ChristStory Bestiary

SNAKE, ASP, OR SERPENT

The Devil

The Christian characterization of the snake and his identification with the Devil is quite apparent in the story of the fall of man (Gen. 3). The serpent is considered the author of temptation because he tempted Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowlege of good and evil. He is considered "more cunning than any beast of the field" (Gen 3:1). When he told Eve, "You will not surely die," the snake secured his reputation as a liar and a deceiver (Gen 3:4, 13). Revelation calls him "that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world (Rev 12:9).

Christian artists often portray the devil in the Eden story as a snake with the face of a young man or woman. Indeed, one assumes the snake originally had quite a different appearance than he does today. In the Garden, God curses the serpent saying, "Because you have done this ... on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life," (Gen 3:14) which is a sad thing for humans who are reminded that they are dust (Gen 3:19). Paul equates the serpent with those who "preach another Jesus whom we have not preached," and fears the Corinthians "may well put up with it!" (2 Cor 11:4).

The symbolism of the dragon and the serpent are closely related in some areas of the Bible. Revelations calls Satan "the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan" (Rev 20:2). In Isaiah, we see that the serpent is one of the sea creatures that may be called Leviathan because it is written, "In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; and He will slay the reptile that is in the sea (Isa 27:1).

Lies, slander, and words of malice are symbolized by snake's venom or the "viper's tongue." Artists have transformed the viper's forked tongue into darts and arrows to make the point that evil, traitorous words are as harmful as weapons of war. David says of Saul's men, "They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; the poison of asps is under their lips" (Psa 140:3).

The psalmist despairs of reforming the wicked because "they are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear, which will not heed the voice of charmers" (Psa 58:3-5). He means they refuse to be soothed or reasoned with. They are like the snake who, refusing to hear all argument, presses one ear to the ground and plugs the other ear with its tail so that it cannot hear and be tamed.

The Apostle John has been painted with a snake crawling from a cup of wine because when he picked up the cup to drink the deadly potion ordered by Domitian, the poison separated from the wine and crawled away in the guise of a snake. The serpent is also an attribute of the fictional characters Father Time and Lady Prudence.

In Egypt, Chaldea, Africa, and other countries, the snake was deified. In some places, it was a god and in others an evil spirit. Some people believed the spirits of their ancesters lived on in the bodies of snakes. Many Egyptian cities had snakes as their protectors. Since it lived in the earth, it was believed to be wise in the secrets of the earth, the dark mysteries, and the hidden treasures including those of medicine, magic, gems and gold. Its shape made it a symbol of fertility. The Greeks used three blue snakes to represent the rainbow and the Chaldeans considered it a symbol of lightning and of fire. In Europe, a woman's hair, if pulled from her head was believed to turn into snakes. The French thought snakes could milk farm animals, causing them to become sterile.

The serpent's tendency to appear harmless, dead, or peaceable and then suddenly attack is the basis of several Biblical allegories. Solomon, when speaking of wine, warns that at first it seems desirable but "At the last it bites lke a serpent, and stings like a viper" (Prov 23:32). The thief is warned that "whoever breaks through a wall [hedge] will be bitten by a serpent" (Eccl 10:8).

This cunning strategem of the serpent is considered desirable in war and the tribe of Dan is said to be " a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse's heels so that its rider shall fall backward" (Gen 49:17). One of Dan's judges, Samson, exemplified this tactic when, blind and in fetters, he pulled down the pillars of the temple of Dagon, killing 3000 of his captors (Judges 16).

In like manner, the Philistines are told not to rejoice over the death of King Uzziah "for out of the serpent's roots will come forth a viper, [Hezekiah, Uzziah's great-grandson] and its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent (Isa 14:29; see also 2 Kings 18; 2 Chr. 26:6).

Fear and angry submission are symbolized by the snake's hissing. Egypt's roaring would be changed to hissing when King Nebuchadnezzar took her into captivity (Jer 46:22). Micah warns that the enemies of God and of Israel "shall lick the dust like a serpent; they shall crawl from their holes [to submit to God] like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of You" (Micah 7:17).

Because it shed its skin, the snake was a symbol of resurrection, renewal, restoration, and immortality prior to Christianity. Later, the Christian's "casting off of the old man" was represented by the snake's cast off skin. However, on croziers of the Orthodox tradition, especially if formed with doves, the snakes are reminders to "Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Mt 10:16). On other croziers, the snake represents Christ and may carry a cross or lamb's head in its mouth.

Surprizingly, it is not in connection with the resurrection that the serpent has become a symbol of Christ. This symbolism comes from Jesus who, refering to the cross said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). The making of Moses' serpent was ordered by God, who after punishing Israel with a plague of fiery serpents, said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live" (Num 21:8). Later, King Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent because the Israelites had made an idol of it "and called it Nehushtan" (2 Ki 18:4).

All scripture quotes are from the NKJV Bible.