Numbers 21 · Verse 9

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.
Numbers 21:9, King James Version

Numbers 21:9 in other translations

BSBSo Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.
WEBMoses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived.
ASVAnd Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the standard: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived.
YLTAnd Moses maketh a serpent of brass, and setteth it on the ensign, and it hath been, if the serpent hath bitten any man, and he hath looked expectingly unto the serpent of brass--he hath lived.
DARBYAnd Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass, if a serpent had bitten any man, and he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
BBESo Moses made a snake of brass and put it on a rod; and anyone who had a snakebite, after looking on the snake of brass, was made well.
WebsterAnd 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.

What does Numbers 21:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 21:7-9

7-9. 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…

Read the full comment on Numbers 21:7-9 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass - נחש נחשת 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. On the subject of the cure of the serpent-bitten Israelites, by looking at the brazen serpent, there is a good comment in the book of The Wisdom of Solomon, (Apoch). Num 16:4-12, in which are these remarkable words: "They were admonished, having a sign of salvation, (i. e., the brazen serpent), to put them in remembrance of the commandments of thy law. For he that turned himself towards it was not saved by the Thing that he saw, but by Thee, that art the Savior of all." To the circumstance of looking at the brazen serpent in order to be healed, our Lord refers, Joh 3:14, Joh 3:15 : "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." The brazen serpent was certainly no type of Jesus Christ; but from our Lord's words we may learn, 1. That as the serpent was lifted up on the pole or ensign, so Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross. 2. That as the Israelites were to look at the brazen serpent, so sinners must look to Christ for salvation. 3. That as God provided no other remedy than this looking for the wounded Israelites, so he has provided no other way of salvation than faith in the blood of his Son. 4. That as he who looked at the brazen serpent was cured and did live, so he that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall not perish, but have eternal life. 5. That as neither the serpent, nor looking at it, but the invisible power of God healed the people, so neither the cross of Christ, nor his merely being crucified, but the pardon he has bought by his blood, communicated by the powerful energy of his Spirit, saves the souls of men. May not all these things be plainly seen in the circumstances of this transaction, without making the serpent a type of Jesus Christ, (the most exceptionable that could possibly be chosen), and running the parallel, as some have done, through ten or a dozen particulars?

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 21:4-9

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…

Read the full comment on Numbers 21:4-9 →

Numbers 21:9 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיַּ֤עַשׂvai.Ya.'asand he madeH6213
מֹשֶׁה֙mo.ShehMosesH4872
נְחַ֣שׁne.Chasha snake ofH5175
נְחֹ֔שֶׁתne.Cho.shetbronzeH5178
וַיְשִׂמֵ֖הוּvay.si.Me.huand he put itH7760
עַל\־'al-onH5921
הַנֵּ֑סha.Nesthe standardH5251
וְהָיָ֗הve.ha.Yahand it wasH1961
אִם\־'im-ifH518
נָשַׁ֤ךְna.Shakhit had bittenH5391
הַנָּחָשׁ֙ha.na.Chashthe snakeH5175
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
אִ֔ישׁ'IshanyoneH376
וְהִבִּ֛יטve.hi.Bitand he lookedH5027
אֶל\־'el-toH413
נְחַ֥שׁne.Chash[the] snake ofH5175
הַנְּחֹ֖שֶׁתha.ne.Cho.shet<the> bronzeH5178
וָחָֽי\׃va.Chaiand he livedH2421

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Numbers 21:9

  • John 3:14-15

    And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

  • 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

  • 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 raise him up at the last day.

  • 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 unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

  • 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, condemned sin in the flesh:

  • 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.

  • Romans 1:17

    For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

  • Romans 5:20-21

    Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

  • 1 John 3:8

    He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

  • Zechariah 12:10

    And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A serpent of.
2Ki 18:4; Joh 3:14,15; 12:32; Ro 8:3; 2Co 5:21
when he.
Isa 45:22; Zec 12:10; Joh 1:29; Heb 12:2; 1Jo 3:8
he lived.
Joh 6:40; Ro 1:17; 5:20,21

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Numbers 21:8

    And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

  • 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.

  • Numbers 21:10

    And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.

Read all of Numbers 21

Numbers 21:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y Moisés hizo una serpiente de metal, y púsola sobre la bandera: y fué, que cuando alguna serpiente mordía á alguno, miraba á la serpiente de metal, y vivía.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Moïse fit un serpent d’airain, et le mit sur une perche; et il arrivait que, lorsqu’un serpent avait mordu un homme, et qu’il regardait le serpent d’airain, il vivait.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Mose machte eine Schlange von Erz und tat sie auf die Stange; und es geschah, wenn eine Schlange jemand gebissen hatte, und er schaute auf zu der ehernen Schlange, so blieb er am Leben.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Fecit ergo Moyses serpentem æneum, et posuit eum pro signo: quem cum percussi aspicerent, sanabantur.