What Does A Talking Snake Say?
We do not have to read very far into the scriptures before we encounter a passage that many people have trouble with. Within the first few pages, we meet a talking serpent. For those who do not believe in God, it is the sort of story that reinforces their thinking that the bible and much of what it contains is mythical. Even for those who do believe, some passages are not taken literally. In the case of the talking snake, it is likely one may not stop to ponder if it is literally true. Also, many have given this snake a name – Satan.
The passage reads like this:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And it said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent,”From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:1-5, NASB
What is really going on here? Is this animal, this reptile, actually speaking? And further, is the snake really Satan in disguise? The short answer to these questions, I suppose, is that none of us were there so we cannot know for certain based on personal experience – however we can examine the text to determine the potential literal interpretation as to the talking serpent, and we can also explore other passages to attempt to explain why the perceived identity of the serpent came about.
Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian, stated in his work “Antiquities of the Jews” that “…all the living creatures had one language..”. (Antiquities Book 1, 1:4) I have heard some say that the snake itself could not actually speak, just as snakes cannot speak today, but rather Satan (or perhaps a lesser demon) manifested itself through the snake or in some way possessed it (thus enabling it to have the faculty of speech.) In the New Testament we have over a dozen accounts of demons, including Satan, entering, or possessing men, as well as animals (Matthew 8:32; Mark 5:13; Luke 8:33) Although the demons are able to speak through possessed humans, we have no other definitive account of a demon-possessed animal speaking, though we do have an account of a donkey speaking in Numbers 23:28. Of course, not all donkeys can speak, and in this case it was an ability temporarily granted to the donkey to prove a point and to prevent it’s owner, Balaam, from being killed. The text says “And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey…” indicating it could not speak of its own accord. We do know that God curses the serpent in Genesis 3:14-15, however nothing in this passage indicates the snake’s ability to speak will be taken away, only that it will go on its belly and eat dust.
We may entertain the idea that perhaps the snake could not actually speak in an audible voice, we can consider that maybe the snake’s movement was in some way mesmerizing to Eve; perhaps it coiled itself around the branches of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, maybe it even caused a piece of fruit to fall off the tree, right into the hand of Eve, and thus was interpreted by her that the snake wanted her to eat it. I have to reject this romanticized notion on several grounds: 1) The text says the snake spoke, so if you are Jewish and believe that every word of the Torah is there by design, or if you are Christian and believe that the word of God is divinely inspired, you are hard pressed to come away with this interpretation; if it says the snake ‘spoke’ then it means in the plainest sense that it did in fact speak with an audible voice. 2) Eve had a conversation with the serpent, so it must have not only spoken in an audible voice, but in a language Eve could understand, and further must have had some ability to reason with Eve – not just repeat words like a parrot. Even if you do not believe the scriptures were by design or of the Holy Ghost, consider these next two points: 3) When Eve accused the snake of deceiving her, God did not question how a creature without the ability to speak could have deceived her; and lastly 4) God curses the snake as a result, so we can be certain the snake was in some way, both involved, and guilty, in this transaction. I trust we can all agree that God is omniscient and not relying solely on Eve’s testimony against the snake, and further that God is a just judge and would not punish the snake if it were innocent.
So of the matter of the snake speaking we can only conclude that it did in fact happen, and at some point since, the snake (and perhaps almost all other animals) have lost their ability to speak in a way that humans can understand. This may sound fantastical, however bear in mind that scientifically speaking, animals do communicate with one another, especially within their own species. It may be worth noting here that the opening statement in the story of the Tower of Babel was “Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.” (Genesis 11:1, NASB) A rough translation of the original Hebrew might read “Everything that was an inhabitant used one (or the first) speech and the same sayings.” We may interpret this to be inclusive of animals as well, as nothing in the original language specifically excludes the idea, nor specifically includes only humans.
Of the matter of the identity of the snake, whether or not it was actually Satan, or if Satan manifested himself through the serpent or otherwise possessed it, we must investigate as well. The obvious place to start is the text of Genesis chapter 3. Nowhere in the text is the name of Satan, or the devil mentioned in any way. In fact, Satan is mentioned but a few times in the entire Old Testament. Further, when God curses the snake, He makes no direct reference of actually cursing Satan instead, or in addition to, the creature itself. This raises the question then, why would God curse the snake and negatively affect its creature-capabilities if Satan were really possessing the snake? That would not be fair to the snake. Even if we take a wholly non-literal but rather allegorical approach to the interpretation of the story of the fall of man, it is difficult to draw a parallel between the curse placed on the snake (below) and the fate of the devil. God’s curse on the serpent reads:
The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life; And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:14-15, NASB
The snake itself, as an animal, was cursed, and no sort of spiritual punishment was mentioned. The punishment of the devil, on the other hand, we are later told in the New Testament, is to be thrown into the lake of fire, which was actually prepared for Satan and his (fallen) angels (Matthew 25:41).
