ثعب

Core meaning

The serpent: the form taken by Moussa's staff, thrown down before Fir'awn.

Uses

1. ثُعْبَانٌ مُّبِينٌ → "a manifest serpent" : the staff turned into a serpent, before the eyes of Fir'awn and his court.

   • «فَأَلْقَىٰ عَصَاهُ فَإِذَا هِىَ ثُعْبَانٌۭ مُّبِينٌۭ» — "He then threw down his staff, and behold, it was a manifest serpent" (7:107)
   • «فَأَلْقَىٰ عَصَاهُ فَإِذَا هِىَ ثُعْبَانٌۭ مُّبِينٌۭ» — "He then threw down his staff, and behold, it was a manifest serpent" (26:32)

Evidence from the text

The two uses are the same verse, word for word, and both take place before Fir'awn. In both accounts the second sign follows at once: the hand drawn out, "white to those who looked" (7:108). The serpent is a sign shown in public, and the adjective says so: it is "manifest", seen beyond dispute.

The same transformation, first lived by Moussa alone in the valley, is told in other words: the staff becomes "a snake, moving swiftly" (20:20), or vibrates "as though it were an Occulted" (27:10). ثُعْبَان is the word of the scene before Fir'awn.

Distinctions

• حيى — حَيَّة (20:20): the staff come alive, the first time, in the valley
• جنن — جَانّ (27:10, 28:31): the staff that vibrates like a hidden being

See also

عصو (the staff) · موسى (Moussa)