One of the most provocative evidences that the Serpent must be human comes from Ge 3:1. It states that the Serpent “became crafty” above all beasts of the field. This means its mind became naked or exposed to devious thoughts. As we shall see, only a human mind can become crafty. Furthermore, the Serpent’s act of becoming naked to devious thoughts eerily mirrors Adam’s act of coming to know both good and evil and his own nakedness by eating from the Tree of Knowledge. This strongly hints at the Serpent being human and on par with Adam. Only Lilith can explain this other human on an equal basis with Adam.
Ge 3:1 states that the Serpent became “crafty.” The Hebrew word for crafty is aruwm (Mwre – Strongs 6175). As the Gesenius lexicon and others point out, aruwm is simply the past participle of the root aram (Mre – Strongs 6191). Thus, aram and aruwn are the same word. Aram has two meanings.[1] It can mean “naked”, or it can mean “prudent” or “crafty.” Gesenius holds that the root‘s most literal meaning is “naked”, and that it also came to mean “crafty” in the sense that when one’s mind is made naked to malevolent thoughts, it becomes crafty. Thus to have a “naked” mind (open to devious thoughts) is to be crafty.
That aram has the dual meanings of “naked” and “crafty” is easily demonstrated. The exact root spelling of aruwm in Ge 3:1 (sp Mwre) appears 19 times in the Bible. Of these 19 times, the KJV renders it 9 times as “naked.” The other 10 times the KJV renders it “prudent” or “crafty.” Thus, the exact same word has two meanings.
Based on its dual meanings, the actual meaning of aram in any passage can only be determined based on the context in which the word is used. Therefore, Ge 3:1 can be poetically understood to say that the Serpent “became naked” instead of “became crafty.” Indeed, both are statements true. The serpent became naked of mind in order to become crafty. Why is this important? In Ge 3:7, when Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge, their eyes were opened and they knew they were ayrom (Mrye, “naked”). Thus, when Adam and Eve ate of the Tree, they became ayron (naked). Likewise, when the Serpent became crafty, it became aruwn (Mwre, i.e. naked of mind). This poetic word-play suggests that events surrounding the Serpent becoming crafty must have been very similar to events in which Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge. This notion is also supported by simple logic. When Adam and Eve ate, they also must have become crafty like the Serpent, for they gained knowledge of good and evil and their minds were “opened”, becoming exposed to devious thoughts.
The parallelism between the Serpent’s craftiness and Adam and Eve’s nakedness can be further demonstrated. Ge 3:1 states that the Serpent “became” crafty. Thus, the Serpent was not always crafty, but through some transformative event, it “became” crafty. The Hebrew word for “became” is hayah (hyh – Strong 1961). This is the same key root word which in section 3.8 showed that Adam “had become” alone. The first time that hayah appears spelled exactly as in Ge 3:1 (sp hyh) elsewhere in the Bible comes in Ge 3:22. There it is stated that in eating of the Tree of Knowledge the man Adam “became” (hayah) as God in knowing good and evil. Thus, based on its PFA, the mystical meaning of hayah denotes the transformational event of a person beginning to know good and evil through eating of the Tree of Knowledge. This implies the Serpent ate of the Tree of Knowledge and “became” crafty, knowing good and evil.
Ge 3:22 (KJV)And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become (hayah) as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Few details are available concerning the Serpent Lilith’s possible eating of the Tree of Knowledge. Unlike Adam, for her it was probably not a condemning event. There was no command given to her not to eat of the Tree. Indeed, the Serpent is only judged by God for using its craftiness to deceive Eve and causing her and Adam to fall.
In summary, when Genesis relates that the Serpent “became crafty”, it relating some significant clues about the Serpent. First, only a human mind can become crafty. Furthermore, the act of becoming crafty implies the Serpent ate of the Tree and “became naked” of mind, just as Adam ate of the Tree and “became naked” with the knowledge of good and evil. This word play and parallelism between the Serpent and Adam suggests that the Serpent was human, and on a par with Adam. Only Lilith explains this human’s origins.
[1] When the aram root means ‘naked’, Strongs identifies it as arom (Mre – Strongs 5903) or its variant spelling ayrom (Mrye). When the aram root means ‘crafty’, Strongs identifies it as aram or aruwn. However, all the words are the same and often share the same spelling in passages.