TRV
See on the biblical-era map
Study This Verse
Commentary on Numbers 21 verses 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 discontentedly of what God had done for them and distrustfully of what he would do, vexed that they were brought out of Egypt, that they had not bread and water as other people had by their own care and industry, but by miracle, they knew not how. They have bread enough and to spare; and yet they complain there is no bread, because, though they eat angels' food, yet they are weary of it; manna itself is loathed, and called light bread, fit for children, not for men and soldiers. What will those be pleased with whom manna will not please? Those that are disposed to quarrel will find fault where there is no fault to be found. Thus those who have long enjoyed the means of grace are apt to surfeit even on the heavenly manna, and to call it light bread. But let not the contempt which some cast upon the word of God cause us to value it the less: it is the bread of life, substantial bread, and will nourish those who by faith feed upon it to eternal life, whoever calls it light bread.
III. The righteous judgment which God brought upon them for their murmuring, Num 21:6. He sent fiery serpents among them, which bit or stung many of them to death. The wilderness through which they had passed was all along infested with those fiery serpents, as appears, Deu 8:15. but hitherto God had wonderfully preserved his people from receiving hurt by them, till now that they murmured, to chastise them for which these animals, which hitherto had shunned their camp, now invade it. Justly are those made to feel God's judgments that are not thankful for his mercies. These serpents are called fiery, from their colour, or from their rage, or from the effects of their bitings, inflaming the body, putting it immediately into a high fever, scorching it with an insatiable thirst. They had unjustly complained for want of water (Num 21:5), to chastise them for which God sends upon them this thirst, which no water would quench. Those that cry without cause have justly cause given them to cry out. They distrustfully concluded that they must die in the wilderness, and God took them at their word, chose their delusions, and brought their unbelieving fears upon them; many of them did die. They had impudently flown in the face of God himself, and the poison of asps was under their lips, and now these fiery serpents (which, it should seem, were flying serpents, Isa 14:29) flew in their faces and poisoned them. They in their pride had lifted themselves up against God and Moses, and now God humbled and mortified them, by making these despicable animals a plague to them. That artillery is now turned against them which had formerly been made use of in their defence against the Egyptians. He that brought quails to feast them let them know that he could bring serpents to bite them; the whole creation is at war with those that are in arms against God.
IV. Their repentance and supplication to God under this judgment, Num 21:7. They confess their fault: We have sinned. They are particular in their confession: We have spoken against the Lord, and against thee. It is to be feared that they would not have owned the sin if they had not felt the smart; but they relent under the rod; when he slew them, then they sought him. They beg the prayers of Moses for them, as conscious to themselves of their own unworthiness to be heard, and convinced of the great interest which Moses had in heaven. How soon is their tone altered! Those who had just before quarrelled with him as their worst enemy now make their court to him as their best friend, and choose him for their advocate with God. Afflictions often change men's sentiments concerning God's people, and teach them to value those prayers which, at a former period, they had scorned. Moses, to show that he had heartily forgiven them, blesses those who had cursed him, and prays for those who had despitefully used him Herein he was a type of Christ, who interceded for his persecutors, and a pattern to us to go and do likewise, and thus to show that we love our enemies.
V. The wonderful provision which God made for their relief. He did not employ Moses in summoning the judgment, but, that he might recommend him to the good affection of the people, he made him instrumental in their relief, Num 21:8, Num 21:9. God ordered Moses to make the representation of a fiery serpent, which he did, in brass, and set it up on a very long pole, so that it might be seen from all parts of the camp, and every one that was stung with a fiery serpent was healed by looking up to this serpent of brass. The people prayed that God would take away the serpents from them (Num 21:7), but God saw fit not to do this: for he gives effectual relief in the best way, though not in our way. Thus those who did not die for their murmuring were yet made to smart for it, that they might the more feelingly repent and humble themselves for it; they were likewise made to receive their cure from God, by the hand of Moses, that they might be taught, if possible, never again to speak against God and Moses. This method of cure was altogether miraculous, and the more wonderful if what some naturalists say be true, that looking upon bright and burnished brass is hurtful to those that are stung with fiery serpents. God can bring about his purposes by contrary means. The Jews themselves say that it was not the sight of the brazen serpent that cured them, but, in looking up to it, they looked up to God as the Lord that healed them. But there was much of gospel in this appointment. Our Saviour has told us so (Joh 3:14, Joh 3:15), that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so the Son of man must be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. Observe then a resemblance,
1.Between their disease and ours. The devil is the old serpent, a fiery serpent, hence he appears (Rev 12:3) as a great red dragon. Sin is the biting of this fiery serpent; it is painful to the startled conscience, and poisonous to the seared conscience. Satan's temptations are called his fiery darts, Eph 6:16. Lust and passion inflame the soul, so do the terrors of the Almighty, when they set themselves in array. At the last, sin bites like a serpent and stings like an adder; and even its sweets are turned into the gall of asps.
2.Between their remedy and ours. (1.) It was God himself that devised and prescribed this antidote against the fiery serpents; so our salvation by Christ was the contrivance of Infinite Wisdom; God himself has found the ransom. (2.) It was a very unlikely method of cure; so our salvation by the death of Christ is to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness. It was Moses that lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, and Moses wrote of him, Joh 3:14-16. Christ was lifted up by the rulers of the Jews, who were the successors of Moses. (3.) That which cured was shaped in the likeness of that which wounded. So Christ, though perfectly free from sin himself, yet was made in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom 8:3), so like that it was taken for granted that this man was a sinner, Joh 9:24. (4.) The brazen serpent was lifted up; so was Christ. He was lifted up upon the cross (Joh 12:33, Joh 12:34), for his was made a spectacle to the world. He was lifted up by the preaching of the gospel. The word here used for a pole signifies a banner, or ensign, for Christ crucified stands for an ensign of the people, Isa 11:10. Some make the lifting up of the serpent to be a figure of Christ's triumphing over Satan, the old serpent, whose head he bruised, when in his cross he made an open show of the principalities and powers which he had spoiled and destroyed, Col 2:15.
3.Between the application of their remedy and ours. They looked and lived, and we, if we believe, shall not perish; it is by faith that we look unto Jesus, Heb 12:2. Look unto me, and be you saved, Isa 45:22. We must be sensible of our wound and of our danger by it, receive the record which God has given concerning his Son, and rely upon the assurance he has given us that we shall be healed and saved by him if we resign ourselves to his direction. The brazen serpent's being lifted up would not cure if it was not looked upon. If any pored on their wound, and would not look up to the brazen serpent, they inevitably died. If they slighted this method of cure, and had recourse to natural medicines, and trusted to them, they justly perished; so if sinners either despise Christ's righteousness or despair of benefit by it their wound will, without doubt, be fatal. But whoever looked up to this healing sign, though from the outmost part of the camp, though with a weak and weeping eye, was certainly healed; so whosoever believes in Christ, though as yet but weak in faith, shall not perish. There are weak brethren for whom Christ died. Perhaps for some time after the serpent was set up the camp of Israel was molested by the fiery serpents; and it is the probable conjecture of some that they carried this brazen serpent along with them through the rest of their journey, and set it up wherever they encamped, and, when they settled in Canaan, fixed it somewhere within the borders of the land; for it is not likely that the children of Israel went so far off as this was into the wilderness to burn incense to it, as we find they did, Kg2 18:4. Even those that are delivered from the eternal death which is the wages of sin must expect to feel the pain and smart of it as long as they are here in this world; but, if it be not our own fault, we may have the brazen serpent to accompany us, to be still looked up to upon all occasions, by bearing about with us continually the dying of the Lord Jesus.
