luck_,
in which the wicked are [Pg 19] called "The children of the old serpent
which has slain Adam and all who are descended from him"--it is evident
that, by "the murderer of men from the beginning," Jesus can mean only
the first tempter of men. That the words, "from the beginning," refer
to the fall of the first man, is also clearly shown by the parallel
passages 1 John iii. 8, and Rev. xii. 9, xx. 2. 5. Jesus says: Satan
stands not in the truth, does not move in its element, because there is
no truth in him. This points to a well-known event, in which Satan
displayed his lying nature; and such is found only in the account of
man's fall. 6. Jesus calls Satan not only a liar, but, by way of
emphasis, He designates him as the father of lies. But Satan can be
designated thus, only with reference to a lie of his which is charged
against him by Scripture, and which preceded all lies on earth. Now
that is the lie of which we have an account in Gen. iii. 4, 5. The
words, "and the father of it," correspond with the words, "from the
beginning."

Another declaration of our Lord is found in St Matthew xiii. 38:
[Greek: ta de zizania eisin hoi huioi tou ponerou] (_i.e._, _mali_,
_masculinum_, according to _Bengel_), compared with ver. 39: [Greek: ho
de echthros ho speiras auta estin ho diabolos.] The children of the
wicked one, or of the devil, who are spoken of in this passage, are the
seed of the serpent who is mentioned in Gen. iii. 15, and to whom
allusion is made in the words [Greek: ho speiras auta] also. Less
incontrovertible is the passage in St Matthew xxiii. 33, where the Lord
addressed the Pharisees as [Greek: opheis, gennemata echidnon].
(Compare Matt. xii. 34, iii. 7.) _Olshausen_, in his commentary on
Matt. iii. 7, gives it as his opinion that the serpent designates the
_diabolic nature_. But, according to Matt. xii. 34, the point of
comparison is only the wickedness ([Greek: poneroi ontes]), and it is
quite sufficient to refer it to Ps. cxl. 4, where David says of the
future enemies of his dynasty and family foreseen by him, "They have
sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their
lips" (compare also Ps. lviii. 5; Deut. xxxii. 33; Isa. lix. 5),--a
passage to which special allusion is made in the words, [Greek: pos
dunasthe agatha lalein], Matt. xii. 34, and in the connection of
serpents with vipers, which would be strange when referred to the
history of the fall of the first man.

Let us