Snakes have a prominent role in the Bible. The most famous snake shows up in Genesis, as depicted in the tenth century century illustration on the left. Satan, disguised as a snake, tempted Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. This original sin led the first people to be expelled from the Garden of Eden, and became central to much of Christian theology. God also punished the snake: "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:14-15, KJV).

The 1860s illustration on the right depicts an episode from the book of Numbers. As the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, they began to complain, saying that God brought them out of Egypt to starve in the desert. So God sent serpents among them, which bit the people and caused many to die. When they prayed for help, God told Moses to make a brass serpent and put it on a rod. Everyone who looked at the serpent was healed. The serpent on the rod remains a symbol of physicians today.

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