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Bible Dictionaries
Adversary
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary
or This is a general name applied to all persons, in common, who have a controversy, or are at variance with each other. Thus the Lord saith to Israel, "I will be an adversary to thine adversaries." (Exodus 23:22) And the prophet describes the Lord as an adversary to his people, in the day of his displeasure. "He hath bent his bow (saith he) as an enemy; he stood with his right hand as an adversary." (Lamentations 2:4) And the Lord Jesus describes God the Father, as a law adversary, when he saith, (Matthew 5:25) "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him." The Scriptures represent also Satan, as an adversary to Christ and his church. Thus Jesus, by the spirit of prophecy, saith, "Who is mine adversary? let him come near to me." (Isaiah 50:8) And Zechariah (Zechariah 3:1) represents Satan as "an adversary standing at Joshua's right hand, to resist him." And the apostle Peter calls the devil an adversary going about to devour; and chargeth the church to resist him steadfast in faith. (1 Peter 5:8) From these different views of the word, it will be very easy to learn, that the name of adversary is indiscriminately given to all persons who are in a state of controversy with each other, whether good or evil.
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Hawker, Robert D.D. Entry for 'Adversary'. Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance and Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/pmd/a/adversary.html. London. 1828.
