Both the background and the exact meaning of the expression times of spiritual strength are difficult to define. This expression does not appear in rabbinic literature, and as it stands is evidently not a Semitic idiom. However, most commentaries believe the phrase to mean those periods of refreshment during which God strenghtens the human spirit. The second purpose to be accomplished through the repentance and turning to God is God's sending Jesus. As to what type of snake it was, the text does not tell us, nor does the text tell us whether the snake was poisonous.
Commentators generally point out that there are no poisonous snakes native to Malta.
Most assume that the snake was a Coronella Austriaka , which is native to Malta. That type of snake bites through and does cling to its victim, but it is not poisonous.