Jesus didn't pull any punches when it came to the Pharisees. He constantly rebuked them for being self-righteous, hypocritical, oppressive, and disingenuous. Of all of these justified criticisms, there was one animal in particular that He called them: vipers. In fact, "viper" appears only five times in the new testament and four of these are Jesus and John the Baptist addressing the Pharisees: Matthew 3:7 But when he [John the Baptist] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees