<P> Serpent (Greek: ὄφις; Trans: Ophis, / o' - fēs /; "snake", "serpent") occurs in the Book of Revelation as the "ancient serpent" or "old serpent" used to describe "the dragon", Satan the Adversary, who is the devil . This serpent is depicted as a red seven - headed dragon having ten horns, each housed with a diadem . The serpent battles Michael the Archangel in a War in Heaven which results in this devil being cast out to the earth . While on earth, he pursues the Woman of the Apocalypse . Unable to obtain her, he wages war with the rest of her seed (Revelation 12: 1 - 18). He who has the key to the abyss and a great chain over his hand, binds the serpent for a thousand years . The serpent is then cast into the abyss and sealed within until he is released (Revelation 20: 1 - 3). </P> <P> In Christian tradition, the "ancient serpent" is commonly identified with the Genesis Serpent and as Satan . This identification redefined the Hebrew Bible's concept of Satan ("the Adversary", a member of the Heavenly Court acting on behalf of God to test Job's faith), so that Satan / Serpent became a part of a divine plan stretching from Creation to Christ and the Second Coming . </P> <P> The first deuterocanonical source to connect the serpent with the devil may be Wisdom of Solomon . The subject is more developed in the pseudepigraphal - apocryphal Apocalypse of Moses (Vita Adae et Evae) where the devil works with the serpent . </P> <P> In traditional Christianity, a connection between the Serpent and Satan is created, and Genesis 3: 14 - 15 where God curses the serpent, is seen in that light: "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" (KJV). </P>

What does a snake signify in the bible