Strong's H5175 - Serpent

This morning before it left for work, I saw a post on my Facebook news feed, the article was about how the most egregious mis-translation in the Bible was where Eve met the ‘serpent’, that the word serpent should rather have been translated as a fallen angel.

I had never heard such a claim.  I looked at the Hebrew word found in Genesis chapter 3.  In the KJV it is Strong’s H5175.  Here is the definition from Strong’s Hebrew dictionary:

H5175

נָחָשׁ

nâchâsh

naw-khawsh'

From H5172; a snake (from its hiss): - serpent.

Total KJV occurrences: 31

Here are all the verses where the Hebrew word H5175 occurs:

serpent (H5175)

Genesis 3:1  Now the serpent (H5175) was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Genesis 3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent (H5175), We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

Genesis 3:4  And the serpent (H5175) said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Genesis 3:13  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent (H5175) beguiled me, and I did eat.

Genesis 3:14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent (H5175), Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

Genesis 49:17  Dan shall be a serpent (H5175) by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

Exodus 4:3  And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent (H5175); and Moses fled from before it.

Exodus 7:15  Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent (H5175) shalt thou take in thine hand.

Numbers 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpent (H5175)s among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Numbers 21:7  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpent (H5175)s from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

Numbers 21:9  And Moses made a serpent (H5175) of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent (H5175) had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent (H5175) of brass, he lived.

Deuteronomy 8:15  Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpent (H5175)s, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

2 Kings 18:4  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent (H5175) that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

Job 26:13  By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent (H5175).

Psalms 58:4  Their poison is like the poison of a serpent (H5175): they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;

Psalms 140:3  They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent (H5175); adders' poison is under their lips. Selah.

Proverbs 23:32  At the last it biteth like a serpent (H5175), and stingeth like an adder.

Proverbs 30:19  The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent (H5175) upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.

Ecclesiastes 10:8  He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent (H5175) shall bite him.

Ecclesiastes 10:11  Surely the serpent (H5175) will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.

Isaiah 14:29  Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent (H5175)'s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent (H5175).

Isaiah 27:1  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent (H5175), even leviathan that crooked serpent (H5175); and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Isaiah 65:25  The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent (H5175)'s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 8:17  For, behold, I will send serpent (H5175)s, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 46:22  The voice thereof shall go like a serpent (H5175); for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.

Amos 5:19  As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent (H5175) bit him.

Amos 9:3  And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent (H5175), and he shall bite them:

Micah 7:17  They shall lick the dust like a serpent (H5175), they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.

Not in a single one of those verses would it make sense to substitute 'fallen angel' for serpent.  It is rare for a Hebrew word, to be only translated into one English word.  Usually several English words with similar meanings are selected by the translators., but in this example, H5175 is always translated as serpent.  In every one of the above verses, it seems to me that ‘serpent’ is what is meant by the context.  I don’t see that ‘fallen angel’ would at all fit.

The article mentioned Joseph’s statement: 

Genesis 44:15  And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine (H5172)?

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From Google:

Strong's H5175 (nachash) is a masculine noun meaning "snake" or "serpent" (used 31 times), derived from the root verb H5172 (nachash), which means to practice divination, observe signs, or whisper a spell. H5175 refers to the creature (e.g., Genesis 3:1), while H5172 refers to the action of sorcery. 

Key Differences:

H5175 (Noun - nâchâsh): Refers to the physical serpent, snake, or the bronze serpent image. It is used in contexts such as the serpent in Eden (Genesis 3:1), Moses' staff turning into a snake (Exodus 4:3), and the fiery serpents in the wilderness (Numbers 21:6).

H5172 (Verb - nâchash): A primitive root meaning to hiss, whisper a spell, divine, or use enchantment. It implies seeking omens or practicing magic (e.g., Joseph "divining" in Genesis 44:15, or prohibition of witchcraft in Leviticus 19:26). 

Relationship:

H5175 (serpent) is believed to be derived from H5172 (divination) because snakes were traditionally associated with hissing sounds and divination practices, or because the serpent acted as a "whisperer" (tempting Eve)

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Therefore the author of the post, posited that since H5175 (serpent) was derived from H5172 that H5175 (serpent) must have the meaning of H5172 (divination)

Here are a few root words in English, and words derived from them:

Root        Derived word

Aqua (water) aquarium, aquatic, aquamarine

Geo (earth) geography, geology, geocentric

Graph (write) autograph, graphic, paragraph, telegraph

Port (carry) export, import, reporter, portable

The root and the derived words are not interchangeable.  H5172 has as part of its meanings, ‘hiss’.  It is understandable that serpent would be derived from this, as some snakes do hiss.  If you cherry-pick your definitions it’s possible to create meanings far removed from what the author intended.  It is important to let the context a word is used in, define the word.

Again and again we see confirmed that the things we read, hear, and see on the Internet are not to be relied upon.  No matter if they seem to agree with what you believe, falsehoods are being spread on every side of every issue, whose only purpose is to increase clicks, therefore the more outrageous the content, the more clicks, and the more money the content creator makes.

Be very cautious about what you allow into your mind.  Be skeptical, and verify what you read and hear.  Find dependable sources.  These axioms have always been true, but they take on an added imperative with AI and the Internet in general.

Thank You Lord for Your Word. . . 

I love You my God. . . 

Dave