Adder

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

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  Genesis 49:17 , 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  Psalms 58:4;  Psalms 91:13 , signifies an asp. We may perhaps trace to this the Python of the Greeks, and its derivatives. ( See Asp .)—עכשוב , found only in  Psalms 140:3 , 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 Vul gate, and is so taken,   Romans 3:13 . 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 ,  Proverbs 23:32;  Isaiah 11:8;  Isaiah 14:29;  Isaiah 59:5; and  Jeremiah 8:17 , is that deadly serpent called the basilisk, said to kill with its very breath. See Cockatrice .

In  Psalms 58:5 , 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, AEn. 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 tras, 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 בפיר 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 6:26;  Mark 5:7 . 2. To charge solemnly, as by the authority, and under pain, of the displeasure of God,  Matthew 26:63;  Acts 19:13 .

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

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) Αkshub, (2) Ρethen, (3) Τziphoni , and (4) Shephiphon .

(1) Αkshub, ("one that lies in ambush"), swells its skin, and rears its head back for a strike.  Psalms 140:3 quoted in  Romans 3:13, "the poison of asps."

(2) Ρethen,  Psalms 58:4;  Psalms 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) Τziphoni, 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).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

There are four words thus translated.

1. akshub.  Psalm 140:3 . This word occurs but once, and simply compares the wicked to adders who have 'poison under their lips.' It cannot be identified.

2. pethen.  Psalm 58:4;  Psalm 91:13 , reading in the margin of both 'asp.' The wicked are compared to the deaf adder that stoppeth her ears. There is an old tradition that the adder sometimes laid one ear in the dust and covered the other with its tail; but they have no external ears: that all known adders can hear is well attested by those called serpent charmers, though some species are more easily attracted than others. The above name is held to point to the deadly Cobra. The same Hebrew word is translated 'asp' in  Deuteronomy 32:33;  Job 20:14,16;  Isaiah 11:8 , simply pointing to it as poisonous or dangerous.

3. tsiphoni. This is only once translated 'adder' in the text,  Proverbs 23:32 , but is four times translated 'cockatrice,' in  Isaiah 11:8;  Isaiah 14:29;  Isaiah 59:5 , referring to its poison, and  Jeremiah 8:17 to the fact that it will not be charmed, but will bite. This is supposed to be the 'yellow viper' of Palestine, which lurks in dens, and whose poison is deadly. It is said to resist the arts of the serpent charmers. The cockatrice was a fabulous creature, and was perhaps adopted by the translators to designate some unknown deadly snake.

4. shephiphon.  Genesis 49:17 . This is identified with the Cerastes, or horned viper, so called because of having two short horns on its head. It is a small destructive snake, rarely more than two feet long. It is called in the margin 'an arrow-snake.' It lies in holes or ruts and darts upon an animal passing: and this well agrees with the above text, where Dan is compared to "an adder in the path that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward:" typical of apostasy and the power of Satan.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ad'der. 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 in the margin as synonymous with Cockatrice, namely,  Isaiah 11:8;  Isaiah 14:29;  Isaiah 59:5 It represents four Hebrew words:

1. Acshub is found only in  Psalms 140:3 and may be represented by the Toxicoa of Egypt and North Africa.

2. Pethen . See Asp .

3. Tsepha , or Tsiphoni , occurs five times in the Hebrew Bible. In  Proverbs 23:32 it is it is translated adder, and in  Isaiah 11:8;  Isaiah 14:29;  Isaiah 59:5;  Jeremiah 8:17 it is rendered cockatrice. From Jeremiah, we learn that it was of a hostile nature, and from the parallelism of  Isaiah 11:8, it appears that the 'Tsiphoni' was considered even more dreadful than the 'Pethen' .

4. Shephipon occurs only in  Genesis 49:17 where it is used to characterize the tribe of Dan. The habit of lurking in the 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.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Adder. Four different Hebrew words are so rendered in the A. V. That occurring  Genesis 49:17 (arrowsnake, marg.), implies a gliding motion. It is a small and very venomous snake, with two antennae like horns, well known in Egypt, accustomed to lie in wait in the sand and near paths. "Adder" occurs also,  Psalms 58:4;  Psalms 91:13, as the translation of another word, perhaps embodying the idea of twisting or twining. It is described as deaf to the charmer, and, as the same word is generally rendered "asp," E.G.,  Deuteronomy 32:33, it must have been venomous. It is probably the Egyptian cobra. We find another Hebrew word.  Psalms 140:3, which is compound, including the two ideas of coiling and lying in wait. It also was poisonous. There is one more word which implies hissing. It occurs several times,  Proverbs 23:32;  Isaiah 11:8;  Isaiah 14:29;  Isaiah 59:5;  Jeremiah 8:17, but is rendered "adder" in the text only in the first-named place, elsewhere "cockatrice." It seems to have lived in holes, to have been oviparous, and venomous.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Psalm 140:3 Romans 3:13

