Question
Why did the serpent tempt Eve?
Answer
The Torah tells us (Gen. 3:1) that the serpent was unusually intelligent ("cunning"); perhaps it resented the fact that Adam and Eve were appointed as rulers over all the other forms of life (Gen. 1:28). Also, according to the Midrash, the serpent wasn’t acting on its own, but was being directed by the angel Samael, who specializes in tempting Man (see the beginning of the Book of Job).