DID THE SNAKE EAT FROM THE TREE OF GOOD/EVIL BEFORE ASKING EVETO EAT?
IF NOT, HOW DID HE KNOW TREACHERY?
THANKS.

Welcome to The Global Yeshiva, Masoud.

My understanding is that the snake was the Yetzer Hora, the Evil Inclination, that at the time was external to Man. Following the expulsion from the Garden of Eden Hashem internalised the Yetzer Hora within Man.

It's interesting to note that in Perek Shira, it states that the verse that the snake says, is the passuk "Somech Hashem l'chol hanoflim, vzokef lchol hakefufim" (Psalms 145: 14).

That even though the snake was cursed and made to slither on the ground and suffers the hatred of mankind, still the snake is supported by Hashem and has food whereever it crawls.

Also, a sinner may fall from the heights to the depths but he should not forget that the fallen are also taken care of by Hashem. (From Artscroll's Perek Shira page 128)

Allow me to throw in another couple of thoughts.

First, on the Adam and Chava and the snake story: Adam and Chava could not know good from evil until they tried of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, which is what the snake used to get them banished. But Hashem knew that that would happen; so when He told them not to eat those fruits, the events were already set in motion. Another moral of that story is, we can never really know how we wil pay for our transgressions, until we actually transgress; they could not even know what death was; so that was not exactly a threat to them, until after they tried the Forbidden Fruit.

The snake, therefore, allowed his mischief and Yetzer HaRa to get himself,in a crucial role, into a chain of events that led to the eviction of Adam and Chava into the world that they were then ready for: Hashem, in His infinite wisdom, would never have let them out of Gan Eden until they would know good from evil. The snake, while severely disabled (became a quadruplegic), was sent down too, to remain a constant reminder to us of what is good and what is not.

Another thought is related to one of the Parshiyoth toward the closure of Torah: the Nachash Nachoshet - the copper (bronze) image of a snake that Hashem told Moshe to build and to put on a high pole, so that the Isaraelites would look at it and be healed from the snake bites they were being plagued with in the desert.

I don't know if there are any Midrashim on that portion, but it seems to me that the reason for the snake to be put on a high pole is to show to the people the snake above them, to remind them of the time when humans and the snake lived peacefully in Gan Eden, and to kind of tell them that they had brought themselves to a level lower than the snake (Torah says that the snakes that were biting them were sent by G-d as a punishment for something, although it does not mention for what). Once the person came to realize that, he or she was healed immediately.

I want to thank everyone for their response. What puzzles me still is the following:
How did the snake aquire the yitzer Hara and the knowledge to BE a sly creature, directing Eve to sin?
Question is:
Did he eat from the tree of knowledge before hand , so he knew yitzer hara, or was he creatd with yitzer hara, or was he a symbol of yitzer hara?
thank you and happy hannukakah>

As I mentioned above, the snake was the Yezter HoRa itself.

Did the snake have free choice?
I understand that he was meant to be the SERVANT of Adham, yet he seems to have CHOSEN to be evil.
I understand, also, that the snake was NOT the yetzer hara', rather the yetzer hara' came INTO the snake. best,r

quote:

Originally posted by Ra anan Elozory:
Did the snake have free choice?
I understand that he was meant to be the SERVANT of Adham, yet he seems to have CHOSEN to be evil.
I understand, also, that the snake was NOT the yetzer hara', rather the yetzer hara' came INTO the snake. best,r

That's not my understanding. Where did you hear this?

I heard that the snake was to be a servant in some shi'ur, don't remember who said it. I live in Har Nof. As far as the snake not being the yetzer hara', I guess one could argue that if he's a good servant, then his "master" simply has master him possibly as one mastering his yetzer hara'. However, I heard it from religious professors at Bar Ilan University when they were explaining the difference between Milton's xian perspective of "the fall," (in his Paradise Lost) as opposed to the Jewish perspective. I've never heard it anywhere else, I thought maybe someone here could shed light on the subject.