I watched a commercial on television the other day (does television actually show anything other than commercials?) that was for some free four-week online course, taught by some religious institution, which would teach enrollees the meaning of the Book of Genesis. Some professor (I guess) made some comment like people could ask questions like, “How would the snake be punished by crawling on its belly, when that’s what snakes do?”
Okay then.
Maybe the serpent in Eden did not crawl on its belly there?
The identification of the “serpent” comes from Moses having recited the word “nachash” (נָחָשׁ), as han·nā·ḥāš (הַנָּחָשׁ֮), "the serpent." What has to be understood is Moses was not pointing out the state of being that went to Eve (ishshah), as it was then. The description of "the serpent" referred to it after banishment, when everyone knew that a “serpent” crawled on its belly or slithered and sidewinded. When it wandered up to Eve, however, it had legs, like a “beast of the field.”
Think of a Komodo dragon.
Now, think in terms of the mythical dragons, like the ones made popular on the cable series Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.
These are “lizards,” rather than a “serpents,” but both fall into the classification of Reptilia.
This makes the Hebrew word nachash mean more than a simple translation as “the snake.”
According to Northern Illinois University Digital Library:
“Nachash signifies to view attentively, to learn by attentive observation and experience, to hiss, to whisper, to divine, incantation, enchantment, augury and omen; it signifies also a serpent, so called from its hissing; it also signifies brass, copper, and iron, as inferior metals, chains and fetters.” (from the writing: “The Nachash Origin of the Black and Mixed Races,” written by Thompson, C. Blancher (1860), sorted under “Race and Ethnicity; Religion and Culture; 1835—1910”)
While this racist view of Adam being superior to the Negro is not the point to be made here, rather than throw the baby out with the bath water, the concept of the “serpent” (nachash) is valid, as a translation of Hebrew to English. This says how not only did the “serpent” have legs upon which it traveled in Eden, it was able to communicate with Eve. In that conversation between Eve and "the serpent," audible verbal communication is least likely how the "serpent" exchanged its thoughts to Eve's brain. In other words, the “serpent” hissed; and, from that noise was sent telepathic whispers, such that the thoughts of the “serpent” became the thoughts of Eve.
Now, with that understood, Eve telling Yahweh, “The serpent made me do it” is no different than Flip Wilson (70’s comic) saying, “The devil made me do it.”
It does not matter where the idea came from. If you act on a bad idea, then you are responsible for the acts you do.
This is where the mythical dragons and knights being sent to fight them needs to be seen in terms of “lizards” and “reptiles” that have the power to whisper thoughts that one thinks is one’s own. These creatures hide in the earth, where they “eat dust” making tunnels underground. They eat so much dust they create underground cities and labyrinths that invite knights to come find them, where the knights then become forever lost. The fire the dragons are said to breathe is not physical flames, but the whispers to do evil things (like the “serpents” tricked Eve into doing). It is that danger that causes well-intended souls to be 'burned' in hell (where "the serpent" is forever banished).
Now, there is much talk these modern days about belief in aliens and unidentified flying objects, where very few people (percentage figure to the whole) have actually seen such things; and, nobody can prove anything came here from outer space. Still, people hear such talk and believe it is possible, just like ancient people would sit around the bar drinking mead and believe the stories about knights disappearing, having been burned and eaten by a dragon.
Try putting the two together.
Dragons are demon spirits that hide underground, but when a good knight comes searching for a dragon to slay, the dragon slays the soul of the knight and the knight leaves a cave possessed by a dragon. The knight then becomes an alien, no longer good, possessed by evil thoughts.
The concept of dragons flying does not mean they have wings, like bats (mammals) or birds (believed to be reptiles long ago). If that were so, then Yahweh would not punish the “serpent” by making it “go on its belly.” A flying dragon is an unidentified flying object, which comes from deep within the earth (not outer space), where the gravitational pull is so strong that the dragons must do the belly-scoot with a lot of effort. When creatures that strong touch the surface, whoosh, off they go. The silvery dish one appears to be is actually its souls (which does not obey the laws of physics), shooting through the sky on their bellies, outside their holes in the ground.
Here is a picture of a punished “serpent” and a couple of good knights.
