Lexical Summary ophis: a snake Original Word: ὄφιςTransliteration: ophis Phonetic Spelling: (of'-is) Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Short Definition: a snake Meaning: a snake Strong's Concordance serpent. Probably from optanomai (through the idea of sharpness of vision); a snake, figuratively, (as a type of sly cunning) an artful malicious person, especially Satan -- serpent. see GREEK optanomai Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 3789: ὄφιςὄφις, ὀφισεως, ὁ (perhaps named from its sight; cf. δράκων, at the beginning, and see Curtius, as under the word ὀφθαλμός); from Homer, Iliad 12, 208 down; the Sept. mostly for נָחָשׁ; a snake, serpent: Matthew 7:10; Mark 16:18; Luke 10:19; Luke 11:11; John 3:14; 1 Corinthians 10:9; Revelation 9:19; with the ancients the serpent was an emblem of cunning and wisdom, 2 Corinthians 11:3, cf. Genesis 3:1; hence, φρόνιμοι ὡς οἱ ὄφεις, Matthew 10:16 (here WH marginal reading ὁ ὄφις); hence, crafty hypocrites are called ὄφεις, Matthew 23:33. The serpent narrated to have deceived Eve (see Gen. as above) was regarded by the later Jews as the devil (Sap. ii., 23f, cf. 4 Macc. 18:8); hence, he is called ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὁ ὄφις: Revelation 12:9, 14; Revelation 20:2; see (Grimm on Sap. as above; From Lenormant, Beginnings of History etc., chapter ii., p. 109f, and) δράκων. |
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