For tell me, was it not God who commanded by Moses that no image or likeness of anything which was in heaven above or which was on the earth should be made, and yet who caused the brazen serpent to be made by Moses in the wilderness, and set it up for a sign by which those bitten by serpents were saved? Yet is He free from unrighteousness. For by this, as I previously remarked, He proclaimed the mystery, by which He declared that He would break the power of the serpent which occasioned the transgression of Adam, and [would bring] to them that believe on Him [who was foreshadowed] by this sign, i.e., Him who was to be crucified, salvation from the fangs of the serpent, which are wicked deeds, idolatries, and other unrighteous acts.
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.
Many things were done in figure which were done in former times. For when he said that the fathers who were bitten by serpents in the desert could not be healed in any other way except that Moses hung up a brazen serpent, and when this was seen, those deadly bites and injurious effects of the poison were cured, he added: But these things were done in figure to instruct us (1 Corinthians 10:6). In the image, a bronze serpent was placed on a cross; because the true one to be crucified was announced to the human race, who would empty the venom of the devilish serpent, cursed in its image, but in truth, would erase all curses of the world.
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.
A brazen serpent: This was a figure of Christ crucified, and of the efficacy of a lively faith in him, against the bites of the hellish serpent. John 3. 14.
Continue studying Numbers 21:9 across the web’s major study libraries — every link below opens this exact verse, chapter, or book on the destination site.
Read & Compare
BibleGatewayThis verse in more than 200 translations and 70 languages.
Bible.comThe YouVersion reader — hundreds of translations, reading plans, and highlights.
ESV.orgCrossway's official English Standard Version reader.
NET BibleThe NET translation with 60,000+ translators' notes on every rendering decision.
STEP BibleTyndale House's free study tool — original text, vocabulary, and scholarly resources.
BibliaLogos Bible Software's free web reader.
USCCBThe New American Bible (Revised Edition) with the U.S. bishops' study notes.
Commentaries
BibleHub CommentariesDozens of classic commentaries on this verse, gathered on one page.
StudyLightMore than 100 commentary sets — the largest collection on the web.
BibleRefPlain-English commentary on what this verse means, verse by verse.
Enduring WordDavid Guzik's free commentary on this chapter, widely used by Bible teachers.
Bible Study ToolsVerse commentary alongside Greek and Hebrew study aids.
Original Language & Research
- BibleHub InterlinearThe verse word by word — original language, transliteration, and English.
- BibleHub LexiconEvery word's original-language definition and Strong's entry.
Blue Letter BibleDeep-study tools — Strong's numbers, concordance, and word studies.
SefariaThe Hebrew text with Rashi and centuries of Jewish commentary.
Sermons, Hymns & Audio
TrulyRandomVerse is not affiliated with these sites and doesn’t control their content. They’re linked because they’re genuinely useful.
SUMMARY
Numbers 21:9 chronicles the immediate, life-saving outcome of God's unique provision for the sinning Israelites in the wilderness. Following their grumbling against God and Moses, the people were afflicted by deadly "fiery serpents," resulting in numerous fatalities. In response to their repentance and Moses' intercession, God commanded Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and elevate it on a pole. This verse records the faithful execution of that divine instruction and its miraculous consequence: anyone bitten by a serpent who looked upon the bronze serpent lived, demonstrating God's sovereign power to bring healing and salvation through a seemingly counterintuitive act of faith and obedience.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Numbers 21:9, situated within its broader narrative context, employs several powerful Literary Devices. Foremost is Wordplay, notably between the Hebrew words nâchâsh (serpent) and nᵉchôsheth (bronze/brass), which creates a striking aural and conceptual link between the instrument of judgment and the means of salvation. There is also profound Symbolism: the bronze serpent itself becomes a potent symbol. It represents both the consequence of sin (the deadly serpent) and God's counterintuitive provision for salvation. The pole on which it is lifted symbolizes elevation, public display, and the singular point of focus for deliverance. The narrative also exemplifies Divine Irony: the very image of that which brought death (a serpent) becomes the divinely appointed means of life. This paradox highlights God's ability to work through unexpected and even seemingly contradictory means to accomplish His redemptive purposes. Most significantly, the entire episode functions as a Type, or foreshadowing, of a greater spiritual reality to come. As explicitly stated by Jesus in John 3, the lifting up of the bronze serpent is a direct prefigurement of His own crucifixion and the eternal salvation offered to all who look to Him in faith.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
