How Can a Serpent Speak and Why did it Seek to Tempt Eve? Rabbi Tovia Singer Responds
January 22, 2017 10:35 am
How do we understand the serpent in the Garden of Eden? This striking creature was clearly an instrument of deception, but what motivated the serpent to tempt Eve in the first place? Responding to this question during a fascinating Q & A session in Jakarta, Rabbi Tovia Singer explores an often overlooked aspect of the Torah’s Creation narrative.
Category: Bible Classes, Indonesia
I would add that women are much more horrified by snakes then men. I have witnessed it numerous times.
I didn’t agree with everything you said about the serpent. My understanding of God creating the Garden of Eden was to create a controlled environment so that Adam and Eve could run through a series of tests. I don’t think it was His intention that they stay there. I’ll cut this short. God gave them a command regarding the tree of the Knowledge of good and evil, that, if they eat of it, they would die. Part of the test was for them to eat of it, so that they would realize good and evil. God could not tell them that, because it would contradict what He commanded to them. Thus, He empowered a local serpent to tempt them, and the test was successful.