The Good and Evil Serpent (169 page)

179
. Trans. A. C. Coxe, “The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans,”
ANF
1, p. 87 (italics mine).

180
. As M. M. Beirne states, Mary Magdalene and Thomas, through the narrative, prove the Johannine shepherd imagery; they respond to the shepherd’s calling them by name. See Beirne,
Women and Men in the Fourth Gospel
(Sheffield, 2003) p. 210.

181
. A gifted linguist might ask, “Since the Greek verb for ‘to touch’ also can mean ‘to eat’ (cf.
Odyssey
4,60 and esp. Plutarch,
Antonius
17[923]), is the Fourth Evangelist creating a subtle paronomasia here with the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden?”

182
. John Chrysostom,
Homilies on Colossians
6; trans. G. Alexander, “John Chrysostom: Homilies on Colossians,”
NPNF1
13, pp. 286–87. I altered the translation by removing an archaism.

183
. See esp. W. Bauer,
Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity
, ed. R. Kraft and G. Krodel (Philadelphia, 1971) and H. E. W. Turner,
The Pattern of Christian Truth: A Study of the Relations Between Orthodoxy and Heresy in the Early Church
(London, 1954).

184
. For a list of titles of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel, see M.-E. Boismard and A. La-mouille,
L’Evangile de Jean
, vol. 2, p. 53.

185
. The words are dominical and
ex ore Christi
(placed in Christ’s mouth).

186
. A good case may be made for some authentic Jesus traditions hidden behind Jn 3:14; see the arguments of C. L. Blomberg,
The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel
(Downers Grove, Ill., 2001) p. 183. Also see the general, often brilliant, reflections of P. N. Anderson in
The Christology of the Fourth Gospel: Its Unity and Disunity in the Light of John 6
(Tübingen, 1996).

187
. Lactantius,
The Divine Institutes
3.20; trans. W. Fletcher, “Lactantius: The Divine Institutes,”
ANF
7, p. 92.

188
. Also see Origen,
Cels
. 6.4.

189
. Tertullian,
Apology
46; trans. Thelwall, “Tertullian: Apology,”
ANF
3, pp. 50–51. Also see Tertullian’s
The Chaplet
10,
Ad Nationes
2.2 and
A Treatise on the Soul
1, and
The Five Books Against Marcion
3.28.

190
. Ephrem had intensively and carefully studied Gen, esp. chap. 3; see the discussion by Kronholm, “The Cruse on the Serpent,”
Motifs from Genesis 1–11 in the Genuine Hymns of Ephrem the Syrian
, pp. 112–18.

191
. Ephraim Syrus,
Hymns on the Nativity
1; trans. J. B. Morris, “Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh,”
NPNF2
13, p. 224.

192
. Cyril of Jerusalem,
Catechetical Lectures
13.20 (Cyril goes on to stress that the saving medium is “wood,” and points back to Noah). The translation cited is by E. H. Gifford, “Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures,”
NPNF2
7, pp. 87–88.

193
. Gregory Nazianzus,
The Second Oration on Easter
22; trans. C. G. Browne and J. E. Swallow, “Gregory Nazianzen: The Second Oration on Easter,”
NPNF2
7, p. 431.

194
. See the study of the concept of the Holy Spirit from Clement of Alexandria to Origen by H. Ziebritzki in
Heiliger Geist und Weltseele
(Tübingen, 1994).

195
. Ambrose,
Of the Holy Spirit
3.8.50; trans. H. De Romestin, “Of the Holy Spirit,”
NPNF2
10, p. 142. Italics are mine.

196
. A similar exegesis is provided by Augustine, who then became carried away by typology: “[J]ust as by gazing on that serpent which was lifted up in the wilderness, they did not perish by the bites of the serpents. For ‘our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.’ For by the serpent death is understood, which was wrought by the serpent in paradise, the mode of speech expressing the effect by the efficient. Therefore the rod passed into the serpent, Christ into death; and the serpent again into the rod, whole Christ with His body into the resurrection; which body is the Church; and this shall be in the end of time, signified by the tail, which Moses held, in order that it might return into a rod. But the serpents of the magicians, like those who are dead in the world, unless by believing in Christ they shall have been as it were swallowed up by, and have entered into, His body, will not be able to rise again in Him.” Augustine,
On the Trinity
3.10.10; trans. A. W. Haddan, “Augustine: On the Trinity,”
NPNF1
3, p. 64. Also see Augustine,
Reply to Faustus the Manichaean
12.30.

