Bible Dictionary

SERPENT WORSHIP

Sin & Judgment • Old Testament
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Serpent worship refers to the proposed veneration of serpents as religious objects. Scripture records that Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent when it had become an object of idolatrous honor, but the claim that Israel practiced a formal serpent cult is uncertain.

Definition

Serpent worship is the proposed religious veneration of serpents. The claim that Israel practiced a formal serpent cult is presented as uncertain and based on deductions judged fanciful. Scripture does, however, record that Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent because it had become associated with idolatry.

Biblical Usage

The bronze serpent narrative is the principal biblical evidence used in arguments for serpent worship in Israel. Hezekiah’s destruction of the object shows that it had become an occasion of idolatrous honor. The material does not establish that a formal serpent cult existed in Israel.

Historical Background

Some critics connected serpent worship with a sanctuary or serpent’s stone near Jerusalem and with the theory that the serpent was a totem of David’s house. The supplied discussion explicitly questions these deductions.

Related Figures

Hezekiah

Historical Bible Dictionaries

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>wur'-ship: Traces of this superstition are thought by certain critics to be discoverable in the religion of Israel. Stade mentions that W. R. Smith supposed the serpent to be the totem of the house of David (Geschichte, I, 465). H. P. Smith says: "We know of a Serpent's Stone near Jerusalem, which was the site of a sanctuary (1Ki 1:9), and this sanctuary was dedicated to Yahweh" (Hist of Old Testament, 239, 240). Special reliance is placed on the narrative of the brazen serpent, which Hezekiah is recorded to have destroyed as leading to idolatry, (2Ki 18:4). "In that case," says H. P. Smith, "we must treat the Nehushtan as a veritable idol of the house of Israel, which had been worshipped in the temple from the time of its erection. Serpent worship is so widespread that we should be surprised not to find traces of it in Israel" (ut supra). In the same line, see G. B. Gray, Nu, 275-76. The fancifulness of these deductions is obvious.</p><p>See NEHUSHTAN.</p><p>James Orr</p>
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