Tyre that goes far beyond descriptions of a human ruler.  Not even Ezekiel 28 indicates if this unnamed cherub that betrayed God is the Satan Jesus speaks of in the New Testament, but either way, Satan is the demonic entity that the Bible divulges the most details about, as he is a malevolent spiritual being that seeks to oppose Yahweh.

While Ezekiel calling the real king of Tyre a fallen cherub does not specify if this is Satan, this is one of the most direct references to demonic beings in the entire Old Testament.  Like soteriology, demonology is one of the few philosophical subcategories explored more thoroughly in the New Testament; for the most core issues, like foundational metaphysics, moral obligations, and the personal nature of Yahweh, the Old Testament goes into much greater detail than the New Testament.  Demonology happens to be one of the subjects where this difference in emphasis is inverted.  There are other mentions of demons in passing, just nothing with the same prolonged attention as that in Ezekiel 28.  For example, the "evil spirit" of 1 Samuel 16 that tormented King Saul could be a demonic spirit, though 1 Samuel 16:14 does say this spirit was from God, and thus, since God's nature is what makes something just or unjust, a just God would not send a demon as punishment.  Either God only permitted this evil spirit to act, rather than endorse it, or the word evil is a very major mistranslation more typical of the King James Version of the Bible, which uses the word evil to refer to something destructive even when moral evil is not in view.

A more direct reference to demons by that name, though, comes in Deuteronomy 32:17, where Moses briefly mentions sacrifices to demons shortly after condemning idols.  Were demons supposed to have presented themselves as if they were pre-Christian pagan pseudo-deities that might have inspired idols?  The passage does not say, and in fact it immediately focuses on how God has been betrayed and angered by devotion to worthless idols.  Nothing of the standard ideas associated with Christian demonology, rightly or wrongly, are in Deuteronomy 32:17.  This verse does not even clarify if the particular demons mentioned here are fallen angelic spirits, fictions believed in by sinful people (sacrificing to a demon does not mean that demon exists, only that someone is acting as if it does, after all), or mere idols that dishonor God's incorporeal nature (Deuteronomy 4:15-19).  It could refer to any of these things even if the word is used elsewhere to speak of actual spiritual entities who have defied God.

There are potential indirect ways the Old Testament addresses demons, however.  As early as Exodus 22:18, it is taught that those who practice sorcery deserve to be executed, and the obligation is not to kill people who claim to be sorcerers or sorceresses or who say they wish to practice sorcery: it is to kill actual sorceresses and sorcerers.  Perhaps, since the Bible does not in any way suggest that such people are charlatans and insists the opposite, going so far as to feature a story of Saul visiting the Witch of Endor in 1 Samuel 28 and having her literally summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel, the sorcerers/sorceresses of the Bible are given supernatural abilities by demons.  It is just never stated one way or the other.  The word demon is not even used next to most of the verses about sorcery.  Even if the sorcery prescribed execution in Mosaic Law is specifically demonic in nature, there is no extensive clarity given.

Demonology is in no way an utterly primary part of Christian theology, and many of the popular ideas culturally associated with Christian demonology, such as crucifixes having some power over immaterial demons, are nowhere to be found in either the Old Testament or New Testament.  The scattered references to demons or possible demonic activity are often not particularly precise, though some exact details are indeed affirmed (such as that fallen angels exist as exemplified by the guardian cherub of Ezekiel 28).  They nonetheless do hint at some of the more explicit demonology in the New Testament and are fully consistent with it.  The only case where the Old Testament sheds more light on demonology is when it speaks of the demonic king of Tyre having stood in Eden and turned from a servant of Yahweh into a selfish being.  The New Testament does not even confirm if Satan is this same fallen angel despite almost everyone assuming the opposite.