1. If you were a director, filming Gen 3, how would you visualize the Tempter? As Michael Heiser has noted, the name of the Tempter is a triple entendre: snake, diviner, shining one.
2. One question is whether angels, or certain kinds of angels, are shapeshifters. The seraphim and cherubim seem to be shapeshifters. Indeed, the technical designation is Tetramorph.
3. Another issue is whether there's any relationship between the Tempter and the river or tributaries of Eden. In Dan 7, the prophet has a dream or night vision of hybrid sea monsters rising from the ocean. And in Rev 13, John has a vision of a hybrid sea monster rising from the ocean.
Related examples include Leviathan (Isa 27:1 Ps 74:13-14).
4. In Rev 12, the Devil originally appeared to be a serpentine constellation. The background of the night sky is like an ocean.
5. Perhaps, in Gen 3, the Tempter originally emerges from the river like an anaconda or sea-monster, then assumes a more humanoid shape when engaging Eve in conversation.
The curse might indicate a shift from an aquatic to a terrestrial zone, which would be quite a comedown.
The predominate imagery is serpentine. The iconography of the medieval dragon seems to be anachronistic. However, ancient Jews were certainly familiar with the Nile crocodile, and the fire-breathing reptile in Job 41 resembles a Nile crocodile with some legendary enhancements or accessories.
This list doesn't include extinct prehistorical snakes like Titanoboa and Gigantophis.
Humans have an inbuilt aversion to reptiles. You think Eve would run a hundred miles if she saw a walking talking reptile.
ReplyDeleteI think I saw in a Jack Chick comic, the tempter represented as a use car salesman wearing crocodile skin boots.