Attributed commentary excerpt
John Gill's Exposition on Genesis 3:1
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Exposition of the Old and New Testament
John Gill (1697–1771) · 18th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made, etc.] Many instances are given of the subtlety of serpents, in hiding their heads when struck at, rolling themselves up, stopping their ear at the voice of the charmer, putting off their skin, lying in sand of the same colour with them, and biting the feet of horses, and other things of the like kind; but by these it does not appear to be now more subtle than any other creature, whatever it might be at its first creation; particularly the fox greatly exceeds it: the words therefore may be rendered, “that serpent”; that particular serpent, of which so much is spoken of afterwards; “or the serpent was become” f194, or “made more subtle”, that is, not naturally, but through Satan being in it, and using it in a very subtle manner, to answer his purposes, and gain his point: for though a real serpent, and not the mere form or appearance of one, is here meant, as is clear from this account, and the curse afterwards pronounced on it; yet not that only, but as possessed and used by Satan as an instrument of his to accomplish his designs, as is evident from its having the faculty of speech, and the use of reason, employed in a very artful and sophistic manner: nor is it rational to suppose that human nature, in the height of its glory and excellency, should be outwitted and seduced by a creature so inferior to it; besides, the Scriptures always ascribe the seduction of man to the devil; who, because he acted his deceitful part in and by the serpent, is called the serpent, and the old serpent, and the devil and Satan, (<471103>2 Corinthians 11:3 <661209>Revelation 12:9). The Targum of Jonathan restrains this subtlety to wickedness, paraphrasing the words “but the serpent was wise to evil.” Some Jewish writers f195 interpret the passage of the nakedness of the serpent, taking the word in the sense it is used in (<010225>Genesis 2:25) and render it, “more naked than any beast of the field”, the rest having a clothing, as hair, etc. but this none; and so might be more agreeable to Eve, being in this respect like herself; but it is generally interpreted of subtlety. The serpent early became the object of religions worship. Taautus, or the Egyptian Thoth, was the first that attributed deity to the nature of the dragon, and of serpents; and after him the Egyptians and Phoenicians: the Egyptian god Cneph was a serpent with an hawk’s head; and a serpent with the Phoenicians was a good demon: what led them to have such veneration for this animal, were its plenty of spirits, its fiery nature, its swiftness, its various forms it throws itself into, and its long life f196; and so Pherecydes f197 speaks of a deity of the Phoenicians called Ophioneus; and who also affirms f198, that this was the prince of demons cast down from heaven by Jupiter; and Herodotus f199 makes mention of sacred serpents about Thebes; and Aelianus f200 of sacred dragons; and Justin Martyr says f201 , the serpent with the Heathens was a symbol of all that were reckoned gods by them, and they were painted as such; and wherever serpents were painted, according to Persius f202, it was a plain indication that it was a sacred place. Serpents were sacred to many of the Heathen deities, and who were worshipped either in the form of one, or in a real one f203; all which seem to take their rise from the use the devil made of the serpent in seducing our first parents. And he said to the woman; being alon…
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