Josephus goes so far as to say that the snake lived among Adam and Eve, perhaps even as a pet, and may have become jealous at the human’s relationship with God, so it sought to deceive them into disobeying God that it might bring calamity upon them (Antiquities, Book 1, 1:4). So from the text itself, without reading into it and without the benefit of context with other passages, we are left with a snake, not Satan, as the chief offender. The snake was smart enough to trick Eve (we are told the snake was the most crafty creature) but may still have been ignorant of the bigger picture; It did not necessarily know it was inadvertently orchestrating the fall of mankind and the thousands of painful years of human history to follow. For all it knew, it was just making Eve disobey her creator on that fateful day. We encounter a bit of trouble with this interpretation however, as we must acknowledge from the text that the snake a) spoke of God, b) it knew what God had said to Adam, c) it knew the end result of eating the forbidden fruit. What kind of mere animal can perceive God and understand His words? How could it have any knowledge of the potential of the fruit of the tree? Difficult questions indeed!
Was the snake Satan?
The perceived identity of the snake seems not to be Jewish, but Christian tradition, though not entirely without basis. There are certainly other passages in both the Old and New Testaments from which inferences are drawn that trigger our memory back to the fall of man and Satan’s potential involvement.
There are a handful of passages which associate the likeness of Satan to certain animals. The Apostle Peter refers to him in this passage like so: “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8), NASB The passage below relates Satan to two other creatures (though one may be fictional to us today):
And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth , and his angels were thrown down with him. Revelation 12:9, NASB
So some animals seem to be a fair target as a representation of Satan, including, of course, the serpent. This passage also includes other allusions to the story of the fall – namely the ability and propensity of Satan to deceive, as well as the his access to our planet.
Although Satan is not a main character in the Old Testament, he makes quite an impression in the book of Job, which many scholars consider one of the most ancient writings, perhaps written before the five books of Moses. In the opening chapters of Job, some interesting dialogue takes place between God and Satan, from which here I simply glean from the text that when God asked Satan where he was, Satan answers that he was “…roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” (Job 1:7) Also noteworthy from this exchange is that Satan has permission from God to attack Job in various ways in an attempt to cause Job’s faithfulness and obedience to God to waiver. So we know that many years ago, Satan at the very least had some level of access to earth (and humans) and then at some point later (perhaps yet future) he is thrown down to earth. Also he clearly has an interest in causing pain to mankind and attempting to cause us to break fellowship with God. The serpent, whether knowingly or not, through his deception also caused pain to mankind and breached our fellowship with God.
In the writings of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel we see more interesting passages that seem to be speaking of Satan, and though they are typically attributed to him, do not mention him specifically. In the book of Isaiah, when speaking of the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, the text reads:
How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning*, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
Isaiah 14:12-14, NASB
* “Lucifer” in the KJV
At this point some readers may be thinking “Of course that passage is about Satan! Who else could it be about? First let me point out that verse four of this chapter states “...take up this taunt against the king of Babylon…”. The passage continues:
Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, they will ponder over you, saying, ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities, who did not allow his prisoners to go home?’
Isaiah 14:15-17, emphasis mine
So we may be left slightly confused – is this passage about Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon at the time, or is it about Satan? The translation of ‘Lucifer’ in the KJV may be a bit misleading – not necessarily inaccurate, but consider that Lucifer simply means ‘light-bearer’, although we have come to associate this term with Satan. In the original Hebrew, there is no such direct reference to Satan, but rather the Hebrew text reads “Helel son of Shachar”, which may be a pagan reference to the planet venus, sometimes considered the ‘star of the morning’. (The NET bible, footnote 23, Isaiah 14) Further confusing the matter is that Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 14:11 that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light”.
