Serpents in the New Age according to Isaiah 65:25

Kevin Wilson wonders why Isaiah 65:25 anticipates a time in which the serpent will eat dust. In this post, I make an argument based on a rereading of the passage’s syntax that the phrase in question is not a prediction but a statement of fact within a prediction. In reference to Isaiah 65:25 (see below for text and translation), Kevin notes:

[W]hat is going on with the serpent? In Isaiah 11:8, the child will play with the asp and the adder without being hurt. This would make us think that the serpent eating dust is in contrast to its previous predilection. But Genesis 3:14 (which was probably known to Third Isaiah) states that eating dust is the serpent’s punishment. This would suggest that while the other animals are returning to the peaceful existence of the Garden of Eden, the serpent still bears its punishment. This doesn’t match with the thrust of the verse or with the material to which it alludes in Isaiah 11:6-9.

[Isn’t that cool how Kevin hyperlinks to Bible passages? We should all do that. For us non-geeks, a how-to lesson and short-cuts need to be provided.]

This is where I go with this text. Punishment vs. non-punishment of the listed animals is not at stake in the passage. The thrice-repeated fronting of the verbal subjects allows for another interpretation: the first three clauses of the passage serve to specify and introduce the subject of the final double clause structure of the passage. The consistent fronting of subject in the first three clauses is an innovation of Isa 65:25 over against its Vorlage or base text, Isa 11:6-9. Here is 65:25 and a translation that brings out its sense:

זְאֵב וְטָלֶה           יִרְעוּ כְאֶחָד

וְאַרְיֵה כַּבָּקָר       יֹאכַל תֶּבֶן       וְנָחָשׁ עָפָר לַחְמוֹ

לֹא יָרֵעוּ             וְלֹא יַשְׁחִיתוּ

בְּכָל־הַר קָדְשִׁי     אָמַר יְהוָה

The wolf and the lamb,

      who will graze together;

the lion like the ox,

      who will eat straw;

            the serpent, whose food is dust –

they will not hurt

      and they will not destroy

in all my holy mount,

      said יהוה.

 I bisect the text just as MT does, after “the serpent, whose food is dust.”[1] It’s true that I over-interpret the subject fronting with the translation I offer, but not misleadingly. Those who know how clauses of the kind attested here were understood by Arab grammarians will not bat an eye.  In reality, the syntax of the Hebrew is  less flowing:

The wolf and the lamb,

      they will graze together;

the lion like the ox,

      he will eat straw;

            the serpent, whose food is dust –

they will not hurt

      and they will not destroy

in all my holy mount,

      said יהוה.

Did I come up with this understanding of the passage on my own? No, I got it from Isaiah of Trani. If you want to understand the ins and outs of a biblical passage from the Hebrew Bible, where do you start? A great place to start is with the Jewish commentators of the past whose exegesis is found in Mikraot Gedolot. It’s also a great way to improve one’s Hebrew. Here is Isaiah of Trani on this verse (biblical text in red):

(כה) אריה כמו הבקר יאכל תבן – כך יהיה, ולא יטרף שום בהמה וחיה, וגם הנחש שעפר לחמו. לא ירעו ולא ישחיתו בכל הר קדשי

The lion like the ox will eat straw – it will be so, that he will not take as prey any domestic or wild animal, and the snake as well, whose food is dust: they will not hurt and they will not destroy in all my holy mount.

 Bibliography

Menachem Cohen, ed.,מקראות גדולות הכתר׃ ספר ישעיהו׃ נוסח המקרא על־פי ׳כתר ארם צובה׳, תרגום יונתן על־פי כתבי יד תימניים, עם הפרושים׃ רש״י, רד״ק, ר׳ אברהם אבן עזרא, ר׳ יוסף קרא, ר׳ אליעזר מבלגנצי, ר׳ ישעיה מטראני, ר׳ יוסף אבן כספי, על־פי מיטב כתבי היד של ימי־הביניים, עם ׳עין המסורה׳ ־ ביאור ומראי־מקומות להערות המסורה  Mikra’ot Gedolot ‘HaKeter’ Isaiah: A Revised and Augmented Scientific Edition of ‘Mikra’ot Gedolot’ Based on the Aleppo Codex and Early Medieval MSS (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan Univ. Press, 1996)

 For background, go here.

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[1] Isa 65:17-25, a clear subunit within a larger whole, contains 22 lines as do so many other poetic texts. This was not noted before now because the rules of lineation that govern ancient Hebrew poetry have eluded scholars since investigation began in earnest a century and a half or so ago.