Devil&Co.

It was the devil's envy that brought death into the world, as those who are his partners will discover (Wisdom 2:24).

It's one of the translation of the Book of Wisdom, actually, one that is used in liturgy. I like this rendering, at least the first part of it, those partners of devil, even though the future tense of the second part of this sentence is a translator's invention, not to be found in the Greek original: φθόνῳ δὲ διαβόλου θάνατος εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, πειράζουσιν δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ τῆς ἐκείνου μερίδος ὄντες, through devil's envy death came into the world, and those who share his lot experience it. The Latin text is quite different from the original: invidia autem diaboli mors introivit in orbem terrarum, imitantur autem illum qui sunt ex parte illius. Why did Jerome translate the second part of this verse as those who are from the devil's party follow his exemple? Imitate him but in what way? In his envy? The Greek text suggests that those who are the devil's partners experience death: the next chapter of the Book of Wisdom tells about the righteous whose souls are in the hand of God, and their hope is in immortality (Wisdom 3:1.4). Death is the experience of those who collaborate with the devil, it's everlasting death.

We can describe the lot of devil's partners in words similar to those from the Missal: there, at the Holy Mass, we ask for partem aliquam et societatem cum sanctis Apostolis et Martyribus; here, those who experience death, have partem aliquam et societatem cum diabolo.

Let's hope we'll be partners of God's saints.