Berean Standard Bible
Numbers 21:9
9So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.
Numbers 21:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
- New International Version (NIV)So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
- English Standard Version (ESV)So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
- New King James Version (NKJV)So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Context of Numbers 21:9
7Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people. 8Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live. 10Then the Israelites set out and camped at Oboth. 11They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness opposite Moab to the east.
Read all of Numbers 21Numbers 21:9 word by word
וַיַּ֤עַשׂ מֹשֶׁה֙ נְחַ֣שׁ נְחֹ֔שֶׁת וַיְשִׂמֵ֖הוּ עַל־הַנֵּ֑ס וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־נָשַׁ֤ךְ הַנָּחָשׁ֙ אֶת־אִ֔ישׁ וְהִבִּ֛יט אֶל־נְחַ֥שׁ הַנְּחֹ֖שֶׁת וָחָֽי׃Read the interlinear
- So Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
- madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- a bronzeנְחֹ֫שֶׁתnechôsheth · bronzeH5178
- snakeנָחָשׁnâchâsh · serpentH5175
- and mountedשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
- it onעַל‛al · uponH5921
- a poleנֵסnês · ensignH5251
- a poleהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
- Ifאִם'im · ifH518
- anyone whoאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
- was bittenנָשַׁךְnâshak · to biteH5391
- lookedנָבַטnâbaţ · to lookH5027
- atאֶל'êl 'el · to(wards)H413
- ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
- he would liveחָיָהchâyâh · to liveH2421
Cross-references for Numbers 21:9
- 2 Kings 18:4He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.
- John 3:14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
- John 12:32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself.”
- Romans 8:3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,
- 2 Corinthians 5:21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
- Isaiah 45:22Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
- Zechariah 12:10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
- John 1:29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- Hebrews 12:2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- 1 John 3:8The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
- John 6:40For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
- Romans 1:17For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
- Romans 5:20The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
Commentaries on Numbers 21:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9And Moses made a serpent of brass - נחשת נחש nechash nechosheth . Hence we find that the word for brass or copper comes from the same root with nachash, which here signifies a serpent, probably on account of the color; as most serpents, especially those of the bright spotted kind, have a very glistening appearance, and those who have brown or yellow spots appear something like burnished brass: but the true meaning of the root cannot be easily ascertained…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-9Verses 4-9 The children of Israel were wearied by a long march round the land of Edom. They speak discontentedly of what God had done for them, and distrustfully of what he would do. What will they be pleased with, whom manna will not please? Let not the contempt which some cast on the word of God, make us value it less. It is the bread of life, substantial bread, and will nourish those who by faith feed upon it, to eternal life, whoever may call it light…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-9Jesus referred to this event when he explained who he is and why he came (John 3:14–15). By the time of King Hezekiah, around 700 BC, the bronze snake had become an object of worship in Jerusalem. The people were burning incense to it, so Hezekiah destroyed it (2 Kings 18:4).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 7-97-9. the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned--The severity of the scourge and the appalling extent of mortality brought them to a sense of sin, and through the intercessions of Moses, which they implored, they were miraculously healed. He was directed to make the figure of a serpent in brass, to be elevated on a pole or standard, that it might be seen at the extremities of the camp and that every bitten Israelite who looked to it might be…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 21:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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