The serpent in Genesis 3, and the ancient serpent in Revelation
Says Genesis 3 names a serpent, הַנָּחָשׁ, one of the creatures “that the Lord God had made” (3:1, BSB). It is more עָרוּם, crafty, than any beast of the field — an adjective with a good sense in Proverbs 12:16, 23 and a bad sense in Job 5:12. The word sounds like עֲרוּמִּים, naked, in 2:25. The serpent speaks and is sentenced as an animal to go on its belly and eat dust. See the Hebrew note.
Says Revelation calls the devil “that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan” (Rev 12:9, BSB), and 20:2 uses the same identification. That is what Revelation says. Genesis 3 itself names a serpent.
Implies 2 Corinthians 11:3 speaks of Eve “deceived by the serpent’s cunning” (BSB), in a chapter that names Satan (11:14); John 8:44 calls the devil “a murderer from the beginning” (BSB). With Revelation, these imply that the New Testament identifies the serpent with the devil.
Uncertain How Genesis presents the serpent is treated in the Hebrew note and in the historical note. The options set out there are a real serpent used or spoken through by Satan, as Augustine, Calvin and Keil read it; a symbolic figure in serpent form, as Philo read it, calling the serpent “the symbol of pleasure”; and a creature only in Genesis, with the identification made later, as in Jubilees and Josephus. No lean is taken here among those readings. Ancient comparisons do not fix the meaning; see the historical note.
Claims
- SaysGenesis 3 names a serpent, one of the creatures the Lord God had made, more crafty than any beast of the field; it speaks and is sentenced as an animal to go on its belly and eat dust.
- SaysRevelation 12:9 and 20:2 identify the ancient serpent as the devil and Satan. That is what Revelation says. Genesis 3 itself names a serpent.
- Implies2 Corinthians 11:3, in a chapter that names Satan (11:14), and John 8:44, which calls the devil a murderer from the beginning, with Revelation imply that the New Testament identifies the serpent with the devil.
- UncertainHow Genesis presents the serpent is treated in the Hebrew note and in the historical note: a real serpent used or spoken through by Satan (Augustine, Calvin, Keil); a symbolic figure in serpent form (Philo, for whom it is the symbol of pleasure); or a creature only in Genesis, with the identification made later (Jubilees, Josephus). No lean is taken here. Ancient comparisons do not fix the meaning; see the historical note.
Citations
- BSB public domain Gen 3:1–24
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 3:1–24 (WLC/OSHB), cantillation removed
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 3:1–24, vol. 1, pp. 4–6 (oldtestamentingr01swetuoft, viewer leaves n35–n37); Swete numbers ENG 2:25 as 3:1a and ENG 3:1 as 3:1b; read on the page images
- SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 2 Cor 11:3; Rev 12:9; Rev 12:17; Rev 20:2; 1 Tim 2:14; 1 Cor 15:21–22; Rev 22:2; Rev 2:7; Rev 22:3; Rev 22:14; SBLGNT apparatus at 2 Cor 11:3, 1 Tim 2:14, Rev 12:9 and Rev 20:2
- RP2018 Unlicense 2 Cor 11:3, 1 Tim 2:14, Rev 12:9 and Rev 20:2 (RP2018 text)
- Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Civ. 14.11, p. 272 (n295) (trans. Dods, NPNF¹ 2; CCEL npnf102.iv.XIV.11); read on the page image; paraphrased
- Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain Calvin, Genesis (King, CTS 1847), on Gen 3:1, p. 140 (n149); read on the page image; paraphrased
- Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), on Gen 3:1, p. 93 (n96); read on the page image; paraphrased
- Philo (Yonge) public domain Opif. 157 (Yonge ch. LVI, p. 47 (n60)); read on the page image; “the symbol of pleasure” quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- APOT public domain vol. 2 (1913): Jub 3:28, p. 17 (n36); read on the page image; paraphrased
- Josephus (Whiston) public domain Ant. 1.1.4 = 1.40–51 (Whiston, 1817, vol. 1), pp. 9–11 (n18–n20); read on the page images; paraphrased
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-10
Open in Reader All notes on this passage