Interesting Facts

• The Serpent was created by God.
• The Serpent is described as being more subtle than any other beast of the field that God had made.
• The Serpent engaged in direct discourse with the woman.
• The Serpent’s temptation involved contradicting God’s command and promising knowledge and godlike status.
• God cursed the Serpent as a consequence of his actions in the Garden.
• Gadreel is identified as the third among the chiefs of the fallen angels.
• Gadreel is credited with showing the children of men “all the blows of death”.
• The text explicitly states that Gadreel “led astray Eve”.
• Gadreel revealed to humankind the implements of warfare, including the shield, coat of mail, and the sword.

Genealogy

• Regarding the Serpent, the sources offer no genealogical information. He is presented as a creature brought into being by God. There is no mention of his ancestry, procreation, or familial ties within these texts.
• Gadreel is listed as one of the Watchers, who are described as “angels, the children of the heaven” or “holy sons of God” that descended to earth. He is named among the leaders of these two hundred who swore an oath to take human wives. The texts do not provide any information about Gadreel’s origins before his designation as a Watcher, nor do they mention any offspring or marital connections beyond the general statement that the Watchers took wives from among the daughters of men.

Historical Context

The Serpent’s actions are situated within the primordial setting of the Garden of Eden, a time when humanity, represented by Adam and Eve, existed in a state of innocence and direct communion with God. The command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil had been given by God. The Serpent’s temptation occurs after Adam and Eve had resided in the Garden for a period. This event marks the pivotal moment leading to the Fall of humankind and their subsequent expulsion from paradise.

Gadreel’s activities take place much later in the narrative, during the days of Jared, a period when mankind had multiplied upon the earth. The descent of the Watchers, including Gadreel, is portrayed as an intervention in the natural order, driven by their lust for human women. Their transgression involved not only cohabitation but also the dissemination of secret and potentially harmful knowledge, such as the arts of warfare taught by Gadreel. This era is characterized by increasing lawlessness and corruption, directly influenced by the actions of these fallen celestial beings and their offspring, the giants.

Narrative

The narrative of the Serpent unfolds through his cunning approach to the woman. He begins by subtly questioning God’s instructions and then directly refutes the divine warning of death. His persuasive words focus on the perceived benefits of disobedience: the attainment of knowledge and a state of being “as gods”. The woman, swayed by his arguments and the allure of the forbidden fruit, succumbs to temptation and subsequently influences her husband to do the same. This act of disobedience has immediate consequences, leading to their awareness of their nakedness and their attempt to cover themselves. God’s subsequent judgment includes a specific curse upon the Serpent, altering his form and his relationship with the earth. The Serpent’s role as the primary agent of temptation positions him as a central figure in the narrative of the Fall.

Gadreel’s narrative is intertwined with the larger story of the Watchers and their impact on humanity. As one of the leaders, his specific contribution to the corruption of mankind lies in the imparting of knowledge related to warfare. Significantly, the text explicitly states that Gadreel “led astray Eve”. While the context of this leading astray is not detailed as the encounter with the Serpent in the Garden, it suggests a separate or perhaps a broader influence of Gadreel on Eve or humanity that extended beyond the initial temptation by the Serpent. It is plausible that Gadreel’s later actions and teachings built upon the initial transgression. The revelation of weaponry by Gadreel directly contributed to the escalating violence and lawlessness on earth, contrasting with the initial state of peace in Eden. The judgment against the Watchers, including Gadreel, for their actions underscores the severity of their deviation from their intended purpose and the lasting negative consequences for humankind. Thus, while the Serpent initiated the Fall, Gadreel, through his subsequent actions and teachings, further exacerbated the corrupted state of humanity.