The Good and Evil Serpent (128 page)

The noun
or
can mean a “fish” or “sea-fish,” but it also denotes a snake.
²⁶
Perhaps the name derives from the snake’s association with “marshy ground” (
), but the rough breathing reduces the similar sound of the two Greek nouns.

The noun
denotes not only an animal that goes on all fours but also a snake. The basic meaning is an animal that crawls. The verb behind this noun is
, which is found only in Homer (
Odyssey
1.193, 13.220 and
Iliad
23.225); it means “to creep” or “to crawl.”
²⁷
Thus,
signifies a snake generically as a crawling creature. This is the third word in our list that appears in the New Testament (see final comments).

This is the fourth noun in our list that appears in Classical Greek, New Testament Greek (Mt 3:7, Acts 28:3),
²⁸
and Patristic Greek (under the influence of Mt; viz. John Chrysostom,
Hom II.2 in Mt [7.150D]).
²⁹
The etymology of the noun is unclear. In Classics (viz. Aeschylus,
Choephori
249 and Sophocles,
Antigone
531) and the New Testament (viz. Mt 3:7; 12:34; 23:33; Lk 3:7),
³⁰
the noun can connote or denote a negative meaning. The noun
is also the proper name of a monster (Hesiod,
Theogony
297). It would be misleading to assume that this noun always had a negative connotation. It can represent something positive; for example, it can denote the heavenly chariot drawn by vipers (Nonnus,
Dionysiaca
13), which is elegantly shown on Medea sarcophagi (especially the one in Basel). In the
Sibylline Oracles
5.169 we find the noun
(not found in LSJM or Bauer [6th ed. of 1988]),
³¹
which means “delighting” or “rejoicing in vipers.”
³²
Sibylline Oracle
5 was composed by a Jew, living in Egypt, between 70 and 132
CE;
the author disparages those living in Rome and rejoicing in vipers. Those against whom he polemicizes revered snakes since they found “grace,” “goodwill,” and “beauty” (
) in a “viper” (
). Related to
is the noun
, which specifies a young viper (cf. Aristotle,
Hist. an
. 558
^a
29).
³³