Judas Iscariot to the Corinthians , in which Paul the Apostle does not mention Judas by name, but uses the passive voice of the Greek word "paradidōmi" (παραδίδωμι), which most Bible translations render as "was betrayed": "...the Lord Jesus on the night when he "was betrayed" took a loaf of bread..." Nonetheless, many biblical scholars argue that the word "paradidōmi" should be translated as "was handed over". This translation could still refer to Judas, but it could also instead refer to God metaphorically "handing Jesus over" to the Romans. In his book "Antisemitism and Modernity" (2006), the Jewish scholar Hyam Maccoby suggests
Serpents in the Bible Serpents in the Bible Serpents ( "nāḥāš") are referred to in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. The symbol of a serpent or snake played important roles in religious and cultural life of ancient Egypt, Canaan, Mesopotamia and Greece. The serpent was a symbol of evil power and chaos from the underworld as well as a symbol of fertility, life and healing. "Nāḥāš", Hebrew for "snake", is also associated with divination, including the verb form meaning "to practice divination or fortune-telling". In the Hebrew Bible, "Nāḥāš" occurs in the Torah to identify the serpent in the Garden of