The Good and Evil Serpent (141 page)

18
. R. Bultmann,
The Gospel of John: A Commentary
, trans. G. R. Beasley-Murray (Oxford, 1964) pp. 151–53. In a note on p. 152, Bultmann adds “John puts no emphasis on the identification of Jesus with the serpent.” This is correct, but Bultmann perceived that John, without emphasis, did identify Jesus with the serpent.

19
. R. Schnackenburg,
The Gospel According to St. John
, 3 vols., trans. K. Smyth (New York, 1965) vol. 1, pp. 395–96.

20
. R. E. Brown,
The Gospel According to John
, 2 vols. (Anchor Yale Bible; Garden City, N.Y., London, 1966, 1971; reprint New Haven) vol. 1, pp. 145–46.

21
. W. R. Cook,
The Theology of John
(Chicago, 1979) p. 75.

22
. E. Haenchen,
John 1
, trans. R. W. Funk (Philadelphia, 1980) p. 204, see p. 207.

23
. G. S. Sloyan,
John
(Atlanta, 1988) p. 46.

24
. D. A. Carson,
The Gospel According to John
(Leicester, England, Grand Rapids, 1991) p. 201.

25
. L. Morris,
The Gospel According to John
(Grand Rapids, 1995 [rev. ed.]) p. 199.

26
. T. L. Brodie,
The Gospel According to John
(New York, Oxford, 1993) p. 199.

27
. Schnackenburg,
The Gospel According to St. John
, vol. 1, p. 396.

28
. Translation mine. E. Ruckstuhl,
Jesus im Horizont der Evangelien
(Stuttgart, 1988) p. 308.

29
. P. W. Comfort and W. C. Hawley,
Opening the Gospel of John
(Wheaton, 1994) p. 50.

30
.
Hellenistic Commentary to the New Testament
, ed. M. E. Boring, K. Berger, and C. Colpe (Nashville, 1995) pp. 260–61.

31
. C. R. Koester,
Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel
(Minneapolis, 1995).

32
. D. T. Olson,
Numbers
(Louisville, 1996) p. 137.

33
. The Targum Onkelos to Numbers has the people grumble against “the Memra of the Lord.” See I. Drazin,
Targum Onkelos to Numbers
(University of Denver, 1998) pp. 208–9.

34
. Also see Num 21:8. The translators of the TANAKH chose “the Lord sent
seraph
serpents against the people,” and added a footnote: “Others ‘fiery’; exact meaning of Heb.
seraph
uncertain” (their use of italics). J. Milgrom also chooses not to translate
seraph
. He also points out that the LXX has “deadly” and Targum Onkelos “burning.” J. Milgrom,
Numbers
(Philadelphia, 1990) p. 174.

35
. Olson,
Numbers
, p. 136.

36
. Note that Philo of Byblos refers to the sacred serpents or snakes that are “fiery”
(HE
1.10.46).

37
. Also see the discussion of 2 Kgs 18:4 later in this book.

38
. See B. Rothenberg,
Timna: Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines
(London, 1972) pp. 129–32.

39
. Milgrom,
Numbers
, p. 175.

40
. S. R. Hirsch,
The Pentateuch: Numbers
, trans. I. Levy (Gateshead, 1989) vol. 4, p. 382.

41
. P. J. Budd fails to do so in his
Numbers
(Waco, Tex., 1984) pp. 232–35.

42
. T. R. Ashley and J. Scharbert do not clarify that the serpent was often viewed as a positive symbol in the ancient Near East. See Ashley,
The Book of Numbers
(Grand Rapids, 1993) pp. 402–6; J. Scharbert,
Numeri
(Wurzburg, 1992) pp. 84–85.

43
. M. Noth,
Numbers: A Commentary
, trans. James D. Martin (Philadelphia, 1968) p. 158.

44
. B. Maarsingh,
Numbers
, trans. J. Vriend (Grand Rapids, 1985) p. 75.

45
. Translation mine. H. Jagersma,
Numeri
, 3 vols. (Nijkerk, 1983–90) vol. 2, p. 89.

46
. Milgrom,
Numbers
, p. 459.

47
. R. K. Harrison,
Numbers
(Chicago, 1990) p. 278.

48
. Olson,
Numbers
, p. 136.

49
. Noth,
Numbers
, p. 157.

50
. Maarsingh,
Numbers
, p. 76. Unfortunately, Maarsingh refers to the copper (bronze) serpent as an “objectified evil.” The copper serpent is symbolic of the good; it is the sign that God is the source of healing.

