The Good and Evil Serpent (126 page)

The “Asian viper” most likely derives its name because some Greeks thought of the quickness of the snake (Nicander,
Theriaca
491, Philumenus,
De Venenatis Ani-malibus
, and Lucian,
Dipsades
3)
⁸
or because of the “shooting forth” (
) of poison from (or the tongue of) the reptile (cf. Epiphanius,
Pan
. 61.8).
⁹

The etymology of “Persian viper” is not clear. Most likely the name of the snake is associated with the sandy soil in which it is found since
means “sand-burrower” (see next entry).

The fundamental meaning of “Horn-viper” in Greek is “sand-burrower”
¹⁰
since
means “sand” or “sandy ground.”

While virtually every species of snake is amphibious, being equally at home in water or on land, the Greek noun
denotes a type of serpent that moves backward or forward.
¹¹
Perhaps the noun denotes the small snake (and worm) that has a head virtually indistinguishable from its tail.

The noun
also means “bright,” as in bright and flashing lightning.
¹²
Perhaps the meaning originates from the lightning-fast movement of the snake or its shining skin, especially in bright sunlight.

This name is the one the author of the
Lives of the Prophets (De Vitis propheta-rum
) chose to indicate the species of snake that Jeremiah used to rid Egypt of poisonous snakes (Jer 2:6).
¹³
The name of this reptile is also probably etymologically derived from the Greek word meaning “bright” or “flashing.”

The English word “asp” is a transliteration of the Greek name for the adder that is more threatening to humans than the cobra because it is more aggressive.
¹⁴
Most likely this Egyptian cobra provided the idea for the uraeus that signified royalty and kingship for the pharaohs.
¹⁵
This is the first word in our list that appears in the New Testament (see final comments). The word may be onomatopoeic since
asp
sounds like the hiss of an asp.

Again, the English word is basically a transliteration of the Greek noun. Etymo-logically, the word relates to
, “king.” The Basilisk is a mythical creature in Greek and Roman mythology.
is also a diminutive of ßaoOieuq, denoting “princelet” or “chieftain.”
¹⁶