197
. C. Lantinga, “Christ, the Snake,”
Per
6 (March 1991) 14.

198
. See Theobald,
Herrenworte im Johannesevangelium
, pp. 209–18. He is convinced that Mk 8:31 is “den
Basistext”
for Jn 3:14.

199
. Harrison,
Numbers
, p. 279.

200
. See Attridge and Oden,
Philo of Byblos
, pp. 66–67.

201
. Note also 11QPs
^a
27.2–3: “And David, the son of Jesse, was wise, and a light like the light of the sun … and perfect in all his ways before God and men.”

202
. K. Gemälde-Galerie in Vienna; Klassischer Bilderschatz, Nr. 999.

203
. P. E. Testa drew attention to images of the cross as or with a serpent; some of his interpretations are imaginative. See Testa, “La croce come serpente,”
Il simbolismo dei Giudeo-Cristiani
(Jerusalem, 1962) pp. 278–82.

204
. Berlin, SMB-PK, MSB, Inv.-Nr. 4730. For a photograph, see S. Schaten, “Oberteil einer Grabstele,” in
Ägypten Schätze aus dem Wüstensand
(Wiesbaden, 1996) p. 122.

205
. H. Leclercq,
DACL
15 (1950) 1356 (see Illus. No. 10881).

206
. G. Cioffari and M. Miele,
Storia dei Domenicani nell’Italia Meridionale
(Naples-Bari, 1993) vol. 1, p. 141.

207
. The painting is now restored. On the destruction by the Turks, see G. Mal-dacea,
Storia di Sorrento
(Naples, 1843) vol. 2, p. 213; and F. J. [= Filippo Iapelli], “Mater Auxiliatrix,”
Societas: Rivista dei Gesuiti dell’Italia Meridionale
39 (1990) 53–54. I was assisted in studying the Madonna di Casarlano by la Dott.ssa Lara Guglielmo, and express my appreciation for her assistance during my tenure as Most Distinguished Foreign Professor of the University of Naples.

208
. A. Caruso,
Mater Auxiliatrix
(Naples, 1946) pp. 9–10.

209
. See F. Japelli [= Filippo Iapelli], “Mater Auxiliatrix,” 53–54. I am grateful to Father Iapelli [he prefers “I”] for his insights and assistance as I studied the painting and worked in the Bibliotheca San Sebastiano, Casa Professa del Gesù Nuovo, Naples. I am also appreciative to him and his superiors for permission to publish my photograph of the painting.

210
. Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789–1869) also depicted John the Evangelist with a chalice from which a serpent ascends. See M. Bernhard, ed.,
Deutsche Romantik Handzeichnungen
(Herrsching, n.d.) vol. 2, p. 1078.

211
.“Giovanni il prediletto, con un calice di serpi.” A. Caruso,
Ferite Aperte
(Bari, 1958) p. 7. Also see Caruso,
Mater Auxiliatrix
(the first edition of Caruso’s booklet), p. 7.

212
. According to the
Acts of John
and the
Acts of John by Prochorus
, John’s death is peaceful; he lies down in a trench, with his disciples watching, and dies. According to the
Acts of John at Rome
, the apostle drinks a cup of poison before Emperor Domitian, but he does not die (as prophesied for apostles in Mk 16:18). According to the
Syriac History of John (= History of St. John at Ephesus)
, the apostle lived until he was 120 and died peacefully. According to the Gospels, John either seems to suffer a martyr’s death (Mk 10:39) or did not suffer martyrdom (Jn 21:22–23).

213
. According to
Liber Flavus Fergusiorum
(c. fifteenth cent.), John drank poison (but he did not die). See R. A. Culpepper,
John the Son of Zebedee: The Life of a Legend
(Columbia, S.C., 1994) pp. 241 and 236.

