In the book "Patriarchs and Prophets," Page 55, we are told that "the serpent plucked the fruit of the forbidden tree, and placed it in the hands of the half-reluctant Eve." Is this statement in agreement with the Biblical account that "she took of the fruit thereof" (Gen. 3 ;6)? Also, how did the serpent pluck the fruit?
As to the first question, the Hebrew word translated took in Genesis 3:6, is laquah, meaning "to take," in the widest variety of applications—to accept, bring, buy, carry away, get, and so forth. The text simply states that she "took" the fruit, that is, accepted it.
In answer to the second question, a flying serpent (described on page 53 of Patriarchs and Prophets) which could pluck the fruit might be fully met in the extinct Pterodactyl, a serpent with wings, arms, and fingers. (The name Pterodactyl comes from two Greek words : pteron. meaning "feather" or "wing," and daktulos, meaning "finger.") Brief descriptions with cuts showing the fossil serpents, are given in Webster's New International Dictionary, Funk and Wagnall's Standard Dictionary, The Encyclopedia Americana, and the Encyclopaedia Britannica. A fuller description is found in The Smithsonian Scientific Series, volume 8, pages 263-268, from which I quote the following
"The specimens found in the lithographic-stone quarries of Bavaria have supplied most of our information concerning these flying creatures. Here conditions were so favorable to their preservation that skeletons have been found intact, with impressions in the rock of the wing membrane itself."—Pages 265, 266.
"Many varieties exist, ranging in size from flyers no larger than a sparrow to veritable giants."—Ibid., p. 264.
"We first find pterodactyls in Jurassic rocks, where they appear full-fledged, indicating that they must already have had a long evolutionary history of which we know nothing."—/bid., p. 265.
"Although many of these animals had teeth well suited for seizing fish, it seems probable that fowls, small mammals, and even fruit served to vary their diet."—Ibid., pp. 267,268.
From the foregoing it is interesting to note that the wings were not of feathers, but of membrane, which, being that of a serpent, might readily give "an appearance of dazzling brightness, having the color and brilliancy of burnished gold" (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 53) ; and that when first found "they appear full-fledged," which is in accord with the Genesis account, and that they made fruit a part of their diet.
Baron Cuvier of France, who in 18oi first correctly classified the pterodactyl as "a winged reptile," speaks of its "enormous head," which indicates the possibility of great brain capacity, and says that it "might use its anterior fingers to suspend itself from the branches of trees."—Smithsonian Scientific Series, vol. 8, p. 264.
I conclude with an excerpt from an article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Pterodactyl," volume 18, page 731, as follows : "The three first fingers of the hand are free and provided with large claws ; they stand out in front of the wings and must have been used for holding food or for help in landing." Such a serpent could have readily plucked the fruit and placed it in the hands of Eve.
CHARLES 0. SMITH. [Instructor, Department of Religion, Atlantic Union College.]
