Job 20:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Initially, he gently ensnares hearts, yet later he forcefully drags them along. Thus, he ‘extracts the venom of the asp,’ as early on a minor hidden suggestion infiltrates the heart, but it is ‘the tongue of the viper that brings death,’ for subsequently, the ensnared soul is destroyed by the venom of fierce temptations. In the early stages, unclean spirits converse with the human heart through cunning insinuations, persuading with gentleness while injecting poison from aspersions. Hence it is recorded, They hatch the eggs of asps and weave webs. He who partakes of their eggs will die, and out of the ruptured ones, the basilisk shall be birthed. Isaiah 59:5. To ‘break the eggs of the asp’ in relation to the wicked means to reveal through malicious actions the malevolent intentions of the spirits hiding within their hearts. Moreover, ‘weaving a web’ concerning worldly desires refers to engaging in transitory endeavors. Such pursuits lack solidity and are swept away like a spider’s web caught in the winds of earthly existence. It is rightly noted that whoever consumes their eggs shall perish, for recognizing the schemes of unclean spirits leads to the destruction of one’s spiritual life. Additionally, ‘out of the broken eggs, the basilisk shall hatch,’ as the influences of evil spirits that darken the heart nurture into the expression of profound wickedness. The basilisk symbolizes the chief of serpents, and who is the leader among the sons of perdition but the Antichrist? Out of those shattered eggs, the basilisk will emerge because he possesses the will to sustain them with his essence, effectively becoming affiliated with the wicked head and integrating into the body of Antichrist. Hence, regarding the hypocrite, it is said, He extracts the venom of the asp; the tongue of the viper will bring him to death, for he initially welcomes the subtle obsession of our ancient foe with delight, and later yields passively to his fierce allurements. Consequently, in Paradise, when humanity was upright, the adversary first introduced words of gentle suggestion, but he who once seduced through commendation to attain consent now compels even those who resist into submission, conquering them through the allurements of transient pleasures and slaying them violently. Furthermore, we may also interpret these phrases in another manner. The ‘asp’ delivers swift death with its poison, while the ‘viper’ does so gradually; the ‘asp’ may symbolize the most intense and immediate temptation, whereas the ‘viper’ may denote a soft yet lingering one. Thus, one death arises from the asp’s poison, as sudden temptation can swiftly destroy an unguarded soul, while a gentle and elongated temptation kills over time, as with the viper’s sting, subtly suggesting sinful notions. Each hypocrite, overcome by the temptations of unclean spirits as if by serpent’s venom, recognizes no divine gifts from above through the Holy Spirit while projecting the intentions of his heart into glittering external praises; this reality is justly highlighted.