Fascinating, as usual, but a bit disturbing to this imagination. The serpent inhabited to bring on all our woe [Genesis] is also same family as the praisers and agents of God's judgement. Unsettling, but as God's word provides, one must abide. Still kind of ....unsettling.
Although these seals may owe more to Egyptian influences and the prevalent idolatry of ancient Israel, the fact that winged serpents appear in Hebrew iconography at the time lends further credence to your argument.
Yes, thank you! I had thought of including such (probably) apotropaic serpentine objects, but I didn't want to expand the article too much. It's common, I think, across many places in the ANE.
Also, what do we make of all of this when Satan himself was a serpent/dragon, and serpentine imagery & descriptions seem so associated with evil and the enemies of God? Was he one of the seraphim before his fall?
And it’s interesting that Jesus said he saw Satan fall “like lightning,” which would perhaps coordinate with the fiery description.
But I think there are some connections between the serpent in the garden, Leviathan, the dragon in Rev 12, and so on.
That said, the serpent imagery does not = evil, since God uses a serpent to heal. Jesus himself claims the sign of the Saraph in John 3: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
Fascinating, as usual, but a bit disturbing to this imagination. The serpent inhabited to bring on all our woe [Genesis] is also same family as the praisers and agents of God's judgement. Unsettling, but as God's word provides, one must abide. Still kind of ....unsettling.
Although these seals may owe more to Egyptian influences and the prevalent idolatry of ancient Israel, the fact that winged serpents appear in Hebrew iconography at the time lends further credence to your argument.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Left-four-winged-uraeus-at-the-top-of-a-tri-registral-Hebrew-seal-also-note-the_fig5_336532849
https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en-US/noartistknown/seal-inscribed-in-hebrew-and-decorated-with-a-winged-snake-judea-8th-century-bc/photo/asset/3288392
Yes, thank you! I had thought of including such (probably) apotropaic serpentine objects, but I didn't want to expand the article too much. It's common, I think, across many places in the ANE.
Also, what do we make of all of this when Satan himself was a serpent/dragon, and serpentine imagery & descriptions seem so associated with evil and the enemies of God? Was he one of the seraphim before his fall?
And it’s interesting that Jesus said he saw Satan fall “like lightning,” which would perhaps coordinate with the fiery description.
I'll likely write on that next or soon.
But I think there are some connections between the serpent in the garden, Leviathan, the dragon in Rev 12, and so on.
That said, the serpent imagery does not = evil, since God uses a serpent to heal. Jesus himself claims the sign of the Saraph in John 3: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
Is your class online or in person?
Online