cheenc03a.pdf

SERPENT
'okain, to 'invert' or .turn round,' as describing the
motion of a serpent.'
SERPENT
countrywhich. byclimate, roil. and geographical position.
6. y,~, :@ha' (Is. l4zg.t tqxyova doni8wu). AV
8 rnckat;ice; RV ' ba+ilirk: EVW . adder.' From Is.
1 4 it ~ appears ~ that rdphn' drnotes a more deadly
animal than ndhrii, though itself lclr formidable than
isdpir (see Dillm. ad Zoi.). The Vg, renders rrguius,
and it is possible that the fabled ' basilisk' is intended :
but the 'asps' brood' of the LXX seems equally likely.
7. ,!J"+ :$h'Yni (h./ouo dorri6wv. Is. 118 ; doriser,
Is. 595; xepdon)r, EV 'adder,' RVW *basilisk,' Pr.
23s~ ; 'u ~,@p, d@es [cp no. 31 8ovoroDvrrr [EV], Jei.
81,~t), AV 'cockatrice,' RV ' basilisk,' EVW 'or
adder' except in PI. 233% where 'adder' is in the text.
Perhaps, as Trirtnim (NHB 275) and Cheyne suggest. a
large viper like Dabcia =anthino (FFP 14~) isintended
by bothriph'oniandthe kindredgdha', CpCoc~ATarcs.
The rggl mentioned in 15. 585 arc an objection lo this
idcntifiruon. Hcnce the cat-mnke (Ailrra$his viimz now
called l'ar6a$hisfal~~) bar heensuggested by Funer(~i~B121
I+~;Y): and fhl:, II ir true, may formerly have extended
S. of 'N. Syria. The eggs of the monitor lizard varonvr
"ilorims (still caten) would prcduce creatures fairly like vipers.
8. rigg. +qpOo (4Xiuor, Is. 34~5). AV 'great owl.'
Ar. +afar= means 'to spring,' and Ar. Bnfia (=li,p)
and its fem. +efasa are both quoted (P. Smith, Ther.
Syr. r375, Lag. Uirberr.. 89) as meaning a kind of
serpent. The etymology would suggest rome rapidly
springing make, such as Eryr jrm lcbetinn, synr. V. ruphrotiia
and Daboia ronfhina. (d) P7 omrnodytef, the longnosed
or sand-viper, mainly nocturnal and found on
hills. (r) Echir carinorur, ryns. B. armiro/n, found in
the desert near the Dead Sea. It ir said to produce a
characteristic hiraing or flating sound by rubbing its
serrated scaler togeiher. - A. E. 8.-N. M.
(e) The art of serpent-charming, still practised in
Egypt, -~ Palestine, and India, was known to the ancient
~
Hebrews (see Ps. 584J Jer. 8
3, Pagic,
rr Eccles.
1011 Ecclus. 1213 Ja. 3 ~). who, howfolk-lore'WJd
ever, like the dervish snake-chamen
m*holoW'
of to-day, found venomous serpents
deaf to incantations ico , . PPFO = , Tan. 180~. ,.. n. .
20
-,, f , I.
In En. 79-12 (PI xe hear of Mores and Aaron turnme
their rod; (by the divine power) into serpents, and th;
Egyptian magicians (did the original rtary say, 'the
magicians of Misrinl '?-see hlosrs, 5 6) prfoming
the same feat. The converse of this (serpents stiffened
into rods) in still common (see above on the cobra) with
Eastern jugglers. J however, so far as we know, only
told of Moier turning his rod into a serpent (see Ex. 43) ;
its supernatural power must surely (in the oldest form
potamia in histarichl timer, confined with one erscption, of the tradition1 have excluded the comoetition of the
10 the Paleolropxc and Aurtmlmn rsgioni(cp Houghron). Egyptian sorcerers, though it in true that in the end,
=nd mort ancient interpreters confused brj$dr wah &$ad: according to P, sAaron'r rod swallowed up their rods.'
but erymolagy and context show them to be distinct. AVS
'great owl ' ir not ruppmrsd by or ancient txada~on Cp PLAGUES (TEN), 5 4.
