Bible Dictionary
SATAN, DEPTHS OF
The “depths of Satan” refers to the false teaching confronted by Christ’s message to the church at Thyatira. The expression contrasts deceptive claims of secret knowledge with the true depths of God.
Definition
“The depths of Satan” is an expression associated with false teaching at Thyatira. It refers to a claimed or attributed depth of knowledge connected with Satan, in contrast with the true depths of God.
Biblical Usage
The expression occurs in Revelation 2:24 in the Lord’s message to Thyatira. The wording may mean that the false teachers claimed to know Satan’s depths, or that the Lord characterized their alleged knowledge of divine depths as Satan’s depths. In either case, it is associated with false teaching.
Historical Background
The supplied material does not determine whether “of Satan” expresses the teachers’ own claim or the Lord’s description of it.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>(ta bathea tou Satana): Found in Re 2:24, and has reference to false teaching at Thyatira. It is a question (that perhaps may not be decided) whether tou Satana, "of Satan," represents the claim of the false teachers, or is thrown in by the Lord. Did those false teachers claim to know "the depths" of Satan? Or was it that they claimed to know "the depths" of Deity, and the Lord said it was rather "the depths of Satan"? In either case the antithesis to "depths of Satan" is "depths of God," as referred to in Ro 11:33; 1Co 2:10.</p><p>E. J. Forrester</p>