a venomous serpent, more usually called the viper. In our
translation of the Bible we find the word adder five times; but without
sufficient authority from the original.
שפיפון, in Gen. xlix, 17, is probably the cerastes; a serpent of the
viper kind, of a light brown colour, which lurks in the sand and the
tracks of wheels in the road, and unexpectedly bites not only the unwary
traveller, but the legs of horses and other beasts. By comparing the
Danites to this artful reptile, the patriarch intimated that by
stratagem, more than by open bravery, they should avenge themselves of
their enemies and extend their conquests.--פתן, in Psalm lviii, 4; xci,
13, signifies an asp. We may perhaps trace to this the Python of the
Greeks, and its derivatives. (See _Asp_.)--עכשוב, עכשוב found only in
Psalm cxl, 3, is derived from a verb which signifies _to bend back on
itself_. The Chaldee Paraphrasts render it עכביש, which we translate
elsewhere, _spider_: they may therefore have understood it to have been
the tarantula. It is rendered _asp_ by the Septuagint and Vulgate, and
is so taken, Rom. iii, 13. The name is from the Arabic _achasa_. But
there are several serpents which coil themselves previously to darting
on their enemy; if this be a character of the asp, it is not peculiar to
that reptile.--צפע, or צפעני, Prov. xxiii, 32; Isaiah xi, 8; xiv, 29;
lix, 5; and Jer. viii, 17, is that deadly serpent called the basilisk,
said to kill with its very breath. See COCKATRICE.
In Psalm lviii, 5, reference is made to the effect of musical sounds
upon serpents. That they might be rendered tame and harmless by certain
charms, or soft and sweet sounds, and trained to delight in music, was
an opinion which prevailed very early and universally.
Many ancient authors mention this effect; Virgil speaks of it
particularly, _Æn._ vii, v, 750.
_Quin et Marrubia venit de gente sacerdos,
Fronde super galeam et felici comptus oliva,
Archippi regis missu fortissimus Umbro;
Vipereo generi, et graviter spirantibus hydris
Spargere qui somnos cantuque manuque solebat,
Mulcebatque iras, et morsus arte levabat._
“Umbro, the brave Marrubian priest, was there,
Sent by the Marsian monarch to the war.
The smiling olive with her verdant boughs
Shades his bright helmet and adorns his brows;
His charms in peace the furious serpent keep;
And lull the envenom’d viper’s race to sleep:
His healing hand allay’d the raging pain,
And at his touch the poisons fled again.”
_Pitt._
Mr. Boyle quotes the following passage from Sir H. Blunt’s Voyage into
the Levant:--
“Many rarities of living creatures I saw in Grand Cairo; but the most
ingenious was a nest of serpents, of two feet long, black and ugly, kept
by a Frenchman, who, when he came to handle them, would not endure him,
but ran and hid in their hole. Then he would take his cittern and play
upon it. They, hearing his music, came all crawling to his feet, and
began to climb up him, till he gave over playing, then away they ran.”
The wonderful effect which music produces on the serpent tribes, is
confirmed by the testimony of several respectable moderns. Adders swell
at the sound of a flute, raising themselves up on the one half of their
body, turning themselves round, beating proper time, and following the
instrument. Their head, naturally round and long like an eel, becomes
broad and flat like a fan. The tame serpents, many of which the
orientals keep in their houses, are known to leave their holes in hot
weather, at the sound of a musical instrument, and run upon the
performer. Dr. Shaw had an opportunity of seeing a number of serpents
keep exact time with the Dervishes in their circulatory dances, running
over their heads and arms, turning when they turned, and stopping when
they stopped. The rattlesnake acknowledges the power of music as much as
any of his family; of which the following instance is a decisive proof:
When Chateaubriand was in Canada, a snake of that species entered their
encampment; a young Canadian, one of the party, who could play on the
flute, to divert his associates, advanced against the serpent with his
new species of weapon: on the approach of his enemy, the haughty reptile
curled himself into a spiral line, flattened his head, inflated his
cheeks, contracted his lips, displayed his envenomed fangs, and his
bloody throat, his double tongue glowed like two flames of fire; his
eyes were burning coals; his body, swollen with rage, rose and fell like
the bellows of a forge; his dilated skin assumed a dull and scaly
appearance; and his tail, which sounded the denunciation of death,
vibrated with so great rapidity as to resemble a light vapour. The
Canadian now began to play upon his flute, the serpent started with
surprise, and drew back his head. In proportion as he was struck with
the magic effect, his eyes lost their fierceness, the oscillations of
his tail became slower, and the sound which it emitted became weaker,
and gradually died away. Less perpendicular upon their spiral line, the
rings of the fascinated serpent were by degrees expanded, and sunk one
after another upon the ground, in concentric circles. The shades of
azure, green, white, and gold, recovered their brilliancy on his
quivering skin, and slightly turning his head, he remained motionless,
in the attitude of attention and pleasure. At this moment, the Canadian
advanced a few steps, producing with his flute sweet and simple notes.