Bear in mind that the taunt against the king of Babylon contains references to him going to Sheol and the leaders of other nations seeing and mocking him. Their presence in Sheol here would seem to convey that they were likely pagan rulers, some of which probably believed in mythology rather than God. As such, their taunt may simply be referencing false pagan gods such as the planets and stars (venus, and the ‘stars of God’), the mountains (“mount of assembly in the north”), the sky (“the heights of the clouds”). It is hard to say for certain.
We move on to another passage in the writings of the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 28:
Again the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,
“You had the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
“You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared. ”You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
“You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. ”By the abundance of your trade
You were internally filled with violence,
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you as profane
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire.
“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I put you before kings,
That they may see you.
“By the multitude of your iniquities,
In the unrighteousness of your trade
You profaned your sanctuaries.
Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you;
It has consumed you,
And I have turned you to ashes on the earth
In the eyes of all who see you.
“All who know you among the peoples
Are appalled at you;
You have become terrified
And you will cease to be forever.”‘”
Ezekiel 28:11-19, NASB
This passage leaves little doubt it is about Satan, or at the very least, one of the fallen angels. But the first ten verses of this chapter make specific reference to the King of Tyre. In addition, not once, but two times the prophecy given includes the phrase “…you are a man and not God” (vv. 2, 9) What is interesting in the first 19 verses is that there are two specific prophecies over the King of Tyre. The first in verses 1-10 seems to directly reference the worldly leader. Verses 11-19 however contain language that would be extremely difficult to attribute to a man, namely,
perfection (v 12), being present in Eden, the garden of God (v 13), the ‘anointed cherub who covers’, and being on the ‘holy mountain of God’ (v 14) and being cast to the ground (v 17).
So it would seem that the first prophecy is physical in nature, and the second is spiritual. As both are directed toward the king of Tyre, it is hard to consider that the words of God against this king are addressing him not only in the physical sense, but also the spiritual sense. And as the king of Tyre himself is not an angel or demon, we are left with the notion that the king of Tyre is operating under the pretense, or power, of Satan.
While this concept may seem foreign in the Old Testament, in the writings of the gospels we have a very clear and personal example of this phenomenon. It involves Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. Jesus Himself says in John 6:70 “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” Luke’s gospel confirms that we may not be merely speaking of ‘a devil’ in the general sense, but specifically states that “Satan entered into Judas, who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve”. (Luke 22:3)
The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:11-12 to “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
And so we have several cases throughout the scriptures that illustrate the premise of concurrent physical and spiritual interplay. Judas and Satan. The king of Babylon and Satan. The king of Tyre and Satan. And quite possibly a snake, and Satan. As we proceed through the scriptures, each reference to Satan becomes less ambiguous. It is no mystery then, why we picture Satan being the identity of the serpent in the story of the fall, considering the other scriptures. Though the New Testament provides very concise statements to make the case, even the Old Testament by itself provides the more weighty argument in support of this.
I have heard some say that geographically it would have been possible for the King of Tyre to be in the same
place where the Garden of Eden was, but Eden was a place where God walked with Adam, and after Adam was cast out, a guardian was placed at the entrance, which would imply that humans could no longer enter, lest they eat of the tree of life and live forever. (Genesis 3:22)
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June 8, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Genesis 3 – A Word on the Snake « Pondering Scripture
[…] What Does a Talking Snake Say? […]
September 2, 2009 at 2:21 pm
OMA FRENCH
I HAVE READ SO MANY OPINIONS ON THIS SUBJECT IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO REMEMBER THEM ALL. I DON’T KNOW WHY PEOPLE TRY TO MAKE THIS SO HARD. REVELATION TELL US THE ORIGINAL SERPENT WAS SATAN. I BELIEVE THAT HE WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST SPIRIT CREATURE TO MATERIALIZE. SUPPOSE EVE THOUGHT SHE WAS ALONE IN THE GARDEN WITH ONLY ADAM AND THIS OTHER “EZE:28 HANSOM YOUNG MAN APPEARS ON THE SCENE”. WE DO KNOW SATAN HAD SOME KIND OF OVER SIGHT OVER THE GARDEN. WELL, SATAN COMES UP TO HER AND STARTS TO TALK TO HER ABOUT THINGS SHE HAD NEVER HEARD BEFORE. “YOU CAN BE LIKE GOD”. LOOK I AM LIKE GOD (SPIRIT CREATURE) AND I CAN ALSO APPEAR AS A MAN. OTHER ANGELS MATERIALIZED LATER. SIMPLY PUT, SHE WAS FOOLED. I WON’T GO INTO THAT ANYMORE–THIS WOMAN WAS NOT DUMB–SHE WAS DECEIVED. SHE KNEW THAT SNAKES DID NOT TALK–BUT MAYBE SHE DID NOT UNDERSTAND THE POWERS OF THE “ANGEL THAT HAD OVERSIGHT OF THE GARDEN”. I THINK THE TEACHING THAT IT WAS A LITERAL SNAKE THAT TALKED TO EVE AND DECEIVED WAS ONE OF SATAN’S FIRST EVIDENCE OF HIS OUT RIGHT ASSULT ON WOMEN. HE WAS TRYING TO MAKE THEM FEEL INFERIOR TO MAN. WE ARE IN A HONORED POSITION, BUT ONE OF SUBJECTION. THIS MAKES IT LOOK LIKE THEY WERE STUPID FROM THE BIGINNING–NOT SO. WOMEN WERE CREATED BY GOD WITH EQUAL INTELIGENCE AS A MAN AND THEY WERE LOVED. SOME TIME WHEN I LOOK AT THE CARE HE HAS TAKEN TO MAKE SURE MEN CARE FOR THEM TENDERLY TELLS ME GOD HAS A GREAT LOVE AND COMPASSION FOR THEM BECAUSE HE KNEW THE ROAD THEY HAD TO TAKE FROM THAT TIME FORWARD.
