New English Translation
Numbers 21:9
9So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he 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
7Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. 10The Israelites traveled on and camped in Oboth. 11Then they traveled on from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that is before Moab, on the eastern side.
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 eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan.
- John 3:14Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
- John 12:32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
- Romans 8:3For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
- 2 Corinthians 5:21God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.
- Isaiah 45:22Turn to me so you can be delivered, all you who live in the earth’s remote regions! For I am God, and I have no peer.
- Zechariah 12:10“I will pour out on the kingship of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me, the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn.
- John 1:29On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
- Hebrews 12:2keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat 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 beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.
- John 6:40For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
- Romans 1:17For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”
- Romans 5:20Now the law came in so that the transgression may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied 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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