According to Swedenborg, serpents in the Bible represent reasoning that is based on what we know through our senses. This is the lowest and most outward mode of thinking, but is also powerful in its logic and capable of remarkable insight; science itself is the product of sensory thinking taken to the most extreme degrees, as are the technical innovations that give us so much freedom in modern life.
Clearly, then, such thinking is not intrinsically bad. In the service of love it is powerful for good, as in the carved serpent Moses used to heal the Children of Israel, or when the Lord advised the disciples to be “wise as serpents” (Matthew 10:16). When we use our scientific knowledge to help people, to do what is good, to make the world a better place, it is a powerful force, and to pursue scientific knowledge because it has power for good is a worthy thing.
The problem comes when we put more trust in our senses and our reason than we do in the spiritual thinking that comes from the Lord. Spiritual reality, according to Swedenborg, is of a higher order than natural reality, so spiritual things cannot be seen through natural means. If we use our senses and reason to assess spiritual things, then — taking the attitude that “if I can’t see it or otherwise confirm it through physical evidence, that means it does not exist” — we will end up denying spiritual reality and will ultimately destroy everything spiritual within ourselves.
And the hard fact is that we are deeply drawn to do exactly that — it is one of the oldest and strongest temptations human beings face, going back to the symbolic story of the serpent convincing Eve to eat of the Tree of Knowledge. This is why the vast majority of the depictions of serpents are as evil, cunning, dangerous predators.
The key is to let our senses and natural reasoning have full power in our assessment of natural reality, while regarding spiritual reality as something even more real but beyond the scope of natural thought.
Passages from Swedenborg
Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 581
- For their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads.- That this signifies that they reason craftily from sensual scientifics, which are fallacies, is evident from the signification of tails, here the tails of horses, as denoting the scientifics which are called sensual, because they are the ultimates of the understanding (see above, n. 559); and from the signification of serpents, as denoting the craftiness of the sensual man, of which in what follows; and from the signification of having heads, as denoting to reason by means of those scientifics. For the head signifies intelligence, therefore to have a head signifies to be intelligent. Reasoning by means of those scientifics, is meant, because “head,” when used in reference to the sensual man, signifies knowledge (scientia), and illusory thought thence, as maybe seen above (n. 577:2), consequently also reasoning by means of sensual scientifics. From these things it is evident that by the tails of the horses being likeserpents, and having heads, is signified, that they reason craftily from sensual scientifics, which are fallacies. It is said, that they are fallacies, because sensual scientifics become fallacies when man reasons from them concerning spiritual things; as for example, that dignities and wealth are real blessings; that the glory possessed by the great in the world is heavenly blessedness; and that the Lord desires adoration from man for the sake of His own glory; with other things of a similar nature, and these are fallacies, when they are applied to spiritual things. For the sensual man, not being endued with intelligence, thus thinks, for he cannot possibly know otherwise.
[2] That serpents, in the Word, signify the craftiness and prudence of the sensual man, is evident from the following passages. In Moses:
“The serpent was more subtle than any wild beast of the field which Jehovah God had made” (Gen. iii. 1).
Here the serpent does not mean a serpent, but the sensual man, and in a general sense, the Sensual itself, which is the ultimate of the human understanding. The man and his wife, signify the Most Ancient Church, which fell away when the men of that Church began to reason concerning Divine things from sensual scientifics, and such reasoning is signified by their eating of the tree of knowledge (scientia); their craftiness in reasoning concerning Divine things from the Sensual, is described by the reasoning of the serpent with the wife of Adam, by which they were deceived. The reason why the serpent was said to be more subtle than any wild beast of the field, is that it is poisonous, and its bite therefore deadly, and that it conceals itself in hiding places. Poison signifies craft and treachery, and thence the bite of the serpent, deadly hurt; and the lurking places from which it bites, and in which it conceals itself, signify craftiness.
[3] It must be observed, that all beasts signify affections pertaining to man, and serpents signify the affections of the sensual man, because they move over the ground upon the belly just like the Sensual of man, for this is in the lowest place, and as it were creeps upon the ground beneath the rest [of the faculties]. Sensual men also, in the spiritual world, dwell in the lower parts, for they cannot be elevated towards the higher, since they are in externals, and form their judgments and conclusions about everything from externals. The evil also, who are in the hells, are mostly sensual, and many of them crafty, wherefore when they are seen from the light of heaven, they appear like serpents of various kinds, and hence it is, that the devil is called a serpent. The reason why the infernals are also crafty, is, that evil conceals in itself every kind of craftiness and cunning, just as good conceals every kind of prudence and wisdom. More may be seen upon this subject in Heaven and Hell (n. 576-581), where the cunning and wicked arts of infernal spirits are treated of.
