Did Satan show up to Adam and Eve as a snake or angel?

Answer 1

Genesis chapter 3 is quite clear that it was a serpent, or snake, that tempted Eve. Verse 3:1 describes the serpent as the most subtle, or clever, of the beasts, so in the story, this really was Satan in the form of a snake.

The NET bible Notes on Genesis 3:2 state explain that:

Genesis 3:2 [NET] "The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit from....."

2sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent's capacity to speak. While later passages in The Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, "On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26]." Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent's actions to jealousy. He writes that "the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God's behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom."

Answer 2

Genesis chapter 3 is quite clear that it was a serpent, or snake, that tempted Eve. Verse 3:1 describes the serpent as the most subtle, or clever, of the beasts, so in the story, this really was a snake, not Satan. God cursed the snake and said that, because of this, he would slide on his belly, a terrible penalty exacted on all future snakes. If we believe that God is omniscient he must have known that the snake was truly At Fault, not Satan.

It is only in later Christian understanding that this snake became seen as perhaps being Satan because of the impossibility of a real snake talking, as well as to emphasise the evil in the story.