214
. This negative meaning seems apparent in other paintings, especially the one by El Greco (1541–1614) in which John the Evangelist holds a cup out of which a dragon rises. See Culpepper,
John the Son of Zebedee
, p. 253. Perhaps some paintings of John the Apostle with a viper in a cup reflect the legend that Aristodemus, the high priest of Diana at Ephesus, forced John to drink poison (cf. also the legend that Domitian forced John to drink poison). In each legend, John drinks the poison but does not die.

215
. The power of the serpent’s blood continues to be paradigmatic. In Southeast Asia, men sometimes drink serpent’s blood before entering a brothel. I am grateful to Magen Broshi for conversations focused on serpents and on the aphrodisiac use of their blood.

216
. See J. Campbell,
The Mythic Image
(Princeton, N.J., 1974) Illus. No. 279.

217
. Our present research adds to the probability that Ignatius may have known the Gospel of John.

218
. P. E. Testa, “La mitica rigenerazione della vita in un amuleto Samaritano-Cristiano del iv secolo,”
Liber Annuus
23 (1973) 286–317.

219
. Asurmendi, “En Torno a la Serpiente de Bronce,” 292.

220
. A. Houziaux,
Le Tohu-bohu, le serpent et le bon Dieu
(Paris, 1997) p. 7.

221
. Under the influence of the Hebrew Bible or Septuagint, some scribe interpolated “bronze” into the text of Jn 3:14 in the Persian Harmony. See W. L. Petersen,
Tatian’s Diatessaron
(Leiden, New York, 1994) p. 261. On Jesus’ symbolism also see the brilliant insights of H. Ausloos, “Mozes’ bronzen slang: Gods ‘teken van redding.’ “
Schrift
195 (2001) 69–71.

222
. H. Lesetre in
Dictionnaire de la Bible
(Vigouroux, 1912) vol. 5, col. 1675.

223
. See Saint John Chrysostom,
Commentary on Saint John
, trans. T. A. Goggin (New York, 1957) pp. 262–63.

224
. In
L’univers fantastique des Mythes
, the reader is correctly informed that the serpent in the wilderness (“le serpent d’airain”) is a symbol of Christ (“symbole du Christ”). See A. Eliot et al.,
L’univers fantastique des Mythes
(Paris, 1976) p. 175.

Conclusion

1
. See Charlesworth, ‘‘Bashan, Symbology, Haplography, and Theology in Psalm 68,” in
David and Zion: Biblical Studies in Honor of J. J. M. Roberts
, ed. B. F. Batto and K. L. Roberts (Winona Lake, Ind., 2004) pp. 351–72.

Epilogue

1
. Ophiology is the branch of zoology that studies snakes. Ophiophilism is a love of snakes. Ophiolatry is the worship of snakes. Other English words derive etymologi-cally from “ophis,” the Greek generic term for “snake” or “serpent.” Among these are ophiomancy that denote divination by means of serpents. This rich vocabulary witnesses to our fascination—even preoccupation—with snakes and serpents. The interest in snakes continues today, but the relation between the human and the snake has collapsed. The obsolescence of words like “ophiophilism” denote the human attempt to make the snake extinct.

2
. I am indebted to the reflections published by I. Vogelsanger-de Roche in
Marc Chagall’s Windows in the Zürich Fraumünster: Origins, Content and Significance
(Zürich, 1997); see esp. the outline on p. 13.

Appendix I

1
. This appendix presupposes the study of serpent symbolism in the preceding work. Note will be kept to a minimum and will tend to highlight what is not available in the well-known and easily accessible publications, especially the lexicons. I am grateful to D. Talshir for conversations; see his “The Nomenclature of the Fauna in the Samaritan Targum” (PhD diss., Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1981 [in Hebrew]). I understand he is preparing an English updated version for publication. For further study, see M. Zor,
(Tel Aviv, 1997) esp. pp. 157–63, Y. Pelikas,
(Tel Aviv, 1954), Pelikas,
(Jerusalem, 1972), and [no author],
Fauna and Flora of the Bible
(London, New York, Stuttgart, 1980 [2nd ed.]) esp. pp. 72–74, “Serpent, Viper, Adder, Leviathan.”