THAT’S MY THOUGHTS AND I AM STICKING TO THEM–HOPE YOU ARE LAUGHING. FROM AN OLD GRANDMA
January 16, 2011 at 2:39 am
Joshua
This is a Deep topic, deeper than most “Christians” would be willing to go. I came across the following writing and would like your view of it and any resulting questions, thank you so much and I enjoyed your Essay! Fair and Balanced! here it is:
Pastor Bertrand L. Comparet
Many people have become agnostics because of the supposed conflict between the Bible and science. In truth, there is no conflict at all between a correct translation of the Bible and really proven science, not just unproven theories. One of these supposed conflicts is between the fact that science knows that human beings have lived on the earth far longer than the few thousand years covered by the Bible and the common belief that the Bible says that Adam was the first man. Yes, I know that most of the preachers say that, but the Bible doesn’t! It merely says that Adam was the first WHITE man. Let’s look at the record.
The many mistranslations in the King James versions obscure much of the truth. For example, Genesis 1:1-2, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” In the Hebrew it says, “Now the earth had become chaotic and empty.”
(See Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible) That is, some early catastrophe had wrecked the earth, which was not “without form and void” before that. This was a judgment of God on earlier civilizations, for their wickedness. Jeremiah 4:23-27 and Isaiah 24 give a vision of it. Jeremiah wrote, “I beheld the earth and lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens and they had no light. I beheld the mountains and lo, they trembled and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld and lo, there was no man and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord and by His fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, ‘The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.'” (Jeremiah reference cannot be attributed concisely to a previous “world”) Therefore we do find buried ruins of cities older than Adam and skeletons which can be dated by the carbon 14 process as many as thousands of years older. But, the Bible itself tells us about this. (notes added by jE)
Next the Bible tells us about the creation of men, in the plural, in Genesis 1:26-28, saying, “Male and female created He THEM” (1:27), and God told these people, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth” (1:28). “Plenish” is an obsolete English word meaning “to fill”; and you cannot replenish what was never plenished, or filled, before. In the next chapter, Genesis 2 we find THE ADAM (in the singular) created. The Hebrew word, “aw-dawm” (rendered “Adam” in English) is from a root word meaning “to show blood in the face” or “of a ruddy complexion”, a word obviously not applicable to the dark races, which we also know from scientific evidence to be much older than the White Race.
Bible scholars know that Genesis 3:20 – “And Adam called his wife’s name ‘Eve’: because she was the mother of all living” – is a later interpolation, which was not in the earlier manuscripts. (See Moffatt’s translation.)
The Fourth chapter of Genesis records the birth of Cain and Abel; in the Hebrew, the wording suggests that they were twins. No other child of Eve is mentioned until the birth of Seth, when Adam was 130 years old, certainly long after the birth of Cain and Abel, which most scholars say was over 100 years earlier. Yet, when Cain killed Abel, and in punishment was driven out of the land, he complained to God that “any one that findeth me shall slay me.” Genesis 4:14. Upon being sent away, Cain found many other people, for Genesis 4:17 records that Cain not only married a wife, but built a city. You don’t build a city for just two people. These were the pre-Adamite races, mentioned in the latter part of Genesis 1.
