“On your belly you shall go” – when the Holy One blessed be He said to it: “On your belly you shall go,” the ministering angels descended and severed its arms and its legs, and its voice carried from the end of the world to its end. The serpent comes to shed light on the downfall of Egypt, but in the end is itself illuminated by it, as it is stated [regarding Egypt]: “Its outcry will sound out like a serpent” (Jeremiah 46:22).12The image of the serpent’s cry is used to describe and shed light on the shouts of the anguished Egyptians.
Earlier it says, also of Egypt: “Your scream filled the land” (Jeremiah 46:12). From this we learn that the cry of the serpent when its legs were severed was so intense that it spread throughout the world. Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Huna, one of them said: [God told the serpent:] ‘You caused people to walk bent over [in grief] over their dead;13It was because of the serpent that death was introduced to mankind. you, too, will go on your belly.’
Rabbi Eliezer said: Even the curse of the Holy One blessed be He contains a blessing.14Everything God does is a blessing – even the curses He utters. Had the Holy One blessed be He not said to it: “On your belly you shall go,” how would it flee into a wall, enter a hole and be saved? “And you shall eat dust all the days of your life” – Rabbi Ḥilfai said: Not the dust on all sides, but rather, it breaks through [the soil] and descends until it reaches bedrock, and it loosens soil fibers and eats.
Rabbi Levi said: In the Messianic future, everyone will be cured [from their disabilities] except for the serpent and the Givonites. The serpent, as it is stated [of the Messianic future]: “A serpent, dust will be its food. None will harm or destroy [on the entire mountain of My holiness]” (Isaiah 65:25). The Givonites – “the workers of the city15The Givonites were condemned to be eternal servants for public needs (Joshua 9:23). from all the tribes of Israel will cultivate it” (Ezekiel 48:19).
Rabbi Asi and Rabbi Hoshaya said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa: The Holy One blessed be He said to it [the serpent]: ‘I made you king over animal and beast, but you did not want it.16So now, “cursed are you from all the animals, and from all the beasts.” I made you such that you would walk upright like man, but you did not want it; now, “on your belly you shall go.” I made you such that you would eat food like man, but you did not want it; now, “you shall eat dust all the days of your life.”
You sought to kill Adam and to marry Eve; so “I will place enmity between you and the woman”’ (Genesis 3:15). That is, what it sought was not given to it, and what had been in its possession was taken from it. We find likewise regarding Cain, Koraḥ, Bilam, Doeg, Aḥitofel, Geiḥazi, Absalom, Adoniyahu, Uziyahu, and Haman. What they sought was not given to them, and what had been in their possession was taken from them.