cobra

There is general agreement among modern scholars that the word pethen refers to the cobra, since the word is closely associated with snake charming, which requires a snake that can raise the front part of its body vertically, something a viper cannot do. The words tsif‘oni and tsefa‘ are also probably references to a type of cobra. This can be well supported by the contexts in which the word occurs, in which reference is made to the fact that it lives in holes and lays eggs. These contexts would rule out any of the vipers.

There is some evidence that pethen was the earlier name for the cobra, and tsefa‘ and tsif‘oni were later names. Something similar is the case with English, where “cobra” has been in use only for the last one hundred years, and previously “asp” was used.

“Adder” is used as the name for some of the subspecies of viper and is probably not the best word to translate these three Hebrew words.

Cobras are characterized by their ability to spread the ribs in their neck area, so as to form a broad flat profile called the hood. This makes the snake look much thicker than it really is. Cobras also have short fixed fangs in the front of their mouths. The cobra that is found in the land of Israel is the Desert Cobra or Walter Innes’s snake (Walterinnesia aegyptia), while the cobra found in Egypt is the Egyptian Cobra Naja haje. The cobra is a large snake, reaching 2 meters (6 feet) in length, and about 50 millimeters (2 inches) in diameter. It is dark brown with a yellowish underside. In some areas where it is found it has broad yellowish bands, which give it its alternative English name, banded cobra. When it rears up and spreads its hood, the hood has a yellowish background, but displays a broad dark brown horizontal stripe.

Its bite is very poisonous, and it takes quick effect, acting on the nervous system. The cobra feeds on mice, gerbils, birds, bird’s eggs, lizards, frogs, and other snakes. It hunts by following scent trails, which it senses with its tongue. When within range of its prey, it raises its head slowly vertically, and suddenly strikes at the unsuspecting victim. It lives mainly in grassland and where the vegetation is fairly thick. It takes cover in rat holes, holes in eroded banks, hollow trees, under logs, and among exposed roots. It may lay its eggs in any of these sheltered places. In cold weather it coils itself up to preserve its body heat.

The cobra, besides being a symbol of lurking danger, was also closely associated with Egypt. In some poetic passages, therefore, it is a metaphor for the enemies of Israel, Egypt in particular.

The Egyptian cobra is found all over Africa, and a local word should not be difficult to find. In South and Southeast Asia a word for the King Cobra Naja hannah or one of the other cobras would be a good equivalent. In areas where these cobras are symbols of good luck and the presence of a deity, the Hebrew symbolism might need to be explained in a footnote. In other parts of the world, if cobras are unknown, the name of a local long poisonous snake of a type different from vipers and adders is a possible choice.

In passages where snakes are referred to as “stinging”, it is not necessary to use a verb meaning literally “to sting”. This is just the Hebrew way of referring to the bite of a snake. In many languages the verb used for a snake’s bite is different from the one used to refer to the bite of something else, such as a dog.

Desert cobra, Wikimedia Commons
Egyptian cobra, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

See also flying fiery serpent, adder / serpent / asp / viper, and serpent.

complete verse (Proverbs 23:32)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 23:32:

  • Kupsabiny: “Later that beer will bite you on the head like a snake (bites).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The next morning you will feel
    like you have been bitten by a poisonous snake.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “For if you (sing.) are already drunk, your (sing.) feelings become-bad, as-if you (sing.) were-bitten by a venomous snake.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “but at its end it’s as if a poisonous (lit. having-venom) snake has bitten you (sing.).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Proverbs 23:32

This verse supports the warning in the previous verse by describing the real result of drinking too much wine.

“At the last it bites like a serpent”: The Hebrew of this line begins “the after-part of it,” where “it” refers back to “wine” in the previous two verses. A number of versions say “In the end it. . .”; Contemporary English Version has “but later. . .” and Good News Translation “The next morning.” These are all suitable models. “It bites like a serpent” is a simile, in which the point of comparison is the painful or deadly outcome. “Serpent” is the general Hebrew word for “snake,” although we may assume that in this context a poisonous snake is meant. The parallel term in the next line, “adder” or “viper” (New International Version), certainly refers to a type of snake that is poisonous.

“And stings like an adder”: The two words of this line in Hebrew have almost the same meaning as the corresponding words in the previous line. “Stings” is a rare word that is said to mean “pierces”; here it may picture the way a poisonous snake strikes with its fangs, so New International Version has “poisons.” It is not clear which snake the word translated “adder” refers to. Some take it to be a “viper” (New International Version, Scott), but Isa 59.5 speaks of this same snake laying eggs, which is not true of the viper. Revised English Bible “cobra” seems unlikely. In translation a more general expression, such as “poisonous snake,” may be used to render “adder” here.

Since the two lines of this verse say almost the same thing, in some languages it may be better to combine them than to repeat the thought twice. This is the approach of Good News Translation and also Contemporary English Version (“but later it bites like a poisonous snake”). Another possible approach is to use two images of pain-inflicting creatures that are appropriate in the culture of the translator: “It bites like a viper. It stings like a scorpion.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

adder / viper

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “adder,” “asp,” “viper,” or “serpent” in English is translated in Lambya as chipili or “puff adder “, a highly poisonous local snake species. (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)

 

There are a large number of snake species belonging to the viper family in Israel. From the contexts it is possible in one or two places to identify the particular species, and it is possible that the various Hebrew words actually refer to particular species. However, associating the various words with the corresponding species is largely conjecture, even though based on careful deduction.

