Reference: Adder
American
A species of serpent, more commonly called viper. The word adder is used five times in the Bible, as a translation of four different serpents of the venomous sort. In Ge 49:17, it seems to mean the cerastes, or horned viper, of the color of sand, and very deadly bite; accustomed to lie hidden in the tracks in the sand, and dart up on the unwary traveller. In Ps 58:4; 91:13, it is probably the asp. In Ps 140:3 perhaps the tarantula, or some serpent that strikes backwards. See SERPANT, VIPER.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
May Dan be a snake beside the road, a viper by the path, that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward.
Their venom is like that of a snake, like a deaf serpent that does not hear,
You will subdue a lion and a snake; you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent.
Their tongues wound like a serpent; a viper's venom is behind their lips. (Selah)
Easton
(Ps 140:3; Ro 3:13, "asp") is the rendering of, (1.) Akshub ("coiling" or "lying in wait"), properly an asp or viper, found only in this passage. (2.) Pethen ("twisting"), a viper or venomous serpent identified with the cobra (Naja haje) (Ps 58:4; 91:13); elsewhere "asp." (3.) Tziphoni ("hissing") (Pr 23:32); elsewhere rendered "cockatrice," Isa 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jer 8:17, as it is here in the margin of the Authorized Version. The Revised Version has "basilisk." This may have been the yellow viper, the Daboia xanthina, the largest and most dangerous of the vipers of Palestine. (4.) Shephiphon ("creeping"), occurring only in Ge 49:17, the small speckled venomous snake, the "horned snake," or cerastes. Dan is compared to this serpent, which springs from its hiding-place on the passer-by.
Illustration: Cobra
See Verses Found in Dictionary
May Dan be a snake beside the road, a viper by the path, that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward.
Their venom is like that of a snake, like a deaf serpent that does not hear,
You will subdue a lion and a snake; you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent.
Their tongues wound like a serpent; a viper's venom is behind their lips. (Selah)
Afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper.
A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
Don't be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! For a viper will grow out of the serpent's root, and its fruit will be a darting adder.
They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched.
The Lord says, "Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you."
"Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips."
Fausets
Five times in the Old Testament KJV, and thrice in margin for "cockatrice" (Isa 11:8; 14:29; 59:5 ). Four Hebrew terms stand for it. (1) Akshub, (2) Pethen, (3) Tziphoni, and (4) Shephiphon.
(1) Akshub, ("one that lies in ambush"), swells its skin, and rears its head back for a strike. Ps 140:3 quoted in Ro 3:13, "the poison of asps."
(2) Pethen, Ps 58:4; 91:13, "adder" (compare margin), but elsewhere translated "asp"; from a Hebrew root "to expand the neck." The deadly haje naja, or cobra of Egypt, fond of concealing itself in walls and holes. Serpents are without tympanic cavity and external openings to the ear. The deaf adder is not some particular species; but whereas a serpent's comparative deafness made it more amenable to those sounds it could hear, in some instances it was deaf because it would not hear (Jer 8:17; Ec 10:11). So David's unrighteous adversaries, though having some little moral sense yet left to which he appeals, yet stifled it, and were unwilling to hearken to the voice of God.
(3) Tziphoni, translated adder only in Pr 23:32; "at the last wine biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder," In Jer 8:17 "cockatrices," from a root "to dart forward and hiss." The Greek basilisk, fierce, deadly; distinct from the "serpent" (Hebrew, nachash), Isa 14:29; oviparous (Isa 59:5); subterranean in habits (Isa 11:8).
(4) Shephiphon, from a root "to creep"; Jacob's image of Dan (Ge 49:17), lurking on the road, and biting at the horses' heels; the Coluber cerastes, a small and very venomous snake of Egypt. The charmers, by a particular pressure on the neck, can inflate the animal so that the serpent becomes rigid, and can be held out horizontally as a rod. The Egyptian magicians perhaps thus used the haje species as their rod, and restored life to it by throwing it down; at least, so the serpent charmers do at the present day. Shrill sounds, as the flute, are what serpents can best discern, for their hearing is imperfect. Music charms the naja (cobra di capello, hooded snake) and the cerastes (horned viper). Moses' really transformed rod swallowed their pretended rod, or serpent, so conquering the symbol of Egypt's protecting deity. That the naja haie was the "fiery serpent," or serpent inflicting a burning bite, appears from the name Ras-om-Haye (Cape of the haje serpents) in the locality where the Israelites were bitten (Nu 21:6).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
May Dan be a snake beside the road, a viper by the path, that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward.
May Dan be a snake beside the road, a viper by the path, that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward.
So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died.
So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died.
Their venom is like that of a snake, like a deaf serpent that does not hear,
Their venom is like that of a snake, like a deaf serpent that does not hear,
You will subdue a lion and a snake; you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent.
You will subdue a lion and a snake; you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent.
Their tongues wound like a serpent; a viper's venom is behind their lips. (Selah)
Their tongues wound like a serpent; a viper's venom is behind their lips. (Selah)
Afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper.
Afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper.
If the snake should bite before it is charmed, the snake charmer is in trouble.
If the snake should bite before it is charmed, the snake charmer is in trouble.
A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
Don't be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! For a viper will grow out of the serpent's root, and its fruit will be a darting adder.
Don't be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! For a viper will grow out of the serpent's root, and its fruit will be a darting adder.
