Who Was the SERPENT in the Garden, Really? – Dr. Michael Heiser

In this video, Dr. Michael Heiser elucidates his interpretation of the Nachash (נָחָשׁ), the Hebrew term traditionally rendered "serpent" in Genesis 3, arguing it designates not a literal animal but a divine being—a luminous, serpentine throne guardian associated with God's Divine Council in Eden, which ancient Near Eastern cosmology depicts as a lush garden or cosmic mountain serving as Yahweh's abode and cosmic headquarters, akin to later tabernacle and temple imagery. This entity, possibly masquerading in serpentine form like the seraphim (sarapim) of Isaiah 6 or cherubim, exploited its divine knowledge to deceive Eve through speech and cunning far beyond animal instinct, prompting humanity's disobedience to thwart God's plan, resulting in their expulsion from Eden, loss of contingent immortality, and subjection to death. He posits a triple entendre in Nachash's root (נ-ח-שׁ): as noun, "serpent"; verb, "to deceive/divine"; and adjectival noun, "shining one" (bronze-like luminosity), a trait of divine beings, reinforced by parallels in Ezekiel 28 (an anointed, jewel-adorned cherub/possible "serpent of perfection" cast from Eden's holy mountain amid fiery stones to Sheol/earth) and Isaiah 14 (the shining Helel ben Shachar/"Lucifer," aspiring to usurp God's throne above the stars/sons of God, plummeting to Sheol/erets). Critiquing commentators for excluding cross-passage data and perpetuating superstitious animal literalism—despite narrative anomalies like the creature's intellect, the curse's improbabilities (serpents don't eat dust, nor do all humans fear/die from them), and Genesis 3:22's "like one of us" echoing Divine Council plurality—the speaker advocates a holistic, Semitics-grounded methodology incorporating van Dijk's Ezekiel scholarship, yielding a coherent theology: a rebellious council member, proud and luminous, is demoted from paradise to lordship over the dead in the underworld (Sheol/erets/ground), contrasting Yahweh's life-domain, with humanity's fall mirroring this cosmic demotion. He previews further parallels and urges viewing the prior video on nachash for full context, lamenting mainstream oversight while affirming the view's textual and comparative roots.

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