Numbers 21:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Numbers 21:9
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.
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
serpent
נְחַ֣שׁne.Chash
H5175
a snake (from its hiss) · noun, common masculine singular construct
brass
נְחֹ֔שֶׁתne.Cho.shet
H5178
copper · noun, common feminine singular absolute
put
וַיְשִׂמֵ֖הוּvay.si.Me.hu
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
pole
הַנֵּ֑סha.Nes
H5251
a flag · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
serpent
הַנָּחָשׁ֙ha.na.Chash
H5175
a snake (from its hiss) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
bitten
נָשַׁ֤ךְna.Shakh
H5391
to strike with a sting (as a serpent) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
man
אִ֔ישׁ'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
beheld
וְהִבִּ֛יטve.hi.Bit
H5027
to scan · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
serpent
נְחַ֥שׁne.Chash
H5175
a snake (from its hiss) · noun, common masculine singular construct
brass
הַנְּחֹ֖שֶׁתha.ne.Cho.shet
H5178
copper · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
lived
חָיַיchâyay
H2425
to live
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
John 3:14-15 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will ra…
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and…
2 Kings 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for u…
John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,…
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Numbers 21:4-9
Here is, I. The fatigue of Israel by a long march round the land of Edom, because they could not obtain passage through it the nearest way: The soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way, Num 21:4. Perhaps the way was rough and uneven, or foul and dirty; or it fretted them to go far about, and that they were not permitted to force their passage through the Edomites' country. Those that are of a fretful discontented spirit will always find something or other to make them uneasy.
II. Their unbelief and murmuring upon this occasion, Num 21:5. Though they had just now obtained a glorious victory over the Canaanites, and were going on conquering and to conquer, yet they speak very…
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 healed. This peculiar method of cure was designed, in the first instance, to show that it was the efficacy of God's power and grace, not the effect of nature or art, and also that it might be a type of the power of faith in Christ to heal all who look…
And Moses made a serpent of brass,.... Which was the most proper metal to make it of, that it might resemble the fiery serpents, whether of a golden or scarlet colour: and Diodorus Siculus (d) speaks of some of the colour of brass, whose bite was immediately followed with death, and by which, if anyone was struck, he was seized with terrible pains, and a bloody sweat flowed all over him; and this was chosen also, because being burnished and bright, could be seen at a great distance, and with this metal Moses might be furnished from Punon, the next station to this, where they now were, Zalmonah, as appears from Numbers 33:42 a place famous for brass mines, and which Jerom (e) says, in his tim…
The Church Fathers
To be made whole of a serpent is a great sacrament. What is it to be made whole of a serpent by looking upon a serpent? It is to be made whole of death by believing in one dead. And nevertheless Moses feared and fled. What is it that Moses fled from that serpent? What, brethren, save that which we know to have been done in the gospel? Christ died, and the disciples feared and withdrew from that hope wherein they had been.
The serpent struck Adam in paradise and killed him. [It also struck] Israel in the camp and annihilated them. "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, the Son of Man will be lifted up." Just as those who looked with bodily eyes at the sign which Moses fastened on the cross lived bodily, so too those who look with spiritual eyes at the body of the Messiah nailed and suspended on the cross and believe in him will live [spiritually]. Thus it was revealed through this brazen [serpent], which by nature cannot suffer, that he who was to suffer on the cross is one who by nature cannot die.
That brazen serpent was hung up as a remedy for the biting serpents, not as a type of him that suffered for us but as a contrast. It saved those that looked upon it, not because they believed it to live but because it was killed, and killed with it were the powers that were subject to it, being destroyed as it deserved. And what is the fitting epitaph for it from us? "O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?" You are overthrown by the cross. You are slain by him who is the giver of life. You are without breath, dead, without motion, even though you keep the form of a serpent lifted up high on a pole.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Brass — Which is an alloy of copper and zinc, was not known till the thirteenth century. What is designated by this word in Scripture is properly copper (Deut. 8:9). It was used for fetters (Judg. 16:21; 2…
Ensign — (1.) Heb. ‘oth, a military standard, especially of a single tribe (Num. 2:2). Each separate tribe had its own “sign” or “ensign.” (2.) Heb. nes, a lofty signal, as a column or high pole (Num. 21:8,…
Hezekiah — Whom Jehovah has strengthened. (1.) Son of Ahaz (2 Kings 18:1; 2 Chr. 29:1), whom he succeeded on the throne of the kingdom of Judah. He reigned twenty-nine years (B.C. 726-697). The history of this…
Nehushtan — Of copper; a brazen thing a name of contempt given to the serpent Moses had made in the wilderness (Num. 21:8), and which Hezekiah destroyed because the children of Israel began to regard it as an…
Serpent — (Heb. nahash; Gr. ophis), frequently noticed in Scripture. More than forty species are found in Syria and Arabia. The poisonous character of the serpent is alluded to in Jacob’s blessing on Dan (Gen.…
Brass, Or Copper · Moses made the serpent of — Moses made the serpent of
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Brazen serpent raised up — Brazen serpent raised up
Miracles Wrought Through Servants Of God · Moses and Aaron: Healing by brazen serpent — Moses and Aaron: Healing by brazen serpent
Salvation · .Typified by the bronze serpent — .Typified by the bronze serpent
Serpent · snake, erected by Moses — snake, erected by Moses
Serpents · Miracles connected with: Israelites cured by looking at one of brass
Numbers 21:4-20
4. And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
4. Et profecti sunt de Hor monte per viam maris Suph, ut circuirent terram Edom: et angustiis affecta est anima populi in via.
5. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
5. Itaque loquutus est populus contra Deum et Mosen, Ut quid ascendere nos fecistis ex Aegypto, ut moreremur in deserto? Non est enim panis neque aqua. Et taedet animam nost…
March of Israel through the Arabah. Plague of Serpents, and Brazen Serpent. - Num 21:4. As the Edomites refused a passage through their land when the Israelites left Mount Hor, they were obliged to take the way to the Red Sea, in order to go round the land of Edom, that is to say, to go down the Arabah to the head of the Elanitic Gulf.
Num 21:5-6
As they went along this road the people became impatient ("the soul of the people was much discouraged," see Exo 6:9), and they began once more to murmur against God and Moses, because they had neither bread nor water (cf. Num 20:4.), and were tired of the loose, i.e., poor, food of manna (קלקל from קלל). The low-lying plain of the Arabah, which run…
Jesus alluded to this incident when discussing his identity and mission (John 3:14-15). • By Hezekiah’s day (around 700 BC), this bronze snake had become an object of worship in Jerusalem (2 Kgs 18:4).
Rashi on Numbers 21:9
נחש נחשת A SERPENT OF COPPER — He had not been told to make it of copper, but Moses said, “The Holy One, blessed be He, terms it נחש; I will therefore make it of נחשת — one term fitting the other term” (Genesis Rabbah 31:8).
— Miracles connected with: Israelites cured by looking at one of brass
Symbols And Similitudes · The bronze serpent, of Christ — The bronze serpent, of Christ
Types Of Christ · Brazen serpent — Brazen serpent
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
