The serpent is one of the most enigmatic symbols in ancient religious art and writing. Even more mysterious is the common association between serpents and fertility goddesses across many ancient cultures. In normal life, women aren't often very friendly with snakes (or reptiles in general), so why are they frequently depicted as partners in religious iconography?
Strange though it may sound, evidence from both the Bible and extra-biblical sources suggests that immortals of serpentine appearance have played a major role in the creation and unfolding drama of the world we live in. When utilized in mystical religious imagery, snakes represent certain traits which belong to the cosmic dragons (of whom Satan is the foremost). Certain very important women in history have had dealings with these dragons.
In case you missed it, click here to read Part I of this post.
Satan and the Sea Serpent
Let's start with what is very clear from the Scripture: Satan is a dragon.
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil,
or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. (Rev. 20:2)
This dragon, although a singular being, is leader of a council of dragons, therefore he is represented as having multiple heads.
And there was another sign in heaven, and Lo! a great fiery-red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads seven crowns. (Rev. 12:3)
In a future post, I'll be unpacking this verse and linking it to the seventy Kosmokraters of the Divine Council. For now, the takeaway is that there are at least eight dragon rulers in the heavens. These rulers have gathered one-third of all the heavenly host (i.e., angels, which the Bible calls stars) to their side.
Its tail swept down a third of the stars of the heaven and cast them to the earth.… Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back. (Rev. 12:4-7)
The earthly mascot of these cosmic dragon rulers is the sea serpent named Leviathan. This was a real, giant dinosaur that lived in the oceans (Psa. 104:26, Job 41:1-34, 4 Ezr. 6:48-52, 2 Bar. 29:4). Because this dinosaur was the greatest and most fearsome animal that ever lived, and was serpentine like Satan, it is the best physical analogue for the adversarial spirit.
He [leviathan] sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride. (Job 41:34)
On the Day of Adonai (at the end of this age and the beginning of the next), God will judge and destroy the immortal cosmic dragons, an event which is described as the slaying of Leviathan.
In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea. (Isa. 27:1)
Even though the physical dinosaur called leviathan only had one head, when used as a mascot for the fallen cosmic serpents it is pictured with multiple heads.
You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
(Psa. 74:13-14)
We also find in the Bible that Satan may have been classified as a cherub (also rendered keruv). This is stated in Ezekiel 28, where we read about the Devil's time in Eden, on the holy mountain of Elohiym, before his rebellion.
You were in Eden, the garden of God.... You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. (Ezk. 28:13-15)
This is a difficult passage to translate, however, and some scholars have rendered it as "You were with an anointed guardian cherub." Thus we can't state conclusively that Satan was a cherub.
Of note is the fact that the word anointed (Heb: mashach) could be a Semitic homonym meaning "to shine," which would possibly make Satan a shining cherub—not surprising, given that he shows himself as an "angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:4).
Elsewhere in the Bible, cherubiym are always presented as guardians. A cherub was ordered to guard the Garden of Eden after the Fall, and two sculpted cherubiym were set as covering guardians on each side of the Ark of the Covenant. In the ancient Assyrian and Phoenician cultures, as well, cherubiym were guardians of thrones. While not conclusive, this emphasis on their role as protectors suggests that cherub is a job title instead of a racial descriptor. If true, that would mean any type of immortal could theoretically be a cherub. A seraph, for instance, could be a cherub [more about the seraph momentarily].
Another possible translation quirk in Ezekiel 28 occurs with the phrase "you were the seal/signet of perfection" in verse twelve. The Hebrew for "seal of perfection" is hwtm tknyt. Sometimes the m at the end of hwtm is silent, and if that's true, the meaning of the word changes from "seal" to "serpent."
That would be quite interesting because it would verify that at least some of the highest order of immortals are serpentine.
But even if Ezekiel 28:12 does not read "serpent of perfection," we can still make a link between cherubiym and seraphiym, which could be important because seraphiym are definitely heavenly serpents.
Of note is the fact that the word anointed (Heb: mashach) could be a Semitic homonym meaning "to shine," which would possibly make Satan a shining cherub—not surprising, given that he shows himself as an "angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:4).
Elsewhere in the Bible, cherubiym are always presented as guardians. A cherub was ordered to guard the Garden of Eden after the Fall, and two sculpted cherubiym were set as covering guardians on each side of the Ark of the Covenant. In the ancient Assyrian and Phoenician cultures, as well, cherubiym were guardians of thrones. While not conclusive, this emphasis on their role as protectors suggests that cherub is a job title instead of a racial descriptor. If true, that would mean any type of immortal could theoretically be a cherub. A seraph, for instance, could be a cherub [more about the seraph momentarily].