[4] Hence now it is that the devil or hell is called a serpent in the following passages.
In the Apocalypse:
“The dragon, the old serpent, called the devil, and satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (xii. 9, 14, 15; xx. 2).
And in David:
“They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; the poison of an asp is under their lips” (Psalm cxl. 3).
These words signify their crafty and treacherous deception.
Again:
“Their poison is like the poison of a serpent,” (Psalm lviii. 4).
And in Job:
“He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper’s tongue shall slay him” (xx. 16).
And in Isaiah:
“They hatched eggs of an asp, and wove the spider’s web; he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and when any one crusheth it there breaketh out a viper” (lix. 5).
This is said of evil men, who by treachery and craft seduce others in spiritual things. The secret evils to which they allure by their craftiness, are signified by the eggs of the asp, which they are said to hatch; their treacherous falsities are signified by the spider’s web which they are said to weave; the deadly hurt which they cause if they are received, is signified by “he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and when any one crusheth it there breaketh out a viper.”
[5] Because the Pharisees were of such a character, therefore they are called by the Lord, “serpents, a generation of vipers” (Matt. xxiii. 33). That the craftiness and cunning of such could inflict no injury upon those whom the Lord protects, is signified by the following words in Isaiah:
“The sucking child shall play on the hole of the viper, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk’s den” (xi. 8).
The sucking child and the weaned child in these words signify those who are in the good of innocence, that is, those who are in love to the Lord. The hole of the viper and the den of the basilisk mean hells where treacherous and crafty spirits are, and the entrances into them also appear like dusky holes, and within, like dens.
[6] That the craftiness and cunning of infernal spirits should not hurt those whom the Lord protects, is also signified by the words of the Lord, that He would give them power to tread on serpentsand scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy (Luke x. 19); also that they should take up serpents; and if they drank any deadly thing, it should not hurt them (Mark xvi. 18). To tread on serpents, signifies to despise and make light of the treacheries, craft, and wicked arts of the infernal crew; therefore it is also said, “and over all the power of the enemy,” the enemy denoting the infernal crew, and his power, craftiness.
[7] The cunning and craftiness of infernal spirits, who are called collectively the devil and satan, are also meant by serpents in the following passages.
Thus in Moses:
Jehovah God “led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, of the serpent, the fiery flying serpent, and scorpion” (Deut. viii. 15).
The journeyings of the sons of Israel in the wilderness, represented, and thence signified, the temptations of the faithful; the infestations which then take place from the hells by means of evil spirits and genii, are signified by the serpents, fiery flyingserpents, and scorpions.
[8] Again in Isaiah:
“Rejoice not thou, whole Philisthea, that the rod of him that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a basilisk, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent” (xiv. 29).
Philisthea here signifies faith separated from charity; the turning aside of many by the deceptive arguments by which that faith is confirmed, is signified by out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a basilisk, and his fruit shall be a flying fiery serpent.
Again in Jeremiah:
“Behold, I send serpents, basilisks, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you” (viii 17).
Again:
“The voice thereof shall go like a serpent” (xlvi. 22).
And in Amos:
“Though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them” (ix. 3).
Craftiness is also signified in Isaiah by “Leviathan, that crookedserpent” (xxvii. 1).
[9] That serpents, in the Word, signify the craft, and also the prudence of sensual men, is evident from the words of the Lord in Matthew:
“Be ye prudent (wise) as serpents, and harmless as doves” (x. 16).
Those who are in good are called prudent, and those who are in evil, are called crafty, for prudence is of truth from good, and craftiness is of falsity from evil; and since these words were spoken to those who were in truths from good, therefore byserpents, in this place, is meant prudence. Because the craftiness of the evil is diabolical, therefore those who practise it are said to eat the dust.
[10] Thus in Moses:
It was said to the serpent,” Thou art cursed above every beast, and above every wild beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” (Gen. iii. 14).
And in Isaiah:
“Dust shall be the serpent’s bread” (lxv. 2 5).
