Pride, Satan’s Crime

Have you ever wondered what satan’s crime was? Have you ever heard it expressed as such? Probably not. Most likely you heard it said that satan wanted to make himself like or equal to Elohiym. However, the root of that desire is Pride. Pride is what made him think so much of himself that he even dared to challenge the perfect Creator who created him! You can find this in the Scripture, “. . . lest being puffed up, into [the] crime he may fall of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6, G-EINT).

The above Scripture is the literal word for word translation printed in Dr. Berry’s Greek-English Interlinear New Testament. For a better English flow and reading, we change the Greek grammar into English, “. . . lest being puffed up, he may fall into [the] crime of the devil.” So where does the pride come in? you might ask. The words, being puffed up, are rendered as, “being lifted up with pride” in the KJV. The Greek word is tuphotheis (tufoqeis).

This word, tuphotheis, and its relatives tetuphotai and tetuphomenoi, are only used in the Bible one time each and only in Timothy (1 Tim. 3:6, 1 Tim. 6:4, and 2 Tim. 3:4 respectively). Both Strong’s and Dr. Berry’s Lexicon show that these three words come from the root word tuphoo. Dr. Berry’s Lexicon gives this definition, “tuphoo, o, to raise a smoke; pass[ive], fig., to be proud, to be arrogant and conceited,” (p. 101). Strong’s further defines this word as, “5187, tuphoo, toof-o-o; from a der[ivative] of 5188; to envelop with smoke, i.e. (fig.) to inflate with self-conceit: – high minded (1x), be lifted up with pride (1x), be proud (1x). Tuphoo, properly means ‘to wrap in smoke’ (from tuphos, ‘smoke’ metaphorically, for ‘conceit’); it is used in the passive voice, metaphorically . . .” (§ Greek Dictionary, p. 254,255). These definitions seem to give me the indication that this type of pride is illusionary. Sort of like surrounding yourself with smoke instead of being in touch with reality, or thoughts as unclear and as fussy as smoke.

Is. 14:13-14 and Eze. 28:1-19 are sometimes referred to as words being spoken to and about satan regarding this “smoky” pride which caused his downfall. I am not sure I agree 100%, as they are specifically addressed to Earthly kings who have thought to make themselves gods, just like Pharaoh and Caesar did during their times. All were brought down to nothing. There does seem to be a deeper implication in those Scriptures though.

The Bible is clear about what type of pride will bring us down into sin. The pride (uperephania) comes out of the heart, according to Mark 7:22, along with numerous other sinful items. The pride (alazoneia) of life is listed in 1 John 2:16, along with the desire (lust) of the flesh and of the eyes, as not being from the Father YaHVaH.

The last pride (alazoneia) is in the form of vaunting or boasting. Its related word, alazon, is translated as boaster. The word (uperephanos) is related to the other word above and is translated as proud. In James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5, YaHVaH Himself is against these type of proud persons. Luke 1:51 also shows it coming from the heart. Romans 1:30 shows both words in a list of sins that are deserving of death, which were being done by those who knew the righteous judgment of Elohiym. However, in 2 Tim. 3:2-5, we find all three forms of pride (alazones, uperephanoi, and tetuphomenoi). Therefore, the pride listed in 1 Tim. 3:6 cannot be the same type of pride as the other two (uperephania = from the heart, against Elohiym, sinful) and (alazoneia = boastful), since they are all listed together in 2 Tim. 3:2-5 as separate items. It must be something different.

Looking back at 1 Tim. 3:5-6, we can figure out that this type of PRIDE refers to someone who is given (or seeking) a position that he is not qualified for because he is a novice. Therefore, the crime of the devil, satan, must be that he was not qualified for Elohiym’s position (or possibly his own also) and that he over extended his ability “smokingly” believing he could do the job. Of course, we all know nobody can do Elohiym’s job but Him.

Sources:

Bible. Greek to English Interlinear New Testament. By George Ricker Berry, Ph.D. King James Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. 1981. ISBN 0-529-10632-9. All Scripture verses and Lexicon § p. 101. Contains Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament by George Ricker Berry, Ph.D. and the King James Version as marginal text.

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D. 1822-1894. The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Red-letter edition. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. 2001. ISBN 0-7852-4539-1. Greek Dictionary § p. 13, 254, 255, 258. Contains Expanded Hebrew and Greek dictionaries with Additional definitions from other reference sources, such as Vine’s, Brown-Driver-Brigg’s, and Thayer’s.

First published 7-2006, © 2006, 2018 Min. Dr. Donald H. Garrett and Odon Obadyah Ministries, Inc.

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