1Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Crafty is not always a bad thing! The main dark character in this chapter, and for that matter the rest of the Scriptures, is Satan. He is called crafty here in this verse. It is sometimes translated prudent, discerning, or sensible. It is that ability to use wisdom in the management of affairs. As a business owner would love prudent employees, so this characteristic can be a positive attribute. This word is used in the book of Proverbs many times talking about the wise person. It is good to be able to use wisdom when sifting through data, personnel issues, and future growth projections. So crafty can be both a positive and negative attribute. Here the serpent is labeled crafty, and from the account that follows we can see that he used his craftiness for his own gains, and the detriment of others. We can fall into the same trap the Serpent did. We can manipulate others toward our ends. They might not even know we are shifting them, that they are really doing what we want them to, even while they think they are doing what they want to. That is being crafty in a negative sense. God calls us to be servants of each other. If we are manipulating the system so that we get the benefits we want, we are being crafty. We might call these people “brown-nosers” or butt kissers. They know just the right words to say to get people to do what they want. We might also call them schemers, always working some plan in the background to get their way. God calls us to be out in the open about what we are doing and why. If we want that promotion, work for it, don’t be the butt of office talk as you schmooz with the boss. When we act like this we are like the Serpent. Do you really want to emulate Satan?
The Arnold Journey 