The Good and Evil Serpent (163 page)

124
. Another serpent may have been to the left of what remains since a wing protrudes into the scene. I am grateful to L. Guglielmo for discussing this piece with me.

125
. See the further comments by Gunkel,
Genesis
, p. 15.

126
. The paronomasia is cleverly developed by the Yahwist; see the following discussion.

127
. Le Grande Davies, “Serpent Imagery in Ancient Israel,” p. 57.

128
. One of the brilliant aspects of Le Grande Davies’ “Serpent Imagery in Ancient Israel,” is the speculation that the “serpent in Genesis 3, [sic] is the ‘earliest’ recognizable challenge to the ‘Serpent symbol’ of YHWH.” See p. 57.

129
. For further discussion, see C. Meyers,
Discovering Eve
(New York, Oxford, 1988) p. 91.

130
. G. von Rad rightly points out that the “Schlange” is one of God’s creatures and certainly not some demonic power or Satan: “[S]ie ist also im Sinne des Erzählers nicht die Symbolisierung einer ‘dämonischen’ Macht und gewiß nicht des Satans.” G. von Rad,
Das erste Buch Mose
, p. 61.

131
. In African mythology, “the Snake” spoke in the language of mortals and died because he “should have used spirit language.” G. Parrinder,
African Mythology
(New York, 1982) p. 61.

132
. Meyers,
Discovering Eve
, p. 92.

133
. MacCulloch,
ERE
, vol. 11, p. 403.

134
. Perhaps at this point the reader has forgotten the meaning of Pos.; it refers to the Positive Meaning of a serpent explained in Chap. 5.

135
. Perhaps at this point the reader has forgotten the meaning of Neg.; it refers to the Negative Meaning of a serpent explained in Chap. 5.

136
. B. Gosse-Antony refers to the “duality represented by the serpent’s role” (“dualité représentée par le rôle du serpent”). Gosse-Antony, “L’écriture de Gn 3, le serpent dualité de la femme et de l’homme,”
BN
98 (1999) 19–20; the quotation is on p. 19.

137
. J. Skinner,
Genesis
(Edinburgh, 1910) pp. 71–72.

138
. Ibid., p. 2.

139
. Moberly,
JTS
NS 39 (1988) 2.

140
. Since my work is focused on serpent iconography and Gen 3, I cannot engage in a dialogue with him and other scholars regarding many aspects of the text. I do agree with Speiser that the Yahwist has “transposed” everything “into human terms” (p. 25). I also am attracted to his insight that the Yahwist thereby “evoked” the “childhood” of humankind by portraying God Yahweh calling out to his creature with a meaning such as “And what have you been up to just now?”

141
. Joines,
ZAW
87 (1975) 8.

142
. See, e.g., A. Van den Branden, “La création de l’homme et de la femme d’après le document Jahviste,”
BeO
166 (1990) 193–208.

143
. See especially
Enuma Elish
I in
ANET
, pp., 63, 160–61 and the Gilgamesh epic Tablet I, col. 4, lines 16ff.in
ANET
, p. 75. Also see Speiser,
Genesis
, pp. 24–27.

144
. It is now pertinent to report that S. Moussaieff has some unpublished ancient idols that may antedate 3000 BCE. They allegedly come from the Hurrian culture near Lake Van. One shows a seated creature; one end is uplifted to show a woman who faces a serpent with a mouth and distinct eyes. Another depicts a serpent facing one way and a woman another. The third has two serpents lifted up and facing a woman. A fourth has three serpents; beneath one may be a woman. For similar objects, see A. P. Kozloff, ed.,
Animals in Ancient Art
(Cleveland, 1981) p. 16.

145
. Fanuli,
La spiritualità dell’Antico Testamento
, p. 229.

146
. Contrast Skinner: “Whether even in Heb. it is more than an assonance is doubtful.” Skinner,
Genesis
, p. 70.

147
. See esp. how carefully constructed is Gen 3:6: paronomasia, repetition, and an
inclusio
(from
ha ‘issäh
, “the woman,” to
‘isäh
, “her husband”).

148
. A Wénin,
Actualité des mythes: Relire les récits mythiques de Genèse 1–11
(Sainte-Ode, 2001) p. 30.

