Villains in Tanah: An Introduction The Snake- The Root of Sin

(א) וְהַנָּחָשׁ֙ הָיָ֣ה עָר֔וּם מִכֹּל֙ חַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָׂ֖ה ה' אֱלֹקִ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔ה אַ֚ף כִּֽי־אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹקִ֔ים לֹ֣א תֹֽאכְל֔וּ מִכֹּ֖ל עֵ֥ץ הַגָּֽן׃ (ב) וַתֹּ֥אמֶר הָֽאִשָּׁ֖ה אֶל־הַנָּחָ֑שׁ מִפְּרִ֥י עֵֽץ־הַגָּ֖ן נֹאכֵֽל׃ (ג) וּמִפְּרִ֣י הָעֵץ֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּתוֹךְ־הַגָּן֒ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹקִ֗ים לֹ֤א תֹֽאכְלוּ֙ מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְלֹ֥א תִגְּע֖וּ בּ֑וֹ פֶּן־תְּמֻתֽוּן׃ (ד) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הַנָּחָ֖שׁ אֶל־הָֽאִשָּׁ֑ה לֹֽא־מ֖וֹת תְּמֻתֽוּן׃ (ה) כִּ֚י יֹדֵ֣עַ אֱלֹקִ֔ים כִּ֗י בְּיוֹם֙ אֲכׇלְכֶ֣ם מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְנִפְקְח֖וּ עֵֽינֵיכֶ֑ם וִהְיִיתֶם֙ כֵּֽאלֹקִ֔ים יֹדְעֵ֖י ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע׃ (ו) וַתֵּ֣רֶא הָֽאִשָּׁ֡ה כִּ֣י טוֹב֩ הָעֵ֨ץ לְמַאֲכָ֜ל וְכִ֧י תַֽאֲוָה־ה֣וּא לָעֵינַ֗יִם וְנֶחְמָ֤ד הָעֵץ֙ לְהַשְׂכִּ֔יל וַתִּקַּ֥ח מִפִּרְי֖וֹ וַתֹּאכַ֑ל וַתִּתֵּ֧ן גַּם־לְאִישָׁ֛הּ עִמָּ֖הּ וַיֹּאכַֽל׃

Genesis 3:1-6

(1) Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts that God ה' had made. It said to the woman, “Did God really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” (2) The woman replied to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the other trees of the garden. (3) It is only about fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: ‘You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.’” (4) And the serpent said to the woman, “You are not going to die, (5) but God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like divine beings who know good and bad.” (6) When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate.

בראשית ג׳:ז׳

(ז) וַתִּפָּקַ֙חְנָה֙ עֵינֵ֣י שְׁנֵיהֶ֔ם וַיֵּ֣דְע֔וּ כִּ֥י עֵֽירֻמִּ֖ם הֵ֑ם וַֽיִּתְפְּרוּ֙ עֲלֵ֣ה תְאֵנָ֔ה וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּ לָהֶ֖ם חֲגֹרֹֽת׃

Genesis 3:7

(7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked; and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths.

בראשית ג׳:כ״ב

(כב) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ׀ ה' אֱלֹקִ֗ים הֵ֤ן הָֽאָדָם֙ הָיָה֙ כְּאַחַ֣ד מִמֶּ֔נּוּ לָדַ֖עַת ט֣וֹב וָרָ֑ע וְעַתָּ֣ה ׀ פֶּן־יִשְׁלַ֣ח יָד֗וֹ וְלָקַח֙ גַּ֚ם מֵעֵ֣ץ הַֽחַיִּ֔ים וְאָכַ֖ל וָחַ֥י לְעֹלָֽם׃

Genesis 3:22

(22) And God ה' said, “Now that humankind has become like any of us, knowing good and bad, what if one should stretch out a hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever!”

1. Snake as the Yetzer Hara

זוהר על בראשית א:לה

כְּתִיב וְהַנָּחָשׁ הָיָה עָרוּם דָּא יֵצֶר הָרָע דָּא מַלְאַךְ הַמָּוֶת. וּבְגִין דְּנָחָשׁ אִיהוּ מַלְאַךְ הַמָּוֶת גְּרַם מוֹתָא לְכָל עָלְמָא.

