The Serpent in Samuel

A Messianic Motif

Brian A. Verrett

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781725259843, 9781725259836
• eBook ISBN: 9781725259850
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

In this study, Brian A. Verrett argues that 1-2 Samuel contains a serpent motif by practicing biblical theology and literary criticism. This motif derives from the serpent in Genesis 3, and its function within the Samuel narrative is to heighten the reader's anticipation in the coming messiah, who is the son of David and the seed of the woman from Genesis 3:15. This messiah will defeat the serpent and inaugurate his glorious reign over a renewed world. When 1-2 Samuel is read in this way, one appreciates previously unnoticed features of the text, understands aspects of the text that were formerly confusing, and rightly sees that the whole of 1-2 Samuel is a messianic document.

1

INTRODUCTION

Allusions to Gen 3 abound throughout the Old Testament and New Testament (hereafter OT and NT). As John L. Ronning has demonstrated, one of these allusions from Gen 3 that permeates the Bible is to the serpent.1 James Hamilton has also shown that the serpent’s defeat is a major theme in Scripture.2

Some have suggested that the joint book of 1 and 2 Samuel (hereafter Samuel) cast particular characters as serpents in order to allude to Gen 3. The Samuel narrative refers to Nahash, the king of the sons of Ammon on multiple occasions.3 As some recognize, Nahash (נחשׁ) means “snake.”4 Given the biblical authors’ tendency to imbue names with meaning, could these references to Nahash be allusions to Gen 3? Furthermore, 1 Sam 17:5 says that Goliath’s armor is scaly (קשׂקשׂים)—a word always used for the skin of a sea creature.5 According to most, David then crushes Goliath’s forehead with a stone.6 He then falls with his face—and therefore mouth—to the ground immediately before David decapitates his head. Perhaps the text intends to allude to Gen 3 when God’s judgment falls on a scaly foe whose mouth is on the ground and who dies from a strike to his head.

1.1. Previous Scholarship Identifying Serpents within Samuel

As mentioned, scholars have identified various characters as “serpents” within Samuel. These characters are Goliath, Nahash (the king of the Ammonites), Hanun, Absalom, and Amasa. What follows is a brief survey of their various arguments for identifying these characters as being serpentine.

1.1.1. Goliath as a Serpent in Samuel

Ronning is one who has argued that the Samuel narrative presents Goliath as a serpent.7 Ronning points out that Goliath has “scale” (קשׂקשׂים) armor and that the word “scale” is used for sea creatures. The only other person to have “scaly” skin is Pharaoh in Ezek 29:3–4, and this text presents Pharaoh as a sea monster. Ronning understands the connection between קשׂקשׂים and sea creatures to suggest that Goliath is serpentine. Ronning finds further support of Goliath’s serpent identity in 1 Sam 17:5–6. In these verses the narrator mentions four times that his armor and weaponry is bronze (נחשׁת), which Ronning suggests is a wordplay with “serpent” (נחשׁ). Finally, in 17:4 Goliath, the Philistines’ “champion,” is literally the “in betweens-man” (אישׁ־הבנים).8 Ronning posits that Goliath’s unusual title alludes to the four times that “between” (בין) is used in Gen 3:15.

Hamilton’s conclusions about Goliath agree in large measure with Ronning’s. After demonstrating that the bruising of the serpent’s skull is a prominent theme throughout the OT, he argues that Goliath’s crushed skull is an allusion to the serpent from Gen 3:15.9 Peter Leithart too believes that the author of Samuel signals that Goliath is a serpent by detailing his scale armor and crushed head.10

1.1.2. Nahash, the King of the Sons of Ammon, and Hanun as Serpents i...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• FIGURES
• FOREWORD
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• ABBREVIATIONS
• Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
• Chapter 2: BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF THE SERPENT
• Chapter 3: GOLIATH AS A SERPENT
• Chapter 4: NAHASH AS A SERPENT
• Chapter 5: THE SERPENT WITHIN SAMUEL
• Chapter 6: THE SEED OF DAVID AS THE SEED OF THE WOMAN
• Chapter 7: THE MESSIANIC HOPE OF THE NEW CREATION IN 2 SAMUEL 23:1–7
• CONCLUSION
• BIBLIOGRAPHY