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NASB | Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature of the field which the LORD God had made. And the serpent (Satan) said to the woman, "Can it really be that God has said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" [Rev 12:9-11] |
Subject: Animal Intelligence Isn't Rational |
Bible Note: MORE CRAFTY: ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE The animal Satan chose to use was the most intelligent of all the animals in that class of animals, which was the beasts of the field. To say that animals are intelligent (or shrewd, as in Mat. 10:16) is not to say that they are rational, a quality only God, angels and man have. The degree of intelligence ascribed to an animal is based on the degree that its behavior mimics that of a rational being. Otherwise, the bahavior of an animal is totally instinctive, having nothing to do with rationality. Animals, in other words, do not think. Our present culture would like us to believe that men are essentially animals (or machines), and that what we call thinking is no different than the mental processes of an animal. They would have us believe that the difference in our mental process and theirs is only a matter of degrees, not a qualitative difference, only quantitative. |