paa,
you stated “Many commentators (e.g. the Seforno) claim that the primordial serpent, the ??? in the Garden of Eden was none other than the Yetzer Hara.”
that only happened after “The Midrash in Bereishis Rabba 18:6 tells us:
“???? ???? ???? ??????? ???? ??? ?????? ??
because he let it consume him
there is a midrash that says that sm was riding on the nachash’s back
clearer now?