Page 129 - Foundations

being. This itself protests loudly against the notion that they were tempted, and sinned, in this way.

Evidence From Context

The next argument that I would set forth in refutation of the serpent seed doctrine is that of context.
Much of the doctrine rests upon a specific interpretation of words. These are interpretations that the
context does not support.

For example, it is argued that the word used to describe the serpent having “deceived,” or “beguiled”
Eve may also convey the meaning of “to seduce.” In the Genesis account the Hebrew word used is
“nasha.” Strong’s Concordance provides the following definition.

nasha' (naw-shaw'); a primitive root; to lead astray, i.e. (mentally) to delude, or (morally) to seduce:

We see that one of the possible meanings of this words is “(morally) to seduce.” This word appears
16 times in the Old Testament, and it is never used in the sense of sexually seducing someone.
Examples of its common usage are found in the following verses.

II Kings 18:29
Thus says the king: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive (nasha) you, for he shall not be able to deliver you
from his hand...

Isaiah 19:13
The princes of Zoan have become fools; The princes of Noph are deceived (nasha); They have also
deluded Egypt...

Jeremiah 37:9
Thus says Yahweh: “Do not deceive (nasha) yourselves, saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely depart
from us,’ for they will not depart.”

In none of these occurrences, or any of the other Bible verses in which this Hebrew word occurs, is
the idea of sexually seducing someone the appropriate meaning. Therefore, if one concludes that the
word means sexually seduced in Genesis 3:13, they cannot argue that the word itself demands such
an interpretation. Those who seek an understanding of the meaning of this word would do far better
to look to the context of the passage in which it is found. The natural sense of the statement “the
serpent deceived me and I did eat” is that the action of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil was the result of the serpent misleading Eve. The serpent led Eve astray. To “lead astray” is
the first definition that James Strong gives for this word, and it is the sense in which the word is used
throughout the Old Testament.

In the New Testament, the Greek word used to describe the serpent’s actions toward Eve in deceiving
her is exapatao.

exapatao (ex-ap-at-ah'-o); from NT:1537 and NT:538; to seduce wholly:
KJV - beguile, deceive.