Viper

"In Job 20:16, Isa. 30:6; 59:5, the Heb. word eph'eh is thus" "rendered. The Hebrew word, however, probably denotes a species" of poisonous serpents known by the Arabic name of `el ephah. "Tristram has identified it with the sand viper, a species of" "small size common in sandy regions, and frequently found under" stones by the shores of the Dead Sea. It is rapid in its "movements, and highly poisonous. In the New Testament echidne is" used (Matt. 3:7; 12:34; 23:33) for any poisonous snake. The "viper mentioned in Acts 28:3 was probably the vipera aspis, or" the Mediterranean viper. (See [658]ADDER.)