51
. Jagersma,
Numeri
, vol. 2, p. 90.

52
. Milgrom,
Numbers
, p. 173.

53
. Translation mine. Scharbert,
Numeri
, p. 84.

54
. Harrison,
Numbers
, p. 277.

55
. Ashley,
The Book of Numbers
, pp. 405–6.

56
. Olson,
Numbers
, p. 137.

57
. See esp J. G. Frazer, “The Story of the Cast Skin,”
Folk-lore in the Old Testament: Studies in Comparative Religion, Legend and Law
(London, 1918) vol. 1, pp. 66–74.

58
. K. R. Joines,
Serpent Symbolism in the Old Testament: A Linguistic, Archaeological, and Literary Study
(Haddonfield, N.J., 1974) p. vi.

59
.
Barn
. 12.6; for the Greek see either K. Lake,
The Apostolic Fathers
(LCL 24; Cambridge, Mass., London, 1965) vol. 1, p. 384, or A. Lindemann and H. Paulsen,
Die Apostolischen Vdter
(Tubingen, 1992) p. 56.

60
. See the insightful comments and the abundance of iconographical symbols in M. Avi-Yonah,
Art in Ancient Palestine
(Jerusalem, 1981).

61
. As W. B. Tatum proved, the LXX clarifies that some Jews after the Exile understood the Second Commandment to be polemically anti-idolic: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (RSV; Exod 20:4 = Deut 5:8). Tatum rightly points out that in the Greek rendering the word for “idol,”
eidolon
, receives a unique new nuance in Hellenistic Judaism. It designates not something only partially real but “alien gods and their images.” Tatum, “The LXX Version of the Second Commandment (Ex. 20, 3–6 = Deut. 5, 7–10: A Polemic Against Idols, Not Images,”
JSJ
17 (1986): 176–95; see esp. pp. 184–86.

62
. D. Simpson,
Judas Iscariot: The Man of Mystery, History, and Prophecy
(Waterloo, Iowa, 1943).

63
. M. Rudwin,
The Devil in Legend and Literature
(La Salle, 111., 1931) p. 43.

64
. J. B. Russell,
The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity
(Ithaca, London, 1977) p. 218. M. Eliade’s insights, quoted on p. 68, are not formative.

65
. J. B. Russell,
The Prince of Darkness
(Ithaca, London, 1988) p. 63.

66
. A. K. Turner,
The History of Hell
(New York, London, 1993) p. 64. In so far as this statement is focused only on the
ApJn
it is somewhat accurate, but that is not clear in Turner’s book.

67
. P. Stanford,
The Devil
(New York, 1996) p. 2.

68
. A better paradigm for studying the symbols of Satan and the various meanings of serpent symbolism is found in P. Carus,
The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil
(Chicago, 1900; New York, 1996).

69
. See the similar reflections by P. Stanford, when he is summarizing Jung’s thought, in
The Devil
, p. 273.

70
. We will see that the name “Eve” does not appear this early in the story; the quotation is from G. Messadie,
The History of the Devil
, trans. M. Romano (London, 1996) p. 228.

71
. The first one to suggest that the serpent is the Devil may well be the author of the Wisdom of Solomon (cf. Wis 2:23–24). Also, see the judicious comments by S. H. T. Page,
Powers of Evil: A Biblical Study of Satan and Demons
(Grand Rapids, 1995) esp. pp. 14–15.

72
. See esp. J. B. Russell,
Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages
(Ithaca, London, 1984) p. 67.

73
. E. Gardiner, ed.,
Visions of Heaven and Hell Before Dante
(New York, 1989) esp. p. 177.

74
. Lord Byron, “Cain: A Mystery,” in
The Works of Lord Byron
(Ware, Hertfordshire, 1994) p. 511.

75
.
The Works of Lord Byron
, p. 515 (italics not mine).

76
. Calvin,
The Gospel According to St. John
, trans. T. H. L. Parker, ed. D. W. Torrance and T. F. Torrance (Grand Rapids, 1988) p. 73.

77
. Most of the books that bear the noun “serpent” in the title have nothing to do with this creature. The fascination with snakes is simply employed to sell a book. N. Jones’
Power of Raven: Wisdom of Serpent
(1994) is, however, a penetrating examination of Celtic women’s spirituality. For lore on the serpent, see pp. 106–7, 127, 130, 179. For research on the Yoga of Kundalini Sakti, see A. Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe),
The Serpent Power
(1919, 1964 [7th ed.]).

