Numbers 21:9

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

7So the people came to Moses and they said, ‘We did a bad thing when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Please pray to the Lord on our behalf. Ask him to remove the snakes from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. 8The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a model of a snake and put it up high on a pole. When a snake bites anyone, they must look at the bronze snake. Then they will not die.’ Moses made a bronze snake and he put it on a pole. When a snake bit anyone and they looked at the bronze snake, they did not die. 10The Israelites put up their tents at Oboth. 11Then they travelled from Oboth, and they put up their tents at Iye-Abarim, in the desert. That place is on the east border of the country called Moab.

Numbers 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
• madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• a serpentנָחָשׁnâchâsh · serpentH5175
• of brassנְחֹ֫שֶׁתnechôsheth · bronzeH5178
• and putשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
• it upon a poleנֵסnês · ensignH5251
• had bittenנָשַׁךְnâshak · to biteH5391
• any manאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
• when he beheldנָבַטnâbaţ · to lookH5027
• he livedחָיַיchâyay · to liveH2425

Cross-references for Numbers 21:9

• 2 Kings 18:4He removed the altars on the hills. He knocked down the stone pillars that people worshipped and he cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made. Until then, the Israelites had burned incense as an offering to it. It was called Nehushtan.
• John 3:14Long ago Moses lifted up the metal snake in the wilderness to save his people. In the same way, people must lift up the Son of Man on a cross.
• John 12:32But when people lift me up from the ground, then I will bring everyone to myself.’
• Romans 8:3The Law that God gave to Moses could not make us free like that. We were too weak to obey his Law because we are human. But God has done what his Law could not do. He sent his own Son to become a person like us. His human body was like the body of people who do wrong things. God's Son died as a sacrifice to take away the punishment for our sins. In that way, God destroyed the power of sin over people who are weak and human.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21Christ never did any wrong thing, but God punished him as if he had. He died as punishment for our sins. As a result, we become right with God when we belong to Christ. We become right, because he is right.
• Isaiah 45:22So turn to me and I will make you safe. I say that to everybody all over the world. Turn to me, because I am God. There is nobody else like me.
• Zechariah 12:10I will cause the family of David and the people in Jerusalem to think seriously about me. Then they will know that I am kind to them. And they will want to pray to me. They will look at me whom they pierced (made holes in). They will weep about him as those that weep after the death of their only son. They will cry aloud as if their only son was dead.
• John 1:29The next day, John saw Jesus, who was coming towards him. John said, ‘Look! Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of people in the world.
• Hebrews 12:2As we run, we must always look towards Jesus. He is the one who trusted God completely. Our faith starts with him, and he will help us to trust God all the way to the end. Jesus accepted punishment on the cross. He chose to receive much pain. He did not think about being ashamed to die like that. He knew that God had prepared something very good for him that would make him happy. Now he has sat down at the right side of God to rule with him in heaven.
• 1 John 3:8People who continue to do wrong things show that they belong to the Devil. The Devil has always been doing wrong things from the beginning. This is why the Son of God came to the world. He came to destroy everything that the Devil has done.
• John 6:40These are the people who will have life for ever with God: everyone who sees the Son and believes in him. I will raise them all up on the last day. That is what my Father wants.’
• Romans 1:17The good news explains how God accepts people as right with himself. He does this when they believe in Christ. It is only because of their faith. Nothing else. This is what was written in the Bible long ago: ‘Everyone that God accepts as right will live, because they trust him.’
• Romans 5:20God gave his Law to Moses to show more clearly that people were doing wrong things. But when people did more and more wrong things, God continued to be kind in more and more ways.

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

• Brazen Serpent
• Intercession
• Israel
• Miracles
• Salvation
• Serpent
• Symbols and Similitudes
• Types

In the dictionaries

• Moses
• Behold
• Brass
• Ensign
• Exodus
• Hezekiah
• Spy
• Bible, the
• Genealogy
• Images

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