Serpents in the Bible

In Christian tradition, the "ancient serpent" of Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 is commonly identified with the serpent of Genesis and with Satan or the Devil. This identification is not explicit in Genesis itself, where the serpent is not named as Satan or the Devil, but became important in later Christian interpretation of the Eden narrative. Religious viewsBiblical apocrypha and deuterocanonical booksThe first deuterocanonical source to connect the serpent with the devil may be Wisdom of Solomon. The subject is more developed in the pseudepigraphal-apocryphalApocalypse of Moses (Vita Adae et Evae) where the devil works with the serpent. ChristianityFollowing the imagery of chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation, Bernard of Clairvaux had called Mary the "conqueror of dragons", and she was long to be shown crushing a snake underfoot, also a reference to her title as the "New Eve". GnosticismGnosticism originated in the late 1st century CE in non-rabbinical Jewish and early Christian sects. In the formation of Christianity, various sectarian groups, labeled "gnostics" by their opponents, emphasised spiritual knowledge (gnosis) of the divine spark within, over faith (pistis) in the teaching