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snakes in the Bible

also known as: serpents

Hebrew: נָחָשׁ —transliteration: nachash

Greek: ὄφις —transliteration: ophis

Snakes are frequently mentioned in Scripture.

• More than 40 species are found in Syria and Arabia. Many species of snakes were familiar to the Hebrews.

• God sometimes used venomous snakes as a judgment on sinful people.

  “For behold, I will send serpents among you,
  Vipers which cannot be charmed,
  And they shall bite you,” says the Lord. —Jeremiah 8:17 NKJV

  • What is a asp?
  • What is a viper?
  • What is a cockatrice?
  • What are JUDGMENTS OF GOD in the Bible? Answer

• Scripture notes that virtually all creatures can be tamed by man.

  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. —James 3:7 NKJV

  • What is a charmer of snakes?
  • What is a charmer?

• The poisonous character of the serpent is alluded to in Jacob's blessing on Dan. (Also see: ADDER.)

  Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
  A horned snake in the path,
  That bites the horse’s heels,
  So that his rider falls backward. —Genesis 49:17 NASB

• The serpent is first mentioned in connection with the history of the temptation and fall of our first parents (Genesis 3). It has been well said about this temptation:

  “A real serpent was the agent of the temptation, as is plain from what is said of the natural characteristic of the serpent in the first verse of the chapter (3:1), and from the curse pronounced upon the animal itself. But that Satan was the actual tempter, and that he used the serpent merely as his instrument, is evident…

  1. from the nature of the transaction; for although the serpent may be the most subtle of all the beasts of the field, yet he has not the high intellectual faculties which the tempter here displayed.

  2. In the New Testament it is both directly asserted and in various forms assumed that Satan seduced our first parents into sin (John 8:44; Romans 16:20; 2 Corinthians 11:3, 14; Rev. 12:9; 20:2).” —Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology

  3. The writer of the book of Proverbs marveled at the way snakes move.

     There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
     Yes, four which I do not understand:
     19 The way of an eagle in the air,
     The way of a serpent on a rock,
     The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
     And the way of a man with a virgin. —Proverbs 30:18-19 NKJV

• This word is used symbolically of a deadly, subtle, malicious enemy (Luke 10:19).

More information

• What is an ADDER? Answer
• basilisk
• fiery serpent
• Eve—deceived through a serpent
• Millennium—snakes’ nature will be changed
• worm
• brass serpent
• miracle
• dragon
• leviathan
• enchantments
• Who is LUCIFER? Answer
• Who is SATAN? Answer
• ANIMALS of the Bible