The Serpent as a Deceitful Power

the man the cause of a slip

Having made it more cursed than all cattle and all beasts upon the earth, it is evident that God does not direct the rebuke toward this creeping thing alone; for it does not have the nature to lead forward a word of deceit, from which God would make the rebuke come forth by its own account. Paul, indeed, writing to the Corinthians, knowing that there was not an irrational animal, about which he was writing, says: 'I fear lest, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, he might corrupt your minds from the simplicity' (2 Corinthians 11:3).

For Paul compares a deceit occurring by wicked and crafty men, who were standing by, saying that there is no resurrection of the dead nor that the Savior was born of a virgin, who also deceived the infants in Christ, not having the senses of the heart trained toward the distinction of good and evil, to the deceit by the serpent against Eve, which shows him not as a creeping thing, but an opposing energy, which the Scripture is accustomed to call devil. For 'serpent' is not said simply, just as it was said concerning those: 'Offspring of hedgehogs,' but the serpent, which signifies him, the devil, who even though he became the cause of evil to others, works in the sons of disobedience, and his own works are being carried out by imparting to them sophistic deceit. Therefore also he receives a rebuke exceeding all; 'More cursed' for he says, 'you from all the beasts upon the earth' (Genesis 3:14).

For as a cause of evil, it is fitting that the one who has become a serpent from it is subject to a rebuke above all, both in the manner of cattle and beasts of the earth, by which the Savior gives authority to his own disciples, saying: 'Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy' (Luke 10:19). And to the one dwelling in the help of the Most High, it is said: 'He shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and shall trample the lion and the dragon' (Psalm 91:13).

