Why? seriously we quote scripture to you all the time and you claim literal words are figurative or metaphor. Yeah; that IS a problem; isn't it...
Matthew 23
16. "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, `If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'
17. You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
19. You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
24. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
33. "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
Matthew 23:33. “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
So Verga, was Jesus speaking to actual snakes or was it a figure of speech?