Michael Heiser is currently the Academic Editor of Logos Bible Software. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison ‘s Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies and has a minor in Classical Studies, an M.A. from the same U of W-M’s Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies and an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia’s Department of Ancient History; Major Areas: Ancient Egypt and Syria-Palestine (Israel).
Let us begin by noting that the text with which we are dealing is described by Heiser as “A Preliminary Investigation” a “brief overview” and contains some “very tentative” conclusions and some things about which he is “still thinking…and my views may change.” With that in mind, let us consider that which he has to say (or, had to say at the time of the writing) as a “brief overview into the matter of serpentine / reptilian beings in the Hebrew Bible”:
Traditionally, the word seraphim has been understood to derive from the Hebrew verb…(saraph; “to burn” – hence, seraphim would mean “burning ones” or “fiery ones”). While this is certainly possible, there is another very plausible (and I would say more likely) possibility that either eliminates seraph as the root, or co-exists and overlaps with it (I think the latter). This alternative root would mean there are clear, unmistakable references to serpentine / reptilian beings in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament.
FYI: Michael Heiser has, during his online presence, managed various sites and has thus changed things around or, otherwise, reposted them etc. The basic text of Serpentine / Reptilian Divine Beings in the Hebrew Bible: A Preliminary Investigation may now be part of a book or more official paper of his. We will employ the version that was, at least once upon a time, commonly found online as a pdf doc (we will employ ellipses for their normal purpose and also when Hebrew font was used; which is un-reproducible within this format).
We are interested, within our context, on focusing on a particular claim within Heiser’s text:
It is plain from the contents of the Hebrew Bible that a saraph is a serpent. The word (as a singular or plural noun) occurs seven times. During the desert wanderings of the Israelites under the leadership of Moses, God judges the people (Numbers 21:6) by sending…(hannechashim hasseraphim; “seraph serpents”) to bite them. The translation “seraph serpents” is more accurate than “fiery serpents” (KJV)…When the people prayed (Numbers 21:7) that the “serpents” (there, nachash) be taken away, Moses intercedes for the people. God then instructs Moses to make a seraph…and to put it on a pole, so that all who would look at it would be healed from the bites (Numbers 21:8).
He further notes:
…the Hebrew words nachash and saraph are used interchangeably. This points to the fact that a saraph is not a “fiery thing” but simply a serpent. As further proof of this interchangeability, in Deuteronomy 8:15 Yahweh is praised twice for bringing Israel through the desert with its notorious nachash saraph. With this interchange as backdrop, the prophet Isaiah’s use of saraph / seraphim sets up the issue of reptilian / serpentine divine beings. In Isa. 14: 29 and 30:6, Isaiah mentions the…(saraph me(opheph; literally, “flying serpent”)…in the throne room of Yahweh there were seraphim – serpentine beings. These beings also had wings and could fly, and had human features as well (hands, face, feet):
Isa 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the Lord of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here [am] I; send me.
Actually, we do not really know if they “had human features as well (hands, face, feet)” as hands, face, feet are things that many creatures have. And yet, perhaps they are humanoid; a human form with six wings.
Michael Heiser continues by noting:
Isa 14:29 Rejoice not, O Philistia, because the rod of him that smote you is broken: for out of the serpent’s (nachash) root shall come forth an asp, and his fruit shall be a flying serpent (saraph me(opheph)…This passage is noteworthy on several levels. Three times the enemy of Israel, the “chosen seed” (cf. Genesis 3:15ff.) is described in serpentine terms. The “root” or “seed” (offspring, in Hebrew idiom) is described as the root of the nachash.
This root, Heiser notes, is identifiable with “the one in the garden of Eden who seduced Adam and Eve”:
I argue that the “serpent” (Hebrew, nachash) in the Eden story of Genesis 3 was not a snake – it was a divine being, a rebel of the divine council, which met in Eden, the garden of God…. In general (preliminary) terms, it seems to me that “flying seraph” would be a better translation of Isaiah 14:29 – his fruit shall be a flying seraph (saraph me(opheph). The meaning behind this, as I see it, is that Israel’s enemies would be descendants of the reptilian / serpentine beings who seduced human women in Genesis 6. These beings are called Watchers in the book of 1 Enoch, and are described as reptilian in the Dead Sea fragment, 4QAmram. It is clear from several passages in 1 Enoch that the writer there considered the seraphim to be serpentine beings (cf. 1 Enoch 20:7, 71:7; 61:10 – a description of the cherubim and the serpentine beings who guard God’s throne –cf. Isaiah 6).
Seraphim, then, are reptilian / serpentine beings – they are the Watchers (the “watchful ones” who diligently guard God’s throne, which is carried [cf. Ezekiel 1, 10] by the cherubim, who may also serve as guardians).
With this as a preliminary, we will consider the Dead Sea Scroll fragment and 1 Enoch within the next segment.
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Here are links to Michael S. Heiser’s books:
The Façade (The Façade Saga) Volume 1
The Portent (The Façade Saga) Volume 2
I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible
When Giants Were Upon the Earth: The Watchers, the Nephilim, and the Biblical Cosmic
War of the Seed
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