 | Adder | |
(Psalm 140:3; Romans 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) (Psalm 58:4; 91:13); elsewhere "asp."
(3.) Tziphoni ("hissing") (Proverbs 23:32); elsewhere rendered "cockatrice," Isaiah 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jeremiah 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 Genesis 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.
