Articles
“Was Satan a Talking Snake?”
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
Genesis 3:1
Revelation identifies Satan as “the great dragon… that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (Rev. 12:9; 20:2), connecting him to the serpent in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1). Does this mean Satan was a talking snake?
The Hebrew word translated “serpent” in Genesis, nachash (נחש), has a fascinating depth of meaning and web of associations. In ancient Hebrew, the vowels of a word can change its definition. Since Hebrew is a consonantal script, vowels are indicated by tiny marks above, below or inside the letters. Depending on those marks, nachash can mean either ‘serpent’ (when used as a noun, as in Gen. 3:1) or ‘divination’ (when used as a verb, as in Gen. 44:5), the act of gaining secret or forbidden knowledge through misleading and deceptive means. Therefore, because of its association with craftiness (Gen. 3:1) and divination, nachash can mean ‘deception.’ Lastly, because its root appears in contexts related to “bronze” (a related word, nechoshet), by extension, nachash sometimes carries connotations of luminosity or even burning (such as the burning sensation felt by a poisonous snake’s venom [Num. 21:1-9]).
Some scholars suggest that the author of Genesis may intend to combine all of these concepts with the serpent in Eden: he deceives with forbidden knowledge, poisoning our minds against God. But what about the aspect of brightness or burning?
In the Bible and other Ancient Near Eastern texts (ANE), spiritual beings are often linked with light or reflective polished bronze (Ezek. 1:7; Dan. 10:7; Rev. 1:15). For example, Isaiah 14:12-15 describes the fall of the king of Babylon as the falling of “helel ben shakhar,” probably the name for the morning star, Venus (or “Lucifer” in older versions). Other ANE literature describes the gods within pagan pantheons as stars and name “helel ben shakhar” as a minor god whose attempted coup on mount Zaphon failed. He was hurled to the underworld as punishment. Isaiah seems to be borrowing this language from Canaanite mythology and applying it to the king of Babylon. His delusions of grandeur led him to exalt himself “above the stars of God.” His pride caused him to be “brought down to Sheol” (the grave) instead. The fall of the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14 has long been viewed as a type of Satan’s fall from heaven. In response to the disciples’ victory over the forces of the devil, Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Lk. 10:18) Notice again, the concepts of light and debasement. Evidently, Satan (Hebrew for adversary) is a spiritual being who rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven. Now his will is bent on accusing (“devil” is Greek for slanderer) and deceiving humanity (see Job 1; 2; Mt. 4, etc.).
Consider too that angels are often associated with light (Lk. 2:9; Acts 12:7; Rev. 10:1) and Paul’s warning to the Corinthians makes sense. “I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ… Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” (2 Cor. 11:2, 14)
In Isaiah 6, when the prophet is taken in a visionary experience into the throne room of the universe, he sees the LORD upon his throne, high and exalted, flanked by two spiritual beings called “seraphim.” In Hebrew, “seraphim” literally means it burns and has a parallel Egyptian word which means snake. The seal or bulla (an impressed piece of clay) of Ashna, a courtier of King Ahaz (2 Kgs. 16:1-20), depicts the LORD as a crowned glowing disk surrounded by two serpentine seraphs. There are many other artifacts that depict these beings as winged snakes like those described in Isaiah 6. In addition to this, the intertestamental book of Enoch uses the words “serpent” and “seraphim” interchangeably.
Let’s bring all this information back to the snake in Genesis 3. Satan’s serpentine form evokes the concepts of deception, forbidden knowledge and may hint at his angelic origin. He appears as a snake, either taking the form of a snake or speaking through a snake, to deceive Adam and Eve by undermining their trust in God. As punishment, God curses the snake by pronouncing its humiliation and future destruction:
The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:14-15)
There is more at work here than God cursing actual snakes. Like the arrogant king of Babylon (Isa. 14), this serpent is cast down into the dust, or Sheol (Jon. 2:2; Job 14:13; Isa. 14:9, 11, 15; the Epic of Gilgamesh refers to the underworld as “the house of dust”). This serpent is doomed to crawl and eat dirt, poetic descriptions of his humiliation and divine punishment. God prophesied an ongoing hostility between his offspring and the woman’s. As the Genesis narrative unfolds, we see humanity diverging into two groups, those who succumb to the serpent’s temptation (his spiritual offspring [ex: Cain]) and those who resist his deception and try to live by faith (the woman’s offspring [ex: Abel]). Suddenly, and without explanation, the offspring of the woman, plural in 15a, becomes singular in 15b. One will come from the woman to crush the head of the serpent, but the serpent will bite him on the heel in the process. Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross and triumphant resurrection are the beginning of the fulfillment of this prophecy in Genesis 3:15 (see also Rom. 16:20).