Another possible translation quirk in Ezekiel 28 occurs with the phrase "you were the seal/signet of perfection" in verse twelve. The Hebrew for "seal of perfection" is hwtm tknyt. Sometimes the m at the end of hwtm is silent, and if that's true, the meaning of the word changes from "seal" to "serpent."
That would be quite interesting because it would verify that at least some of the highest order of immortals are serpentine.
But even if Ezekiel 28:12 does not read "serpent of perfection," we can still make a link between cherubiym and seraphiym, which could be important because seraphiym are definitely heavenly serpents.
What is a Seraph?
The Hebrew word seraph as a noun means "burning serpent." It only shows up a handful of times in the Bible, but within those cases the word is used to refer to both earthly serpents (e.g., Isa. 30:6) and heavenly beings (e.g., Isa. 6:2).
The Book of Enoch (i.e., 1 Enoch) mentions serpahiym and cherubiym several times and even associates them with serpents and fire. In a description of the throne room of YHVH we read,
Then the Seraphim, the Cherubim, and the Ophanim surrounded it: these are those who never sleep, but watch the throne of His glory. (1 Eno. 70:8-9)
And in another description of part of the habitation of the Most High we are told,
Its roof had the appearance of agitated stars and flashes of lightning; and among them were fiery Cherubim and their heaven was water. (1 Eno. 14:12)
So cherubiym, like seraphiym, are fiery, or burning, and of course luminous as a result.
The archangel Gabriel oversees the cherubiym and also serpents, according to Enoch:
The archangel Gabriel oversees the cherubiym and also serpents, according to Enoch:
Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who presides over serpents, over paradise, and over the Cherubim. (1 Eno. 20:7)
This correlates well with Ezekiel 28 and its description of the (possibly serpentine) cherub in the paradise of God. Isn't it strange that an archangel would have charge over both serpents and cherubiym? Very strange, indeed, if we're talking about earthly serpents. It only makes sense if the serpents in view here are heavenly serpents.
Let's step outside of the Bible for a moment to gather more evidence. Numerous Egyptian texts talk about seraphs in a way that corresponds with the biblical usage. The following hymn, used at the coronation of the pharaoh, provides an example:
Let's step outside of the Bible for a moment to gather more evidence. Numerous Egyptian texts talk about seraphs in a way that corresponds with the biblical usage. The following hymn, used at the coronation of the pharaoh, provides an example:
He comes to thee, O Fiery One [seref].... O Great One, O Magician, O Fiery Snake! Let there be terror of me like the terror of thee.
While the Israelites were traveling through the wilderness after leaving Egypt, they sinned against YHVH and as a result fell under attack by seraphiym. The bites of these serpents were poisonous, and many of the Israelites were dying from them. The people realized their mistake and repented, at which point God gave Moses the cure. Moses was instructed to create a bronze sculpture of a seraph and hang it on a pole. Anyone who stared at that hanging seraph would be saved from the deadly venom.
This event was prophetic, an amazing word-picture about the sacrifice of the Messiah. Y'shua said that his mission was to destroy the works of the Devil (1 Jhn. 3:8). When he hung on a tree, he accomplished just that. So the image that Moses erected was symbolic of the work of the ancient Serpent in us being undone by Y'shua's sacrifice.
Taking all of the previous citations together, we must conclude that Satan is a fiery dragon from the race of immortals known to the Hebrews as seraphiym. He may have held the rank of cherub and lived in the waters above the firmament (Gen. 1:6-7). His mascot is the fire-breathing sea serpent in the waters below.
Now we have to add one more link onto the chain: the nachash, meaning "serpent."
This event was prophetic, an amazing word-picture about the sacrifice of the Messiah. Y'shua said that his mission was to destroy the works of the Devil (1 Jhn. 3:8). When he hung on a tree, he accomplished just that. So the image that Moses erected was symbolic of the work of the ancient Serpent in us being undone by Y'shua's sacrifice.
Taking all of the previous citations together, we must conclude that Satan is a fiery dragon from the race of immortals known to the Hebrews as seraphiym. He may have held the rank of cherub and lived in the waters above the firmament (Gen. 1:6-7). His mascot is the fire-breathing sea serpent in the waters below.
Now we have to add one more link onto the chain: the nachash, meaning "serpent."
Nachash: One Word But Three Meanings
In the account of the bronze serpent on the pole—the one that we just discussed—there's a crucial bit of information that can only be ascertained when reading it in Hebrew. Both the bronze serpent and the venomous serpents attacking the Israelites have been described in two ways: with the terms seraphiym and nachash, back-to-back. If the seraphiym are serpentine beings, as we established earlier, then what need is there to bring in a second word to describe the same thing?
