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Viper (2)

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

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(ἔχιδνα)

Apart from the Gospels, the only passage in the NT in which reference is made to the viper is in Acts 28:3. The viper mentioned here is probably the Vipera aspis, which is fairly common on most of the larger islands in the Mediterranean, but is no longer found in Malta. The last-named fact has been urged as an objection to the story, but that argument is singularly invalid. Wolves were found in England centuries after this viper at Malta, but they are extinct to-day, and it would be still more remarkable if poisonous vipers had managed to survive in Malta after so many centuries (cf. R. B. Rackham, The Acts of the Apostles, London, 1901, p. 492). On the other hand, the suggestion that the viper in question is rather to be identified with one of the non-poisonous species which are still found in the island is discountenanced by the whole context. It is manifest that the writer regards the incident as an extraordinary preservation from imminent danger (cf. Mark 16:18). The Vipera aspis is very partial to wood, and it is significant that the viper in Acts 28:3 came out of the firewood. The aboriginal forest has been cleared in Malta, and accordingly the disappearance of these venomous reptiles which infested the woods is merely what one would expect. See, further, Serpent, Asp.

Literature.-H. B. Tristram, Survey of Western Palestine, London, 1884, p. 140 ff., Natural History of the Bible¹⁰, do., 1911, p. 276 f.; Hastings’ Single-vol. Dictionary of the Bible , p. 837; Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) iv. 460.

P. S. P. Handcock.