The Miracle of Aaron's Staff

 It was interesting this week to look at various pieces of artwork based on biblical narratives. I found three pieces based on the miracle of Aaron’s staff turning into a snake. The artists differ widely in how they imagine the snake and in the way they understand the miracle as a whole.  

Image from the Sarajevo Passover Haggadah (Image #1 above)
This Haggadah is considered to be a national treasure. It has illuminated manuscript, and it’s artist is unknown, and is dated to 1350. It use to be housed in the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. Since the last war this treasured Haggadah is hidden away out of fear that it would be stolen. The Haggadah's illustration is the simplest of the compositions. It depicts just six  static figures, Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron,  and three Egyptians. The snake, depicted  as a lizard-like creature, lies on the table,  calmly swallowing the other snakes,  whose heads peek out from his mouth.   

This vibrantly colored tapestry is based on  an oil painting by Nicolas Poussin ((Image #2 above).  It places the scene of the miracle inside  the palace. The various characters are  arranged in a line across the image, with  the staffs-turned-snakes wriggling on the  floor before them. Pharaoh is  distinguished only by the fact that he is the  sole seated figure. Moshe and Aaron face  him, fingers pointed heavenward,  presumably saying that the miracle is the  work of God. 

LaHaye Engraved Bible (1728) -  Moses and Sorcerers (Image #3 above)are turning  their staff into snakes.  This engraving, in contrast, sets the  miracle outside the palace. It is  filled with figures and movement, as  many onlookers besides Pharaoh's  courtiers approach to view the site.  Moses and Aaron are placed in the  left foreground, backs to the viewer,  while Pharaoh towers over them,  looking at the snakes below. The  creatures are pictured here as  winged dragons, fighting and biting  each other.

The snake is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. They have  been associated with some of the oldest rituals known to humankind and to their dual  expression of good and evil. In some ancient cultures snakes were symbols of fertility,  or the spirit of the Underworld. In other cultures snakes symbolized the umbilical cord,  joining all humans to Mother Earth. In Eastern traditions Serpents are represented as  potent guardians of temples and other sacred spaces. The snake is identified with  wisdom when he appears for the first time in the Torah in the Garden of Eden when it  lured Eve. Snakes are also connected with poison and medicine. The Nehushtan was  a sacred object in the form of a brass snake on a tall pole when Moses used it to cure  the Israelites from snakebites in the desert.

May you see the intertwined snakes on the Caduceus, the symbol of Medicine, as a  source of healing to you. Amen.    

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