Nachash can have any of three or more meanings, depending on how it's used. When used as a noun, it means "serpent." When used as a verb, it means "divination" or "enchantment," with the connotation of hissing or whispering a spell. If used as an adjective, it means "bronze" or "luminous." These variations are all quite appropriate in the Genesis narrative. If there's a triple entendre at play, as suggested by Semitic languages expert Dr. Michael Heiser, then we're looking at a fallen seraph, not a snake.
Would Eve carry on a conversation with a snake? Perhaps if it were a possessed snake, but nothing in the texts suggests that she was at all perturbed by such an unusual thing as a spirit-possessed talking snake.
So the nachash in the Garden was a likely a shining serpentine enchanter. Whether or not this was Satan is up for debate. The Bible does call Satan a red dragon (read: fiery cosmic serpent), yes, but he's not the only one of his race of immortals who became rebellious. Nonetheless, my personal opinion is that the nachash in the Garden was the Red Dragon. I've planted myself on that ground because of the prophecy that God made when he cursed the nachash.
After the fall of man, YHVH promised that the nachash will hurt Messiah's heel, whereas Messiah will hurt the nachash's head (Gen. 3:15) [note: the "Seed of the woman" in this verse is the future Messiah]. We know from the Gospels that it was the Devil who convinced Judas Iscariot to betray Y'shua (Jhn. 13:2), which of course led to Messiah's execution. His death by crucifixion was only a temporary injury, however, because the Son of God was resurrected and now awaits the time when he will return and figuratively pulverize Satan's head. This makes a strong connection between the deceiver in the Garden and the adversarial spirit who had Y'shua put to death.
Additional support for this comes from an apocryphal text titled Acts of Kyriakos and Julitta, in the section where the hero passes through the waters of the Abyss. There he encounters:
Nachash can have any of three or more meanings, depending on how it's used. When used as a noun, it means "serpent." When used as a verb, it means "divination" or "enchantment," with the connotation of hissing or whispering a spell. If used as an adjective, it means "bronze" or "luminous." These variations are all quite appropriate in the Genesis narrative. If there's a triple entendre at play, as suggested by Semitic languages expert Dr. Michael Heiser, then we're looking at a fallen seraph, not a snake.
Would Eve carry on a conversation with a snake? Perhaps if it were a possessed snake, but nothing in the texts suggests that she was at all perturbed by such an unusual thing as a spirit-possessed talking snake.
So the nachash in the Garden was a likely a shining serpentine enchanter. Whether or not this was Satan is up for debate. The Bible does call Satan a red dragon (read: fiery cosmic serpent), yes, but he's not the only one of his race of immortals who became rebellious. Nonetheless, my personal opinion is that the nachash in the Garden was the Red Dragon. I've planted myself on that ground because of the prophecy that God made when he cursed the nachash.
After the fall of man, YHVH promised that the nachash will hurt Messiah's heel, whereas Messiah will hurt the nachash's head (Gen. 3:15) [note: the "Seed of the woman" in this verse is the future Messiah]. We know from the Gospels that it was the Devil who convinced Judas Iscariot to betray Y'shua (Jhn. 13:2), which of course led to Messiah's execution. His death by crucifixion was only a temporary injury, however, because the Son of God was resurrected and now awaits the time when he will return and figuratively pulverize Satan's head. This makes a strong connection between the deceiver in the Garden and the adversarial spirit who had Y'shua put to death.
Additional support for this comes from an apocryphal text titled Acts of Kyriakos and Julitta, in the section where the hero passes through the waters of the Abyss. There he encounters:
the king of the worms of the earth, whose tail lies in his mouth [the ouroboros]. This is the serpent that led astray through passions the angels from on high; this is the serpent that led astray the first Adam and expelled him from Paradise.
Given this information, there may not be a reason to assume that the nachash was a literal snake. Perhaps Eve was speaking to a cosmic serpent, and there weren't any snakes in sight.
But...
But...
What About the Curse?
The language of the Genesis 3 account does seem to suggest that an animal is to blame. The wording of the curse in particular presents problems.
Most English versions of the Bible state that the nachash was craftier than all the other beasts of the field (Gen. 3:1). Doesn't that imply that the nachash is an animal in the bush? Actually, no, because the word other is not in the Hebrew text. The literal translation is "and the serpent he became/was crafty from all of the animals of the field." I think we could all agree that lions, leopards, hyenas, wolves, and other such predators of the plains can be very subtle and calculating. The nachash was more clever than any of them, but that statement alone doesn't necessarily make him part of the animal kingdom.