149
. My idiomatic translation.

150
. P. Haupt, “The Curse on the Serpent,”
JBL
35 (1916) 155–62: the quotation is on p. 160 (transliterations mine).

151
. See P. Kübel, “Ein Wortspiel in Genesis 3 und sein Hintergrund: Die ‘kluge’ Schlange und die ‘nackten’ Menschen.” Moberly rightly points out that the Yahwist has avoided the usual way of spelling “naked,”
‘yrm
(cf. 3:7,10), and so brings out the paronomasia. Moberly,
JTS
NS 39 (1988) 24 n. 69.

152
. See also G. J. Wenham,
Genesis
(Waco, Tex., 1987) p. 81.

153
. Also see Moberly,
JTS
NS 39 (1988) 6–7.

154
. Gunkel,
The Stories of Genesis
, p. 27.

155
. Ibid., p. 29.

156
. In addition to the other references to images of serpents with feet cited earlier, see the numerous images of serpents with feet in K. Michalowski,
L’Art de l’ancienne Egypte
, esp. nos. 386 (Tomb of Tutmosis III; Eighteenth Dynasty), 391 and 392 (both from the Tomb of Amenophis II; Eighteenth Dynasty).

157
. I have placed in quotation marks the words of Speiser; see his
Genesis
, p. 26.

158
. G. von Rad,
Genesis
, p. 81.

159
. Le Grande Davies, “Serpent Imagery in Ancient Israel,” p. 55.

160
. See the philological work by Hamilton,
The Book of Genesis
, p. 171.

161
. Gen 4 and following presuppose that the woman, now Eve, has been ejected with Adam. Perhaps the ancient Semitic concept of corporate solidarity applies in Gen 3: the man, Adam, alone is mentioned but the reader knows Adam includes “Eve.” In ancient Semitic, the man often alone was mentioned, but he represented the whole family or clan (as in Lat.
paterfamilias)
.

162
. This is emphasized by Gunkel; see his
The Stories of Genesis
, p. 47.

163
. Speiser,
Genesis
, p. 23.

164
. It is difficult to discern to what extent the perception that the Nachash is female is to be found in German commentators since the serpent, “die Schlange,” in German is feminine.

165
. Note also the use of superlative verb forms, literally “eating, you may eat” and “dying, you will die;” I have used adverbs to convey the meaning in understandable English.

166
. Long before Freud, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799) examined the meaning of dreams. He observed that often one reports having been spoken to by someone. Then, on reflection, it becomes clear that the person who had spoken is none other than the self. He then wonders what earlier generations meant when they said, like Eve: “The serpent spoke to me.” Or “The Lord spoke to me. My spirit spoke to me.” Then, we do not really know what we think. We seem to imagine that another had spoken to us, but in reality we have become a third person who speaks to us. In our dreams, the other person, or snake, is often a personification of our own selves. Cf. G. C. Lichtenberg,
Gedankenbücher
, ed. F. H. Mautner (Frankfurt, 1963) p. 170.

167
. See the reflections by Gunkel,
Genesis
, p. 16.

168
. For the original Greek and an English translation, see R. Marcus,
Philo
(LCL; Cambridge, Mass., London, 1979) supplement 1, pp. 20–21.

169
. A. J. Williams, “The Relationship of Genesis 3:20 to the Serpent,”
ZAW
89 (1977) 357–74; the quotation is on p. 358.

170
. H. Gressmann, “Mythische Reste in der Paradieserzählung,”
Archiv für Religionswissenschaft
10 (1907) 345–47.

171
. Also see the linguistic study in Appendix I.

172
. Albright, “The Goddess of Life and Wisdom,”
AJSL
36 (1919–20) 284ff.

173
. An unpublished Ugaritic text contains data that may prove that YHWH was also, in some circles, considered feminine. I am indebted to Professor Marcel Sigrist.

174
. R. Couffignal,
De ‘L’arbre au serpent’ au ‘jeune homme en blanc’
(Toulouse Cedex, 1993) esp. p. 22.

175
. Moberly,
JTS
NS 39 (1988) 9.

176
. See Gunkel,
The Stories of Genesis
, p. 30.

