SNAKE

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Plants and Animals of the Bible by David Cox (1970)

Snake. A snake is the Bible’s first-- and final-- animal villain (Genesis 3; Rev 20:2). Throughout the Old and New Testaments, several different words for snake or serpent appear some 20 times. Scholars can only make educated guesses as to which of Palestine’s many species of snakes are meant in most verses.

The asp and adder are both common in the Holy Land. The asp is a type of cobra with its familiar hood, although its hood is not as pronounced as the Indian cobra’s. There is also a desert cobra, which has no hood at all. Adder and viper are two different words for the same deadly snake. A horned viper and sawscale, or carpet viper, are native to Israel. Another species mentioned in the Bible is the sand viper ( Isa 30:6), (NEB).

In the wilderness, the Israelites were plagued by fiery serpents ( Num 21:6). "Fiery" may indicate the burning fever caused by their bite. Or it may refer to the puff adder, which has yellow, flame-like markings. The cockatrice of the KJV was a mythological monster. It had the wings and head of a cock and the tail of a dragon. According to the superstitious legend about this animal, its look could kill.

Most snakes in Palestine were non-poisonous, but the Jewish people feared and hated all snakes. In the Bible the serpent is often referred to as the symbol of evil and wrongdoing ( Psa 140:3; Jer 8:17).

In spite of this attitude among the Jews, some of Israel’s neighbors associated serpents with health, life, and immortality. The kingdom of Lower Egypt took the cobra as its official symbol. Even Moses once lifted up a BRONZE SERPENT before the Israelites at God’s command to save the people from the fiery serpents in the wilderness ( Num 21:9). Some continued to worship that bronze serpent until King Hezekiah destroyed it generations later ( 2Ki 18:4).

Snakes are fascinating creatures. Scales on their undersides provide traction. Their forked tongues flick rapidly in and out to collect sensations of touch and smell. ( Psa 58:4) is correct in speaking of the "deaf cobra," since snakes have no ears to receive sound waves. Like deaf persons, they rely on physical vibrations to pick up sounds. Thus cobras are not charmed by music, but by movement.

A snake’s spine may contain as many as 300 tiny vertebrae. This gives them their amazing flexibility to coil and curve. Their mouths are hinged to permit them to swallow and eat creatures much larger than themselves. Their eyes are protected by transparent lids which are always open, causing scientists to wonder if snakes ever sleep.

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming (1990) ↑

Snakes were widespread throughout the Palestine region. Because of their poisonous bites and cunning habits, they were often spoken of as a picture of wicked people and wicked deeds (Gen 49:17; Deu 32:33; Psa 58:4; Psa 140:3; Jer 46:22; Mat 3:7; Mat 12:34; 2Co 11:3). The most striking use of the snake as a picture of one who is evil is in reference to the Devil, Satan, who is called ‘that ancient snake’ (Rev 12:9; cf. Rev 3:1; cf. Rev 3:14-15).

Some kinds of snakes were used by charmers and magicians in performing tricks (Ecc 10:11). It seems that Egyptian magicians hypnotized snakes to stiffen them, and in this way could imitate Aaron’s miracle of turning a stick into a snake. But Aaron showed that his actions were miracles, not tricks, when his snake swallowed up those of the magicians (Exo 7:8-12; cf. Exo 4:2-4).

On the journey from Egypt to Canaan, God punished his rebellious people with a plague of desert snakes whose bite produced burning pains and even death. When Moses prayed for the people, God replied by promising to heal those who stopped their complaining and demonstrated their trust in him by looking on a bronze snake that he had commanded Moses to make (Num 21:4-9; Joh 3:14-15; 1Co 10:9). This bronze snake later became an object of worship and had to be destroyed (2Ki 18:4).

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary by Mission Mutual, adapted from the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary (2023)

A snake is a type of reptile that crawls on its belly. There are many different kinds of snakes in the world. Scientists classify snakes as part of a group called Serpentes.

The Bible uses several different words for snakes in its original languages. In Hebrew, there are nine different words for snake. In Greek, there are four words. The most common Hebrew word for snake sounds like the noise a snake makes. It copies both the sound of a snake's hiss and the sound of its scales moving across the ground (compare Jeremiah 46:22). Many types of snakes lay eggs (Isaiah 59:5). Some keep the eggs in their bodies until the eggs are ready to hatch.

