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1A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2She was with child. She cried out in pain, laboring to give birth.

3Another sign was seen in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns. 4His tail drew one third of the stars of the sky, and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days.

7There was war in the sky. Michael and his angels made war on the dragon. The dragon and his angels made war. 8They didn’t prevail. No place was found for them any more in heaven. 9The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

10I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ has come; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. 11They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death. 12Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.”

13When the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. 16The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth. 17The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony.

“Serpent” (nāḥāš, Heb. נָחָשׁ)

“Serpent” (nāḥāš, Heb. נָחָשׁ)

Topical Study | Gen 3:1 | Hershel Wayne House

Snakes, or serpents, and other reptiles similar to snakes that are not lizards. In the Bible there are several different species of snakes. In most cultures snakes and humans do not coexist but in ancient Egypt a snake indicated "life, health, and immortality." 

The book of Numbers speaks of a plague of snakes, the cure from Yahweh was for Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. If a person was bitten by a serpent, the person who looked at the serpent was healed. (Num 21:6-7, 9). In the days of Hezekiah, the bronze serpent that was made by Moses was destroyed since the people of Israel had been burning incense to it.

Among the various words used in the Bible, the word nāḥāš is used in a generic sense, though it would probably speak of a poisonous snake. The cobra and the adder, also known as a viper, represent these types of poisonous serpents. The Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) refers to the snake who was used by snake charmers, in contrast to the desert cobra (Walterinnesia aegyptia) in Israel as seen in Psalms 58:4-5, and the tribe of Dan is compared to a viper in Genesis 49:17. Some believe that the horned viper (Cerastes cerastes) is intended in Psalms 58:4-5, since it has the habit of hiding in the sand.

Jeremiah 8:17 refers to the Palestine viper (Vipera palaestinae) that is not able to be charmed and is in the desert.

The serpent represents the enemy of God and the people of God in Genesis 3:1, 14-15, and in Revelation 12:9 speaks of the dragon, the serpent compared to Satan.

Much of this article is based on the work of Walter W. Ferguson, Living Animals of the Bible, pp. 68-69, and David Darom, Animals of the Bible: from the Lion to the Snail, pp. 30-31.