(see Boch. ii. 3 1 ,); but there is force ,n the sontentbn that a (b) Another element in Hebrew folk-lore vas probably
bird ir ruggalted by the dermiption (Houghton, Aced., ,884, a veneration for the supernatural character oi certain
lnp2J ; Port. Hartlngr' DBSaj,).
9. q??, iztroph(Nu.?18), q~ Din: (Nu. 216Dt. 815).
serpents. Of course we need not credit the Irraeliter
with the full Arabian ruperrtition respecting serpents.
and q9iyp qg (Is. 1429 306). The rendering *fiery On the other hand, we can well imagine that much was
serpent' of EV is due to the derivation from o,b.
,.+
'to popularly believed in Israel which has found no record
burn' which still remains the mort probable explanation in the OT (the names Dragon's Well. Serpent's Pool
[Jor.], and Zohrleth confirm us in this view; see
DRAGON, 5 4). Those who regard Ule narrative in
(;en. 3as of native Palertinianor even Jerahmeelite origin
..- . ~ ,,.,.
(see 5 ;) may therelore b+ excused if they look for
, .: . . IhGn iiyxdl)#ruor. . . .. Gen. 49 rr . ti. , EV illustrations of it in Arabian folk. lore. The most
accessible
renders 'adder.'
sources of information are Robertson Smith's
.4VW ' arrowsnake,' RVmg horned
Re/. Scm. (see 120, 13% 168 n.
snake, the Cerartri (see 5 a [b]),
3, 172). a ~ Well- d
cp Ar.
hausen'~ R ~ S ~ ATG~. C ~~id.19 ' s ~ ~
11. tannin (Ex. ig lo X*), RVW. 'Any large
In the li hl of these face ir becomes very natural that the
reptile' ; Pr. 9113 RV, AV 'dragon' ; Deut. 3233 (EV %".pent m ten. 3 (or rarher thc daZpmu within it) should know
' dragon ' ; Dr. 'reptile.') : cp Dnnco~.
the qualities of the fruit of the sacred tree. He might indeed
conseivnhly hare been regarded a. the spirit of the tree, for such
Ar we have seen, rnakez are no rarity in Palestine, a a spiritwould becomevii~ble inrerpenr form: ,Or until latelywe
mighr plausib!y have held that he was originrlly thought of
1 For 6nd 3 cp .4r. tkn'loZ= ipd, 'for'; see S~AALABBXM.
as the protective Gaipuv of the Harunhslan (rer enc clan ; on
2 11" PS.DI we may doubt the combination 'lion. Wellhluren.~ theory ar lo Eve compare Evr fiIvlrss and
I'AEAD~SE,
and 'adder,' ' yuung lion ' (YD1)nnd 'driigon.'
a I.). ~h~ prerenr'wirer now ,hir
B'r
,Aeory
in'imgo (once ro nntura1)ai definircly aef aside. Not IFSI cerfalnly may
prerupporer Cpi ((cp z rhoveh'.nd in Job4 lo B.rapwdviwv(for wc affirm that the serpent of the Plradire Italy war neither a
n"I'52)pru"ppurer 0'313, an ofheruiw unknown word for ' ZO' riioitzn nor the szrm-ir. nether one of the pmiciourmskedimonr
crlled shairins no: the Jrwirh-Christian Saran who is
the rhaien #errrirll~"cr.'
According lo Sprenger, Goldziher, and "as, Vloten (in .=at-
6undel =an Prol: W Gal>, 189~. p. 38J)
an ~ld
Arabic word. This is eryemely plaur~bls bur a 1% parrib~e
thlr cvncctions have been introduced into aid texts by Mohun-
4394