Read The Good and Evil Serpent Online
Authors: James H. Charlesworth
The compilers of LSJM suggest that the noun denotes a “burrowing snake” (see Aelian,
Nat. an
. 8.13 [of the second or third cent.
CE])
. Sincemeans “to be silent,”
43
most likely the name of the snake derived from observations of its silent movement, which is an astonishing feature of how snakes move effortlessly and silently without disturbing thin grass.
44
The compilers of LSJM suggest that the noun meant “a kind of snake.” They pointed our attention to Aelian’s
Nat. an
. 6.51, and thoughtmay be equal to
(= no. 11). We agree and suggest that
, like
, is to be identified as
pseudocerastes persicus
. To preserve the distinction between the two Greek nouns, we suggest “Persian horn viper” forand “the Persian horn viper” for
.
45
Lampe did not find the latter word in Patristic Greek. The name may derive from its color sincedenotes “black,” and
can also denote a “black-tailed sea fish.”
46
This indeterminate snake probably was revered by Greeks,
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who often kept pet snakes in the home. These snakes killed mice and rats; etymologically, the present noun derives from the appearance of, “mouse,” or “rat” in its name.