Verse 3. A serpent] Of what sort we know not, as the word jn nachash is a general name for serpents, and also means several other things, see Gen. iii. 1: but it was either of a kind that he had not seen before, or one that he knew to be dangerous; for it is said, he fled from before it. Some suppose the staff was changed into a crocodile; see on "chap. vii. 10".