Serpents in the Bible

thumb|upright=1.1|The Destruction of Leviathan by Gustave Doré (1865) thumb|upright=1.4|The circular salt sea Tiamat (green) and sphere of cosmic freshwater ocean [[Abzu are pre-existent deities in Sumerian myths, from whose mating Earth was created, so the sketch's side view shows the same as Babylon's map. Referring to the Atra-Hasis epic, Abzu is the celestial reservoir from which an organisation of younger gods triggers the Flood in order to consume humanity – also a source for the dangerous cosmic sea monster Leviathan.]]

thumb|upright=1|Bas relief of a seraph Isaiah 6|carrying a hot coal on the walls of the [[Jerusalem International YMCA.]]

In the biblical Books of Kings (2 Kings 18:4; written c. 550 BC), the Nehushtan (; ) is the bronze image of a serpent on a pole. The image is described in the Book of Numbers, where Yahweh instructed Moses to erect it so that the Israelites who saw it would be cured and be protected from dying from the bites of the "fiery serpents", which Yahweh had sent to punish them for speaking against him and Moses ().

serpents in biblical narrative

Biblical demon or monster

Biblical creature