Jewish Literacy -- Biblical Era: Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel (Part IV)

The serpent's specific role was to entice woman and fan her desire for the evil placed before her. The serpent's subtleness (or cunningness) reveals itself through the way it frames the question to the woman in its knowledge of the prohibition and its claim to know Hashem's intent.7 Ultimately, this subtleness led to its downfall.

Sources:
Chavel -- Ramban Commentary on the Torah (1971)
Epstein -- Soncino Babylonian Talmud (1949) [http://halakhah.com/pdf/zeraim/Berachoth.pdf]
Epstein -- Soncino Babylonian Talmud. (1949) [http://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf]
Friedland -- The Guide for the Perplexed (1904) [http://sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/index.htm]
Herczeg -- The Torah with Rashi's Commentary (2000)
Lieber -- Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary (2001)

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