The Good and Evil Serpent (6 page)

C. R. Koester’s
Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel
³¹
does not discuss the concept of the serpent in the Fourth Gospel; but he does correctly stress, as we shall demonstrate, the prerequisite for understanding the symbolism that shaped it: “Johannine symbolism cannot be treated adequately within the confines of one discipline; it demands consideration of the literary, the socio-historical, and the theological aspects of the text” (p. xi).

Why have New Testament commentators missed the possible ophidian symbolism of John 3:14–15? Why have they avoided the apparent implications of this passage and circumvented the conclusion that Jesus is being compared to a serpent? The most important reason is the contemporary loss of the ancient symbolic language; as H. Bayley demonstrated, long ago in 1912, in his
The Lost Language of Symbolism
, we have lost touch with the origins of our language and its grounding in nature and the world that sustains us.

More should be suggested on why New Testament experts miss the in-depth meaning of symbols. On the one hand, these scholars have seldom been trained in symbolism; and, unlike many of their Old Testament colleagues, they have not been intimately involved in the archaeology and iconography of the Near East. On the other hand—and indeed more important—their biblical exegesis is perhaps too influenced by hermeneutics and theology, coupled, perhaps, with fears of condemnation from church leaders, dogmatic theologians, and administrators who issue salary checks and control raises and promotions. No New Testament scholar would want to be branded as one who thought of Jesus as a snake. Hence, the potential resistance to my present research might be considerable.

As we shall soon see, New Testament commentators receive rather low marks in interpreting the rich symbolism of John 3:14–15, but Old Testament commentators earn praise for their exegesis of Numbers 21:8–9, exactly the passage cited by the Fourth Evangelist. Perhaps this discrepancy within the biblical field results because Old Testament experts, in contrast to their New Testament colleagues, are forced to include archaeology and to study the myths and symbols that have shaped the biblical narratives.

It is surprising that some of the best insights regarding the symbolic meaning of John 3:14 appear not in commentaries on the Fourth Gospel but in commentaries on Numbers. For example, D. T. Olson in his
Numbers
offers the following insights:

The serpent is a potent symbol of both life and death. … The bronze serpent in Numbers 21 is one of the best-known images of the book of Numbers for Christians because of its use by Jesus in the Gospel of John. … The words of Jesus emphasize God’s desire to give eternal life to all those who look to and believe in Jesus.
³²

We now turn to what commentators report about the symbolic meaning of the serpent in Numbers 21, which is the intertext of John 3:14.

THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF COMMENTARIES ON NUMBERS 21:8–9

According to Numbers 13–14, the loss of faith in Yahweh threatens the existence of the Exodus generation. Fortunately, the Hebrews confess their sins. After hearing about the death of Aaron (20:22–29), the reader is told the story of the last in a series of complaints by the Hebrews, and it is the most devastating because the complaint is directly against God and Moses (21:5).
³³
God thus sends poisonous snakes among the people, and these kill many of them. The people come to Moses and confess their sin; they ask him to pray for them. He fulfills their request. Here is the text that is crucial for us (Num 21:8–9):

And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent,
³⁴
and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it on a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live. [NRSV]

Figure 3
. Bronze Menorah with Seven Serpents. Roman Period (?). Courtesy Shlomo Moussaieff. JHC

Two points are significant: the symbol of a serpent that gives life and the requisite action of trusting and looking up to the symbol of a serpent for healing. As Olson states, “The serpent was a symbol of evil power and chaos from the underworld as well as a symbol of fertility, life, and healing. The copper (or bronze) serpent in Numbers 21 bears some relationship to a healing ritual known as sympathetic magic, common in the ancient Near East.”
³⁵

This section of Numbers is thoughtfully composed. The “poisonous” snakes are actually “fiery” snakes, signifying at once two ideas: the burning sensation when venom attacks the human body, and the fiery anger of God when the people earlier complained to Yahweh (Num 11:1–2).
³⁶
Moses makes the serpent
(n
^e
haš)
of copper or bronze
(n
^e
hōšet)
.

The exegesis of Numbers 21:8–9 has been improved by two related archaeological discoveries. First, the image of a winged serpent placed on a rod is engraved on a bronze bowl found in the royal palace in Nineveh; it dates from the later part of the eighth century
BCE
. Moreover, on the bowl can be seen inscribed a Hebrew name. Many scholars suggest insightfully that this bowl was booty taken from ancient Palestine by Tiglath-pileser III (745–727) or Sennacherib (in 701 he besieged Jerusalem), and that it once was displayed in the Temple cult in Jerusalem. If this advice is sound, we have palpable evidence today of the positive symbol of a serpent in ancient Israel. Perhaps the bowl symbolized the story about the fiery serpents and the copper serpent made by Moses, according to Numbers.
³⁷

Second, a 12.5-centimeter-long copper serpent was found at Timna’ (north of the Gulf of Aqabah); it dates from the period 1200–900
BCE
.
³⁸
Milgrom offers the learned opinion that this discovery indicates “the snake story was inserted” into the narrative in Numbers “precisely when Israel was in the vicinity of the Timna’ copper mines.”
³⁹

The play on words (paronomasia) in Numbers 21 has most likely helped to shape the careful crafting of words in John 3:14. In Numbers, the “serpent”
(n
^e
haš)
is made of “copper”
(n
^e
hōšet)
, which as S. R. Hirsch stressed, brings out the purpose of the figure;
⁴⁰
that is, the word for “copper” in Hebrew sounds like “serpent” and thereby draws the reader’s attention to the serpent. The narrator chose his words carefully to indicate why Moses made the “copper serpent” and placed it on a pole.