78
. Far too many books also fail to include a discussion of the serpent. See, for example, K. König,
Bruder Tier: Mensch und Tier in Mythos und Evolution
(Stuttgart, 1967).

79
. Some authors, whom one would expect to include a discussion of ophidian iconography, provide no help. The serpent does not fear the human when the latter is naked;
pace
O. Seel,
Der Physiologus: Tiere und ihre Symbolik
(Zürich, 1995 [7thed.]) p. 20.

80
. H. M. Westropp and C. S. Wake,
Ancient Symbol Worship
(1875; Whitefish, Mont., 1997) p. 39.

81
. J. Wyly examines the Priapus myth, moving “freely between the realms of physiology and imagination,” and avoids any connection between phallus and serpent, although he includes an image of Priapus with a snake (from the archaeological museum in Verona). Wyly,
The Phallic Quest: Priapus and Masculine Inflation
(Toronto, 1989). The quotation is on p. 12. The illustrations are frequently taken from the Greek and Roman periods, and many of them are from Pompeii or Herculaneum.

82
. See the illustration on p. 39 in D. Leeming and J. Page,
Goddess: Myths of the Female Divine
(New York, Oxford, 1994).

83
. For a drawing, see S. Schroer and T. Staubli,
Body Symbolism in the Bible
, trans. L. M. Maloney (Collegeville, Minn., 2001) p. 165.

84
. The full bibliography for each work will be given in a note the first time the publication is cited. The reference data will also be found in the Selected “Serpent” Bibliography. I have cited only books at this point; that is to stress the abundant—basically unknown—research on serpent imagery.

85
. K. Lapatin,
Mysteries of the Snake Goddess: Art, Desire, and the Forging of History
(Boston, New York, 2002). Lapatin amasses data that tend to discredit the authenticity of the statue of the snake goddess in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. That figure and fifteen other so-called Minoan statuettes can no “longer be employed as evidence for Aegean Bronze Age art, religion, or culture” (p. 187).

86
. Also, see R. W. Hood, “When the Spirit Maims and Kills: Social Psychological Considerations of the History of Serpent Handling Sects and the Narrative of Handlers,”
IntJPsycholRelig
8 (1998) 71–96. See the impressive bibliography on pp. 94–96.

87
. Joines,
Serpent Symbolism in the Old Testament
.

88
. See esp. regarding the serpent as the symbol of rejuvenation, Eliade, “Myths of the Origin of Death,” in his
Essential Sacred Writings from Around the World
(San Francisco, 1967) pp. 139–44.

89
. U. Winter,
Frau und Göttin
(OBO 53; Freiburg and Göttingen, 1983); H. Brunner,
Das Hörende Herz
(OBO 80; Freiburg and Göttingen, 1988); A. Berlejung,
Die Theologie der Bilder
(OBO 162; Freiburg and Göttingen, 1998).

90
. J. Milgrom,
Handmade Midrash
(Philadelphia, 1992).

91
. J. H. Charlesworth, “The Pictorial Apocrypha and Art History,” in M. Bernabo,
Pseudepigraphical Images in Early Art
(North Richland Hills, Tex. 2001) p. ix.

92
. See, e.g., C. Luz,
Das Exotische Tier in der Europäischen Kunst
(Stuttgart, 1987).

93
. See S. Battaglia,
Grande dizionario della lingua Italiana
, 20 vols. (Turin, 1996).

94
. Ibid., vol. 18, pp. 738–39. This noun appears in Dante’s
Inferno
to denote the serpent that torments the wicked
(Inf
. 25–91).

95
. Ibid., vol. 18, p. 739.

96
. Ibid., vol. 18, pp. 740–41.

97
. Ibid., vol. 18, pp. 741–42. For the meaning “to move elegantly and with agility,” see
Verga
2.308. For the meaning “to be astute,” see
Fausto da Longiano
4.43.

98
. The Rainbow Spirit, the focus of all creation, is a serpent. See esp. J. Corowa and N. Habel, for “the Rainbow Spirit Elders,”
The Rainbow Spirit in Creation
(Collegeville, Minn., 2000).

99
. B. Johnson,
Lady of the Beasts: Ancient Images of the Goddess and Her Sacred Animals
(San Francisco, 1988) p. 124.

100
. A. T. Mann and J. Lyle,
Sacred Sexuality
(Rockport, 1995) p. 16.