That being said, the curse placed upon the nachash doesn't make much sense when applied to an immortal dragon who lives in the spiritual realm. YHVH made a clear connection between the nachash and the animal kingdom when he said, "Cursed shall you be above all livestock and above every animal of the field" (Gen. 3:14). The nachash is made to crawl on his belly and eat dirt, behaviors which are very difficult to reconcile with what we know of Satan. The scriptures depict Satan as:
From this list it looks like the nachash cannot be analogous to Satan.
Recently, the biological sciences have shown that snakes did indeed have legs in the past, and that a small genetic change caused them to lose those legs. That's strong support for the traditional view. The nachash must have been a snake possessed by Satan, right?
Well, yes and no.
Most English versions of the Bible state that the nachash was craftier than all the other beasts of the field (Gen. 3:1). Doesn't that imply that the nachash is an animal in the bush? Actually, no, because the word other is not in the Hebrew text. The literal translation is "and the serpent he became/was crafty from all of the animals of the field." I think we could all agree that lions, leopards, hyenas, wolves, and other such predators of the plains can be very subtle and calculating. The nachash was more clever than any of them, but that statement alone doesn't necessarily make him part of the animal kingdom.
That being said, the curse placed upon the nachash doesn't make much sense when applied to an immortal dragon who lives in the spiritual realm. YHVH made a clear connection between the nachash and the animal kingdom when he said, "Cursed shall you be above all livestock and above every animal of the field" (Gen. 3:14). The nachash is made to crawl on his belly and eat dirt, behaviors which are very difficult to reconcile with what we know of Satan. The scriptures depict Satan as:
- Operating in the second heaven (Eph. 2:2; Luke 10:18)
- Roaming the surface of the earth looking for whom he can devour (1 Pet. 5:8; Job 1:7, 2:2)
- Standing as he waits (Rev. 12:4)
- Ruling over the Gentile nations (Luke 4:6-7)
- Having a throne in a particular city on the earth (Rev. 2:13)
- A mighty serpent who "sees everything that is high" and is "king over all the sons of pride" (Job 41:34)
- Possibly making temporary visits to the council in the third heaven (Job 1:6-12) [but this may instead be accomplished through some sort of telepresence]
From this list it looks like the nachash cannot be analogous to Satan.
Recently, the biological sciences have shown that snakes did indeed have legs in the past, and that a small genetic change caused them to lose those legs. That's strong support for the traditional view. The nachash must have been a snake possessed by Satan, right?
Well, yes and no.
The Downside of Hierarchies
The remainder of the curse against the nachash is simply incompatible with an earthly snake. There seem to be two parts of this curse, one part for the animals we call serpents, and one part for the cosmic serpent.
God placed enmity between the nachash and Eve, and between the nachash's seed and Eve's seed. He then promised that the Seed of the woman would crush the nachash's head; the nachash, however, would only be able to strike the heel of this Seed. This promise is known to scholars as the protoevangelium because it was the first prophecy about the good news of salvation through Y'shua. Obviously, Y'shua's big victory was not the crushing of a literal snake's head. Also, there would be no point to declaring that humans would thereafter hate snakes. Not only is that not an important enough issue to be included in God's pronouncement, but enmity exists between humans and many other types of animals—there's nothing special about that.
At this point it still seems as if there was a real snake in Eden being indwelt by Satan, but here's the big question that we must tackle: Why would an entire species be cursed because of the actions of one possessed snake? That would be like cursing the entire human race because Satan possessed Judas Iscariot and used him to betray Y'shua. The reason that the human race was not cursed on account of Judas is because none of us are under the authority of Judas. On the other hand, we are all under the headship of Adam, so we're subjected to the same curse that Adam received. Likewise, when Noah cursed Canaan, son of Ham, it was Canaan's lineage—those beneath him in the genetic hierarchy—that became affected by the curse, not his siblings.
One might argue that the serpent in the tree was half of the first pair of snakes, and that the every snake in the world descended from it, but that idea would clash with the Genesis 1 narrative, which says that God had already filled the earth with animals. Also, what about the serpent's female partner? She wasn't involved in this incident, so wouldn't she have retained her legs?
God placed enmity between the nachash and Eve, and between the nachash's seed and Eve's seed. He then promised that the Seed of the woman would crush the nachash's head; the nachash, however, would only be able to strike the heel of this Seed. This promise is known to scholars as the protoevangelium because it was the first prophecy about the good news of salvation through Y'shua. Obviously, Y'shua's big victory was not the crushing of a literal snake's head. Also, there would be no point to declaring that humans would thereafter hate snakes. Not only is that not an important enough issue to be included in God's pronouncement, but enmity exists between humans and many other types of animals—there's nothing special about that.
