After demonstrating that the bruising of the serpent’s skull is a prominent theme throughout the OT, he argues that Goliath’s crushed skull is an allusion to the serpent from Gen 3:15. Hamilton’s conclusions about Goliath agree in large measure with Ronning’s. Finally, in 17:4 Goliath, the Philistines’ champion, is literally the in betweens-man (אישׁ־הבנים).⁸ Ronning posits that Goliath’s unusual title alludes to the four times that between (בין) is used in Gen 3:15. In these verses the narrator mentions four times that his armor and weaponry is bronze (נחשׁת), which Ronning suggests is a wordplay with serpent (נחשׁ). Ronning finds further support of Goliath’s serpent identity in 1 Sam 17:5–6. Ronning understands the connection between קשׂקשׂים and sea creatures to suggest that Goliath is serpentine. The only other person to have scaly skin is Pharaoh in Ezek 29:3–4, and this text presents Pharaoh as a sea monster. ⁷ Ronning points out that Goliath has scale (קשׂקשׂים) armor and that the word scale is used for sea creatures. Ronning is one who has argued that the Samuel narrative presents Goliath as a serpent. What follows is a brief survey of their various arguments for identifying these characters as being serpentine. These characters are Goliath, Nahash (the king of the Ammonites), Hanun, Absalom, and Amasa. Previous Scholarship Identifying Serpents within SamuelĪs mentioned, scholars have identified various characters as serpents within Samuel. Perhaps the text intends to allude to Gen 3 when God’s judgment falls on a scaly foe whose mouth is on the ground and who dies from a strike to his head. ³ As some recognize, Nahash (נחשׁ) means snake.⁴ Given the biblical authors’ tendency to imbue names with meaning, could these references to Nahash be allusions to Gen 3? Furthermore, 1 Sam 17:5 says that Goliath’s armor is scaly (קשׂקשׂים)-a word always used for the skin of a sea creature.⁵ According to most, David then crushes Goliath’s forehead with a stone.⁶ He then falls with his face-and therefore mouth-to the ground immediately before David decapitates his head. The Samuel narrative refers to Nahash, the king of the sons of Ammon on multiple occasions. Some have suggested that the joint book of 1 and 2 Samuel (hereafter Samuel) cast particular characters as serpents in order to allude to Gen 3. ¹ James Hamilton has also shown that the serpent’s defeat is a major theme in Scripture.² Ronning has demonstrated, one of these allusions from Gen 3 that permeates the Bible is to the serpent. Allusions to Gen 3 abound throughout the Old Testament and New Testament (hereafter OT and NT).

The Serpent's Head by Bryan Young