The reptile, inclining his variegated neck, opened a passage with his
head through the high grass, and began to creep after the musician,
stopping when he stopped, and beginning to follow him again, as soon as
he moved forward. In this manner he was led out of their camp, attended
by a great number of spectators, both savages and Europeans, who could
scarcely believe their eyes, when they beheld this wonderful effect of
harmony. The assembly unanimously decreed, that the serpent which had so
highly entertained them, should be permitted to escape. Many of them are
carried in baskets through Hindostan, and procure a maintenance for a
set of people who play a few simple notes on the flute, with which the
snakes seem much delighted, and keep time by a graceful motion of the
head, erecting about half their length from the ground, and following
the music with gentle curves, like the undulating lines of a swan’s
neck.
But on some serpents, these charms seem to have no power; and it appears
from Scripture, that the adder sometimes takes precautions to prevent
the fascination which he sees preparing for him: “for the deaf adder
shutteth her ear, and will not hear the voice of the most skilful
charmer.” The threatening of the Prophet Jeremiah proceeds upon the same
fact: “I will send serpents” (cockatrices) “among you, which will not be
charmed, and they shall bite you.” In all these quotations, the sacred
writers, while they take it for granted that many serpents are disarmed
by charming, plainly admit that the powers of the charmer are in vain
exerted upon others.
It is the opinion of some interpreters, that the word שחל, which in some
parts of Scripture denotes a lion, in others means an adder, or some
other kind of serpent. Thus, in the ninety-first Psalm, they render it
the basilisk: “Thou shalt tread upon the adder and the basilisk, the
young lion and the dragon thou shalt trample under foot.” Indeed, all
the ancient expositors agree, that some species of serpent is meant,
although they cannot determine what particular serpent the sacred writer
had in view. The learned Bochart thinks it extremely probable that the
holy Psalmist in this verse treats of serpents only; and, by
consequence, that both the terms שחל and כפיר mean some kind of snakes,
as well as פתן and תנין; because the coherence of the verse is by this
view better preserved, than by mingling lions and serpents together, as
our translators and other interpreters have commonly done; nor is it
easy to imagine what can be meant by treading upon the lion, and
trampling the young lion under foot; for it is not possible in walking
to tread upon the lion, as upon the adder, the basilisk, and other
serpents.
To ADJURE, to bind by oath, as under the penalty of a fearful curse,
Joshua vi, 26; Mark v, 7. 2. To charge solemnly, as by the authority,
and under pain, of the displeasure of God, Matt. xxvi, 63; Acts xix, 13.
translation of the Bible we find the word adder five times; but without
sufficient authority from the original.
שפיפון, in Gen. xlix, 17, is probably the cerastes; a serpent of the
viper kind, of a light brown colour, which lurks in the sand and the
tracks of wheels in the road, and unexpectedly bites not only the unwary
traveller, but the legs of horses and other beasts. By comparing the
Danites to this artful reptile, the patriarch intimated that by
stratagem, more than by open bravery, they should avenge themselves of
their enemies and extend their conquests.--פתן, in Psalm lviii, 4; xci,
13, signifies an asp. We may perhaps trace to this the Python of the
Greeks, and its derivatives. (See _Asp_.)--עכשוב, עכשוב found only in
Psalm cxl, 3, is derived from a verb which signifies _to bend back on
itself_. The Chaldee Paraphrasts render it עכביש, which we translate
elsewhere, _spider_: they may therefore have understood it to have been
the tarantula. It is rendered _asp_ by the Septuagint and Vulgate, and
is so taken, Rom. iii, 13. The name is from the Arabic _achasa_. But
there are several serpents which coil themselves previously to darting
on their enemy; if this be a character of the asp, it is not peculiar to
that reptile.--צפע, or צפעני, Prov. xxiii, 32; Isaiah xi, 8; xiv, 29;
lix, 5; and Jer. viii, 17, is that deadly serpent called the basilisk,
said to kill with its very breath. See COCKATRICE.
In Psalm lviii, 5, reference is made to the effect of musical sounds
upon serpents. That they might be rendered tame and harmless by certain
charms, or soft and sweet sounds, and trained to delight in music, was
an opinion which prevailed very early and universally.
Many ancient authors mention this effect; Virgil speaks of it
particularly, _Æn._ vii, v, 750.
_Quin et Marrubia venit de gente sacerdos,
Fronde super galeam et felici comptus oliva,
Archippi regis missu fortissimus Umbro;
Vipereo generi, et graviter spirantibus hydris
Spargere qui somnos cantuque manuque solebat,
Mulcebatque iras, et morsus arte levabat._
“Umbro, the brave Marrubian priest, was there,
Sent by the Marsian monarch to the war.
The smiling olive with her verdant boughs
Shades his bright helmet and adorns his brows;
His charms in peace the furious serpent keep;
And lull the envenom’d viper’s race to sleep:
His healing hand allay’d the raging pain,
And at his touch the poisons fled again.”
