Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 10:19

"Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you." — Luke 10:19 (ASV)

To have authority “to trample on snakes and scorpions” relates to the victorious work of Christ, who, according to the first promise of the Gospel in Ge 3:15, was to bruise the head of the Serpent, the devil. The ultimate implication of overcoming “all the power of the enemy” is to be victorious over the one through whose temptation sin entered into humanity.