Did snakes have legs?

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I was raised Protestant, (Pentecostal) and I am confused if the serpent in the garden actually had legs.
My family and I joined the Catholic church this past Easter and I am relearning the Bible.
 
To the best of my knowledge this is not discussed in scripture. I think most people imagine a serpent with no legs but in the event people thought otherwise, why would it matter?
 
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I don’t know why it matters!! HA! but was there an actual serpent or is that a metaphor for Satan? if it was a metaphor then why would the snake be cursed of no legs, and if it had legs then that would be something scientific…right? Genesis states that the serpent will crawl on his belly…so it must have had legs ???
 
homeschool2 said:
I don’t know why it matters!! HA! but was there an actual serpent or is that a metaphor for Satan? if it was a metaphor then why would the snake be cursed of no legs, and if it had legs then that would be something scientific…right? Genesis states that the serpent will crawl on his belly…so it must have had legs ???
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Congrats; in my 60+ years of being Catholic, I thought I’d heard all the questions. You asked one that I’ve never even remotely considered. That’s why I love this forum.

As to you question, you might consider that the word crawl and the word slither are almost synonymous. And one thing about Scripture to keep in mind. What we (generally) read is an English translation of a former English translation, of Latin translation of a Greek translation, of ancient Aramaic etc. Often in ancient languages, there are not exact duplicates of words we use in the modern vernacular. That is important in some of the criticisms of Catholic use and view of Sacred Scripture.

Enjoy the Catholic faith and never stop asking questions.
 
Scripture scholars generally tell us that the story of Adam and Eve is a “myth”. That doesn’t mean it was completely fake or untrue. It’s just a style of conveying a story which is more concerned with the message than with our modern ideas of history.

So I guess what I’m saying is that we don’t know.

I believe there is at least one species of snake that does have legs. And I think scientists do believe the ancestors of today’s snakes had legs. So you never know…
 
I remember seeing a talk by Scott Hahn where he said the Hebrew word that has been translated to serpent in Genesis is the same word that was translated to dragon in Revelation. That actually makes a lot more sense.
 
When I was a little kid, a born again Christian kid in my neighborhood told me this.
I thought it was fascinating and didn’t question it.
To be fair, I was like, eight.
It would be kinda neat if scientists had found vestigial traces of limbs on modern day snakes, but I don’t think they have
 
Actually quite a few snakes do have vestigial limbs, usually near where the tail is joined to the body. Despite common misconception, snakes are not all tail. Do a web image search – lots of images will come up.
 
Thanks for the info–maybe that random kid was on to something.

OTOH, you’re wrong–I never said snakes were all tail. They’re actually all neck.
 
Bataar said:
I remember seeing a talk by Scott Hahn where he said the Hebrew word that has been translated to serpent in Genesis is the same word that was translated to dragon in Revelation. That actually makes a lot more sense.
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I’ve done some checking and it emerges that the true answer is a bit different from that.

In the OT, the Hebrew word for the serpent in Genesis is nachash. In English Bibles, this word, as far as I can tell, is invariably translated as either “serpent” or “snake”, never “dragon” or anything else.

In the Septuagint, nachash is always translated as ophis, which is the usual Greek word for snake.

In the NT, when Paul quotes the story of Eve and the serpent in 2 Cor 11:3, the Greek word he uses is the same one, ophis.

Finally, in Revelation, we find the dragon and the serpent mentioned in the same verse: ,

And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. (Rev 20:2)

The Greek words used in this verse are drakon for dragon and ophis for serpent.
 
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