_Pitt._
Mr. Boyle quotes the following passage from Sir H. Blunt’s Voyage into
the Levant:--
“Many rarities of living creatures I saw in Grand Cairo; but the most
ingenious was a nest of serpents, of two feet long, black and ugly, kept
by a Frenchman, who, when he came to handle them, would not endure him,
but ran and hid in their hole. Then he would take his cittern and play
upon it. They, hearing his music, came all crawling to his feet, and
began to climb up him, till he gave over playing, then away they ran.”
The wonderful effect which music produces on the serpent tribes, is
confirmed by the testimony of several respectable moderns. Adders swell
at the sound of a flute, raising themselves up on the one half of their
body, turning themselves round, beating proper time, and following the
instrument. Their head, naturally round and long like an eel, becomes
broad and flat like a fan. The tame serpents, many of which the
orientals keep in their houses, are known to leave their holes in hot
weather, at the sound of a musical instrument, and run upon the
performer. Dr. Shaw had an opportunity of seeing a number of serpents
keep exact time with the Dervishes in their circulatory dances, running
over their heads and arms, turning when they turned, and stopping when
they stopped. The rattlesnake acknowledges the power of music as much as
any of his family; of which the following instance is a decisive proof:
When Chateaubriand was in Canada, a snake of that species entered their
encampment; a young Canadian, one of the party, who could play on the
flute, to divert his associates, advanced against the serpent with his
new species of weapon: on the approach of his enemy, the haughty reptile
curled himself into a spiral line, flattened his head, inflated his
cheeks, contracted his lips, displayed his envenomed fangs, and his
bloody throat, his double tongue glowed like two flames of fire; his
eyes were burning coals; his body, swollen with rage, rose and fell like
the bellows of a forge; his dilated skin assumed a dull and scaly
appearance; and his tail, which sounded the denunciation of death,
vibrated with so great rapidity as to resemble a light vapour. The
Canadian now began to play upon his flute, the serpent started with
surprise, and drew back his head. In proportion as he was struck with
the magic effect, his eyes lost their fierceness, the oscillations of
his tail became slower, and the sound which it emitted became weaker,
and gradually died away. Less perpendicular upon their spiral line, the
rings of the fascinated serpent were by degrees expanded, and sunk one
after another upon the ground, in concentric circles. The shades of
azure, green, white, and gold, recovered their brilliancy on his
quivering skin, and slightly turning his head, he remained motionless,
in the attitude of attention and pleasure. At this moment, the Canadian
advanced a few steps, producing with his flute sweet and simple notes.
The reptile, inclining his variegated neck, opened a passage with his
head through the high grass, and began to creep after the musician,
stopping when he stopped, and beginning to follow him again, as soon as
he moved forward. In this manner he was led out of their camp, attended
by a great number of spectators, both savages and Europeans, who could
scarcely believe their eyes, when they beheld this wonderful effect of
harmony. The assembly unanimously decreed, that the serpent which had so
highly entertained them, should be permitted to escape. Many of them are
carried in baskets through Hindostan, and procure a maintenance for a
set of people who play a few simple notes on the flute, with which the
snakes seem much delighted, and keep time by a graceful motion of the
head, erecting about half their length from the ground, and following
the music with gentle curves, like the undulating lines of a swan’s
neck.
But on some serpents, these charms seem to have no power; and it appears
from Scripture, that the adder sometimes takes precautions to prevent
the fascination which he sees preparing for him: “for the deaf adder
shutteth her ear, and will not hear the voice of the most skilful
charmer.” The threatening of the Prophet Jeremiah proceeds upon the same
fact: “I will send serpents” (cockatrices) “among you, which will not be
charmed, and they shall bite you.” In all these quotations, the sacred
writers, while they take it for granted that many serpents are disarmed
by charming, plainly admit that the powers of the charmer are in vain
exerted upon others.
It is the opinion of some interpreters, that the word שחל, which in some
parts of Scripture denotes a lion, in others means an adder, or some
other kind of serpent. Thus, in the ninety-first Psalm, they render it
the basilisk: “Thou shalt tread upon the adder and the basilisk, the
young lion and the dragon thou shalt trample under foot.” Indeed, all
the ancient expositors agree, that some species of serpent is meant,
although they cannot determine what particular serpent the sacred writer
had in view. The learned Bochart thinks it extremely probable that the
holy Psalmist in this verse treats of serpents only; and, by
consequence, that both the terms שחל and כפיר mean some kind of snakes,
as well as פתן and תנין; because the coherence of the verse is by this
view better preserved, than by mingling lions and serpents together, as
our translators and other interpreters have commonly done; nor is it
easy to imagine what can be meant by treading upon the lion, and
trampling the young lion under foot; for it is not possible in walking
to tread upon the lion, as upon the adder, the basilisk, and other
serpents.
To ADJURE, to bind by oath, as under the penalty of a fearful curse,
Joshua vi, 26; Mark v, 7. 2. To charge solemnly, as by the authority,
and under pain, of the displeasure of God, Matt. xxvi, 63; Acts xix, 13.