What was the serpent in the Garden of Eden?

[RV_Wizard]

In Genesis chapter three, we learn about the fall of man.  The serpent told Eve "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."  This was intriguing to Eve, so she ate the fruit from the tree and gave some to Adam, who also ate.  Thus, through the sin of man, sickness and death came into the once perfect world.  The animal kingdom, designed as vegetarian, became a array of predators and prey.  From that moment on, death was assured to all living beings.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, "Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life."  So the serpent, previous to that command, was NOT a snake and did NOT crawl on its belly.  So what did it give up?  Most would say legs, but what it it wasn't legs?  What if the serpent lost the ability to fly and went from the highest flying of the animals to the lowest crawling of them?  Certainly, that would be a greater fall than just the loss of some stubby legs.

Very little is said of the serpent.  It is pretty clear that Satan was within the serpent when it spoke, but it must have been a very  unique creature if its ability to speak didn't send Eve running in terror.  I'm pretty sure most of us wouldn't expect speech from an animal.  Maybe the serpent was something more.

Thoughts?

[AdHoc]

If the Serpent of Eden was one and the same as the one described in Ezekiel 28, he was the most beautiful and gifted of creatures. It was this beauty and talent that led to his fall. The serpent of the Garden was surely not abhorrent. The things of Satan are usually attractive. Eve was enamored by him and not repelled.But a change must have taken place because the Serpent of Eden becomes a "Dragon" in Revelation. His diet ... dust! From Serpent to Dragon needed much eating and his diet of dust leaves no doubt what made him great.

But there is another question that begs an answer - and you alluded to it in your title. That is, if Adam and Eve were commanded by the Lord to "Dress and Keep" the Garden of Fellowship, what was the serpent doing there anyway? It looks very much like Adam and Eve had disobeyed God in other things long before eating the forbidden fruit. They were also told to "subdue", and here was the chief rebel. What was Adam and Eve thinking by entertaining him?

[Michael37]

My thought has long been the divinely predetermined nature of the serpent, its special ability to strike.

Gen 3:1 KJV Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.

Gen 3:1 NKJV Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. 

Gen 3:1 BSB Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. 

Gen 3:1 CEV The snake was sneakier than any of the other wild animals that the LORD God had made. 

[Marilyn C]

41 minutes ago, RV_Wizard said:

In Genesis chapter three, we learn about the fall of man.  The serpent told Eve "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."  This was intriguing to Eve, so she ate the fruit from the tree and gave some to Adam, who also ate.  Thus, through the sin of man, sickness and death came into the once perfect world.  The animal kingdom, designed as vegetarian, became a array of predators and prey.  From that moment on, death was assured to all living beings.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, "Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life."  So the serpent, previous to that command, was NOT a snake and did NOT crawl on its belly.  So what did it give up?  Most would say legs, but what it it wasn't legs?  What if the serpent lost the ability to fly and went from the highest flying of the animals to the lowest crawling of them?  Certainly, that would be a greater fall than just the loss of some stubby legs.

Very little is said of the serpent.  It is pretty clear that Satan was within the serpent when it spoke, but it must have been a very  unique creature if its ability to speak didn't send Eve running in terror.  I'm pretty sure most of us wouldn't expect speech from an animal.  Maybe the serpent was something more.

Thoughts?

Satan`s tactics are described as - (Rev. 12: 9)

 

the Serpent - deluding.

the devil - destroying.

Satan - accusing.

the Dragon - devouring.

 

Christ the Conqueror, overcame his every tactic. 

[Jedi4Yahweh]

44 minutes ago, RV_Wizard said:

In Genesis chapter three, we learn about the fall of man.  The serpent told Eve "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."  This was intriguing to Eve, so she ate the fruit from the tree and gave some to Adam, who also ate.  Thus, through the sin of man, sickness and death came into the once perfect world.  The animal kingdom, designed as vegetarian, became a array of predators and prey.  From that moment on, death was assured to all living beings.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, "Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life."  So the serpent, previous to that command, was NOT a snake and did NOT crawl on its belly.  So what did it give up?  Most would say legs, but what it it wasn't legs?  What if the serpent lost the ability to fly and went from the highest flying of the animals to the lowest crawling of them?  Certainly, that would be a greater fall than just the loss of some stubby legs.

Very little is said of the serpent.  It is pretty clear that Satan was within the serpent when it spoke, but it must have been a very  unique creature if its ability to speak didn't send Eve running in terror.  I'm pretty sure most of us wouldn't expect speech from an animal.  Maybe the serpent was something more.

Thoughts?

Obviously, the serpent before God cursed him was not like any other serpent we know today.  This serpent was considered a beast of the field which means it had legs and was considered some type of cattle or mammal that grazed the fields.  I use to believe the serpent was some type of dinosaur, not really sure if I lean that way today.  After the curse the bible says the serpent was cursed to crawl on its belly and eat dust with its food.  If you look a all reptiles today they all crawl on their belly and eat dirt mixed with their food.  Snakes, turtles, allegators, lizards, etc...  I read a lot noncanonical books like Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher, and the apocrypha and many of those books state there was a time before the flood that animals spoke and communicated with man.  Also, talks in the books of Jasher about how the fallen angels not only interbreed with humans to create giants but also corrupted and interbreed with animals to form gigantic creatures which we might would call dinosaurs today.  God said before the flood that all flesh had become corrupted to include animals.

