The Good and Evil Serpent (88 page)

Paul uses refined words for “snake” in Romans and the generic term in the Corinthian correspondence. This fact presents one with intriguing questions: Was Paul’s intended audience more sophisticated in Rome than in Corinth? Or was he elevating his language so as to present himself authoritatively to the unknown Romans who belonged to the Jesus Movement?

In Romans 1:23, Paul’s reference to “the snake” is generic and non-symbolic. In this verse he refers to humans who make idols that resemble snakes. In Romans 3:13 Paul argues that all people, Jews and Greeks, are “under the power of sin,” and that no one does good; indeed: “[T]he venom of asps is under their lips.” The ophidian symbolism is negative. Paul clarifies that such people “use their tongue to deceive.” Uppermost in Paul’s mind in Romans 3:13 seems to be the serpent as the symbol of the Liar or Deceiver (Neg. 5).

In 1 Corinthians 10:9, Paul warns against idolatry, pointing out that we must not test the Lord: “[A]s some did and were destroyed by serpents.” The asps sent by God are apparently represented in Paul’s next words: “[N] or grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.” He assumes his readers know the story in Numbers 21:5. He is using the symbol of the serpent primarily to denote the one who is the Destroyer (Neg. 2) and the one who kills (Neg. 1). Also implicit is the symbolic meaning of the serpent as the one who carries out God’s intentions (Pos. 19).

In 2 Corinthians 11:3, Paul reveals his exegesis of Genesis 3. He is convinced: “The serpent deceived Eve through his cunning.” Paul rightly imagines that the serpent is masculine. But the serpent is not clever or wise, as indicated by the Hebrew text and clarified by the Septuagint. He is diabolically “cunning”
. The serpent did not ask Eve a question and provide insight into what would happen if, or when, she ate of the forbidden fruit. He “deceived” Eve. The serpent is a knave or a rogue.
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Paul seems also to miss the Yahwist’s subtle use of language and careful development of the dramatis personae. At this point in the Eden Story, the serpent’s interlocutor is an anonymous woman; she is not yet named “Eve.” Paul misses the opportunity to point out the Yahwist’s intention and insight: Humans are also partly responsible for evil. That position would have been helpful to Paul as he warns his readers of the false apostles, the theme of 2 Corinthians 11:1–15. In 2 Corinthians, Paul has inherited the concept of the serpent as the Liar or Deceiver (Neg. 5). While Paul knows the positive meanings of the serpent in his culture, he almost always emphasizes the negative meaning of the serpent—at least in his writings that have been preserved.

Figure 80
. Christ Enthroned on Lions. Note serpent in his left hand. Greek Orthodox Church. Capernaum. JHC

The author of Acts uses the word “viper”
to describe an event that occurred on Malta. Paul, along with supposedly all on board a ship that was destroyed by a violent storm, made it to shore. The natives built a fire and Paul helped gather kindling. A viper shot out of a bunch of sticks and fastened on Paul’s hand. The natives assume that the viper had been sent by a god to punish Paul, who must be a murderer. Paul shakes off the viper into the fire, suffering no harm. When Paul does not swell up and die, the natives conclude that Paul “was a god” (Acts 28:6). The narrator does not mention that the viper bit Paul. Perhaps the viper did not bite Paul, and that is likely in terms of ophiology, given the attempt of a viper to escape the fire and find safety in an “arm.”

The author of Acts 28:1–6 inherits and uses many aspects of serpent symbolism. All are positive. Two are most important. The viper is initially perceived to be one who is a messenger of the gods; one who carries out a god’s judgment (Pos. 19). Second, the appearance of the viper reveals Paul may be a god. Is that because the viper could not kill Paul? If so, the serpent may first symbolize the Death-Giver (Neg. 1) and then reveal Divinity (Pos. 11).

Numerous questions arise that are not discussed by the commentators. Is the relation between the viper and Paul a disclosure that Paul, like the gods, is symbolized by a serpent (Pos. 11)? To what extent is magic (Pos. 16) involved in this story? The author may have employed ophidian symbolism to bring out mystery, wonder, and awe (Pos. 17). To what extent is the author imagining the serpent to represent immortality (Pos. 27)? A study of ophidian symbolism has brought out dimensions of the story or history in Acts 28:1–6 that have been missed by exegetes, commentators, and even those who have mastered narrative exegesis.