The narrative of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21:9 is a profound theological statement on God's character and the nature of salvation. It beautifully illustrates the paradox of divine justice and mercy: God's holiness demands judgment for sin, yet His love provides a way for repentance and healing. The simplicity of the required action—looking in faith—underscores that salvation is not earned through complex rituals or human merit, but received as a gift through humble obedience to God's specific, often counterintuitive, command. This event serves as a foundational Old Testament type, preparing God's people for the ultimate act of salvation. It teaches that sin brings death, but God, in His sovereign wisdom, provides a unique and singular remedy, requiring only a believing gaze towards His appointed means of grace.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
The story of the bronze serpent offers timeless spiritual lessons for every believer. It powerfully reminds us that sin, like the venom of the fiery serpents, is deadly and brings about spiritual death, separating us from God. Yet, God, in His infinite mercy, has provided a singular, divinely appointed cure for this spiritual malady. Just as the Israelites were saved from physical death by a simple act of looking, we are called to look to Jesus Christ in faith, trusting in His completed work on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Our salvation is not earned through our own efforts, good deeds, or religious rituals, but is a free gift received by grace through faith. This narrative encourages us to embrace the simplicity of God's provision, even when it seems counterintuitive to human reasoning or challenges our pride. It challenges us to humble ourselves, confess our sin, and turn our gaze away from our own failings or overwhelming circumstances, and fix it firmly on Christ, the ultimate antidote to sin's venom and the source of all true life.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did God use a serpent, a symbol often associated with evil, as a means of salvation?
Answer: This is a profound example of divine irony and God's sovereign ability to use unexpected means to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The serpent, which brought death and was a symbol of judgment, was transformed into an image that brought life. This paradox powerfully foreshadows Christ, who, though perfectly sinless, was "made to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21) and took on the "likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3) to conquer sin and death. The bronze serpent was never intended to be an object of worship, but rather a symbol and a test of obedience, pointing beyond itself to the power of God. It demonstrated that salvation comes not through avoiding the image of sin, but through God's power to redeem even from the very source of destruction.
Was the bronze serpent worshipped by the Israelites later on?
Answer: Unfortunately, yes, the bronze serpent, which was originally a symbol of God's grace and a test of faith, later became an object of idolatry. Centuries after Moses, during the righteous reign of King Hezekiah of Judah, the Israelites had indeed begun to worship this bronze serpent, burning incense to it and calling it "Nehushtan" (a derogatory term implying "a mere piece of bronze"). In an act of profound spiritual reform, Hezekiah broke it in pieces, recognizing that it had become a stumbling block and an object of false worship rather than a faithful reminder of God's saving power (2 Kings 18:4). This historical development underscores the constant danger of turning God's instruments of grace into idols.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Numbers 21:9 finds its ultimate and glorious fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. As Jesus Himself profoundly declared in John 3:14-15, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." The bronze serpent, lifted high on a pole, served as a vivid and divinely ordained type of Christ's crucifixion. Just as the serpent, though a symbol of sin's consequence and the instrument of judgment, became the means of physical healing by divine command, so too did Christ, though perfectly sinless, become "made sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21) and was lifted up on the cross to bear the full judgment for humanity's sin. The Israelites looked to the serpent for physical life from a deadly bite; we look to Christ, crucified and resurrected, for eternal spiritual life from the deadly venom of sin. Our salvation is not earned but received by a simple, believing gaze upon Him, the one whom God appointed as the sole means of deliverance. He is the true object of our faith, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). In Him, the ultimate judgment for sin was met, and the ultimate mercy of God was extended, so that all who look to Him "might not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).