Where Does Satan Live?
In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan declares that it is “better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” (1.263). This famous line contributes to the popular notion that the devil dwells in hell and deceives humanity from his fiery throne below. According to the biblical texts, however, Satan spends most of his time on earth and ascends intermittently to heaven. Rather than being a place where the devil “reigns,” hell will be the place of Satan’s ultimate ruin.
Scripture clarifies that Satan is usually bound to the earth. At the start of Job, God and the Accuser meet in heaven: “There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Satan also arrived among them. The Lord said to the Satan, ‘From where have you come?’ And the Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘From going back and forth upon the earth (בָּאָרֶץ; ba’arets), and from walking around in it” (Job 1:6-7). While the devil can ascend to heaven for an audience with God, his usual stomping ground is the earth, where he roams around looking for people to accuse of sin. This is why 1 Peter 5:8 warns, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil walks around (περιπατεῖ, peripateī) like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” If Satan were living in hell rather than on earth, then this call for earth-bound individuals to “be watchful” would make little sense. The Greek word for “walks around” in 1 Peter is the same that appears in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) when the devil tells God that he has been “walking around in (ἐμπεριπατήσας) that which is under heaven” (Job 1:7 LXX)—that is, roving upon the earth.
Revelation corroborates the idea that Satan is established on earth but can also arrive in heaven. Jesus tells the church in Pergamum (in modern-day Turkey): “I know where you dwell, where [is] the throne of Satan (ὁ θρόνος τοῦ Σατανᾶ, ho thrōnos toū Satanā). Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith… [in the place] where Satan dwells” (Rev 2:13). According to Yeshua, the devil dwells in the very same place as do the people of Pergamum—Revelation does not place the devil’s dwelling in hell. Later in Revelation, Satan (called the “great dragon”) fights a war “in heaven” (ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, 12:7) and is thrown down “into the earth” (εἰς τὴν γῆν, 12:9)—not into hell. Much like in Job, the devil spends most of his time on earth, alongside the occasional trip to heaven. Quite contrary to Milton’s view of Satan ruling in hell, Revelation designates hell as the place of Satan’s ultimate downfall: “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet also are, and they will be tormented day and night into the ages of ages” (Revelation 20:10). According to Scripture, though Satan lives on earth in the present age, hell will be his final destination in the world to come.
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