• Akshub ("coiling" or "lying in wait"), properly an asp or viper, found only in this passage.
• Pethen ("twisting"), a viper or venomous serpent identified with the cobra (Naja haje) ( Psalm 58:4;  91:13 ); elsewhere "asp."
• Tziphoni ("hissing") ( Proverbs 23:32 ); elsewhere rendered "cockatrice,"  Isaiah 11:8;  14:29;  59:5;  Jeremiah 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 Palestine.
• Shephiphon ("creeping"), occurring only in  Genesis 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.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

One of the names figuratively given to the Devil. Hence, when the Lord Jesus Christ is said to bruise Satan, it is described under the similitude of "treading on the lion and the adder." ( Psalms 91:13) Hence also, as sin is of the devil, the infusion of it into our nature, at the fall, is called in Scripture, adder's poison. ( Psalms 140:3. See also  Genesis 49:17;  Proverbs 23:32)

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A species of serpent, more commonly called viper. The word adder is used five times in the Bible, as a translation of four different serpents of the venomous sort. In  Genesis 49:17 , it seems to mean the cerastes, or horned viper, of the color of sand, and very deadly bite; accustomed to lie hidden in the tracks in the sand, and dart up on the unwary traveller. In  Psalm 58:4   91:13 , it is probably the asp. In  Psalm 140:3 perhaps the tarantula, or some serpent that strikes backwards. See Serpant, Viper

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) One who, or that which, adds; esp., a machine for adding numbers.

(2): (n.) A serpent.

(3): (n.) A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera. The common European adder is the Vipera (/ Pelias) berus. The puff adders of Africa are species of Clotho.

(4): (n.) In America, the term is commonly applied to several harmless snakes, as the milk adder, puffing adder, etc.

(5): (n.) Same as Sea Adder.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Psalm 58:4 (b) This serpent is used to describe a wicked person who injures the souls and damages the lives of' others by that which comes out of his mouth.

That which such a person says poisons the hearts and the minds of those who hear. By this means the listeners are deceived by Satan and are led astray from GOD's path. False teachers who invent false religions and preach false doctrines are "adders" (See also  Psalm 91:13, the open enemy and the secret foe).

King James Dictionary

AD'DER, n. L. natrix, a serpent.

A venomous serpent or viper, of several species.

Holman Bible Dictionary

Animals

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ADDER . See Serpent.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Adder, the English name of a kind of serpent. It occurs several times in the English version of the Bible, and is there used not for a particular species, but generally for several of this dangerous class of reptiles. We have before us a list, far from complete, of the herpetology of Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt, in which there are, among forty-three species indicated, about eight whose bite is accompanied with a venomous effusion, and therefore almost all very dangerous. In our present state of knowledge we deem it best to discuss, under the words Serpent and Viper all the Hebrew names not noticed in this article, and to refer to them those occurring in our version under the appellations of 'asp,' 'cockatrice,' etc.; and likewise to review the allusions to colossal boas and pythons, and, finally, to notice water-snakes and muraenidae, which translators and biblical naturalists have totally overlooked, although they must exist in the lakes of the Delta, are abundant on the north coast of Africa, and often exceed eight feet in length.

In this place we shall retain that genus alone which Laurenti and Cuvier have established upon characters distinguished from the innocuous coluber, and the venomous vipera, and denominated naja.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ad´er ( עכשׁוּב , ‛akhshūbh ( Psalm 140:3 ); פּתן , pethen ( Psalm 58:4 ); צפעוני , ciph‛ōnı̄ ( Proverbs 23:32 ); שׁפיפן , shephı̄phōn ( Genesis 49:17 ); צפע , cepha‛ (King James Version margin;  Isaiah 14:29 )): This word is used for several Hebrew originals. In each case a poisonous serpent is clearly indicated by the context. It is impossible to tell in any case just what species is meant, but it must be remembered that the English word adder is used very ambiguously. It is from the Anglo-Saxon noedre, a snake or serpent, and is the common English name for Vipera berus , L, the common viper, which is found throughout Europe and northern Asia, though not in Bible lands; but the word "adder" is also used for various snakes, both poisonous and non-poisonous, found in different parts of the world. In America, for instance, both the poisonous moccasin ( Ancistrodon ) and the harmless hog-nosed snakes ( Heterodon ) are called adders. See Serpent .