Snakes live in most places around the world, except for Antarctica. More snakes live in warm areas near the equator, and fewer live in cold areas near the Earth's poles. In Palestine, there are 33 different types of snakes. Twenty of these snakes are poisonous and dangerous to humans. The Bible writers noticed two dangerous things about snakes. First, snakes can move without making much noise. Second, they can hide very easily.

How Snakes Move and Hunt

Snakes can swallow animals that are much bigger than their own mouth. They can do this because their jaws can stretch very wide. Snakes do not have legs or eyelids that can open and close. They regularly shed their old skin and grow new skin. A snake's tongue helps it understand what is happening around it. The tongue can feel movements in the air and can sense heat.

Some snakes are poisonous. These snakes have special teeth called fangs that can inject poison into a person or animal's blood. The poison is a clear liquid that causes harm inside the body.

There are two main types of snake poison:

Viper snakes have poison that makes it hard to breathe and damages blood.
Cobra snakes have poison that stops the body's nerves from working.

Snakes in the Bible and Ancient Religion

The Bible uses different names for snakes. When it mentions an "asp," it probably means a cobra. When it talks about an "adder" or a "cockatrice," it probably means a viper snake.

Serpents were associated with worship in Canaanite religion and symbolized evil gods among many other peoples. Archaeologists found steles (stone structures with inscriptions carved into them) in Palestine and Syria. These stones depict a god or worshiper with a snake wrapped around them. The Bible tells a story about Moses making a bronze snake (Numbers 21:8–9). Later, the Israelites started burning incense to worship this bronze snake instead of God. Because of this, King Hezekiah had the bronze snake destroyed as part of his work to restore proper worship of God (2 Kings 18:4).

While some religions honored and worshiped snakes, the Bible uses snakes as a symbol of evil and the devil. This connection begins with the story of the snake in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1–15). The Bible continues using this symbol of the snake as evil until its final book, Revelation (Revelation 12:9; 20:2–3).

See also Adder; Animals; Asp.

Animals in the Bible (UBS) by United Bible Societies

References:

Hebrew נָחָשׁ (nachash)

Hebrew תַּנִּין (tanin)

EXO 7:9, EXO 7:10, EXO 7:12, DEU 32:33, PSA 91:13

Greek δράκων (drakōn)

ESG 1:1, ESG 10:3, WIS 16:10, SIR 25:16, BEL 1:23, BEL 1:25, BEL 1:27, BEL 1:28, ODA 2:33, PSS 2:25

Greek ἑρπετόν (herpeton)

WIS 11:15, WIS 17:9, SIR 10:11, LJE 1:19

Greek ὄφις (ofis)

MAT 7:10, MAT 10:16, MAT 23:33, MRK 16:18, LUK 10:19, LUK 11:11, JHN 3:14, 1CO 10:9, 2CO 11:3, REV 9:19, REV 12:9, REV 12:14, REV 12:15, REV 20:2, WIS 16:5, SIR 21:2, SIR 25:15, 4MA 18:8, PSS 4:9

Discussion:

The word “serpent” is a fairly archaic English word, once meaning any kind of reptile, but later only used for snakes. It is no longer used in everyday speech to refer to actual snakes but only to mythological ones and representations of them, especially representations on badges, crests, and flags. It is therefore somewhat strange to find “serpent” in modern English translations, where actual snakes are referred to in the original text. In some of these translations, NAB for example, “serpent” is used in the Old Testament and “snake” in the New Testament.

The Hebrew and Greek words are general terms including all types of snake. In ISA 27:1 some scholars interpret the word nachash as meaning “reptile” or “dragon” rather than “snake". NAB also has this meaning in JER 46:22.

In the nineteenth century Canon Tristram reported hearing from Arabs that snakes, especially cobras, could be rendered unconscious in a rigid spasm by squeezing certain nerves on the side of their necks. In this state the snake was said to become like a stick. Some ancient pictures seem to illustrate people doing this. Tristram went on to say that he had not observed this phenomenon personally. However, in recent years this technique has been demonstrated on film. It may be of relevance for the accounts in Exodus of people turning rods into snakes and vice versa.

