Introduction

Snakes loom large in Scriptures, with the various nouns for it appearing about three dozen times, while its synonym, serpent appears another two dozen times. Despite its frequency the snake remains largely a matter of superstition even among Christians, producing the weirdest responses from Christians than almost any other subject. My daughter is a zoologist specializing in snakes and we have been rebuked more than once by Christians for giving her our blessings to do so. One reason she chose the specialty, she said, was because—and as Christian responses prove—they are the underdog of all God's good creatures. That they are is not surprising; humans everywhere, with or without a theology in which a snake was the great tempter, have always been aversive towards snakes. In every culture, even until today, any person who has a positive relationship with snakes—like my daughter—would have been seen as, if not as witches, someone with magical powers.

For these reasons, snakes are the most misunderstood—though some of the most beautiful—of all God's creatures. Those who rebuked us were naive ignorant Christians, not spiritual ones.

Before we begin our exploration of snakes in the Bible, and what they mean, let me clarify a few mundane fact about snakes. Snakes are not "slimy." If you think they are, your ignorance is abject and absolute. Snakes are dry and smooth to the touch; so don't ever parade your ignorance be ever saying snakes are slimy creatures. Snakes that kill with their bites, and these are in the minority, are said to be venomous, not poisonous. Snakes are poisonous only if they kill you when you eat them. There are more venomous snakes than there are poisonous ones; and extremely few are both venomous and poisonous. The majority of snakes are neither. Venomous snakes often strike with a "dry bite" to save their valuable venom; they strike only to scare you off because you appear a threat to it, even if you do not know you are doing so. Some countries, notoriously Australia, have more species of venomous ones than other. There are no snakes in New Zealand and Ireland. And, contrary to popular views, snakes are more afriad of you than you need to be of them. It is easier to be over-dramatic and sensational with snakes than with any other animal. So mind your thoughts about them and, if you do see one of them, just walk quietly away and leave it alone. Most of all, stop bad-mouthing them; they are God's creatures.