Interpretation question

[bytor2112]

From Moses:

6 And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Eve, for he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world.

Literally....a serpent or figuratively?

21 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed; and he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Any explanation of this would be greatly appreciated. :)

[Still_Small_Voice]

Literally....a serpent or figuratively?

Any explanation of this would be greatly appreciated. :)

I believe it is figurative. I think Satan personally appeared and tempted Eve to partake of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I have no scripture to back up my belief that I can find however.

[mightynancy]

I think both the serpent and the fruit are allegorical.

[Wingnut]

As for verse 21, I would offer the explanation that Satan has the potential to have some power over us, but that we are far more powerful than he is, having the capability to "crush his head." Basically, when temptation arises, we have the ability and the strength to not give in.

[Still_Small_Voice]

21 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed; and he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This verse is a prophecy of Christ. Satan would bruise Christ's heel and Jehovah would bruise (or crush) the head of Satan.

[Traveler]

Literally....a serpent or figuratively?

Any explanation of this would be greatly appreciated. :)

The symbol of a serpent is the symbolic representation of the Son of G-d and the Messiah. I believe we should interpret this that Satan was beguiling Adam and Eve not just to partake of the fruit but to believe that he – Satan – was the Son of G-d.

The Traveler

[jschroeder]

I hear the part about it being figuratively speaking of the serpent and I also wonder though since Satan has no body of flesh did he not use that of a snake to approach Eve? They tended the garden and cared for the animals there, she would not have expected anything I would think.

Again that is just my impression since it does not clearly state anywhere that I have read which it was.

What I am clear on is that she understood her choices and made what was the best choice for all of mankind :)

[puf_the_majic_dragon]

I think both the serpent and the fruit are allegorical.

Personally I think most of Genesis is allegorical. Even if we assume that God did show Moses how He created the universe, I doubt that Moses would have been able to explain it to anyone. While I'm sure certain parts of the story are historically correct, I generally see the creation story as a parable, the Garden of Eden as an allegory.

But to the question - did Satan appear as an actual snake?

7 And he said unto the woman: Yea, hath God said—Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (And he spake by the mouth of the serpent.)

You tell me :)

21 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed; and he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

How many women have you met who weren't afraid of snakes?

Really, though, because of the gender in the pronouns "he shall bruise...", while in context the Lord is speaking to the serpent, it is doubtful that God is referring to Eve as "he". I'm inclined to agree with Still_Small_Voice as regards the portion of the verse after the semicolon; especially after investigating the footnotes. I expect that a lot more was actually said at the time than what is given to us in scripture - again, the allegory theory.

[Vanhin]

21 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed; and he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This verse is a prophecy of Christ. Satan would bruise Christ's heel and Jehovah would bruise (or crush) the head of Satan.

I think along these lines as well. Christ having been born of the virgin Mary, was the seed of woman.

Vanhin

[Moksha]

This serpent may
have a dual persona

[Justice]

The fruit is not allegorical, but a serpent or dragon, and dove are.

[Justice]

deleted

Never mind.

Edited October 11, 2008 by Justice

[scdoyle]

This serpent may

have a dual persona

That is awesome!!!

[lindsayjane]

I don't rule out the possibility of satan speaking through a literal serpent of some kind. That's no less improbable than any of the other unusual biblical stories. I think it can get pretty difficult to start picking which fantastical story we want to interpret as literal and which story we interpret as allegorical. They may all be literal, they may all be allegorical, or there could be a mix. I definitely look forward to finding out, but I don't think we can be sure right now.

[Justice]

In the book of Revelation, Satan is call the dragon from the beginning. If you add arms, legs or wings to a serpent you get a dragon. Since the seprent was to spend the remainder of his days slithering about as a result of tempting Eve, my guess is dragons were once real. I'm not saying the giant fire-breathing things portrayed in movies, but a serpent with either arms, legs and/or wings, much like a lizard.

Also, one can't help but wonder why Eve didn't think it strange that a "dragon" would speak to her.

I'm convinced there are allegories in the story somewhere.