Satan-the Prodigal Son - A Family Problem in the Bible

'Once upon a time there was a man who had two sons.' This is how many stories begin, among them the story we call the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Relationships between two brothers are often fraught with difficulties. Brothers are different but alike in their desire to become their father's favourite. Brothers like Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Satan and Job, Satan and Jesus? Kirsten Nielsen in her new book argues that the book of Job, the temptation story in Matthew and the Parable of the Prodigal Son can be read as stories of rivalry among brothers. She suggests that there is a network of biblical texts where the image of the father and his sons has been employed to interpret the relationship between good and evil, between God and Satan.