Nahash (נָחָשׁ)
Nahash means "serpent" or "snake," also "dragon". The Serpent is significant in many of the Bible's Creation Records, beginning from Genesis 3:2-7, 11-12, 22-23 — the actual animal described in Genesis ch. 3 as "the serpent" is sometimes understood to be an essential part of the "rationale" of Jesus Christ and the Gospel: see this extract from an editorial in Lampstand Magazine.
The archetypal serpent appropriated for prophetical purposes in the Bible is Leviathan — q.v. for Brother Wilfred Lambert's comments, which are helpful for understanding how to read imagery appropriated from the ancient polytheistic myths in the Old Testament context. For more background see this Wikipedia article.
Prophetical passages that mention nahash include Job 26:12-13 and Isaiah 27:1 — the fleeing serpent pierced by the victorious hand of Yahweh — see The Crooked Serpent and Leviathan.
New Testament references to the Serpent include Revelation 12:7-9 which equates it with "the great dragon" (see Leviathan) and Satan, defeated in an apocalyptic battle with the archangel Michael (Jude 9).
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