The serpent's identity in Genesis 3 : a history of Jewish interpretation from the Bible through the thirteenth century

• Main Author: Brodt, Bryna
• Other Authors: Levy, B. Barry (advisor)
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: McGill University 2002
• Subjects: Serpents in the Bible
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=79749

The garden of Eden's serpent appears only in Genesis 3 of the Hebrew Bible but its identity, role, or symbolism, have since been a matter of debate. Literal, allegorical, and mythical interpretations are evident in Jewish sources from the Bible until the end of the thirteenth century, but are not uniformly represented. Literal interpretations---those that rely on an actual serpent capable of communicating with Eve---account for the majority of Jewish interpretations, often to the complete exclusion of other possibilities. Allegorical and mythical interpretations of the serpent are found in the works of Philo and the Pseudepigrapha, disappear in the classical rabbinic texts, but then reappear in Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer and medieval Jewish philosophical and mystical sources. The patterns of literal and non-literal interpretation may be connected with the history of the concept of the devil within Judaism and with changing attitudes toward esoteric interpretations and midrash.