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Article OPHIOLOGY AND SERPENT SYMBOLISM. ← Page 6 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ophiology And Serpent Symbolism.
hieroglyphics , and the symbolism of their plastic representations of the Deity , would of necessity be led , as Ave find they were from their numerous still existing monuments , to the most fanciful and abnormal combinations of natural forms ; and it is therefore only to be expected that we find amongst them the serpentnot only whatto use an heraldic termAvas a form
, , , proper , but also Avith many A'ariety of heads . With them the serpent , according to Philo Byblius , as quoted by Eusebius ( Prsepar . Ev . I . 10 , p . 41 ) , had the head of a falcon , and represented Cneph , and as such " It represented the supreme deity most beautifully . When it looked up it filled everything Avith the light of its heavenly abode : Avhen it closed its eyes
everything Avas shrouded iu darkness . " Other configurations gave to the snake body a lion's head , in AA'hich it became the representatiA'e of Kneph-Phtha . Of the serpent into Avhich Moses ' s staff was changed , Korn , under his pseudoname Nork ( Etymolog . Symbol . Mytholog . Lexion s . v . Schlange ) , gives a curious talmudic account .
The staff of Moses is said to haA ^ e belonged oziginally , half to the metraton and half to the serpent Sammael , and was cut from the tree of good and evil in Paradise . It Avas given by Adam to the first Pharaoh , AVIIO , according to the Talmud ( Baba Kamina ) , had an caSoTov of monstrous size , and from the kings of Egypt came into Jethro ' s possession , who by it measured the powers of his daughters' suitors , and gaA'e it to Moses .
Amongst the commentators of the Bible considerable doubt exists as to the description of serpent that Moses erected in the Wilderness ; and that our own and Luther ' s naming it a brazen serpent is erroneous ; and that scharaf , the Hebrew word , merely signifies a particular species of the reptile . The Hebrew Rabbis , as Abarbenel , quoted by Saubert ( De Serpente iEneo ) ,
admit that the seraph from its glistening yellow colour , might be likened to the shining metal of brass , which Moses had little opportunity of preparing or forming in the wilderness ; but as Ave are told ( 2 Kings xviii . 3 ) that Hezekiah , amongst other objects of idolatry , destroyed the brazen serpent which Moses had set up , Ave cannot doubt the truth of the Mosaic account ;
and all good Catholics may have ocular demonstration thereof , as portions of it , most probably spared from the melting-pot of the pious Hezekiah , may be seen amongst the relics of the cathedral of Milan , ivhich some , however , attribute to Moses ' Egyptian rod . It is , moreover , a peculiarity almost confined to the Hebrew mind to attribute wisdom , craft , and subtlety to the serpent ;
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ophiology And Serpent Symbolism.
hieroglyphics , and the symbolism of their plastic representations of the Deity , would of necessity be led , as Ave find they were from their numerous still existing monuments , to the most fanciful and abnormal combinations of natural forms ; and it is therefore only to be expected that we find amongst them the serpentnot only whatto use an heraldic termAvas a form
, , , proper , but also Avith many A'ariety of heads . With them the serpent , according to Philo Byblius , as quoted by Eusebius ( Prsepar . Ev . I . 10 , p . 41 ) , had the head of a falcon , and represented Cneph , and as such " It represented the supreme deity most beautifully . When it looked up it filled everything Avith the light of its heavenly abode : Avhen it closed its eyes
everything Avas shrouded iu darkness . " Other configurations gave to the snake body a lion's head , in AA'hich it became the representatiA'e of Kneph-Phtha . Of the serpent into Avhich Moses ' s staff was changed , Korn , under his pseudoname Nork ( Etymolog . Symbol . Mytholog . Lexion s . v . Schlange ) , gives a curious talmudic account .
The staff of Moses is said to haA ^ e belonged oziginally , half to the metraton and half to the serpent Sammael , and was cut from the tree of good and evil in Paradise . It Avas given by Adam to the first Pharaoh , AVIIO , according to the Talmud ( Baba Kamina ) , had an caSoTov of monstrous size , and from the kings of Egypt came into Jethro ' s possession , who by it measured the powers of his daughters' suitors , and gaA'e it to Moses .
Amongst the commentators of the Bible considerable doubt exists as to the description of serpent that Moses erected in the Wilderness ; and that our own and Luther ' s naming it a brazen serpent is erroneous ; and that scharaf , the Hebrew word , merely signifies a particular species of the reptile . The Hebrew Rabbis , as Abarbenel , quoted by Saubert ( De Serpente iEneo ) ,
admit that the seraph from its glistening yellow colour , might be likened to the shining metal of brass , which Moses had little opportunity of preparing or forming in the wilderness ; but as Ave are told ( 2 Kings xviii . 3 ) that Hezekiah , amongst other objects of idolatry , destroyed the brazen serpent which Moses had set up , Ave cannot doubt the truth of the Mosaic account ;
and all good Catholics may have ocular demonstration thereof , as portions of it , most probably spared from the melting-pot of the pious Hezekiah , may be seen amongst the relics of the cathedral of Milan , ivhich some , however , attribute to Moses ' Egyptian rod . It is , moreover , a peculiarity almost confined to the Hebrew mind to attribute wisdom , craft , and subtlety to the serpent ;