adder Summary and Overview

(Ps. 140:3; Rom. 3:13, "asp") is the rendering of, (1.) Akshub ("coiling" or "lying in wait"), properly an asp or viper, found only in this passage. (2.) Pethen ("twisting"), a viper or venomous serpent identified with the cobra (Naja haje) (Ps. 58:4; 91:13); elsewhere "asp." (3.) Tziphoni ("hissing") (Prov. 23:32); elsewhere rendered "cockatrice," Isa. 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jer. 8:17, as it is here in the margin of the Authorized Version. The Revised Version has "basilisk." This may have been the yellow viper, the Daboia xanthina, the largest and most dangerous of the vipers of Israel. (4.) Shephiphon ("creeping"), occurring only in Gen. 49:17, the small speckled venomous snake, the "horned snake," or cerastes. Dan is compared to this serpent, which springs from its hiding-place on the passer-by.

This word is used for any poisonous snake, and is applied in this general sense by the translators of the Authorized Version. The word adder occurs five times in the text of the Authorized Version (see below), and three times int he margin as synonymous with cockatrice, viz., #Isa 11:8; 14:29; 59:5| It represents four Hebrew words: 1. Acshub is found only in #Ps 140:3| and may be represented by the Toxicoa of Egypt and North Africa. 2. Pethen. [ASP] 3. Tsepha, or Tsiphoni, occurs five times in the Hebrew Bible. In #Pr 23:32| it is it is translated adder, and in #Isa 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jer 8:17| it is rendered cockatrice. From Jeremiah we learn that it was of a hostile nature, and from the parallelism of #Isa 11:8| it appears that the Tsiphoni was considered even more dreadful than the Pethen. 4. Shephipon occurs only in #Ge 49:17| where it is used to characterize the tribe of Dan. The habit of lurking int he sand and biting at the horse's heels here alluded to suits the character of a well-known species of venomous snake, and helps to identify it with the celebrated horned viper, the asp of Cleopatra (Cerastes), which is found abundantly in the dry sandy deserts of Egypt, Syria and Arabia. The cerastes is extremely venomous. Bruce compelled a specimen to scratch eighteen pigeons upon the thigh as quickly as possible, and they all died in nearly the same interval of time.

AD'DER . The word translated thus in various passages of the Bible does not always mean what the English word denotes. 1. In Gen 49:17 it indicates a venomous serpent (perhaps the cerastes, or horned snake) which lurks in the path. The usual habit of the cerastes is "to coil itself on the sand, where it basks in the impress of a camel's footmark, and thence suddenly to dart out on any passing animal. So great is the terror which its sight inspires in horses, that I have known mine, when I was riding in the Sahara, to suddenly start and rear, trembling and perspiring in every limb, and no persuasions would induce him to proceed. I was quite unable to account for his terror until I noticed a cerastes coiled up in a depression two or three paces in front, with its basilisk eyes steadily fixed on us, and no doubt preparing for a spring as the horse passed." -- Tristram. 1. In Ps 58:4 and Ps 91:13 the Egyptian cobra is probably meant, for it is found in southern Palestine, dwells in holes, is used by snake-charmers, and is very dangerous. This is the animal seen on Egyptian monuments, symbolizing immortality, and always connected with the winged globe. In the former passage above, there is reference to the fact that there are serpents of some kinds or particular individuals which will not yield to the charmer. Though capable of hearing, they will not hear, and are properly termed "deaf." See Asp. 2. Still other kinds of serpents are referred to under this name in Ps 140:3; Prov 23:32 -- species of viper, it is thought.

Five times in the Old Testament KJV, and thrice in margin for "cockatrice" (Isaiah 11:8; Isaiah 14:29; Isaiah 59:5 ). Four Hebrew terms stand for it. (1) Akshub, (2) Pethen, (3) Tziphoni, and (4) Shephiphon. (1) Akshub, ("one that lies in ambush"), swells its skin, and rears its head back for a strike. Psalm 140:3 quoted in Romans 3:13, "the poison of asps." (2) Pethen, Psalm 58:4; Psalm 91:13, "adder" (compare margin), but elsewhere translated "asp"; from a Hebrew root "to expand the neck." The deadly haje naja, or cobra of Egypt, fond of concealing itself in walls and holes. Serpents are without tympanic cavity and external openings to the ear. The deaf adder is not some particular species; but whereas a serpent's comparative deafness made it more amenable to those sounds it could hear, in some instances it was deaf because it would not hear (Jeremiah 8:17; Ecclesiastes 10:11). So David's unrighteous adversaries, though having some little moral sense yet left to which he appeals, yet stifled it, and were unwilling to hearken to the voice of God. (3) Tziphoni, translated adder only in Proverbs 23:32; "at the last wine biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder," In Jeremiah 8:17 "cockatrices," from a root "to dart forward and hiss." The Greek basilisk, fierce, deadly; distinct from the "serpent" (Hebrew, nachash), Isaiah 14:29; oviparous (Isaiah 59:5); subterranean in habits (Isaiah 11:8). (4) Shephiphon, from a root "to creep"; Jacob's image of Dan (Genesis 49:17), lurking on the road, and biting at the horses' heels; the Coluber cerastes, a small and very venomous snake of Egypt. The charmers, by a particular pressure on the neck, can inflate the animal so that the serpent becomes rigid, and can be held out horizontally as a rod. The Egyptian magicians perhaps thus used the haje species as their rod, and restored life to it by throwing it down; at least, so the serpent charmers do at the present day. Shrill sounds, as the flute, are what serpents can best discern, for their hearing is imperfect. Music charms the naja (cobra di capello, hooded snake) and the cerastes (horned viper). Moses' really transformed rod swallowed their pretended rod, or serpent, so conquering the symbol of Egypt's protecting deity. That the naja haie was the "fiery serpent," or serpent inflicting a burning bite, appears from the name Ras-om-Haye (Cape of the haje serpents) in the locality where the Israelites were bitten (Numbers 21:6).