God’s Word Translation
Numbers 21:9
9So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. People looked at the bronze snake after they were bitten, and they lived.
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
7The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we criticized the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake, and put it on a pole. Anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. People looked at the bronze snake after they were bitten, and they lived. 10The Israelites moved and set up camp at Oboth. 11Next they moved from Oboth and set up camp at Iye Abarim in the desert west of Moab.
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
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 got rid of the illegal places of worship, crushed the sacred stones, and cut down the poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. He even crushed the bronze snake that Moses had made because up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. They called it Nehushtan.
- John 3:14“As Moses lifted up the snake ⌞on a pole⌟ in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.
- John 12:32When I have been lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people toward me.”
- Romans 8:3It is impossible to do what God’s standards demand because of the weakness our human nature has. But God sent his Son to have a human nature as sinners have and to pay for sin. That way God condemned sin in our corrupt nature.
- 2 Corinthians 5:21God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God’s approval through him.
- Isaiah 45:22Turn to me and be saved, all who live at the ends of the earth, because I am God, and there is no other.
- Zechariah 12:10“I will pour out the Spirit of blessing and mercy on David’s family and on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look at me, whom they have stabbed. Then they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they will cry bitterly for him as one cries for a firstborn son.
- John 1:29John saw Jesus coming toward him the next day and said, “Look! This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
- Hebrews 12:2We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Now he holds the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne.
- 1 John 3:8The person who lives a sinful life belongs to the devil, because the devil has been committing sin since the beginning. The reason that the Son of God appeared was to destroy what the devil does.
- John 6:40My Father wants all those who see the Son and believe in him to have eternal life. He wants me to bring them back to life on the last day.”
- Romans 1:17God’s approval is revealed in this Good News. This approval begins and ends with faith as Scripture says, “The person who has God’s approval will live by faith.”
- Romans 5:20The laws in Moses’ Teachings were added to increase the failure. But where sin increased, God’s kindness increased even 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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