Who is the serpent in Genesis?

Question

"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, "You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Genesis 3:1

Who is the serpent? Why is the serpent able to converse with humans?

The scripture below shows that the serpent is not figurative:

"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 eat dust all the days of your life." Genesis 3:14

Answer 1

The serpent is the snake on the forbidden tree which got Eve interested to eat the apple from the same.

It was actually the devil (aka Satan/Lucifer) speaking to Adam and Eve in the form of a snake

Answer 2

The Serpent in Genesis is a snake that was created by God and placed in the Garden by God. Some suggest that this serpent was especially created for this particular purpose. Genesis clearly states that the Serpent was one of the most clever creatures God had made.

The Serpent characterized chaos (evil) in the garden that was relatively a place of order. The Hebrew term for Serpent is nahas. The Serpent in Ancient Mespotamian culture was known as a symbol of choas/evil. So naturally as the Christian understanding of Satan/Devil was developed Christians began suggesting that the Serpent in the Garden was the Devil himself. This is first noted actually in Jewish literature during the intertestamental period.
However, the most natural reading of the text and the original understanding of the text that this was just a serpent. Not a head ruler of a spiritual realm. When you understand the culture and connatations that were associated with the Serpent then you see how the Serpent was symbolic of evil/choas. God had placed CHOAS in the MIDST of Order. This was to be a lesson for Adam and Eve. THey choose CHAOS. They experienced CONSEQUENCES. And they truely recieved the knowledge of good and evil, thus becoming moral beings.

Answer 3

The serpent is the devil.

In another translation, Genesis 3:14 says "So the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you will be punished. You are singled out from all the domestic and wild animals of the whole earth to be cursed. You will grovel in the dust as long as you live, crawling along your belly."

Answer 4

In Judaism, the Serpent was just a serpent. This was before the Church needed an antithetical figure to oppose them, to increase the coffers and worshiper turn out.

The serpent, in sumnation, is just a tricky animal that could talk. Satan came much, much later. Infact, the Jews didn't have Satan as any kind of antithesis, but more as a test.

Answer 5

You are correct in that story the serpent is a litteral snake. If you read the banned book 1 Adam and Eve the serpent kills them and is then denied speech! However in that book adam dies 8 times and eve 5 and the word keeps bringing them back. It is very amusing to read!

Answer 6

The serpent was either satan or one of his minions.

The fact that god neglected to tell adam and eve to KILL every serpent they saw is Highly suspicious imo.

Or at the very least, he could have stationed a few Angels in the garden and near the tree to keep a eye out.

Thats what a responsible parent would do obivously.

Answer 7

Understanding, of course, alot of the language in the bible is metaphorical the term for serpent in Hebrew is "ha nachash" which is a noun that can be used in three different verbal forms: 1.) one who practices divination;
2.) a polisher of brass
3.) a "shining one"
Realizing that the name "Lucifer" means literally "Shining One" and the link in 2Corinthians 11:14 which says, "And no wonder; for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.", it becomes obvious that the serpent spoken of in Genesis is none other than Satan himself. Compare this also to Revelation 12:9 which reads, "So the Great Dragon was cast out, that "serpent" of old, called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." As for why Satan converses with humans, the answer is simple: He hates us. God gave dominion of the earth to man and Satan was infuriated. First, Satan loses his bid to raise his throne higher in Heaven than God's Throne, then he loses another bid to gain control over the earth to a mere man. But Satan isn't a dumbass; in fact, he's a brilliant strategist and tactician, and he knows that his intellect is far, far above any human. But he also knows that we aren't dumbasses, either. He knows that due to our fallen nature we can be just as cunning and ruthless in our demands of any deal he may try to engage us in. So it simply is a matter of not having anything to do with him or his people on the earth. This is all very real. And don't fall for that crap that it's all a myth because other cultures have stories similar in their histories. Satan has had alot of time on his hands and as I wrote earlier, he's a brilliant tactician. His primary work is to deceive as much of the world as he can. And he does this mainly by making appeals to people's sense of vanity and intellect- that "I'm much too educated and sophisticated to believe in such myths" crap. Satan knows his future and final abode in the Lake of Fire, and he wants to take as many of us with him as he possibly can-make no mistake about it.

Answer 8

It's figurative you can be sure. Even in a multifaceted sort of way.
Serpent=Devil/ Evil
Devil/Evil= Temptation
Temptation= Freewill
Freewill= Human
Human= goodness
Goodness= God

Or it's a phallus
Phallus = male
male= forked tongue
forked tongue =my ex-boyfriend
my ex-boyfriend= the Devil

Answer 9

The serpent was none other than Jake the Snake.

Answer 10

The devil masquerading as a serpent. The father of all lies.
he likes to put on many disguises in today's present time fooling believers and non-believers alike. Causing confusion, anger, hatred, bitterness, division among family, friends, causing people to doubt God, the accuser of guilt, need I go on?