At this point it still seems as if there was a real snake in Eden being indwelt by Satan, but here's the big question that we must tackle: Why would an entire species be cursed because of the actions of one possessed snake? That would be like cursing the entire human race because Satan possessed Judas Iscariot and used him to betray Y'shua. The reason that the human race was not cursed on account of Judas is because none of us are under the authority of Judas. On the other hand, we are all under the headship of Adam, so we're subjected to the same curse that Adam received. Likewise, when Noah cursed Canaan, son of Ham, it was Canaan's lineage—those beneath him in the genetic hierarchy—that became affected by the curse, not his siblings.
One might argue that the serpent in the tree was half of the first pair of snakes, and that the every snake in the world descended from it, but that idea would clash with the Genesis 1 narrative, which says that God had already filled the earth with animals. Also, what about the serpent's female partner? She wasn't involved in this incident, so wouldn't she have retained her legs?
The Powers that Be
High-ranking spirits have been given charge over particular portions of the material realm. Paul calls these beings principalities and powers because they possess the authority and wherewithal to determine the course of whatever has been subjected to them in this world (Eph. 6:2). What if there is a spirit associated with each class of animals?
The Book of Enoch (i.e., 1 Enoch) is by far the most helpful text for reconciling the seemingly dual identity of the nachash in the Garden. That scripture informs us that there are spirits in charge of all of the functions of the natural world. The wind, rain, mist, dew, frost, hail, lightnings and thunders, springs of water, and so forth all are driven by spirits (which is not to deny secondary causes in the material realm). Everything operates by rules, and those rules are kept in place by spirits. Also in Enoch, the archangels are said to watch over things as diverse as Tartarus (the angelic prison portion of Sheol), virtue, and the spirits of abused children.
Since Satan is chief among the serpent spirits, it follows that the earthly serpents would be changed along with Satan at the time of the curse. There need not have been a snake speaking to Eve. Her unfazed behavior and willingness to consider the nachash's suggestion makes much more sense if that nachash was the beautiful, ancient seraph. [I do believe that Adam and Eve could see the spirit realm before the Fall.]
This is not as far out as it may seem. It's the nature of hierarchical systems that the decisions of the commanders affect the operation of everything beneath them in the hierarchy. Think about our own bodies. Our mental processes can have a dramatic impact on our body composition. A lazy mind will result in a weak and eventually diseased body. A stressed mind will result in gastrointestinal and respiratory problems. A woman who desperately wants to be pregnant can cause her body to go into pregnancy mode even though she hasn't been impregnated. This phenomenon even goes beyond organ function, to the cellular level. Medical science has come to realize that a person's thought life determines how the genes are expressed in every cell of their body. The material aspect reflects the immaterial aspect.
The Book of Enoch (i.e., 1 Enoch) is by far the most helpful text for reconciling the seemingly dual identity of the nachash in the Garden. That scripture informs us that there are spirits in charge of all of the functions of the natural world. The wind, rain, mist, dew, frost, hail, lightnings and thunders, springs of water, and so forth all are driven by spirits (which is not to deny secondary causes in the material realm). Everything operates by rules, and those rules are kept in place by spirits. Also in Enoch, the archangels are said to watch over things as diverse as Tartarus (the angelic prison portion of Sheol), virtue, and the spirits of abused children.
Since Satan is chief among the serpent spirits, it follows that the earthly serpents would be changed along with Satan at the time of the curse. There need not have been a snake speaking to Eve. Her unfazed behavior and willingness to consider the nachash's suggestion makes much more sense if that nachash was the beautiful, ancient seraph. [I do believe that Adam and Eve could see the spirit realm before the Fall.]
This is not as far out as it may seem. It's the nature of hierarchical systems that the decisions of the commanders affect the operation of everything beneath them in the hierarchy. Think about our own bodies. Our mental processes can have a dramatic impact on our body composition. A lazy mind will result in a weak and eventually diseased body. A stressed mind will result in gastrointestinal and respiratory problems. A woman who desperately wants to be pregnant can cause her body to go into pregnancy mode even though she hasn't been impregnated. This phenomenon even goes beyond organ function, to the cellular level. Medical science has come to realize that a person's thought life determines how the genes are expressed in every cell of their body. The material aspect reflects the immaterial aspect.
In Part III we will discover the connection between Eve and the fertility goddess of Babel, and what the priests of that goddess are forever teaching about the nachash.
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