Don't be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! For a viper will grow out of the serpent's root, and its fruit will be a darting adder.
Don't be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! For a viper will grow out of the serpent's root, and its fruit will be a darting adder.
They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched.
They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched.
They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched.
They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched.
The Lord says, "Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you."
The Lord says, "Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you."
The Lord says, "Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you."
The Lord says, "Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you."
"Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips."
"Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips."
Hastings
Morish
There are four words thus translated.
1. akshub. Ps 140:3. This word occurs but once, and simply compares the wicked to adders who have 'poison under their lips.' It cannot be identified.
2. pethen. Ps 58:4; 91:13, reading in the margin of both 'asp.' The wicked are compared to the deaf adder that stoppeth her ears. There is an old tradition that the adder sometimes laid one ear in the dust and covered the other with its tail; but they have no external ears: that all known adders can hear is well attested by those called serpent charmers, though some species are more easily attracted than others. The above name is held to point to the deadly Cobra. The same Hebrew word is translated 'asp' in De 32:33; Job 20:14,16; Isa 11:8, simply pointing to it as poisonous or dangerous.
3. tsiphoni. This is only once translated 'adder' in the text, Pr 23:32, but is four times translated 'cockatrice,' in Isa 11:8; 14:29; 59:5, referring to its poison, and Jer 8:17 to the fact that it will not be charmed, but will bite. This is supposed to be the 'yellow viper' of Palestine, which lurks in dens, and whose poison is deadly. It is said to resist the arts of the serpent charmers. The cockatrice was a fabulous creature, and was perhaps adopted by the translators to designate some unknown deadly snake.
4. shephiphon. Ge 49:17. This is identified with the Cerastes, or horned viper, so called because of having two short horns on its head. It is a small destructive snake, rarely more than two feet long. It is called in the margin 'an arrow-snake.' It lies in holes or ruts and darts upon an animal passing: and this well agrees with the above text, where Dan is compared to "an adder in the path that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward:" typical of apostasy and the power of Satan.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
May Dan be a snake beside the road, a viper by the path, that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward.
Their wine is snakes' poison, the deadly venom of cobras.
his food is turned sour in his stomach; it becomes the venom of serpents within him.
Their venom is like that of a snake, like a deaf serpent that does not hear,
You will subdue a lion and a snake; you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent.
Their tongues wound like a serpent; a viper's venom is behind their lips. (Selah)
Afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper.
A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
Don't be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! For a viper will grow out of the serpent's root, and its fruit will be a darting adder.
They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched.
The Lord says, "Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you."
Smith
Ad'der.
This word is used for any poisonous snake, and is applied in this general sense by the translators of the Authorized Version. The word adder occurs five times in the text of the Authorized Version (see below), and three times int he margin as synonymous with cockatrice, viz.,
It represents four Hebrew words:
1. Acshub is found only in
and may be represented by the Toxicoa of Egypt and North Africa.
2. Pethen. [ASP]
See Asp
3. Tsepha, or Tsiphoni, occurs five times in the Hebrew Bible. In
it is it is translated adder, and in
Isa 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jer 8:17
it is rendered cockatrice. From Jeremiah we learn that it was of a hostile nature, and from the parallelism of
it appears that the Tsiphoni was considered even more dreadful than the Pethen.
4. Shephipon occurs only in
where it is used to characterize the tribe of Dan. The habit of lurking int he sand and biting at the horse's heels here alluded to suits the character of a well-known species of venomous snake, and helps to identify it with the celebrated horned viper, the asp of Cleopatra (Cerastes), which is found abundantly in the dry sandy deserts of Egypt, Syria and Arabia. The cerastes is extremely venomous. Bruce compelled a specimen to scratch eighteen pigeons upon the thigh as quickly as possible, and they all died in nearly the same interval of time.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
May Dan be a snake beside the road, a viper by the path, that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward.
Their tongues wound like a serpent; a viper's venom is behind their lips. (Selah)
A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
Don't be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! For a viper will grow out of the serpent's root, and its fruit will be a darting adder.
Don't be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! For a viper will grow out of the serpent's root, and its fruit will be a darting adder.
They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched.
They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched.
The Lord says, "Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you."
Watsons
ADDER, a venomous serpent, more usually called the viper. In our translation of the Bible we find the word adder five times; but without sufficient authority from the original.
??????, in Ge 49:17, is probably the cerastes; a serpent of the viper kind, of a light brown colour, which lurks in the sand and the tracks of wheels in the road, and unexpectedly bites not only the unwary traveller, but the legs of horses and other beasts. By comparing the Danites to this artful reptile, the patriarch intimated that by stratagem, more than by open bravery, they should avenge themselves of their enemies and extend their conquests.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
May Dan be a snake beside the road, a viper by the path, that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward.
At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: "The man who attempts to rebuild this city of Jericho will stand condemned before the Lord. He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!"
Their venom is like that of a snake, like a deaf serpent that does not hear, that does not respond to the magicians, or to a skilled snake-charmer.
You will subdue a lion and a snake; you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent.
Their tongues wound like a serpent; a viper's venom is behind their lips. (Selah)
Afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper.
A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
Don't be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! For a viper will grow out of the serpent's root, and its fruit will be a darting adder.
They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched.
The Lord says, "Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you."
But Jesus was silent. The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God."
And they saw that some of Jesus' disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed.
But some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by evil spirits, saying, "I sternly warn you by Jesus whom Paul preaches."
"Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips."