Viper

The Hebrews called the viper Peten, Ephee. It is frequently spoken of in Scripture, and not unfrequently in allusion to the great enemy of souls. (Job xx. 16. Isa. xxx. 6.) And the Lord Jesus in the gospel called the children of the evil one a generation of vipers. (Matt. x2: 34; 23. 33.)

אפעה , Job 20:16; Isa 30:6; Isa 59:5; εχιδνα, Mat 3:7; Mat 12:34; Mat 23:33; Luk 3:7; Act 28:3; a serpent famed for the venomousness of its bite, which is one of the most dangerous poisons in the animal kingdom. So remarkable, says Dr. Mead, has the viper been for its venom, that the remotest antiquity made it an emblem of what is hurtful and destructive. Nay, so terrible was the nature of these creatures, that they were very commonly thought to be sent as executioners of divine vengeance upon mankind, for enormous crimes which had escaped the course of justice. An instance of such an opinion as this we have in the history of St. Paul, Acts xxviii, whom the people of Melita, when they saw the viper leap upon his hand, presently concluded to be a murderer; and as readily made a god of him when, instead of having his hand inflamed, or falling down dead, one or other of which is usually the effect of these bites, he without any harm shook the reptile into the fire: it being obvious enough to imagine that he must stand in a near relation at least to the gods themselves, who could thus command the messengers of their vengeance, and counterwork the effects of such powerful agents.

[SERPENT]

A genus of serpents noted for the virulence of their poison, which is said to be one of the most dangerous in the animal kingdom. Hence the viper is a symbol of whatever is most evil and destructive, Job 20:16 Isa 30:6 . As such the term was applied by Christ and by John to certain classes of the Jews, Mat 3:7 12:34 23:33 Luk 3:7 . Paul’s escape from the bite of a viper in Malta led the people to believe that he was a god in human form, Mal 28:3 . A species of viper in Northern Africa, though little more than a foot long is called the most formidable serpent there; and Hasselquist speaks of a viper in Cyprus, whose bits produces a universal gangrene, and occasions death within a few hours. See SERPENTS.\par

Viper. See Serpent.

(See ADDER; SERPENT.) Epheh (Isa 59:5); viviparous, as the derivation of viper implies. Symbol of hypocrisy and malignity (Mat 3:7; Mat 12:34; Mat 23:33).

Viper. This word in the Old Testament possibly designates some particular species of hissing and venomous serpent, but its exact application cannot be determined. In the New Testament the Greek word thus rendered was used for any poisonous snake. The viper which fastened on Paul’s hand, =Act 28:16, was doubtless the snake of that name, Vipcra aspis, still common in the Mediterranean islands. It has now disappeared from Malta with the woods to which it is partial. The viper is an emblem of whatever is deceitful and destructive. Mat 3:7; Mat 12:34; Mat 23:33; Luk 3:7.

epheh, ἔχιδνα. All we learn from the passages that speak of the viper is that its bite was poisonous: "the viper’s tongue shall slay him." When one fixed on Paul’s hand they expected that he would drop down dead. What species of serpent is alluded to is unknown. It is only otherwise referred to in the N.T. as symbolical of evil ones. John the Baptist called the multitude who came to be baptised ’a brood of vipers,’ and the Lord applies the same term to the scribes and Pharisees, showing the deadly character of their opposition. Job 20:16; Isa 30:6; Isa 59:5; Mat 3:7; Mat 12:34; Mat 23:33; Luk 3:7; Act 28:3.

VIPER.—See Animals in vol. i. p. 66^b.

See SERPENT:

VIPER.—See Serpent.

vı̄´pẽr (אפעה, ’eph‛eh (Job 20:16; Isa 30:6; Isa 59:5); ἄχιδνα, échidna (Mat 3:7 = Luk 3:7; Mat 12:34; Mat 23:33; Act 28:3)): Several vipers are found in Palestine, but it is not certain that ’eph‛eh referred definitely to any of them. See SERPENT.

(ἔ÷éäíá)

Apart from the Gospels, the only passage in the NT in which reference is made to the viper is in Act_28:3. The viper mentioned here is probably the Vipera aspis, which is fairly common on most of the larger islands in the Mediterranean, but is no longer found in Malta. The last-named fact has been urged as an objection to the story, but that argument is singularly invalid. Wolves were found in England centuries after this viper at Malta, but they are extinct to-day, and it would be still more remarkable if poisonous vipers had managed to survive in Malta after so many centuries (cf. R. B. Rackham, The Acts of the Apostles, London, 1901, p. 492). On the other hand, the suggestion that the viper in question is rather to be identified with one of the non-poisonous species which are still found in the island is discountenanced by the whole context. It is manifest that the writer regards the incident as an extraordinary preservation from imminent danger (cf. Mar_16:18). The Vipera aspis is very partial to wood, and it is significant that the viper in Act_28:3 came out of the firewood. The aboriginal forest has been cleared in Malta, and accordingly the disappearance of these venomous reptiles which infested the woods is merely what one would expect. See, further, Serpent, Asp.

Literature.-H. B. Tristram, Survey of Western Palestine, London, 1884, p. 140 ff., Natural History of the Bible10, do., 1911, p. 276 f.; Hastings’ Single-vol. Dictionary of the Bible , p. 837; Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) iv. 460.

P. S. P. Handcock.

Isa 59:5 (b) This indicates the product of the works and the plans of wicked Israel in producing evil and harmful results.

Mat 3:7 (a) This type represents wicked teachers whose messages from their mouths poison those who hear them so that they are eternally lost. Not all snakes are vipers. Vipers are snakes which kill with the poison from their fangs, such as the cobra and the rattlesnake. Vipers are a type of false teachers of false cults, who damage and destroy the souls of all who believe their teachings. (See also Mat 23:33; Luk 3:7).

See Snake