The “Garden of Eden” was not a plantation of ordinary trees and shrubs. God did nothing so foolish as to make a special creation, just to have a man to wield shovel and pruning shears, when He already had millions of pre Adamites available for that type of work. We are told that the “Garden of Eden” contained “the tree of the knowledge (or experience) of good and evil”. No tree of the forest has any knowledge or experience of either good or evil. Ezekiel 31, says “Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and a shadowing bough and of an high stature; Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field and his boughs were multiplied and his branches became long; all the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. THE CEDARS IN THE GARDEN OF GOD could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; NOR ANY TREE IN THE GARDEN OF GOD WAS LIKE UNTO HIM IN HIS BEAUTY. I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: SO THAT ALL THE TREES OF EDEN THAT WERE IN THE GARDEN OF GOD ENVIED HIM”. Obviously, the trees in the Garden of God in Eden were “family trees” of races and nations who admired and envied the early Assyrian Empire. These made up the “garden” that Adam was to cultivate. That is, Satan had been what we might call the Super- intendant of this planet, to rule it in obedience to God’s will, until he forfeited that position by rebellion against God. Adam was sent to take his place. It was Adam’s job to rule the various nations and races of the earth as God’s representative here, educating them in God’s laws and enforcing obedience to those laws. These other races and nations had been here long before Adam.
Therefore the Bible makes it unmistakably clear that we are not all descended from Adam and Eve, for there were other races on earth, already old, already numerous, when Adam was created. Among these other races there are the several who are simply pre-Adamic and one at least, which is Satanic. If you will read the third chapter of Genesis, you will notice that, immediately after the fall of Adam, when God required them to answer what they had done, God condemned Satan. The word mistranslated “serpent” is the Hebrew word “naw-khash”, which literally means “enchanter” or “magician” and, no doubt Satan still possessing angelic powers, was able to be an enchanter or magician. It is certain that the one who seduced Eve was no mere scaly snake wriggling along on the ground. Yes, I said “seduced” Eve, for that is what she admitted in the original Hebrew. Cain was the son of that seduction. The Bible uses the word “begat” with monotonous regularity but, the first time the Bible ever says that Adam ever “begat” anyone is Genesis 5:3 where it says, “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image: and called his name Seth. But to get back to Genesis 3:15, God said to Satan, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between THY SEED and HER SEED.” The same Hebrew word for “seed” is used in both cases. Satan was to have just as literal “seed”, or descendants as Eve. God’s own word being pledged to this, we must expect to find it actually happening and we do. Jesus Christ, Himself, tells us of it.
In Matthew 13:38-39, explaining the Parable of the Tares Among the Wheat, Jesus says, “The field is the world; the good seed are the children OF THE KINGDOM: but THE TARES ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE WICKED ONE: THE ENEMY THAT SOWED THEM IS THE DEVIL.” Again, in John 6:70-71, Jesus had been talking with His twelve deciples and we read: “Jesus answered them, ‘Have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil?’ He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray Him being one of the twelve.” And again you should read carefully the eighth chapter of John, where Jesus told those who hated Him, “Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do.” He was not being vulgarly abusive in either of these cases, for He never resorted to name calling so His statement was precisely accurate. He did call some of them “serpents, children of vipers” which again, was accurate. Long before this, they had adopted the serpent as a symbol of Satan. That is why their tradition had given the word naw-khash” the translation “serpent”, when it really means “enchanter”. Jesus therefore was telling them that they were of their father the devil (or serpent, if they preferred that word). In this He was simply stating a biological fact with scientific precision and identifying the persons of this ancestry.
Whenever someone tells you that the Bible is in conflict with what modern science has proved true, don’t you believe it. The things that many preachers teach are in conflict with scientific truth, as we all know, but these preachers are equally in conflict with the Bible. Go back to the Bible, not to any man made doctrines and double check it for accuracy of translation. You will find that what the Bible really says, in its original languages, is accurate with a precision our scientist have not yet achieved.
March 30, 2011 at 7:08 pm
Kyle Orr
I have a thought for you. If the world was destroyed of it’s population before Adam and Eve, then how can you turn around and say that there were still people left over who were prior to Adam and Eve living in the place were Cain showed up. You can’t have it both ways.
