5 min read

The Serpent Walked Upright Until It Wanted Adam's Wife

One pair of serpents could have done all of humanity's work and dug up gold and pearls besides. Then one of them decided it wanted Adam dead.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Height of a Camel
  2. It Went to the Woman Because the Man Was Harder
  3. It Pushed Her Against the Tree
  4. God Read the List Back
  5. The Mole Has No Eyes and the Frog Has No Teeth
The Serpent Walked Upright Until It Wanted Adam's Wife Click for full size

The Height of a Camel

The serpent stood on two feet and reached the height of a camel. Of all the animals it had the finest gifts, and some of those gifts belonged properly to a man. Had the world held, one pair of serpents would have been enough to do every kind of work a human being has to do, and they would have brought up silver and gold and gems and pearls besides.

The gifts ruined it. A mind that sharp stopped believing in the One who made it. It watched Adam, and it watched the woman who slept beside him, and what it wanted was not the garden and not the rule over the beasts. It wanted her. So it began working out how Adam could be made to die.

It Went to the Woman Because the Man Was Harder

It knew Adam's character too well to waste persuasion on him. So it came to Eve, and it came with every line already prepared.

"Is it true that God has said, you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?"

"We may eat of the fruit of all the trees in the garden," she answered, "except the one in the middle. That one we may not even touch, or we will be struck with death."

God had said nothing about touching. Adam had added that himself, out of zeal to keep her far from the edge of the command. Better a wall ten hands high that stands than a wall a hundred ells high that cannot. Adam's extra height on the fence was the crack the serpent had been waiting for.

It Pushed Her Against the Tree

The serpent shoved her into the trunk.

Nothing happened. She stood there with the bark against her back, alive.

"You see that touching the tree has not killed you," it said. "Eating will do you no more harm than that. Nothing but spite lies behind the prohibition. Eat, and you will be as God is. He creates worlds and destroys them, and so will you. He kills and revives, and so will you. He ate of this tree first and afterward He made the world. That is why He keeps it from you, so that you will not go making worlds of your own. Everyone knows that artisans of the same guild hate one another."

Then it made the argument it was proudest of. Every creature rules the creature made before it. The heavens came on the first day, and the firmament of the second day holds them in place. The plants of the third day drink up the firmament's water. The sun and the stars of the fourth day ripen the plants and decide whether they flourish. The birds and beasts of the fifth day rule the lights above them, and the ziz can darken the sun with its wings.

"You were made last of all," the serpent said. "You are masters of the whole of creation. Hurry and eat, and be free of Him, before He brings forth something newer than you to rule over you."

Eve ate. Adam ate. Death came into the world through a door that had been held open by a good argument.

God Read the List Back

Then God spoke to the serpent, and He did not begin with the crime. He began with the inventory.

"I created you king over all the animals, over the cattle and the beasts of the field alike, and you were not satisfied. Therefore you are cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field. I created you of upright posture, and you were not satisfied. Therefore you shall go upon your belly. I created you to eat the same food as man, and you were not satisfied. Therefore you shall eat dust all the days of your life. You sought to cause the death of Adam so that you might take his wife. Therefore I will put enmity between you and the woman."

Four counts. Four times the same sentence, laid down like a weight: I gave you this, and it was not enough for you.

The Mole Has No Eyes and the Frog Has No Teeth

The feet went first. The creature that had walked beside human beings at the height of a camel came down into the dust and stayed there, and it could no longer run down other animals and kill them, because a body on its belly cannot chase. The mind went too. Whatever advantage it had held over the other beasts drained out of it.

God had done this work before. The mole was made without eyes, because a mole that could see would be impossible to stop. The frog was made without teeth, because nothing in the water would be safe from it otherwise. Some creatures are too dangerous to be left whole.

The serpent had wanted a man's place, a man's food, and a man's wife. It got the ground, and dust to eat, and a woman's children walking over its head forever.

SerpentEdenAdamEveCreationDivine PunishmentAnimals
← All myths

From the tradition

Sources

3 sources

The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Legends of the Jews 2:55Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

In Ginzberg's retelling in, Legends of the Jews, this serpent was no ordinary animal. It was, in fact, the most remarkable of all creatures. Imagine this: standing upright like a human, as tall as a camel, and possessing incredible intelligence. Had things gone differently, had the "Adam's transgression" not occurred, a pair of these serpents could have taken over humanity's workload, providing us with silver, gold, gems, and pearls! Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. So, what went wrong?

Well, it was precisely the serpent's exceptional intellect that led to his downfall – and ours. His superior mental gifts caused him to become an infidel, leading to envy, particularly of Adam's relationship with Eve. This envy fueled his plot to bring about Adam's demise. But the serpent knew Adam too well to try any tricks of persuasion directly. Instead, he targeted Eve, believing women were more easily deceived.

The conversation with Eve was meticulously planned, a calculated trap. The serpent starts with a question: "Is it true that God hath said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden?" Eve responds, explaining that they can eat from any tree except the one in the center, which they can't even touch, "lest we be stricken with death."

Here's where it gets interesting. Eve's response isn't exactly what God commanded. God only forbade eating the fruit, not touching the tree. in the story, Adam, in his zeal to protect Eve from disobeying God, had added the prohibition against touching. As the proverb says, "Better a wall ten hands high that stands, than a wall a hundred ells high that cannot stand." It was Adam's exaggeration that gave the serpent an opening.

