New International Version
Numbers 21:7
7The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
Numbers 21:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And 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 take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore 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 take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.
Context of Numbers 21:7
5they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 6Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9So 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.
Read all of Numbers 21Numbers 21:7 word by word
וַיָּבֹא֩ הָעָ֨ם אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֜ה וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ חָטָ֗אנוּ כִּֽי־דִבַּ֤רְנוּ בַֽיהוָה֙ וָבָ֔ךְ הִתְפַּלֵּל֙ אֶל־יְהוָ֔ה וְיָסֵ֥ר מֵעָלֵ֖ינוּ אֶת־הַנָּחָ֑שׁ וַיִּתְפַּלֵּ֥ל מֹשֶׁ֖ה בְּעַ֥ד הָעָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Therefore the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- cameבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- to Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
- and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- We have sinnedחָטָאchâţâ' · to sinH2398
- for we have spokenדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
- against the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- and against thee; prayפָּלַלpâlal · to prayH6419
- that he take awayסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: removeH5493
- the serpentsנָחָשׁnâchâsh · serpentH5175
Cross-references for Numbers 21:7
- Exodus 9:27Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.
- 1 Samuel 12:19The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”
- 1 Samuel 15:24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them.
- Psalms 78:34Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again.
- Matthew 27:4“I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
- Exodus 8:8Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
- 1 Kings 13:6Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.
- Jeremiah 37:3King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”
- Acts 8:24Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
- James 5:16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
- Numbers 11:2When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down.
- Numbers 14:17“Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared:
- Genesis 20:7Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”
- Exodus 32:11But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
- Deuteronomy 9:20And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.
- 1 Samuel 12:20“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
Commentaries on Numbers 21:7
- 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 21:7
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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