John 3:14

John 3:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
• New International Version (NIV)Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
• English Standard Version (ESV)And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
• New King James Version (NKJV)And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

Context of John 3:14

12If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven — the Son of Man. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:14 word by word

καὶ καθὼς Μωϋσῆς ὕψωσεν τὸν ὄφιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὕτως ὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου,Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• asκαθώςkathōs · as/just asG2531
• MosesΜωϋσῆς, ΜωσῆςMōseus Mōsēs Mōusēs · MosesG3475
• lifted upὑψόωhupsoō · to lift upG5312
• the serpentὄφιςophis · snakeG3789
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the wildernessἔρημοςerēmos · desertedG2048
• even soοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
• mustδεῖdei · be necessaryG1163
• the Sonυἱόςuihos · sonG5207
• of manἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444

Cross-references for John 3:14

• Numbers 21:7The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.
• 2 Kings 18:4He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made, for until then the Israelites were burning incense to it. It was called Nehushtan.
• John 8:28So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own. But just as the Father taught me, I say these things.
• John 12:32As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself.”
• Psalms 22:16For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me; they pierced my hands and my feet.
• Matthew 26:54How, then, would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?”
• Luke 18:31Then he took the Twelve aside and told them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.
• Luke 24:20and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him.
• Acts 2:23Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him.
• Acts 4:27“For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,

Commentaries on John 3:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14As Moses lifted up - He shows the reason why he descended from heaven, that he might be lifted up, i.e. crucified, for the salvation of man. kind, and be, by the appointment of God, as certain a remedy for sinful souls as the brazen serpent elevated on a pole, Numbers 21:9, was for the bodies of the Israelites, which had been bitten by the fiery serpents in the wilderness. It does not appear to me that the brazen serpent was ever intended to be considered…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14And as Moses - Jesus proceeds in this and the following verses to state the reason why he came into the world and, in order to this, he illustrates His design, and the efficacy of his coming, by a reference to the case of the brass serpent, recorded in Numbers 21:8-9. The people were bitten by flying fiery serpents. There was no cure for the bite. Moses was directed to make an image of the serpent, and place it in sight of the people, that they might look…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-15Jesus was lifted up on the cross so that all people could understand the way of salvation, look to him in faith, and have eternal life.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-1614-16. And as Moses, &c.--Here now we have the "heavenly things," as before the "earthly," but under a veil, for the reason mentioned in Joh 3:12. The crucifixion of Messiah is twice after this veiled under the same lively term--"uplifting," Joh 8:28; 12:32, 33. Here it is still further veiled--though to us who know what it means, rendered vastly more instructive--by reference to the brazen serpent. The venom of the fiery serpents, shooting through the…Read the comment

Topics related to John 3:14

• Brazen Serpent
• Faith
• Immortality
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Life
• Salvation
• Symbols and Similitudes
• Types

In the dictionaries

• Moses
• Son of man
• Born
• Brass
• Call
• Condemn
• Condemnation
• Darkness
• Decrease
• Increase

Commentaries on John 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings