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.
KJV
et locutus est Dominus ad eum : Fac serpentem æneum, et pone eum pro signo : qui percussus aspexerit eum, vivet.
Vulgate
καὶ εἶπεν Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν Ποίησον σεαυτῷ ὄφιν, καὶ θὲς αὐτὸν ἐπὶ σημείου· καὶ ἔσται ἐὰν δάκῃ ὄφις ἄνθρωπον, πᾶς ὁ δεδηγμένος ἰδὼν αὐτὸν ζήσεται.
LXX
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live.
ASV
וַ/יֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל מֹשֶׁ֗ה עֲשֵׂ֤ה לְ/ךָ֙ שָׂרָ֔ף וְ/שִׂ֥ים אֹת֖/וֹ עַל נֵ֑ס וְ/הָיָה֙ כָּל הַ/נָּשׁ֔וּךְ וְ/רָאָ֥ה אֹת֖/וֹ וָ/חָֽי
Hebrew
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In this verse
In the original Hebrew
15 distinct Hebrew words appear in this verse.
Intertextual echoes
Quoted or echoed by 1 later passage.
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John 3:14 · paraphrase"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:"Moses' bronze serpent paraphrased as typological lifting up
Prophecy
Typology
Miracle
Historic Christian voices
5 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.
§2130Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim.69
Proofs from the plain testimony of Moses, and of the other prophets, whose words are the words of Christ, that there is But one God, the founder of the world, whom Our Lord preached, and whom He called His Father. 1. Moses, therefore, making a recapitulation of the whole law, which he had received from the Creator (Demiurge), thus speaks in Deuteronomy: Give ear, O you heavens,…
In like manner He points to the cross of Christ in another prophet, who saith, "And when shall these things be accomplished?" The Lord saith, "When a tree shall be bent down, and again arise, and when blood shall flow out of wood." Here again you have an intimation concerning the cross and Him who should be crucified.
And the physiological discussion concerning the Son of God in the Timæus of Plato, where he says, He placed him crosswise in the universe, he borrowed in like manner from Moses; for in the writings of Moses it is related how at that time, when the Israelites went out of Egypt and were in the wilderness, they fell in with poisonous beasts, both vipers and asps, and every kind of…
Cross-references
- 2Kgs 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
- Isa 45:22 — Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
- John 3:14 — And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
- John 5:46 — For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
- Luke 24:44 — And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the
- Ps 106:43 — Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
- Ps 107:20 — He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
- Ps 145:8 — The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.