King James Bible Dictionary

(Psalms 140:3; Romans 3:13, "asp") is the rendering of,

1. Akshub ("coiling" or "lying in wait"), properly an asp or viper, found only in this passage.

2. Pethen ("twisting"), a viper or venomous serpent identified with the cobra (Naja haje) (Psalms 58:4; 91:13); elsewhere "asp."

3. Tziphoni ("hissing") (Proverbs 23:32); elsewhere rendered "cockatrice," Isaiah 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jeremiah 8:17, as it is here in the margin of the Authorized Version. The Revised Version has "basilisk." This may have been the yellow viper, the Daboia xanthina, the largest and most dangerous of the vipers of Palestine.

4. Shephiphon ("creeping"), occurring only in Genesis 49:17, the small speckled venomous snake, the "horned snake," or cerastes. Dan is compared to this serpent, which springs from its hiding-place on the passer-by.

A venomous serpent.
Genesis 49:17; Psalms 91:13; Psalms 58:4; Psalms 140:3; Proverbs 23:32

This word is used for any poisonous snake, and is applied in this general sense by the translators of the Authorized Version. The word adder occurs five times in the text of the Authorized Version (see below), and three times int he margin as synonymous with cockatrice , viz., (Isaiah 11:8; 14:29; 59:5) It represents four Hebrew words:

1. Acshub is found only in (Psalms 140:3) and may be represented by the Toxicoa of Egypt and North Africa.
2. Pethen. [ASP]
3. Tsepha , or Tsiphoni , occurs five times in the Hebrew Bible. In (Proverbs 23:32) it is it is translated adder, and in (Isaiah 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jeremiah 8:17) it is rendered cockatrice . From Jeremiah we learn that it was of a hostile nature, and from the parallelism of (Isaiah 11:8) it appears that the Tsiphoni was considered even more dreadful than the Pethen .
4. Shephipon occurs only in (Genesis 49:17) where it is used to characterize the tribe of Dan. The habit of lurking int he sand and biting at the horse's heels here alluded to suits the character of a well-known species of venomous snake, and helps to identify it with the celebrated horned viper, the asp of Cleopatra (Cerastes), which is found abundantly in the dry sandy deserts of Egypt, Syria and Arabia. The cerastes is extremely venomous. Bruce compelled a specimen to scratch eighteen pigeons upon the thigh as quickly as possible, and they all died in nearly the same interval of time.

AD'DER, noun [Latin natrix, a serpent.]

A venomous serpent or viper, of several species.

AD'DER-FLY, noun a name of the dragon-fly or libellula; sometimes called adder-bolt.

ADDER'S-GRASS, noun A plant about which serpents lurk.

ADDER'S-TONGUE, noun A plant whose seeds are produced on a spike resembling a serpent's tongue.

ADDER'S-WORT, noun Snakeweed, so named from its supposed virtue in curing the bite of serpent.