Exodus 4:3

4:3 The Lord ¹  said, “Throw it to the ground.” So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake, ²  and Moses ran from it.

Amos 9:3

9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,

I would hunt them down and take them from there.

Even if they tried to hide from me ³  at the bottom of the sea,

from there ⁴  I would command the Sea Serpent ⁵  to bite them.

Mark 16:18

16:18 they will pick up snakes with their hands, and whatever poison they drink will not harm them; ⁶  they will place their hands on the sick and they will be well.”

Luke 10:19

10:19 Look, I have given you authority to tread ⁷  on snakes and scorpions ⁸  and on the full force of the enemy, ⁹  and nothing will ¹⁰  hurt you.

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn The details of the verse are designed to show that there was a staff that became a snake. The question is used to affirm that there truly was a staff, and then the report of Moses running from it shows it was a genuine snake. Using the serpent as a sign would have had an impact on the religious ideas of Egypt, for the sacred cobra was one of their symbols.

³ tn Heb “from before my eyes.”

⁴ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

⁵ sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the Lord, but this text implies that even this powerful enemy of God is ultimately subject to his sovereign will.

⁶ tn For further comment on the nature of this statement, whether it is a promise or prediction, see ExSyn 403-6.

⁷ tn Or perhaps, “trample on” (which emphasizes the impact of the feet on the snakes). See L&N 15.226.

⁸ sn Snakes and scorpions are examples of the hostility in the creation that is defeated by Jesus. The use of battle imagery shows who the kingdom fights against. See Acts 28:3-6.

⁹ tn Or “I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and [authority] over the full force of the enemy.” The second prepositional phrase can be taken either as modifying the infinitive πατεῖν (patein, “to tread”) or the noun ἐξουσίαν (exousian, “power”). The former is to be preferred and has been represented in the translation.

¹⁰ tn This is an emphatic double negative in the Greek text.