The most stunning use of positive ophidian symbolism found in the Synoptics is attributed to Jesus. He sends his disciples out “as sheep in the midst of wolves” and instructs them to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Mt 10:16). This is a most intriguing passage that deserves study informed by ancient serpent symbolism. Now, only three points may be clarified. First, the symbolic association of serpents with doves antedates Jesus by at least fifteen hundred years.
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For example, as we have already seen, serpents and doves appear on incense stands found at Beth Shan. The serpents seem to denote spring, life (Pos. 20), and the appearance of new life (Pos. 27). Second, since Jesus is depicted sending his disciples out as sheep among wolves, his injunction to be like serpents may mirror the serpent symbolizing the guardian (Pos. 6). Wolves eat sheep and the disciples need protection. Third, and clearly the prima facie meaning of Matthew 10:16, Jesus’ saying brings out the predominantly Jewish symbolic meaning of the serpent: It represents wisdom. Jesus may be alluding, or the Evangelist may have him allude, to Proverbs 30:18–19. Jesus is not therefore mixing metaphors; he is not pointing to a deceptive serpent, but to the shrewdly alert serpent.
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The serpent as a symbol of shrewdness and wisdom is found in the Jewish apocryphal works, as we have seen, and is clear in the Septuagint rendering of Genesis 3:1 (see that discussion). Most likely Matthew’s choice of words—”be wise as serpents”
—was shaped in light of the Septuagint’s version of Genesis 3:1: “And the serpent was the wisest”
.

According to Matthew 10, Jesus is speaking to men who know about daily life in Palestine. Jesus is sending out his disciples as sheep among wolves. The latter represent the ravenous ones who resist the disciples’ good news and strive to devour them. Jesus tells his disciples in such circumstances to be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves. The serpents represent cunning, prudence, caution, and wisdom. The doves signify fidelity, revelation, simplicity, and innocence.
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Thus, in Matthew 10:16, the serpent primarily symbolizes wisdom (Pos. 18).

Ignorant of the Jewish perception that the serpent can symbolize wisdom, Gregory of Nyssa in
On Virginity
quoted Jesus’ words (probably from Matthew) but shifted Jesus’ positive symbolical use of the serpent. Note how the Jesus tradition is rewritten:

It is clearly contained in that passage where our Lord says to His disciples, that they are as sheep wandering amongst wolves, yet are not to be as doves only, but are to have something of the SERPENT too in their disposition; and that means that they should neither carry to excess the practice of that which seems praiseworthy in simplicity, as such a habit would come very near to downright madness, nor on the other hand should deem the cleverness which most admire to be a virtue, while unsoftened by any mixture with its opposite; they were in fact to form another disposition, by a compound of these two seeming op-posites, cutting off its silliness from the one, its evil cunning from the other; so that one single beautiful character should be created from the two, a union of simplicity of purpose with shrewdness. “Be ye,” He says, “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
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In
On Christian Doctrine
, Augustine cites Jesus’ saying in Matthew 10, but he also is preoccupied with the serpent’s negative symbolism. Note how far off from Jesus’ positive use of the serpent is Augustine’s teaching: “We were ensnared by the wisdom of the
SERPENT:
we are set free by the foolishness of God.”
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In his
Sermons on New-Testament Lessons
, Augustine repeats the misinformed exegesis: “The devil again is a serpent, ‘that old serpent’; are we commanded then to imitate the devil, when our Shepherd told us, ‘Be ye wise as serpents, and simple as doves’?”
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Augustine seems lost for an answer because he misses the rich positive symbolism of the serpent. The answer is “yes;” the wise, intelligent, truth-speaking animal created by God (cf. our exegesis of Gen 3).

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is portrayed twice using serpent symbolism. In Luke 10, referring to the imagery in Psalm 91, Jesus gives the group of seventy followers authority “to tread upon serpents and scorpions” (Lk 10:19). In this verse, the serpent represents something negative, perhaps the Destroyer (Neg. 2), God’s Antagonist (Neg. 11), and the Devil (Neg. 12).

According to Luke 11:11, Jesus asks: “What father among you if his son asks (for) a fish will give him a serpent instead of a fish?” What does “serpent” signify in this verse? When one fishes in the Sea of Galilee, a serpent may be caught in the net along with fish. The fisherman does not have to be very discerning to distinguish the serpent from the fish; he can easily cast the serpent back into the water and keep most of the fish. As the fish denote sustenance and renewed life, the serpent may symbolize death or the Death-Giver (Neg. 1).