The Good and Evil Serpent (123 page)

Third, the noun
,” “crawler,” can generically denote a serpent because it crawls on the earth (cf. Gen 3:14). The noun
” corresponds to epnetoq which means anything that moves on all fours; the Greek noun can also denote a snake.
²³³
According to the author of Genesis 7:21, the list of creatures that died in the Flood included “creeping” animals. Some of these included species of snake (see next paragraph).

Fourth, the generic noun
seems to include snakes. The clause
, which appears twice in Leviticus 11:41–42, means “all creeping (creatures) that creep.” The clause includes snakes. A similar clause,
, which appears three times in Leviticus 11:20–23, denotes “all swarming (or flying) insects,” like bees, flies, or edible locusts (recall Qumran and John the Baptizer); in this passage it does not include snakes. In Genesis 7:21, however, the clause
, “the creeping [creature] that creeps on the earth,”
²³⁴
includes a snake (cf. Lev 11:29, 41–42 [compare Aramaic
which also means a “creeping thing,” “reptile,” or “snake”]).
²³⁵
As we saw with Genesis 7:21, the verb
(
eres)
in the Qal means not only “to swarm” or “to fly,” but also “to creep.” In his commentary on Genesis,
²³⁶
Rashi insightfully opined that the
Sheratzim
could include a reptile.
²³⁷

Biblical scholars have incorrectly presupposed that the
was originally a reptile and a serpent. The Yahwist, who compiled Genesis 3 from ancient lore and myths, presents his composition with echoes. Through his gifted ability to develop the characters in his story, he presents the Nachash with human characteristics; he does not yet crawl as a reptile. Genesis 3 begins with the words that the serpent was the cleverest “beast of the field [
] that the Lord God had made.” The
is categorized among the beasts. The author expects his readers to know the concept later added to Genesis by the P-writer in 1:24. God created cattle
, creeping animals (or reptiles [
]), “and the beast of the earth” (
). It should be obvious that “the snake” is not like the cattle. And he is not categorized with reptiles.
²³⁸
He is one of the beasts of the field or earth. After God curses “the serpent,” the Nachash loses his earlier characteristics and is virtually indistinguishable from the “creeping animals,” which includes, after God’s curse, not only crocodiles and lizards, but also the snake.