Serpent Charming

SERPENT CHARMING (לָחַשׁ, H4317, to whisper, to charm; the technical term for snake charming). Serpents were numerous in Pal. and the art of snake charming was practiced in the country. Some snakes were susceptible to charming (Eccl 10:11) and others resisted the techniques of the charmer (Ps 58:4, 5; Jer 8:17). Isaiah 3:3 may also refer to snake charming. In Jeremiah 8:17 serpent charming is used metaphorically to describe the enemies of Judah who are “serpents, adders which cannot be charmed”; and in Psalm 58:4, 5 to characterize the wicked who are “like the deaf adder that stops its ear, so that it does not hear the voice of charmers.”