Description:

Snakes are reptiles, that is, they have no internal mechanism to control the temperature of their blood and have to rely on the sun to do this. They have no legs but propel themselves by wriggling or by gliding along by moving their skin in combination with their many ribs, so that their scales hook onto any small irregularities on the surface they are moving on. This means of moving along is not very obvious, and snakes seem to many peoples to move magically or at least mysteriously. This and the fact that many of them have a poisonous bite have caused many peoples, including the ancient biblical peoples, to have a superstitious dread of them.

Special significance or symbolism:

To the biblical writers snakes were a symbol of lurking, unexpected danger. The belief that snakes had poisonous tongues led people to associate them with lies, deception, and misleading teaching, as epitomized by the Devil himself, who is portrayed as a deceiving snake in REV 12:9.

Furthermore, since the cobra was the symbol of one of the major Egyptian goddesses, snakes also had connotations of heathen religion. To the Egyptians the snake was a symbol of long life. In some contexts in the Bible the snake is a symbol for Egypt.

In the New Testament, besides the above, the snake becomes a symbol for cunning wisdom.

Translation:

Snakes are found all over the world, except in the far Northern and Southern Hemispheres, where the lengthy cold winters are unsuited to their existence. In most languages a general word for snake is not difficult to find. In some languages there are two general words for snake, one for the viper/adder type and the other for longer, slimmer snakes, including cobras, mambas, pythons, and boas. In such cases the latter word is preferable in most general contexts.

The references to “fiery snakes” should probably be interpreted as referring to the effects of the snake’s bite rather than to its appearance; for example, “snakes that can burn people like fire."

JER 46:22 means “she [Egypt] will hiss like a retreating snake."

ECC 10:11 means “if the snake bites before it is charmed, that [the bite] is all the income the snake charmer gets."

In most contexts the word tanin is translated as “dragon” or “whale” in KJV and RSV and as “sea monster” in the other versions. However, the word is traditionally translated as “serpent” or “snake” in EXO 7:0, and in DEU 32:33 and PSA 91:13, where the word occurs in parallel with another word for “snake".

While tanin probably does refer to a sea monster, it most likely means “snake” in the passages mentioned. It is impossible to identify the actual type of snake referred to, and most scholars take this word to have the same meaning in these particular contexts as the more usual word nachash. In other words it is an alternative word for snakes in general. See also 7.2 Dragon, sea monster.

Another possibility has been suggested by Jewish scholars in their commentaries on Exodus. They note that, while in Moses’ rod is said to turn into a nachash in the desert, along the banks of the Nile (EXO 7:0) Aaron’s rod turns into a tanin, which they interpret to mean “crocodile". Each miracle would then be appropriate to its setting: a snake in the desert, a crocodile by the river. One scholar also points out that in EZK 29:3 Pharaoh is called “the great crocodile [tanim < tanin ] that lies in the midst of his rivers,” and that the Egyptians used to worship the crocodile. While no translation has adopted this proposal, it should be given serious consideration.

The problematic Hebrew word qipoz, which occurs only in ISA 34:15, has been associated by some scholars with a snake. The English Revised Version has “arrowsnake", and JB has “viper". Rather strangely, the name “arrowsnake” is associated with qipoz because the word is said to be derived from a verb qafaz (qafats), which means “to leap.” Fauna and Flora of the Bible even has this note: “The arrowsnake is a serpent which is able to coil itself back and dart forward quickly like an arrow, or to leap from a tree.” In fact the arrowsnake Eryx jaculus, more correctly called the javelin sand boa, is so-called, not because it can leap, but because it has a small head that is hard to distinguish from its narrow tail; that is, it is pointed at both ends of its fairly thick body like a javelin. It belongs to the category of snakes called constrictors, which coil around their prey and suffocate them by crushing the breath out of them. It lives in the sand and among rocks, rather than in trees, and is slow-moving. It reaches about 75 centimeters (30 inches) in length. Nevertheless, the context of the verse and the other words used in poetic parallelism to it indicate fairly conclusively that qipoz is better interpreted as a bird. See 3.17.6 Qipoz.

Animals in the Bible © United Bible Societies. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Dictionary of Bible Themes by Martin H. Manser (1999)

A reptile, often associated with cunning and danger, or occasionally with satanic temptation.