Overview#

Mastema is the leader of harmful spirits who appears in the Book of Jubilees, a Jewish retelling of biblical history. He intervenes in the narratives of Noah, Abraham, and Moses as a figure of hostility, testing, and accusation. Antoni Tronina interprets the designation as a description of function, “Lord of Hostility,” rather than simply a personal name.[1]

The text gives Mastema considerable agency while repeatedly limiting his power through divine decisions and angelic intervention. These features make him a significant figure for the history of demonology and for comparison with other ancient representations of an adversary.[1][2]

Noah and the remaining spirits#

In Jubilees 10, Noah prays for protection from spirits descended from the Watchers. When God orders them bound, Mastema requests that some remain under his command.[2]

God allows one tenth to remain and orders the other nine tenths confined. The angelic narrator also describes teaching Noah remedies made from herbs. Noah records this knowledge and passes it to Shem. Within the story, protection therefore includes both the restraint of spirits and the transmission of healing knowledge.[2]

The episode places continuing harm within divine limits. Mastema must petition for the spirits, and God fixes the number he retains.[2]

The testing of Abraham#

In Jubilees 17:15–18, heavenly voices praise Abraham’s faithfulness. Mastema proposes that Abraham be commanded to offer Isaac, arguing that this will reveal whether his devotion to God exceeds his attachment to his son. The narrator immediately states that God already knows Abraham’s fidelity.[3]

Chapter 18 follows the command, the journey, and the binding of Isaac. The angelic narrator stands before Abraham and Mastema when the sacrifice is stopped. Mastema is put to shame, and Abraham offers a ram in Isaac’s place. His attempted challenge becomes the occasion for a demonstration of Abraham’s faithfulness.[4]

This arrangement invites comparison with Satan in Job, particularly the appearance of an adversarial figure in a heavenly setting. The comparison should preserve the different protagonists, proposed tests, and narrative outcomes of the two works.[3][4]

Opposition to Moses#

Jubilees 48 gives Mastema a role in the conflict surrounding the departure from Egypt. He attempts to kill Moses on the return journey, assists the Egyptian sorcerers, and urges the Egyptians to pursue Israel. The angelic narrator describes rescuing Moses and restraining what the sorcerers can accomplish.[5]

Mastema is also bound for a period so that he cannot accuse the Israelites. His release and the hardening of the Egyptians’ hearts are placed within the narrative of divine judgment. He can oppose Moses and Israel, but the chapter gives him no independent power to overturn the deliverance.[5]

Mastema and Satan#

In R. H. Charles’s translation of Jubilees 10:11, the remaining spirits are described as subject to “Satan,” following the exchange with Mastema. This wording invites comparison, while leaving the wider question of relationships among ancient adversarial figures to examination of their particular texts.[2]

The source also has a continuing religious context. Jacques van Ruiten’s study of angelic authority considers the reception of Jubilees in Ethiopian traditions that regard it as sacred scripture. A reading of its demonology should preserve that setting as well as its relevance to comparative study.[6]

See also#

References

  1. Antoni Tronina, “Książę Mastema i jego armia w Księdze Jubileuszy” [Prince Mastema and His Army in the Book of Jubilees], The Biblical Annals 14(3), 2024, 423–439 · The English abstract supports the functional interpretation of the title and the subordinate character of Mastema’s hostility. The full paper is in Polish; detailed claims here are grounded in the cited primary chapters. (accessed 2026-10-08) ↩
  2. Book of Jubilees 10:1–14, translated by R. H. Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, Clarendon Press, 1913 · Primary text in a historical translation: Noah’s prayer, Mastema’s petition, the one-tenth allowance, remedies, and the word “Satan” in verse 11. (accessed 2026-10-08) ↩
  3. Book of Jubilees 17:15–18, translated by R. H. Charles, 1913 · Primary narrative of Mastema’s proposed test of Abraham. Comparison with Job is a literary comparison, not a claim of identical figures. (accessed 2026-10-08) ↩
  4. Book of Jubilees 18:1–13, translated by R. H. Charles, 1913 · Primary narrative of the binding of Isaac, its interruption, and Mastema’s humiliation. (accessed 2026-10-08) ↩
  5. Book of Jubilees 48:1–19, translated by R. H. Charles, 1913 · Primary narrative of opposition to Moses, assistance to the Egyptian sorcerers, pursuit, accusation, restraint, and divine judgment. (accessed 2026-10-08) ↩
  6. Jacques van Ruiten, “Angelic Authority: Continuities and Transformation in the Angelic World of the Book of Jubilees,” in Amsalu Tefera and Loren T. Stuckenbruck (eds.), Representa · The university-hosted abstract explicitly addresses Ethiopian reception of Jubilees as sacred scripture and the spirits’ subordination to the prince of Mastema. No claim of access to the full chapter is made. (accessed 2026-10-08) ↩
MastemaJubileesSecond Temple JudaismdemonologySatan

This encyclopedia covers traditions beyond the High Satanic Church. Church doctrine is identified as such when it appears.