177
. Von Rad,
Genesis
, p. 87.

178
. Joines,
ZAW
87 (1975) 1.

179
. B. F. Batto,
Slaying the Dragon: Mythmaking in the Biblical Tradition
(Louisville, 1992) p. 59. Batto rightly argues that the Yahwist probably “derived the character of the serpent in part from
Gilgamesh”
(p. 60).

180
. See esp. Westermann,
Genesis
, vol. 1, p. 324, and O. H. Steck,
Die Para-dieserzaehlung: Eine Auslegung von Genesis 2, 4b-3, 24
(Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1970) p. 101.

181
. See von Rad,
Genesis
, p. 90.

182
. D. Jobling, “The Myth Semantics of Genesis 2:4b-3:24,”
Semeia
18 (1980) 41–49; the quotation is from p. 42.

183
. Moberly is convinced that the Yahwist is thinking that the human is often unaware of the processes that lead to decay and death; see Moberly,
JTS
NS 39 (1988) 17–18.

184
. The curse that produces enmity between the serpent and women is not easy to understand. Long ago, Reinach argued that the miseries of menstruation and childbirth are to be traced to serpent symbolism. In Iran, menstruation is deemed to be caused by demons, esp. Angra Manyu, who is symbolized by the serpent. Reinach, “Le Serpent et la Femme,”
LAnthropologie
16 (1905) 178–80.

185
. The Hebrew words “You shall surely die!” perhaps indicate that the fruit is poisonous. For Hebraic forms for condemnation, see V. P. Hamilton,
The Book of Genesis 1–17
(Grand Rapids, 1990) pp. 172–73.

186
. There may be some glosses in the present account. See K. Jaros, “Die Motive der Heiligen Bäume und der Schlange in Gen 2–3.”

187
. One should not argue, as did biblical exegetes long ago, that the Yahwist is referring to a day of God as if it were a thousand years (cf. Ps 90:4).

188
. See D. J. A. Clines, “Themes in Genesis 1–11,”
CBQ
38 (1976) 490.

189
. E.g., cf. Gen 15:18.

190
. See Moberly,
JTS
NS 39 (1988) 14.

191
. E.g., cf. Prov 12:16.

192
. There is the possibility that originally the story was much shorter and the disobedience was immediately followed by expulsion. See Westermann,
Genesis
, pp. 195 and 256–57; and Moberly,
JTS
NS 39 (1988) 19.

193
. See D. O. Procksch,
Die Genesis
(Leipzig, Erlangen, 1924 [2nd and 3rd ed.]) p. 30 and H. Seebass,
Genesis I
(Neukirchener-Vluyn, 1996) p. 120.

194
. Batto,
Slaying the Dragon: Mythmaking in the Biblical Tradition
, p. 59.

195
. von Rad,
Genesis
, p. 81.

196
. For a general discussion of serpent cults throughout the world and through time, see S. A. Cook, “Serpent Cults,”
Encyclopedia Britannica
20 (1949) 368–71.

197
. The Hebrew noun behind “belly” comes from the verb to bend, which is better known in Aramaic. The noun “belly” appears elsewhere in the TANAKH only in Lev 11:41; there again it is used with the verb
hlk
and likewise pertains to reptiles or snakes.

198
. R. H. Charles,
The Book of Jubilees
(Oxford, 1902) p. 26, note to
Jubilees
3:23.

199
. Josephus,
Judean Antiquities 1–4
, trans. and commented on by L. H. Feldman
(Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary
, ed. S. Mason (Leiden, Boston, 2000).

200
. See Kronholm,
Motifs from Genesis 1–11 in the Genuine Hymns of Ephrem the Syrian
, p. 113.

201
. For the Hebrew text, see E. G. Clarke et al.,
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan of the Pentateuch
(Hoboken, N.J., 1984) p. 4. For the English translation, see M. Maher, trans.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Genesis
, p. 27 (italics his).

202
. Midrash Rabbah, Ecclesiastes X.11. For the Hebrew text, see
(Jerusalem, 1993) p.
For the English translation, see H. Freedman and M. Simon,
Midrash Rabbah
(London, 1951) p. 274.