ספורנו על בראשית ג:א
והנחש. "הוא שטן הוא יצר הרע", רב ההזק עם מעוט היותו נראה… ועל זה הדרך קרא בזה המקום את היצר הרע המחטיא "נחש", בהיותו דומה לנחש, אשר תועלתו במציאות מועט מאד, ונזקו רב עם מעוט הראותו.
וכבר אמרו זכרונם לברכה שהיה סמאל רוכב עליו, והוא שהכח המתאוה המחטיא יעשה זה באמצעות הכח המדמה המוביל אליו דמיוני התענוגים החומריים, המטים מדרך השלמות המכוון מאת הקל יתברך. כי אמנם הכח המתאוה עם דמיוני התענוגים המובילים אליו הם מצוים לכחות הגשמיות הפועלות, ומחטיאים כונת ורצון האל יתברך, כשלא יתקומם עליהם הכח השכלי וימחה בהם…

הכתב והקבלה בראשית ג:א

פירוש כעס וחמה יעורר אשר אמר אלקים לא תאכלו כי על ידי המניעה מאכילת פרי הגן תרגיש הנפש צער ודאגה כי מוכרחים אנחנו לעמוד תמיד על משמרת נפש המתאוה לאכול פרי יפה עיני׳ וטוב רואי כאלה

רב יוסף אלבו ספר העיקרים 4:28
כלומר כעס גדול יש לי על מה שאמר לכם השם יתברך שלא תאכלו מכל עץ הגן אלא מעצים ידועים, שלא צוה אתכם זו לתועלתכם שההפך מועיל לכם יותר

2. Snake as a Miraculous Snake:

אבן עזרא על בראשית ג׳:א׳

(א) והנחש. ...והישר בעיני שהם הדברים כמשמעם והנחש הי' מדבר והיה הולך בקומ' זקופ' והשם דעת באדם שם בו. והנ' הפסוק העיד כי הי' ערום מכל חית השד' רק לא כאדם...

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 3:1

(1) NOW THE SERPENT. Some say that the woman understood and knew the language of the animals. They interpret And the serpent said as meaning, that the serpent spoke through signs. Others say that the serpent was in reality Satan. Now why don’t they look at what Scripture states at the close of this chapter (v. 14 and 15)? How is Satan to crawl upon his belly or eat the dust of the ground? Furthermore, what meaning is there to the curse they shall bruise thy head if the reference is to Satan? Many err and inquire why the serpent was cursed. They ask, was the serpent fully intelligent? Was he commanded by God to refrain from beguiling the woman? Rabbi Saadiah Gaon says since we know that only humans are intelligent and capable of speaking, we must conclude that neither the serpent nor Balaam’s ass spoke. He argues that in reality an angel spoke for them. However, Rabbi Samuel ben Hofni took issue with him. On the other hand, Rabbi Solomon ibn Gabirol, the great Spanish scholar and poet who wrote metered verse, arose and disagreed with Rabbi Samuel ben Hofni. It appears to me that we are to interpret the account of the serpent literally. The serpent spoke and walked in an upright position. The One who gave intelligence to man also gave it to the serpent. Scripture itself bears witness that the serpent, although not as intelligent as man, was more subtle (arum) than any beast of the field. The meaning of arum (subtle) is wise, i.e., one who conducts his affairs intelligently. Now do not be surprised that Scripture uses the term arum (subtle, in v. 1) after arummim (naked in Gen. 2:25) when each of these words has a different meaning. Scripture is being poetic. Similarly, With the jawbone of an ass (ha-chamor), heaps upon heaps (chamor chamoratayim) (Judges 15:16), and on thirty ass colts (ayarim), and they had thirty cities (ayarim) (Jud. 10:4). Furthermore, if an angel spoke via the mouth of the serpent, then the serpent did not sin. This angel could not be God’s messenger. Neither does an angel rebel against God. Those who ask, how did the serpent find the woman, are not asking a valid question. (2) The use of the term af ki (yea) shows that the serpent spoke other things to the woman and that at the end of his conversation with her said, “yea much more so (af ki) now that God said: Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden (v. 1).”The serpent did not mention the revered and feared name of God because he did not know it. The woman also added to God’s commandment, neither shall ye touch it. The wife of Manoah did the same when she quoted the angel as saying, for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb to the day of his death (Jud. 13:7).

