It is interesting that both John the Baptist and Jesus referred to the generation of that time as vipers.
John the BaptistMatthew 3 Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?JesusMatthew 23 Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?As we know as Christians, it is not right to call people by derogatory names as it is a form of railing, but we read here where both John the Baptist and Jesus are referring to the scribes and pharisees and vipers and serpents.
Q. How come this isn't a forbidden form of railing?
Vipers are only one of the classes of snakes that lives in Israel. Those hearing the words that were spoken would have likely had a much more in depth understanding of what was being said. So what is the defining characteristics of vipers versus the other snakes?
Viperidaehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viperidae... All have relatively long, hinged fangs that permit deep penetration and injection of snake venom. ...
... Each of the two fangs is at the front of the mouth on a short maxillary bone that can rotate back and forth. When not in use, the fangs fold back against the roof of the mouth ...
... This rotating mechanism allows for very long fangs to be contained in a relatively small mouth. ...
... they may give a dry bite (not inject any venom). A dry bite allows the snake to conserve its precious reserve of venom ... ... In addition to being able to deliver dry bites, vipers can inject larger quantities of venom into larger prey targets, and smaller amounts into small prey. ...
On vipers the fangs are hidden from sight being folded back inside the mouth and are only brought to bear when the snakes wants to attack. Hence it always seems to me that John the Baptist and Jesus were just giving an accurate description of the nature of the scribes the pharisees and the sadducees rather than railing against them.
The same goes on in the "churches" today where if you're not friends with the "pastors" and the others that run the show then the fangs come out. Around their friends their fangs are folded back and hidden inside their mouths but they are soon brought out and ready to strike with venom if they are challenged about false doctrines etc.
Vipers!!