Your quote says, “…Yet, when Cain killed Abel, and in punishment was driven out of the land, he complained to God that “any one that findeth me shall slay me.” Genesis 4:14. Upon being sent away, Cain found many other people, for Genesis 4:17 records that Cain not only married a wife, but built a city. You don’t build a city for just two people. These were the pre-Adamite races, mentioned in the latter part of Genesis 1.”
April 3, 2011 at 3:06 pm
jhonse
Thank you for your comment Kyle. The gap theory which you are referring to is one theory that can possibly explain who Cain was referring to when he said others would kill him. If such a destruction occurred, which is not clear in scripture, than it is speculation to say that everyone and everything was destroyed. Alternately, perhaps some early destruction did happen but some survived. We simply do not know. Also in the Hebrew it could also be read that Cain was afraid of “living things” killing him – such as animals for instance.
April 4, 2011 at 12:18 am
Joshua
we must go to the ORIGINAL wording of the ancient Hebrews or we are no better than one-legged man in bottom-kicking fight. na’kash, here are some notes i have been keeping:
From the English word “Serpent”, this is all the translators left us with?
5175
from ‘nachash’ (5172); a snake (from its hiss):–serpent
5172
a primitive root; properly, to hiss, i.e. whisper a (magic) spell; generally, to prognosticate:–X certainly, divine, enchanter, (use) X enchantment, learn by experience, X indeed, diligently observe. (‘ch’ is a hard ‘kh’ sound in Hebrew)
The Hebrew word translated serpent in Genesis 3:1 is used 31 times in the Old Testament and is never translated any other way. But it comes from a root meaning “to practice divination.” As a noun this root is translated “enchantment” and in its verb form, “enchanter.”
Whatever confronted Eve probably came to be called a serpent because of the judgment God pronounced upon it, that it would crawl on its belly and eat dust all the days of its life.(Gen. 3:14) But what it looked like before its judgment is anybody’s guess, except that it almost certainly didn’t look like a snake. Satan himself is called “that ancient serpent” in Rev. 12:9 but nobody thinks of him as looking like a snake. Paul said that he masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Cor. 11:14)
We don’t know what form the devil took on to have his chat with Eve, but whatever it was didn’t frighten her. Nor did she appear surprised to find herself conversing with it, but was persuaded by its logic, though flawed, and the authority with which it spoke.
It’s more likely that Satan came to Eve as a familiar figure, someone she recognized and perhaps even admired. Remember, the angels, some fallen to earth, had been created sometime earlier. (Job 38:4-7)
And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, ‘Whence comest thou?’ And the Adversary answereth Jehovah and saith, ‘From going to and fro in the land, and from walking up and down on it.’
8 And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, ‘Hast thou set thy heart against My servant Job because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God, and turning aside from evil?’
(Job 1:7-8 YLT)
In the writings of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel we see more interesting passages that seem to be speaking of Satan, and though they are typically attributed to him, do not mention him specifically. In the book of Isaiah, when speaking of the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, the text reads:
How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning*, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
Isaiah 14:12-14, NASB
At this point some readers may be thinking “Of course that passage is about Satan! Who else could it be about? First let me point out that verse four of this chapter states “…take up this taunt against the king of Babylon…”. The passage continues:
Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, they will ponder over you, saying, ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities, who did not allow his prisoners to go home?’
Isaiah 14:15-17, emphasis mine
So we may be left slightly confused – is this passage about Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon at the time, or is it about Satan? The translation of ‘Lucifer’ in the KJV may be a bit misleading – not necessarily inaccurate, but consider that Lucifer simply means ‘light-bearer’, although we have come to associate this term with Satan.
Here we Go!
Genesis 4:1 And the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceiveth and beareth Cain, and saith, ‘I have gotten a man by Jehovah;’
2 and she addeth to bear his brother, even Abel. And Abel is feeding a flock, and Cain hath been servant of the ground.
(Gen 4:1-2 YLT)
Neither of the 2 sons were mention as “In the Image of God nor Adam. Seth later was! Why is mentioned that it was “his wife”? why not just say, Adam knew his wife and begot Cain and Abel?
The Targum of Jonathan: “And Adam knew Hava his wife, who had desired the Angel; and she conceived, and bare Kain; and she said, I have acquired a man, the Angel of the Lord”. (Gen 4:1 PJE)
This entire passage sounds like it is hiding something!
Genesis 4:14 Cain was not cast out into an empty earth!
June 7, 2011 at 1:53 am
Joshua
HaleluYAH!