Dictionary of Biblical Words:
Satan is called the old serpent, in allusion to the way in which he tempted Eve, and to his cunning and subtlety. Hypocrites are compared to serpents (Matt. 23:33), also to the tongue of the wicked (Psa. 140:3), also to wine (Prov. 22:31-32). Believers are, however, exhorted to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(way, school). A party adhering to a doctrine, as the sect of Sadducees (Acts 5:17), or Pharisees (Acts 15:5; 26:5). Christians in general were for a long time called by the Jews, in a spirit of contempt, “the sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5). The word is also applied to a certain set of doctrines or mode of life (Acts 24:14; 2 Peter 2:1); and to heresies proper, or perversions of Christian truth (Gal. 5:20).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
See HERESY.