Is it possible that a similar paronomasia may be found in the Fourth Gospel? Does the twofold meaning of the Greek verb in John 3:14—”to lift up” and “to exalt”—contain the Fourth Evangelist’s Christological perspective? It is conceivable that the Fourth Evangelist couched his words artistically to indicate the following: Jesus did not die on the cross; he was exalted on it. Hence he gives life, like the serpent. To all who look up to him, who is from above, he imparts life. Later, in the chapter devoted to the exegesis of John 3:14, we shall explore these exegetical possibilities.

The thrust of the passage in Numbers is that as the poisonous snake brought death, so the upraised copper serpent on the pole shall give life to all who look up to it. To demonstrate this idea, the commentators on Numbers 21:8–9 must first bring out the concept of the serpent as good.
⁴¹
They frequently do so; note these representative examples:
⁴²

In the present story the widespread religio-historical concept of the serpent as the representation or symbol of a god of healing to which one must turn might also play a part. [Noth, 1966 (German), ET in 1968]
⁴³
In Egypt the Pharaoh had a replica of a cobra fixed to his crown for protection. [Maarsingh, 1985 (Dutch), ET in 1987]
⁴⁴
In the ancient Near East, “the snake was rightly seen as a symbol of life and fruitfulness.” [Jagersma, 1988]
⁴⁵
The homeopathic use of snakes is a distinctive feature of ancient Egypt. … The association of snakes with healing is attested elsewhere in the Near East. [Milgrom, 1990]
⁴⁶
. … copper was employed widely for making snakes used in cult worship by the ancient Near Eastern peoples. [Harrison, 1990]
⁴⁷
The serpent was a symbol … of fertility, life and healing. [Olson, 1996]
⁴⁸

The commentators on Numbers must also stress that the good serpent, “the copper (or bronze) serpent,” brings “life” for all who look up to it. Note how these scholars successfully bring out this meaning of the story.

… release from the fatal effects of the serpent bites is linked to a test of obedience set by Yahweh in his free judgment. [Noth, 1966 (German), ET in 1968]
⁴⁹
. … all who were afflicted with the deadly poison were directed to fix their gaze upon this objectified evil lifted up in the air; those who did so would be healed. [Maarsingh, 1985 (Dutch), ET in 1987]
⁵⁰
Hence the raising of the copper snake on a standard is a sign of salvation in the wilderness. [Jagersma, 1988]
⁵¹
Those who looked at the snake recovered. [Milgrom, 1990]
⁵²
One who looks at it shall be healed of the snake bite. [Scharbert, 1992]
⁵³
The Lord’s response was somewhat homeopathic in nature, consisting of a bronze serpent erected upon a pole that mediated God’s healing power to any sufferer who looked upward at it. [Harrison, 1990]
⁵⁴
In both the command (v. 8) and its fulfillment (v. 9), healing must be accompanied by an act of obedience to Yahweh: looking at the image of the snake. … a definite act of the will—if one wanted to be healed. [Ashley, 1993]
⁵⁵
. … the pole with the bronze serpent stood between the dead who were not willing to look to God’s chosen instrument of healing and the living who were willing and were healed (21:9). [Olson, 1996]
⁵⁶

For the first time in the history of salvation, God commands some action from the Hebrews. This point was emphasized by J. G. Frazer in his
Folklore in the Old Testament
⁵⁷
and by K. R. Joines in her
Serpent Symbolism in the Old Testament.
⁵⁸
We have succeeded in establishing the second criterion: that the serpent was admired in Old Testament times.

Old Testament experts have accurately understood the full symbolism of Numbers 21:8–9. They have emphasized that serpents were symbols of good as well as evil. They have explicated the life-giving symbolism of the copper (or bronze) serpent, and they demonstrate the importance of the positive meaning of ophidian symbolism for understanding Numbers 21. These scholars have been trained in symbolism and in the iconography of the Near East. Since many of these scholars are not Christians, they are not in any way concerned about Christian dogmatics.

MOSES’ IMAGE AND THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

There is a problem exegetes have confronted in interpreting Numbers 21:8, “Then the
LORD
said to Moses, ‘Make a seraph figure and mount it on a standard. And if anyone who is bitten looks at it, he shall recover’ “ [TANAKH]. The problem was noted long ago in the second century
CE
by Justin Martyr in his
Dialogue with Trypho
(94). Has not God broken one of God’s own commandments?

According to Scripture, God revealed the Ten Commandments, and he said: “You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them” (Exod 20:4–5; cf. Deut 5:7–10; TANAKH). Hence, did not God break the second commandment when God instructed Moses to make an image of a serpent? Obviously, the “likeness” of a serpent is an image of what is “on the earth below” and also “in the waters under the earth.”