Wassup with the Talking Snake? (Part II): The Snake's Offspring

Portraits of Chaos in the Scriptures

“You offspring of vipers!”, John the Baptizer says to a group of Pharisees and Sadducees.¹ Later on, his cousin Jesus says something very similar to another group of Pharisees and scribes, “Serpents! Offspring of vipers!”²

These ancient statements beg the question: how can humans be “offspring” of snakes? We have to go back to that mysterious snake we talked about in Part I. Let’s look at what God says to the snake in Genesis 3:15:

…And I will put hostility

between you and between the woman,

and between your offspring and between her offspring…

To be honest, for years I thought this was the reason for some people’s disdain for snakes. Shoot, maybe you’ve had that thought, too! Yet, that’s not quite what’s going on here.

Since the snake is a spiritual being, it will have offspring in a spiritual sense. At least, that’s what I’m convinced of currently. But still, who are the snake’s offspring?

The Snake’s Characteristics

Have you heard the phrase, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?” It’s a phrase that hints at a child’s similar characteristics to their parents. To identify the snake’s offspring in the biblical story, we ought to identify the snake’s characteristics. We’ll explore three characteristics that we can gather from Genesis 3 — and there’s more to explore.

Crafty

Now the serpent was more ‘arum than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made…³

The snake is first described as ‘arum in Hebrew, often translated as “crafty” or “shrewd.” This word can be used positively or negatively depending on the portrayal of a biblical character or the context of a statement.

As we proceed through the Genesis 3 story, we see that the snake uses its ‘arum-ness or craftiness to deceive and cause chaos.

Deceiver

After the humans eat from the forbidden tree in the Garden, they hide. God seeks them out and before you know it, they start playing the blame game. The man blames the woman. The woman blames the snake saying:

The serpent deceived me, and I ate.⁴

Her words here provide further reflection on her conversation with the snake in Genesis 3:1-5. The snake is a deceiver. It uses deception to lead the humans toward death — the result that God warned about for eating the forbidden fruit. This leads us to the last characteristic we’ll explore.

Death-Seeker

The snake doesn’t force the humans to eat the forbidden fruit. However, the snake’s deceptive tactics influence their rebellion against God’s instruction. Since God is the source of life, rebellion against God’s instructions ultimately leads to non-life — death. Therefore, the narrative portrays the snake as an initiator of the human trajectory toward death.

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree

So, if the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, then the biblical authors portray the offspring of the snake as those who use their craftiness negatively, choose to deceive others, and seek the death of others.

Throughout the biblical story, we see various figures that display these characteristics. It’s not a coincidence that the very next narrative after Genesis 3 is about offspring — namely, Cain and Abel.

On one level, Cain and Abel are both offspring of the woman. But, Cain chooses to live in the way of the snake when he chooses to murder his brother Abel. By aligning himself with the way of the snake, Cain becomes a spiritual offspring of the snake. He acts out of hostility with Abel, as a fulfillment of God’s words:

…And I will put hostility

between you and between the woman,

and between your offspring and between her offspring…⁵

What we see in the hostility between Cain and Abel makes its way to the ultimate offspring of the woman — Jesus. Jesus goes on to face hostility with those whom he calls the “offspring of vipers” time and time again.

In the Garden, the snake sought the demise of the humans, but Jesus dealt a fatal blow to the snake as Genesis 3:15 foretells. But that’s for next time!

1. Matthew 3:7

2. Matthew 23:33

3. Genesis 3:1

4. Genesis 3:13

5. Genesis 3:15