BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
GREEK · G6658
basiliskos — cobra
βασιλίσκος, -ου, ὁ (diminutive of βασιλεύς), [in LXX a basilisk: Ps 90 (91):13 (פֶּתֶן), Isa.59:5 (אֶפְעֶה)* ;] prop., a petty king: Jhn.4:46, 49 WH, mg. (see: βασιλικός).† (AS)
0 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →(in R.V., Isa. 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jer. 8:17), the “king serpent,” as the name imports; a fabulous serpent said to be three spans long, with a spot on its head like a crown. Probably the yellow snake is intended. (See COCKATRICE.)
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.