And in Micah:
“They shall lick the dust like a serpent” (vii. 17).
Dust signifies what is cursed; and going upon the belly signifies the Sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man; and since it is the ultimate of the life, it therefore does not possess intelligence and wisdom, but craft and cunning, which are contrary to intelligence and wisdom.
[11] Again, in Moses:
“Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an arrow-serpent on the path, biting the horse’s heels, and its rider shall fall backwards” (Gen. xlix. 17).
No one can know the signification of this prophecy concerning Dan unless he understand the signification of a horse and its heels, and also of a serpent. A horse signifies the understanding of truth, and a rider, intelligence; a serpent signifies the Sensual, which is the ultimate of the intellectual life; the heels of a horse signify truths in ultimates, which are sensual scientifics. That the Sensual, by reasonings from fallacies, hurts the understanding and leads it astray, is signified by the serpent biting the heels of the horse, and the horseman falling backwards. These things are said concerning Dan, because the tribe named after him was the last of the tribes, and therefore signified the ultimates of truth and good, consequently the ultimates of the church, as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia (n. 1710, 3923, 6396, 10,335), where this prophecy is explained.
[12] The Sensual, which is the ultimate of the intellectual life, is also signified by the crooked serpent, in Isaiah (xxvii. 1); Job (xxvi. 13); also by the serpent into which the rod of Moses was turned (Exod. iv. 3, 4; vii. 9-12); see in the Arcana Coelestia (n. 6949, 7293). The sensual things also, which are the ultimates of the life of man, are signified by “the fiery flying serpents” sent amongst the people, who desired to return to Egypt; but the healing of the wound made by such serpents by the Divine Sensual of the Lord, is signified by the “brazen serpent,” placed upon a pole, at the sight of which they revived (Num. xxi. 5-9). It is said the Divine Sensual of the Lord, because the Lord, when in the world, glorified, that is made Divine, His whole Human, even to the ultimate thereof, as is evident from this fact, that He left nothing in the sepulchre, and that He said unto His disciples, that He had flesh and bones, which a spirit had not (Luke xxiv. 39). The ultimate Sensual, which the Lord also glorified or made Divine, is signified by the brazen serpent set upon a pole, of which the Lord Himself thus spoke in John:
“As Moses lifted up the serpent, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (iii. 14, 15).
The Lord was represented by this sign before the Israelitish and Jewish people, because they were utterly sensual, and the sensual man cannot raise his thought, when directed to the Lord, beyond and above the Sensual. For every one looks at the Lord according to the elevation of his understanding; the spiritual man looks to the Divine Rational, and so on. It is evident from these considerations, that the brazen serpent also signifies the Sensual, but the glorified or Divine Sensual of the Lord.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7293
- ‘It will then be a water-serpent’ means by the prospect that sheer illusions and resulting falsities will reign among them. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a serpent’ as the sensory and bodily level of mind, dealt with in 6949, and therefore illusions since that level of mind when separated from the rational level, that is, when not subordinate to it, is filled with illusions, to such an extent that it consists of scarcely anything else than illusions, see 6948, 6949. ‘A water-serpent’ is what is meant here; for in the original language the same word is used for this kind of serpent as that which is used to refer to a monster that is a very large fish of the sea; and ‘a (sea-)monster’ means factual knowledge in general.
When therefore falsities resulting from illusions are meant by ‘the Egyptians’, that word used in the original language denotes aserpent – a water-serpent since it can also be used to refer to the monster living in water and ‘the water of Egypt’ means falsities.
[2] The fact that Pharaoh or Egypt is called ‘a monster’ is clear in Ezekiel,
Speak and say, Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers. Ezek. 29:3.
In the same prophet,
Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him, You have become like a young lion of the nations, you are like monsters in the seas, and you have come forth with your rivers; you have stirred up your rivers Ezek. 32:2.
Here ‘monster’ means known facts in general which, being the product of what a person’s senses tell him, are used to pervert matters of faith. The reason why ‘monster’ means factual knowledge in general is that ‘a fish’ means that knowledge in particular, 40, 991. And since known facts perverting the truths of faith are meant by ‘monsters’, reasonings based on illusions, which give rise to falsities, are also meant by the same word.
[3] The same things are meant by ‘monsters’ in David,
You broke up the sea by your strength; you broke the heads of the monsters upon the waters. Ps 74:13.
