Serpents and Snakes in the Bible

Something for me to ponder about.

 

The Serpent in the Garden of Eden 

The snake is the symbol for both good and evil in the Bible. The serpent was the deceiver in the Garden of Eden, and

The serpent is found in the Garden of Eden near the tree of life as the tempter, an evil figure who motivates the fall of Adam and Eve, inciting them to transgress the laws of God. The serpent also represents faith, and redemption in the wilderness where a serpent is raised on a pole for the people to look upon and be saved from the bites of the poisonous snakes around them.

The serpent is often found associated with a tree or pole in mythology. This is true of the serpent seen throughout the Bible. While the serpent was often a female in world mythological tales, it was always portrayed as a male in the Bible. The Jews considered the serpent to be evil — it was counted among the unclean animals, and was portrayed as threatening.

While sometimes thought to be an evil god, the serpent was also thought to be good throughout world history, a sign of rebirth and immortality. In Sumeria, the god of the underworld, Ningishzida (Lord of the Good Tree) is a symbol of healing and a guardian of the celestial palace of Anu.

Moses and the Serpents

In the biblical book of Exodus, the prophet Moses appears before Pharaoh, changing his rod into a serpent, as one of many miracles he is able to perform. The Pharaoh’s magicians are able to do the same with their own rods. The serpent/rod wielded by Aaron, the brother of Moses, was then able to swallow up the serpents of the magicians, showing the greater power of Moses and his God.

In Numbers 21, the Israelites who have flown from captivity in Egypt into the wilderness are besieged by venomous snakes after cursing God and Moses for their trying situation of wandering in the wilderness for thirty-eight years. Moses is directed by God to make a bronze snake and place it on a pole so that anyone who looked upon it could be saved from the bites of the snakes. Those who looked were saved.

Ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, Scandinavia, Greece, and Pre-Columbian America, to name just a few, all shared the symbolism of the snake in their religion and folklore. Snake gods and goddesses are seen throughout different ancient cultures such as the Greek Medusa with snakes for hair, or the Minoan Snake Goddess, or the Sumero-Babylonian Enki, the Serpent Lord of Wisdom and trickster god. They are significant deities with fierce and fearful power.

Snakes were an extremely popular representation of deity, of magical powers, and of regeneration and life. Indeed, serpents are life-giving and life-affirming. The Arabic has related words for serpent (hayyah) and life (hayat), both coming from the same root with the implication of the serpent being a life-giver.

Snakes were often affixed to the sterns of boats of many cultures to guide the seafarers and frighten any who might attack. The snake is seen as a modern emblem of healing and medicine still used in the form of the medical star of life symbol, the caduceus of Hermes and the rod of Aesclepius.

Cosmic Serpents

The serpent is often found associated with a sacred tree, perhaps guarding some sacred fruit. This chthonic serpent may be coiled at the bottom of the tree. The snake as protector at a sacred tree is seen in Biblical and Norse mythology, as well as in the tales of the Bodhi tree of Buddhism.

The snake also inhabits the subterranean earth or the underworld, where he is a guardian of sacred entrances. Serpents are found throughout Egyptian mythology, usually as females. The cobra is a symbol of the goddess from antiquity and appears on the crown, the Uraeus, and in the hieroglyphic names of female goddesses. The cosmic chthonic serpent of Egypt is a male, however, known as Apep.Apep, an evil demon, represented darkness and chaos. Apep, who appeared from the Middle Kingdom onward, was considered the enemy of the Sun God, Ra.

 

 

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