The most common vipers in Israel are the Palestinian Viper Viper palaestina, the Carpet Viper Echis coloratus, the Sand Viper Cerastes vipera, and the Horned Viper Cerastes cerastes cerastes. The Palestinian viper is the largest of these vipers and is found in a variety of habitats, from the woods of the north to the desert’s edge. Since this is the most inhabited area, people are bitten by this snake more than any other. The other four vipers mentioned are found in desert areas, but in slightly different habitats. The sand viper and the horned viper live in the sand, while the carpet viper lives in gravelly areas and among rocks. It often camouflages itself among dried leaves.

The desert vipers, when moving in sand, cannot move in the normal way, so they adopt a movement known as “sidewinding”. They do this by moving a coil sideways to a position in front of the head, then the snake moves its head and the front part of its body in the air, arching over the sand as far as it can reach before falling back onto the sand. Then it repeats the movement again. This is done at some speed, and the snake moves diagonally across the sand surprisingly quickly, although not as quickly as another snake moving normally. The parallel elongated S-shaped marks it leaves in the sand look as though it has moved in a series of jumps, since they seem not to be connected. It is generally accepted that this motion caused the biblical writers to refer to these snakes as “flying” (see flying fiery serpent).

Vipers are different from other snakes mainly in that they give birth to live offspring. The females retain their eggs in a special sac in their bodies, and when the eggs hatch the small snakes emerge from the mother. The larger vipers produce as many as sixty young snakes at a time, while the smaller sand vipers have smaller broods of about twelve to fifteen. This is what John the Baptist refers to by his well-known phrase “brood of vipers”.

The vipers have long hinged fangs located in the front of their mouths. These fangs fold back as they close their mouths. When striking, vipers have to open their mouths very wide in order to get these fangs into the required position.

The carpet viper (also known as the saw-scaled viper) was very numerous in biblical Israel, and in most other areas of its range (it is found in a broad continuous band from West Africa to South and Central Asia). It is likely that this was the saraf, a name derived from a finite verb meaning “to burn something,” a reference to the burning effect of its poisonous bite.

Vipers have the same basic significance in the Bible as other snakes, with one additional feature. Since the young are carried alive inside the female viper, which then gives birth to large numbers of well-developed young, all at the same time, the viper was associated with fertility. This was also their significance in the Egyptian and Canaanite religious systems.

Although vipers are found widely all over the world, not all languages distinguish them from other types of snake. As mentioned above, the carpet viper is found across Central Africa, from the west to east coasts, and into Central and South Asia. In these areas the name for this snake can be used in all the verses that refer to vipers. In southern Africa the Puff Adder Bitis arietans is probably the best equivalent.

In order to retain the relationship of the word saraf with the verb “to burn something,” translators often try to use expressions such as “vipers that burn [people]” or “fiery serpents”. This is only possible where the word used for “burn” means “to cause a wound with something hot.” One should not convey the idea of “a viper that sets people on fire” or “a viper that is burning.” Often it is better to use a phrase meaning simply “poisonous vipers”.

See also vipers, You brood of vipers!, and cobra.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 23:32

23:32

This verse has two similes with similar meanings:

32a In the end it bites like a snake

32b and stings like a viper.

These similes describe the eventual effect of wine on a person who drinks too much.

This verse gives a reason for the warning in 23:31. The reason is that wine harms a person who gets drunk. This reason may be introduced in at least three ways:

• The reason connects back to the command “Do not gaze…” at the beginning of 23:31a. It explains why the young man should not gaze at wine. The New Living Translation (2004) uses the word “for” to make this connection explicit. It has:

Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is,…how smoothly it goes down. For in the end it bites…

• The reason contrasts with the tempting appearance and taste of wine. The Revised English Bible uses the word “but” to make this contrast explicit. It has:

Do not gulp down the wine, the strong red wine,…It may flow smoothly, but in the end it will bite…

• The reason is left implied in Hebrew and in the Berean Standard Bible. It is introduced without an explicit conjunction. For example:

Don’t stare at the wine when it is red,…when it goes down smoothly. Later it bites… (New Century Version)

You may use any of these options. The option you choose will depend on the way you have connected the parts of 23:31.

23:32a–b

In the end: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “its end” or “its afterward.” It refers to the final or eventual effect of the wine. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

Later (God’s Word)
-or-
Afterward (NET Bible)
-or-
The next morning (Good News Translation)

it bites like a snake and stings like a viper: In these similes, wine is compared to a poisonous snake that bites a person. Here are some ways that they are similar:

(a) Both are poisonous. They can harm and even kill a person.

(b) Their effects can be hidden and unexpected.

bites…stings: Both these words refer here to the action of a poisonous snake. The second word may refer to the way that a poisonous snake “strikes” its victim and “injects” poison through its fangs. Another way to translate these words is:

bites…strikes (God’s Word)

snake…viper: In Hebrew, the first word is a general word for snake. Some versions translate the second word as viper or “adder” (English Standard Version). Scholars do not know what species of poisonous snake it refers to. If possible, use a term in your language that can refer to any poisonous snake.

General Comment on 23:32a–b

In some languages, it may be redundant to keep the parallel terms. If that is true in your language, you may:

• Combine and/or reorder the parallel terms. For example:

Later it bites like a snake with poison in its fangs. (New Century Version)
-or-
The next morning you will feel as if you had been bitten by a poisonous snake. (Good News Translation)

• Use a simile for one term. For the other term, use an expression in your language that refers to the painful effects of drunkenness. For example:

When you wake up, you will have a terrible hangover. You will feel like a snake has bitten you.

• Use a different kind of poisonous creature for one of the terms. For example:

But the result is painful. It is as if a snake has bitten you. It is as if a scorpion/centipede has stung you.

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