Serpent

Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 1min
 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 12
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(creeper). The Hebrew original embraces the entire serpent genus. Serpents numerous and venomous in Bible lands. The word appears in Scripture under various names; adder, supposedly the cerastes (Gen. 49:1717Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. (Genesis 49:17)); asp, or cobra (Deut. 32:3333Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. (Deuteronomy 32:33)); cockatrice (Jer. 8:1717For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 8:17)); viper (Job 20:1616He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him. (Job 20:16)). Subtile (Gen. 3:11Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Genesis 3:1)); wise (Matt. 10:1616Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matthew 10:16)); poisonous (Prov. 23:3232At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. (Proverbs 23:32)); sharp-tongued (Psa. 140:33They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. Selah. (Psalm 140:3)); charmed (Psa. 58:55Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. (Psalm 58:5)); emblem of wickedness (Matt. 23:3333Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? (Matthew 23:33)); cruelty (Psa. 58:44Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; (Psalm 58:4)); treachery (Gen. 49:1717Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. (Genesis 49:17)); the devil (Rev. 12:9-159And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 12Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 13And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. (Revelation 12:9‑15)); fiery serpents sent as a punishment (Num. 21:66And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. (Numbers 21:6)); sight of “brazen serpent,” an antidote for poison of bite (Num. 21:8-98And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Numbers 21:8‑9)); “fiery flying serpent,” a probable allusion to dragon (Isa. 14:2929Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. (Isaiah 14:29)).