The serpent, seizing the opportunity, pushes Eve against the tree and says, "See? Touching the tree hasn't killed you. Eating the fruit won't hurt you either. God is just being malicious, because as soon as you eat it, you'll become like Him."

The serpent goes on, "As He creates and destroys worlds, so will you. As He doth slay and revive, so will you. He Himself ate first of the fruit of the tree, and then He created the world. Therefore doth He forbid you to eat thereof, lest you create other worlds. Everyone knows that 'artisans of the same guild hate one another.'"

The serpent continues his twisted logic, arguing that every creature has dominion over the one created before it. "The heavens were made on the first day, and they are kept in place by the firmament made on the second day. The firmament, in turn, is ruled by the plants. The sun and the other celestial bodies. have power over the world of plants. The creation of the fifth day, the animal world, rules over the celestial spheres." He even mentions the ziz, a giant bird whose wings can darken the sun!

Then comes the final, tempting offer: "But ye are masters of the whole of creation, because ye were the last to be created. Hasten now and eat of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, and become independent of God, lest He bring forth still other creatures to bear rule over you."

The serpent's argument isn't just about eating a piece of fruit. It's about power, independence, and a fear of being surpassed. It’s a challenge to the established order, a promise of godlike abilities. It's an incredibly compelling narrative, even if it is based on deception.

So, what does this all mean? Is the serpent simply a villain, or a symbol of something deeper? Perhaps the serpent represents the allure of forbidden knowledge, the temptation to question authority, or the inherent human desire to become something more than we are. Maybe the story isn't just about a snake, an apple, and a garden, but about the very nature of choice, ambition, and the consequences of our actions.

Full source
Legends of the Jews 1:67Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

Because according to some fascinating corners of Jewish tradition, even the animals weren't always as they are now.

Take the serpent. The familiar version gives us the serpent. The smooth-talking tempter in the Garden of Eden. But according to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, this wasn't just any snake. Oh no. Before the fall, this serpent was the cleverest of all creatures.

Get this: it looked remarkably like a human being!

That for a moment. A creature of immense intelligence, standing upright, perhaps even… handsome? It’s a far cry from the slithering, legless reptile we picture today. The implications are. What kind of conversations could Adam and Eve have had with such a being?

But, of course, after the fall, everything changed. The serpent, as punishment, lost its superior intellect. It also suffered a dramatic physical transformation. It was stripped of its legs, forced to crawl on its belly, unable to hunt and kill with ease. As Legends of the Jews tells it, the serpent’s downfall was as complete as humanity's.

About the cost of disobedience, the ripple effects of choices, and how profoundly things can be altered.

And the serpent wasn't alone in its pre-Fall perfection. The tradition paints a picture of a world where power had to be carefully balanced.

Think about the mole. According to this tradition, it would be an unstoppable force! So, the mole was made blind, to prevent it from wreaking havoc.

And the frog? We see it as pretty harmless. But picture a frog with teeth! Legends of the Jews suggests that if frogs had teeth, no creature in the water would be safe. So, they were rendered toothless, ensuring a more peaceful aquatic ecosystem.

These details, found in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, based on earlier midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) sources, offer a glimpse into a world where even the physical attributes of animals were carefully considered, divinely regulated to maintain a delicate balance.

That even the smallest creature plays a part in the grand scheme of things. And that sometimes, limitations are necessary to prevent chaos.

Remember the potential they once held, the roles they might have played in a world before the fall. It's a world that, in some ways, still echoes within our own.

Full source
Legends of the Jews 2:63Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

God didn't hold back when addressing the serpent. It wasn't just a slap on the wrist; it was a complete overhaul of the serpent's very being.

"I created thee to be king over all animals, cattle and the beasts of the field alike; but thou wast not satisfied," God declared. The serpent, already a ruler, craved more. And isn't that a familiar human flaw? That nagging feeling that what we have isn't enough?

The punishment fit the crime, so to speak. God continued, "Therefore thou shalt be cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field. I created thee of upright posture; but thou wast not satisfied. Therefore thou shalt go upon thy belly." The serpent, once upright, now condemned to slither on its belly. A constant reminder of its transgression.

It gets worse. "I created thee to eat the same food as man; but thou wast not satisfied. Therefore thou shalt eat dust all the days of thy life." From shared meals with humans to a diet of dirt.

But the most profound part of the curse, the one that resonates even today, is this: "Thou didst seek to cause the death of Adam in order to espouse his wife. Therefore I will put enmity between thee and the woman." This sets the stage for the eternal conflict between humanity and the serpent, a battle that plays out in countless stories and myths.

The story concludes with a powerful moral lesson: "How true it is--he who lusts after what is not his due, not only does he not attain his desire, but he also loses what he has!" A timeless message about the dangers of unchecked ambition and the importance of contentment.

Are we ever truly satisfied? Or are we constantly chasing after something more, something just out of reach, potentially losing what we already possess in the process? The tale of the serpent's downfall serves as a potent reminder to appreciate what we have and to be wary of the seductive allure of insatiable desire.

Full source