ἔχιδνα

ἀσπίς aspís · G785 · asp, cobra, viper

The target term ἔχιδνα and ἀσπίς (“a buckler or round shield; used of a serpent as coiling itself, probably the asp”) both denote venomous serpents; ἀσπίς may denote a specific serpent type, the asp, while the target's usage is more general and also extends figuratively to “an evil person” — a general-to-specific relationship within the shared category of venomous snakes.

ὄφις óphis · G3789 · snake, reptile, evil person

Both terms refer to snakes and share the figurative extension to evil or malicious persons. However, ἔχιδνα specifically denotes venomous adders or vipers, while ὄφις serves as the more general term for snakes, including but not limited to venomous species.

Asp, cobra, viper4.53

In Acts 28:3, on Malta, “a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand,” naming this venomous snake.

Evil person, viper, snake88.123

In Matthew 3:7, John the Baptist tells the Pharisees and Sadducees, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” using this word for a dangerous, treacherous person.

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.