Much the same is also meant by ‘leviathan’ in Isaiah,
On that day Jehovah will make a visitation with His hard and great and strong sword upon Leviathan the full-length serpent,* and upon Leviathan the twisting serpent, and He will slay the monsters that are in the sea. Isa. 27:1.
And in David,
You broke in pieces the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food to the people, the Ziim. Ps 74:14.
In the good sense ‘Leviathan’ stands for reason based on truths, in Job 41:1-34; reason based on truths is the opposite of reasonings based on falsities.
[4] Since ‘monsters’ means reasonings that are based on illusions and pervert truths, ‘water-serpents’ – the word for which in the original language is the same as that used for ‘monsters’ – means the actual falsities resulting from illusions which give rise to reasonings and lead to perversions of the truth. Falsities are meant by such ‘serpents’ in the following places: In Isaiah,
The iim will reply in its palaces, and serpents in the delightful palaces. Isa. 13:22.
In the same prophet,
Thorns will come up into its palaces, thistle and brier in its fortifications, so that it may be a dwelling-place of serpents, a courtyard for daughters of the owl. Isa. 34:13.
In the same prophet,
In the dwelling-place of serpents will his bed be, grass instead of reed and rush. Isa. 35:7.
In Jeremiah,
I will make Jerusalem heaps of rubble, the dwelling-place ofserpents. Jer. 9:11.
In Malachi,
I have turned the mountains of Esau into a waste, and his inheritance into [a place] for the serpents of the wilderness. Mal. 1:3.
In all these places ‘serpents’ stands for falsities on which reasonings are based.
[5] The same things are also meant by ‘dragons’, but ‘dragons’ are reasonings that spring from self-love and love of the world, thus from desires for what is evil, which pervert not only truths but forms of good as well. These reasonings are produced by people who in their hearts repudiate the truths and forms of the good of faith, but affirm them with their lips because of their intense desire to obtain dominance and gain. Thus such reasonings are also produced by those who render truths and forms of good profane. Both of these kinds of people are meant by ‘the dragon, the serpentof old, who is called the devil and satan, who leads the whole world astray’, Rev. 12:9, and also by this same dragon which persecuted the woman who had given birth to a son who was caught up to God and to His throne, Rev. 11:5, and which emitted water from its mouth like a river, to swallow up the woman, Rev. 12:13, 15.
[6] The son to whom the woman had given birth is Divine Truth now revealed at the present day, ‘the woman’ being the Church. ‘The dragon, the serpent’ is those who are going to persecute it, and ‘the water like a river which the dragon emitted’ is falsities arising out of evil and the resulting reasonings which they are going to use in their endeavour to destroy the woman, that is, the Church. But the fact that they will not at all accomplish this is described by the statement that ‘the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon emitted’, Rev. 12:16.
* i.e. a serpent that is on the move and not coiled up
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 251
- The reason ‘the serpent’ is used to mean all evil in general and self-love in particular is that all evil has originated in sensory evidence and also factual knowledge, which are what the serpentmeant first. Consequently it now means evil itself, of every kind, and in particular self-love, or hatred of the neighbour and the Lord, which is the same as self-love. Because this evil or hatred is manifold, there being many genera of it and even more species, it is referred to in the Word by means of different kinds of serpents, such as snakes, adders, asps, haemorrhes, presters or fiery serpents, flying as well as creeping serpents, and vipers.
[2] These vary according to differences of poison, which is hatred, as in Isaiah,
Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod which smites you has been broken, for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying prester. Isa. 14:19.
‘Serpent’s root’ means sensory evidence and factual knowledge, ‘adder’ evil that is the outcome of falsity arising from these, ‘flying prester’ desire which is the product of self-love. Similar references appear in the following from the same Prophet,
They hatch adder’s eggs, and weave spider’s webs; he who eats their eggs dies, and when it is pressed out a viper is hatched. Isa. 59:5.
