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The Serpent Speaks

Is the Genesis story of a talking serpent just a myth?

Although the Bible claims to be God’s word nearly 4,000 times[1] and maintains that “every word of God proves true” (Proverbs 30:5 ESV), it tells a seemingly farfetched story in Genesis 3 about a serpent speaking to Eve. In fact, out of all the things recorded in Genesis, this is probably the most ridiculed by unbelievers. And even some Christians try to make this account metaphorical rather than historical (in opposition to passages such as John 8:44, Romans 5:12, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Timothy 2:13-14, etc.). But, perhaps, it is not so fanciful as it sounds. After all, talking animals aren’t out of our own experience, are they?

“It makes more sense that the serpent could make the sounds capable of speech and Satan used this to his advantage.

Bodie Hodge

It is common knowledge that, “Several types of birds can reproduce human speech with stunning accuracy. Crows and starlings can repeat a few words, while mynah birds, budgies, and parrots can learn hundreds or even thousands. Even wild birds can learn to mimic human speech from other birds that were formerly kept as pets and released into the wild.”[2] If certain birds have this ability today, then there is “very good” reason to believe that God also gave it to some of the other types of animals as well—especially in a “very good” (i.e. perfect) creation. Hence, the serpentine creature in Genesis—like parrots and other birds today—may have been able to mimic human speech. Of course, mimicking words and speaking intelligibly isn’t the same thing, and when the serpent spoke it was clever enough to “deliver a cogent message capable of deceiving her.”[3] So, how was this accomplished?

One possibility is that Satan merely took the form of a serpent, though Scripture appears to rule out that idea as God apparently addresses two separate entities in Genesis 3:14-15. This is consistent with Ezekiel 28 in which God addresses both the human ruler of Tyre as well as Satan—the ultimate power and intelligence behind the ruler (Eph. 6:12). Therefore, based on the best Scriptural evidence, the serpent was a real animal—an animal apparently capable of mimicking human speech—which Satan took control of and made it say whatever he wanted. In other words, Satan was the intelligence behind the serpent.

While serpents do not mimic speech today, it doesn’t mean that they didn’t have this ability in the past. Remember, there was a total cosmic and physiological shift at the time of the Fall (and the Flood). And because of genetic mutations and natural selection, animals are different than when they were first created. In fact, there are many examples in nature of animals losing previous held abilities so the idea of a serpent losing the ability to mimic human speech isn’t a stretch of the imagination. Also possible, but less likely, is that in the pre-fallen state, animals could communicate with humans on some level but lost the ability due to genetic mutations.

Whatever the case, the idea of Satan speaking through a real animal isn’t farfetched at all. So let’s not doubt God’s word as Eve did. Every word of God, from Genesis 1 all the way to Revelation 22, can be trusted and will ultimately “prove true”.

Ryan Hembree is a daily co-host, speaker, and writer of Bible Discovery. He also hosts a YouTube channel that shows the unity of the Bible and how science and Scripture fit together. Ryan also has an honorary Masters of Ministry in Creation Science from Phoenix University of Theology.

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