IT WASN’T THE DEVIL that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. Not according to the story’s anonymous writer—which ancient Jewish tradition says was Moses.
It was just a snake with a vocabulary.
Another Bible writer does, however, ID the talking critter as a Devil of a Snake: “That old serpent…is the devil, Satan” (Revelation 20:2).
On the other hand, scholars say they aren’t sure which John wrote that last book of the Bible. So the source is uncertain. But John, whoever he was, wrote about 1,500 years after Moses could have written the original story without mentioning the devil.
Also, John wrote in a style called apocalyptic, featuring wild and crazy poetic symbolism. So some students of the Bible don’t know how literally to take some of his words.
One theory is that the Genesis writer wasn’t thinking about the devil at all. Instead, he was thinking about snakes in other Creation stories popular at the time.
There were at least two that sounded like the Genesis snake, which robbed humanity of immortality because it got Adam and Eve banished from the Garden of Eden and “the tree of life” that lets people who eat the fruit “live forever!” (Genesis 3:23).
- Babylonian snake. At least 300 years before Moses could have written Genesis, someone in what is now Iraq wrote the Epic of Gilgamesh. There, a snake robbed the hero Gilgamesh of immortality. Gilgamesh was hunting a plant that gave immortality to anyone who ate it. The snake got to it first.
- Sumerian snake. In a south Iraq story as old as Moses, possibly older, a god with the body of a snake and the head of a man offered a sage named Adapa some bread of immortality. Adapa refused to take it because he thought it was a trick and it would kill him. The god’s name sounds a little like “tree of life.” It’s “Lord of the Good Tree,” ( Ningishzida).
Perhaps, some scholars speculate, the Genesis writer was spinning a parable-like tale as a metaphor to make a point. The point is anyone’s guess. One guess: God’s the boss. No snake or snake god anywhere can tell God where to go.
God tells them.
“Crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live” (Genesis 3:14).
Other Christian scholars, perhaps most, read the story as more history than metaphor.
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Thank you Steve for your historical background – I hate to be the “Devil” of your theory, but you have Satan mentioned in Zechariah, the Apostle Peter, Paul, and Jesus seem to believe that Satan is a literal spirit being. It makes no sense to me why there is a Satan, but the writers of Scripture seem to hold that view. This belief does help to explain why there is evil in the world and the origin of the corruption of humanity. Of course, it is sometimes hard to distinuish what should be interpretive as literal and what are part of figures of speech. I let the New Testament give me a clearer understanding on this subject because so much of Paul’s theology is based on the opening of Genesis.
Hi there, Wayne. I wasn’t trying to say that there is no Satan. I was talking about only the snake in the Creation story. I was reporting that many scholars say the Genesis writer never describes the snake as anything but a snake.
The New Testament writers certainly do present a literal Satan as a real spiritual entity. And a nasty one at that.
I believe it is safe to assume that the snake was influenced by Satan, if not literally Satan in snake form. Anything tempting you to break God’s will and separate you from Him is, I believe, of Satan.
I’m setting myself up for ridicule now, because what I will say next bucks current theology and modern scholarship, particularly within Methodism. IMO, we are in danger of over-analyzing our traditional beliefs, to the point where we do not know what to think or believe anymore. If we do not know what we believe, how can we bring others to Christ, especially after we have been commanded to hold to a childlike faith?
Thanks, Tom. Your tradition-minded approach to the Bible is a healthy one, I believe. There’s a reason that a tradition became a tradition.
I also think there’s value to taking a fresh look at traditions from time to time. We need to believe something for more than the fact that others believed it and passed it on to us. We need to own the faith. And we need to think about it.
Thanks Steve for this blog….I want you to know that I appreciate you and what a blessing you are…thanks for the open forum. I hope someday to meet both you and Tom! Keep us on our toes…you make me a better thinker and with God’s grace, a better Christian!