The serpent mentioned here in Genesis is in the Book of Revelation called ‘the great fiery-red dragon’, and ‘the serpent of old’, and also ‘the devil and satan who leads the whole world astray’, Rev. 12:3, 9; 20:2. Here and elsewhere devil is never used to mean some devil who is the prince of the rest but the entire crew of evil spirits, and evil itself.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6399
- ‘A darting serpent on the path’ means reasoning from truth regarding good. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a darting serpent’ as reasoning regarding good, dealt with below; and from the meaning of ‘the path’ as truth, dealt with in 627, 2333, 3477. The reason why ‘a darting serpent on the path’ means reasoning from truth regarding good is that ‘a serpent’ means reasoning, so that ‘a darting serpent’ means reasoning that pushes itself forward – from truth towards good, since truth residing with those represented by ‘Dan’ is below, while good is above.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6398
- ‘Dan will be a serpent on the road’ means their reasoning regarding truth, since good does not as yet lead them. This is clear from the representation of ‘Dan’ as those guided by truth but not as yet by good, dealt with above in 6396; from the meaning of ‘aserpent’ as reasoning based on sensory evidence, dealt with below; and from the meaning of ‘the road’ as truth, dealt with in 627, 2733. Thus ‘Dan is a serpent on the road’ means their reasoning regarding truth, since good does not as yet lead them. The nature of that reasoning and the nature of the truth resulting from it will be stated below.
[2] The reason why ‘a serpent’ means reasoning based on sensory evidence is that the interiors of a person are represented in heaven by living creatures of various kinds, and therefore in the Word similar things are meant by those same creatures. A person’s sensory powers have come to be represented by serpents because they are the lowest of his mental powers. Compared with other mental powers those of the senses are on the ground so to speak, crawling around there, as may also be recognized from the forms that sensory impressions adopt when they enter in, which will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be dealt with elsewhere. This explains why those sensory powers have come to be represented by ‘serpents’, so much so that the Lord’s Divine sensory perception was represented by the bronze serpent in the wilderness, 4211 (end).
[3] True shrewdness and circumspection – qualities that reveal themselves in external affairs – were also meant by ‘serpents’, in Matthew,
Be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. Matt. 10:16.
But in the case of a person who is governed by his senses and is far removed from what is internal – as those people are who are guided by truth but not as yet by good – and who speaks as his senses tell him, ‘a serpent’ means false reasoning. This therefore is why here, where Dan is the subject, reasoning regarding truth because good does not as yet lead him is meant. In other contexts ill-will, deceitfulness, and trickery are also meant by ‘serpents’, though in those places they are poisonous serpents – such as vipers and the like – whose reasoning is their poison.
‘A serpent’ is reasoning based on sensory evidence, see 195-197.
‘A serpent’ is all evil in general, and evils are distinguished from one another by different kinds of serpents, 251, 254, 257.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 455
455.�[And in their tails,] for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm. This symbolizes the reason, namely, that they are sensual and turned upside down, speaking truths with their mouths, but falsifying them by the premise which forms the chief tenet of their religion, and thus deceiving others.
The symbolism here is similar to that earlier in the case of the locusts (nos. 438, 439), but there we were told that they had tails like scorpions, and here tails like serpents. For the people described by locusts there speak and persuade using the Word, scholarship and learning, whereas the people described here employ arguments that consist only of appearances of truth and fallacies; and people who use these to speak harmoniously and seemingly wisely do indeed deceive others, but not to the same extent.
[2] Serpents in the Word symbolize sensual elements, which are the lowest constituents of a person’s life, as described in no. 424 above. The reason is that all animals symbolize human affections. Consequently, in the spiritual world the affections of angels and spirits also look at a distance like animals, and merely sensual affections like serpents. That is because serpents slither along the ground and lick the dust, and sensual matters are the lowest in the intellect and in the will, being most closely connected with the world and being fed by its objects and delights, which affect only the physical senses of the body.
Harmful serpents, of which there are many kinds, symbolize sensual matters dependent on the evil affections that form the interior motivations of the mind in people who, owing to the falsities accompanying evil, are irrational. And harmless serpentssymbolize sensual matters dependent on the good affections that form the interior motivations of the mind in people who, owing to the truths accompanying goodness, are wise.
[3] Sensual matters dependent on evil affections are symbolized byserpents in the following passages:
They shall lick the dust like a serpent. (Micah 7:17)
Dust shall be the serpent’s food. (Isaiah 65:25)
(The serpent was told:) On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. (Genesis 3:14)
The sensual level in a person is thus described, and because it communicates with hell, where the people are all sensual, it turns heavenly wisdom in spiritual matters into hellish insanity.
