A reptile of the order Ophidia; a snake, especially a large snake. Snakes are mostly long and slender, and move partly by bending the body into undulations or folds and pressing them against objects, and partly by using the free edges of their ventral scales to cling to rough surfaces. Many species glide swiftly over the ground, some burrow in the earth, others live in trees. A few are entirely aquatic, and swim rapidly. The Snake as a Christian Symbol represents Satan, a deadly, subtle, malicious enemy.
Reference to the Snake Christian Symbol in the Bible
The Easton Bible Dictionary provides the following definition, meaning and emblem for the Snake Christian Symbol in the Bible. More than forty species are found in Syria and Arabia.
The poisonous character of the Snake is alluded to in Jacob's blessing on Dan (Gen. 49:17; see Prov. 30:18, 19; James 3:7; Jer. 8:17).
This word is used symbolically of a deadly, subtle, malicious enemy (Luke 10:19).
The Snake is first mentioned in connection with the history of the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve (Gen. 3).
Gen. 3:1 Now the Snake was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
It has been well remarked regarding this temptation: "A real Snake was the agent of the temptation, as is plain from what is said of the natural characteristic of the serpent in the first verse of the chapter (3:1), and from the curse pronounced upon the animal itself. But that Satan was the actual tempter, and that he used the serpent merely as his instrument, is evident (1) from the nature of the transaction; for although the serpent may be the most subtle of all the beasts of the field, yet he has not the high intellectual faculties which the tempter here displayed.
In the New Testament it is both directly asserted and in various forms assumed that Satan seduced our first parents into sin (John 8:44; Rom. 16:20; 2 Cor. 11:3, 14; Rev. 12:9; 20:2)."