Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen 3:1)Everyone by now is familiar with the story of Adam and Eve, and how Eve was tricked by a talking snake into eating the forbidden fruit from the the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The most obvious question is how can a snake talk? The next question should be, why was Eve not surprised by a talking snake?
The key to answering this question is found in the Hebrew word for serpent, "nachash". As a noun nachash means "snake" or "serpent". That may be obvious, but it is often overlooked that Lucifer aka Satan is often referred to as a serpent and a dragon (i.e. reptile), for example:
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Rev 12:9)That Satan is referred to as a serpent indicates his attributes. While a snake can have negative connotations, for the ancient Hebrews it was also a symbol of wisdom. In Genesis 3:1 the serpent is called cunning. In Ezekiel 28-12 Lucifer, before his fall, was said to be full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Jesus says to be "as wise as serpents" (Matt 10:16). Nachash as a noun then is a reflection of Satan's attributes of being wise and cunning.
It should be apparent by now that the serpent is referring to Satan, but if there is any doubts we look at the adjective for "nachash" which means "bright" and "brazen". A familiarity with the bible will reveal that angels, cherubs, seraphs, i.e. divine beings, are identified as being luminous, bright, and brilliant.
The angels in Job are described as “Morning stars” (Job 38:7). The comparison to stars is common, and is used to emphasize their radiant appearance. The two angels near Jesus’ tomb were wearing shining garments (Luk 24:4), at the transfiguration Jesus “face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." (Mat 17:2). The angel that visited Daniel had the appearance of “lightning”, eyes as lamps of fire, and arms and feet like polished brass (Dan 10:6), again implying a brilliant, radiant, shining appearance that’s associated with divine beings, on so on.
The very name "Lucifer" means "light-bearer". In Isaiah 14:12-15, he is called Helel ben-shachar – “The shining one, son of the dawn.” In Eden the Garden of God he was clothed with every precious stone (Eze 28:13), again showing brilliance. So in conclusion, the serpent may have not been an actual talking snake, but it was definitely Satan.