רב יצחק עראמה, עקידת יצחק שער ט

הכתוב העיד כי זה הבעל חי היה בטבעו ערום מכל שאר הבעלי חיים וכאלו הוא אמצעי ביניהם ובין המין האנושי בענין הידיעה

Rav Hirsch on Breishit 3:1 - "Animal Knowledge"

The opposition to the animal life is the probing stone and the cliff on which human morality is tried or failed. It was animal wisdom that drew the first man from his duty; it is still the same animal wisdom today that serves as a midwife to every sin. The story of the first misstep is the story of all aberrations. The animal is really כאלוקים יודעי טוב ורע-The instinct resides in it, and this instinct is the voice of God, the will of God for it. What it does according to this divine providence prevailing in it - and it does not do anything else, it cannot do anything else - is good, and everything from which this instinct holds it back is evil. The animal does not go wrong, it only has one nature that it can follow, should follow. Not so the Human. He should choose what is good out of free choice and a sense of duty and avoid evil; He should also do justice to his sensual nature, not out of sensory stimulus, but out of a sense of duty. Even its most sensual enjoyment should be free moral deed, it should never and nowhere and in no way be an animal. That is why he has the sensual and the divine in him; it must often resist the good of its sensuality, the evil that often appears charming to him, so that for the sake of his high divine calling, with the free energy of his divine nature, despite his sensuality and never out of sensuality, he may practice the good and avoid the evil. That is why the voice of God does not speak in him, but to him, what is good and bad, and this voice of God speaking to him finds contradiction in the sensuality that becomes loud in him, as soon as this sensuality expresses itself independently, unaffected and unguided by his divine nature. The divine voice breathed into man, the conscience, as its messenger we recognized shame - only admonishes man in general to be good and to avoid evil; but what is good and what is bad for man can only be heard from God's mouth. It is incomprehensible to the animal, even to the cleverest, how a person insensitively bypasses the most beautiful, charming, best enjoyment. - אף כי אמר אלקים, "and even if God said so" this beginning of the speech already shows us humans in conversation with animals. Man had already emphasized the prohibition of God as a reason for non-enjoyment. "And what if God said it now ?! Do you therefore have to follow? Isn't the instinct in you God's voice? If the enjoyment is bad for you, why did he give the enjoyment the stimulus and you the drive, so he does not have you clearly said yourself that this pleasure and you are there for each other? Isn't this voice his earlier, clearer voice? First God creates the pleasures and you with the desire for them, and then - should he forbid you everything?

3. The snake is just a snake

אברבנאל בראשית פרק ג

אבל היה הענין שהיא ראתה את הנחש שהיה עולה בעץ הדעת ואוכל מפירותיו פעם אחר פעם ולא היה מת ולא ניזוק בדבר מה והאשה חשבה בזה וחקרה בעצמה כאלו היתה מדברת עם הנחש וכי הוא בעלותו בעץ ובאכלו מפריו היה אומר אליה לא מות תמותון. ולכן דעתי בענין הנחש ותובן הספור הזה אגיד לך פה שהוא יסוד הפרשה הזאת ואמתתה והוא שהנחש לא דבר כלל אל האשה ולא האשה אליו כי לא איש דברים הוא ולזה לא אמר הכתוב בענינו ויפתח ה׳ את פי הנחש כמו שאמר באתון בלעם ששם בעבור שהיה דבור האתון כפשוטו ועל דרך פלא נאמר ויפתח ה׳ את פי האתון אבל בנחש לא אמר שפתח את פיו לפי שלא דבר כלל לא בדרך טבע ולא בדרך נס.

Shoshana Solomyak