The Good and Evil Serpent (133 page)

The snake probably does not denote a “viper” or
vipera lebetina
, as suggested by C. Leitz in his
Die Schlangennamen in den ägyptischen und griechischen Giftbüchern
. The noun
evolves from xiScop, “water.”
⁶²
The noun appears frequently in Classical Greek, being used by Homer (
Iliad
2.723), Herodotus (2.76), and Aristotle (
Hist. an
. 487
^a
23 and 508
^b
1). It may evolve further into
, “an amphibious reptile,” found in Patristic Greek (cf. Epiphanius,
Pan
. 25.7).
⁶³

⁶⁴
The compilers of LSJM reported that
denoted “a kind of
toad said to puff itself up”
and “a poisonous
fish which puffs itself out.”
⁶⁵
Now we need to add the meaning “puff adder.” The noun
signifies a snake that “puffs”—obviously a “puff adder”—since
means “to puff.” The Greek noun does not appear in Patristic Greek.
⁶⁶

According to the compilers of LSJM,
indicated only a “swallow’s nest.” This is the meaning in Aristotle’s
Historia Animalium
(626
^a
12), but we now know, thanks to the newly published papyrus on ancient poison, that the Greek noun also denotes a poisonous snake, perhaps a “desert cobra.” Note that, according to the third-century
CE
physician Philumenus,
specified a kind of asp;
⁶⁷
hence, in light of the new philological data, “desert cobra” seems a good choice. The etymology of the new noun seems uncertain. The noun
(note the shift in accent) has long been known to denote a certain type of fig.

The second-century
BCE
Epicurean Nicander in his
Theriaca
(411) used this noun to denote, perhaps, an “amphibious snake.”
⁶⁸
The base meaning, of course, is a snake associated with water (
); hence, “water viper” seems appropriate. The Greek noun does not appear in ancient Christian literature.
⁶⁹