Greek

[ἀ]πο- λογίας αὐτῷ δίδοται. Τί οὖν, φησίν, τοῦτο ἐποίησας; Μὴ γὰρ εἰς τοῦτο ἐτέθης ἐπὶ τῷ αἰτία καταστῆναι τῷ ἀνδρὶ σφάλματος; Καὶ εἶπεν· "6Ὁ ὄφις ἠπάτησέν με"6. Ἀπάτῃ γὰρ τοῦτογέγονεν. Αὐτῆς γὰρ τὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς προενεγκαμένης, αὐτὸς ἀντιστρόφως ἐχρήσατο τῇ προστάξει μετὰ τοῦ καὶ ὑπισχνεῖσθαί τι αὐτοῖς κομπῶδες καὶ δελεάσαι δυνάμενον· "6Ἤδει γάρ"6 φησιν "6ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι ᾗ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, διανοιχθήσονται ὑμῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ καὶ ἔσεσθε ὡς θεοί, γιγνώσκοντες καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν."6 Ὁμολογεῖ δὲ νῦν τὴν ἀπάτην εἰκότως· Θεοῦ γὰρ αἰσθομένη ἐπιγιγνώσκει τὸ γεγενημένον. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἔθος τοῖς ἀπατωμένοις μετὰ τὴν ἔκβασιν ἐπαισ̣θ̣άνεσθαι τοῦ κακοῦ· κατὰ γὰρ τὴν ἀρχήν, τῆς ἡδο̣ν̣ῆς ἐπικρυπτούσης τὴν αἴσθησιν, οὐ γίνεται ἐπίγνωσις. Τὸ δὲ "6εἶπεν"6 οὕτως πάλιν λεκτέον, ὅτι ὁμιλία ἐν διανοίᾳ τῆς γυναικὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ γέγονεν, καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἄδηλον· ὅτε γάρ, ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν, λογισμὸς ἀνατρεπτικὸς τῆς ἁμαρτίας γίνεται, Θεὸν ἡγητέον ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ παρεῖναι καὶ λαλεῖν. Ἐκεῖ δὲ καὶ τάξιν κατὰ τὰ πρότερον ἀλληγοροῦμεν· ἡ γὰρ ἡδονή, ἥτις ὁ ὄφις ἐστίν, πρότερον τῇ αἰσθήσει, ἣν γυναῖκα ἐλέγομεν, ἐγγίνεται, εἶθ' οὕτως τῷ νῷ αὕτη διακονεῖ, ὅστις καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ εἴρηται. ιιι, 14. Καὶ εἶπεν Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τῷ ὄφει· Ὅτι ἐποίησας τοῦτο, ἐπικατάρατος σὺ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· ἐπὶ τῷ στήθει σου καὶ τῇ κοιλίᾳ πορεύσῃ καὶ γῆν φάγῃ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου. Ὅπερ πρός τε τὸν Ἀδὰμ καὶ τὴν Εὕαν εἶπεν ὁ Θεός, ἑκάστῳ αὐτῶν [λ]έγων· "6Τί ἐποίησας τοῦτο;"6, ἀφ' ὧν καὶ τὸν αἴτιον τῆς κακίας [ἤ]κουσεν, τοῦ μὲν Ἀδὰμ τὴν γυναῖκα αἰτιωμένου, τῆς δὲ γ̣υν̣α̣ι̣κὸς τὸν 96 ὄφιν, οὐκέτι εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν ὄφιν· ἀρχέκακος γὰρ οὗτος καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπ' ἄλλον ἀνενεγκεῖν οὐκ ἔχων. ∆ιόπερ εὐθὺς ἀντὶ τοῦ "6τί ὅτι ἐποίησας τοῦτο;"6 ἐπάγει τὴν ἐπιτιμίαν εἰπών· "6Ὅτι τοῦτο ἐποίησας, ἐπικα<τά>ρατος σὺ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς,"6 ∆ῆλον δὲ ὡς οὐ τῷ ἑρπετῷ τούτῳ τὴν ἐπιτιμίαν προσάγει Θεός· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχει φύσιν τοῦ τὸν ἀπάτης προαγαγεῖν λόγον, ἐξ οὗ τὴν καθ' ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιτιμίαν ἐκκαλέσεται τὸν Θεὸν ποιήσασθαι. Παῦλος γοῦν γράφων Κορινθίοις, ἐπιστάμενος ὡς οὐ ζῷον ἄλογον ὑπῆρχεν, περὶ οὗ ἔγραφεν, φησίν· "6Φοβοῦμαι μήπως, ὡς ὄφις ἐξηπάτησεν Εὕαν ἐν τῇ πανουργίᾳ αὐτοῦ, φθαρῇ τὰ νοήματα ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς <ἁπλότητος>"6. Παραβάλλει γὰρ ὁ Παῦλος ἀπάτην γινομένην ὑπὸ κακοήθων ἀνθρώπων καὶ πανούργων, οἵτινες ἐπιφυέντες ἦσαν, λέγοντες μὴ εἶναι ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν μηδὲ ἐκ παρθένου τὸν Σωτῆρα γεγεννῆσθαι, οἳ καὶ ἠπάτων τοὺς ἐν Κορίνθῳ νηπίους ἐν Χριστῷ, οὐκ ἔχοντας τὰ αἰσθητήρια τῆς καρδίας γεγυμνασ- μένα πρὸς διάκρισιν καλοῦ καὶ κακοῦ, τῇ ὑπὸ τοῦ ὄφεως κατὰ τῆς Εὕας ἀπάτῃ, ὅπερ δείκνυσιν αὐτὸν οὐχ ἑρπετόν, ἀλλὰ ἀντικειμένην ἐνέργειαν, ἣν διάβολον ἔθος τῇ γραφῇ 38 καλεῖν. Οὐ γὰρ "3ὄφις"3 ἁπλῶς λέγεται, ὥσπερ καὶ περὶ ἐκείνων ἐλέχθη· "6Ὄφεις γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν"6, ἀλλ' ὁ ὄφις, ὃ δηλοῖ αὐτὸν τὸν διάβολον, ὃς καίτοι ἄλλοις τῆς κακίας αἴτιος κατέστη· ἐνεργεῖ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας, καὶ ἐνεργεῖται τὰ ἴδια ἐμποιῶν ἐκείνοις σοφι- στικῇ ἀπάτῃ. ∆ιόπερ καὶ τὴν ἐπιτιμίαν ὑπερβάλλουσαν δέχεται· "6Ἐπικατάρατος"6 γάρ φησιν "6σὺ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς"6. Ὡς γὰρ αἴτιος κακίας, εἰκότως καὶ τῇ ἐπιτιμίᾳ ὑπὲρ πάντας ὑπόκειται τοὺς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τὸ ὄφ<ε>ις εἶναι ἐσχηκότας καὶ κτήνη τῷ τρόπῳ καὶ θηρία γῆς, καθ' ὧν τὴν ἐξουσίαν δίδωσιν ὁ Σωτὴρ τοῖς ἰδίοις μαθηταῖς λέγων· "6Ἰδοὺ δέδωκα μὲν ὑμῖν ἐξουσίαν πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ."6 Καὶ τῷ ἐν τῇ βοηθείᾳ τοῦ Ὑψίστου κατοικοῦν[τι] ἐπιλέγεται· "6Ἐπ' ἀσπίδα 97 καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα."6

About this text

Didymus the Blind reads the creation account verse by verse, finding Christ and the Spirit in Genesis.

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