Do not rejoice, Philistia…; for out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper, whose offspring will be a fiery flying serpent. (Isaiah 14:29)
They hatch a viper’s eggs…; he who eats of its eggs dies, and when anyone squeezes them, a viper breaks out. (Isaiah 59:5)
Because the children of Israel wished to return to Egypt, they were bitten by serpents (Numbers 21:4-9). To return to Egypt means, symbolically, to go from being spiritual to being sensual. So we read,
(The) mercenaries (of Egypt)…are turned back…. Its sound shall go like that of a serpent…. (Jeremiah 46:21, 22)
[4] Because Dan was the furthest out of the tribes and so symbolized the outmost component of the church, which is the sensual one subject to its interior ones, therefore this is said of it:
Dan shall be a serpent by the way…that will bite the horse’s heels so that its rider falls backward. (Genesis 49:17)
A horse’s heels symbolize the lowest constituents of the intellect, which are its sensual ones. To bite means, symbolically, to cling to them. The rider symbolizes the ignorance produced by them, by which it perverts truths. We are told, therefore, that the rider will fall backward.
Since sensual people are cunning and crafty like foxes, therefore the Lord says, “Be as wise as serpents” (Matthew 10:16). For a sensual person speaks and reasons on the basis of appearances and fallacies, and if he possesses a talent for arguing, he knows how to skillfully defend every falsity, including as well the heresy of faith alone; and yet he is so dim-sighted at seeing truth that almost no one could be more so.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6949
- ‘And it was made into a serpent’ means the sensory and bodily level of a person’s mind separated from the internal. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a serpent’ as a person who engages in reasoning based on sensory evidence, dealt with in 195-197, 6398, 6399, thus the sensory level of a person’s mind. And since ‘aserpent’ means the sensory level it means the bodily also, for the sensory level acquires its perceptions from the bodily senses. And since the sensory level regarded in itself is such as is described immediately above in 6948, ‘a serpent’, which is the sensory level, also means all evil in general, 251, 254, 257. The use of ‘a serpent’ here to mean the sensory and bodily level of a person’s mind separated from the internal or rational level is evident from the fact that Moses fled from before it, meaning a feeling of horror caused by it, as well as from the fact that this sign describes the state of those who belonged to the spiritual Church if they were not in possession of faith; for in that case their internal would be closed and no more of the light of heaven would flow in than would be sufficient to enable them to think on that separated sensory level and therefore speak on that level. This level, separated [from the internal], is the one on which all people think who defend falsities in opposition to truths, and evils in opposition to forms of good, in short all who in life pursue what is evil and who are consequently devoid of any faith since those who lead an evil life have no belief at all. People like this have greater ability than others to engage in reasoning and to convince others, especially the simple, because when they speak they draw on the illusions of the senses and worldly appearances. They also know how to demolish truths or hide them from view by means of illusions, on account of which cunning and deceitfulness are also meant by ‘serpents’. When however the sensory level has become joined to the internal or has been made properly subordinate to the rational, ‘a serpent’ means shrewdness and circumspection, 197, 4111, 6398.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 250
- Verse 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will tread down your head, and you will bruise His heel.
Nobody today is unaware that this is the first prediction concerning the Lord’s Coming into the world; indeed it is quite clear from the words themselves. From them and from the Prophets the Jews also know that a Messiah is going to come. But nobody as yet knows what the serpent, the woman, the seed of theserpent, the seed of the woman, the head of the serpent which He will tread down, and the heel which the serpent will bruise, are used to mean in particular. Therefore these must be explained. ‘Theserpent’ is here used to mean in general all evil, and in particular self-love. ‘The woman’ is used to mean the Church, ‘the seed of theserpent ‘all faithlessness, ‘the seed of the woman’ faith in the Lord, ‘He’ the Lord Himself, ‘the head of the serpent’ the reign of evil in general, and of self-love in particular. ‘Treading down’ is used to mean forcing down so that it goes on its belly and eats dust, and ‘the heel’ the lowest part of the natural which is the bodily, which the serpent will bruise.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 197
- With the most ancient people, who were celestial, a serpentmeant being completely watchful, and so also meant their sensory perception by means of which they were to show vigilance to avoid being harmed by the evil. This is clear from the Lord’s words to His disciples,
Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. Matt. 10:16.
And also ‘the bronze serpent’ which was raised up in the wilderness and which meant the Lord’s Sensory Perception. He alone is Celestial Man, and He alone is completely watchful and provides for everybody. Whoever beheld it therefore was delivered.