And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. ... The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. [Gen 6:7, 11-13 ]

[Michael37]

57 minutes ago, RV_Wizard said:

Maybe the serpent was something more.

Further to its special ability to strike being God-given, that it was used in close proximity to the God-given Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil speaks to the inevitability of opposition to God.

It is the Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil because eating of its fruit immediately gave Adam and Eve "experiential" knowledge of both coexisting paradigms, the good being their prior obedience to God's instruction. and the evil being their subsequent disobedience to Him.

[TrueFollowerOfChrist]

2 hours ago, RV_Wizard said:

In Genesis chapter three, we learn about the fall of man.  The serpent told Eve "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."  This was intriguing to Eve, so she ate the fruit from the tree and gave some to Adam, who also ate.  Thus, through the sin of man, sickness and death came into the once perfect world.  The animal kingdom, designed as vegetarian, became a array of predators and prey.  From that moment on, death was assured to all living beings.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, "Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life."  So the serpent, previous to that command, was NOT a snake and did NOT crawl on its belly.  So what did it give up?  Most would say legs, but what it it wasn't legs?  What if the serpent lost the ability to fly and went from the highest flying of the animals to the lowest crawling of them?  Certainly, that would be a greater fall than just the loss of some stubby legs.

Very little is said of the serpent.  It is pretty clear that Satan was within the serpent when it spoke, but it must have been a very  unique creature if its ability to speak didn't send Eve running in terror.  I'm pretty sure most of us wouldn't expect speech from an animal.  Maybe the serpent was something more.

Thoughts?

Actually a flying serpent is certainly not out of reach. It could have been a type of dragon, especially since we know dragons were actually real. It's impossible to know for sure, but what I find most impressive about the story is that Eve was not bothered that an animal was talking to her. I heard it said once that CS Lewis got his idea for talking animals and Narnia from the story in the Bible about it talking serpent and donkey. I don't mean to sidetrack, but I believe this also means that we will be able to actually talk to the animals on the new Earth. As far as the serpent, it seems kind of unfair to me that an entire species of creature could be cursed simply because of the actions of Satan. But then again the entire creation was cursed because of this and of Adam and Eve, so what do I know?

[Tristen]

Revelation 20:2
He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

It was certainly Satan.

My question is, 'Why are snakes are held accountable?'

Genesis 3:14
So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.

I may be overinterpreting this - but it seems like a curse on all snakes - which now travel on their bellies. So I wonder how the progenitor snake earned this curse.

Or maybe it only refers to Satan, and the biological snakes moving on their bellies is an ancillary coincidence.

 

[Marilyn C]

The serpent is a SYMBOL. A symbol of Satan as the deluder. 

We know of the symbol of the Lamb as though it had been slain with 7 horns and 7 eyes, (Rev. 5: 6) but we don`t go into all the detail and say what a strange Lamb. We know it is a SYMBOL of Christ`s sacrifice and the power of the Holy Spirit, (the 7 fold Holy Spirit)

When know that a lamb can be brought to the sacrifice `silent,` and thus it represents the Lord in His humble attitude to dying for us. 

So too the serpent is a SYMBOL, but of Satan. When we see a snake we know that it can be cunning and slithering on its belly, while other reptiles have legs to get around with. Thus, we realise that God was limiting Satan more by reducing his ability to get around. 

It is NOT about the serpent but Satan and his ability, his authority that God is addressing. 

[Your closest friendnt]

@RV_Wizard. It is quite simple when we consider what God said at that time.He first pronounced the judgement to Adam and Eve and then he said something about the Savior to come for mankind only or more specific he said to the Serpent that the matter has not be set yet and he has to face in a duel the seed of the woman who will have the knowledge of good and evil and be in the Life of God. He can't keep his spoiles forever, that will be decided at a future time and he was given the know how that he will loose the authority he has by taking the first couple and with them their descendants by default at the time of their death. Later God set apart Abraham and his chosen children from the rest of the dead of the world and from the God of the dead HADES. Who did not have any authority over them, they were God's people after their death. Waiting for Jesus Christ. 

Further he was informed that God will provide a Savior for the people that he will take some of the people who had died from the Serpent but not all and he pronounced the  Judgement that he will provide a Savior for man and will provide a Heavenly Inheritance for man. That the earthly man will have a Heavenly Inheritance and the Serpent who had fallen from Heaven to the earth will never be restored to the Heaven again but he will remain on the earth forever the place where he fallen that's is going to be his new Inheritance.  The Serpent who was part of Heaven fallen in two the earth. His new Inheritance for ever. God will not provide a Savior for him. The Heavenly has inherited the earth forever and the earthly man has inherited the Heavenly. The point it was that the Serpent will be Judged and the authority the Devil had to take and Judged mankind after their death will be taken from him and be given to Jesus Christ at the time of his death on the Cross. All authority has been given to me in Heaven and the earth and in all things under the earth. God made Jesus Christ the Judged of all people of the world.  

Edited April 8, 2024 by Your closest friendnt