Numbers 21:8

8 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Make for thee a burning [serpent], and set it on an ensign; and it hath been, every one who is bitten and hath seen it -- he hath lived.

Numbers 21:8 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 21:8

And the Lord said unto Moses
Out of the cloud; or, it may be, Moses went into the sanctuary, and there prayed, and the Lord answered him from between the cherubim:

make them a fiery serpent;
not a real one, but the likeness of one, one that should very much resemble the fiery serpents Israel had been bitten with:

and set it upon a pole;
a standard, banner, or ensign, as the word signifies; perhaps meaning one of the poles on which their ensigns were carried: the Targum of Jonathan renders it, on an high place, that so it might be seen by all in the camp:

and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he
looketh upon it, shall live;
which is very wonderful, that by looking to the figure of a serpent, men should be cured of the bites of real ones, and which bites were deadly; the virtue of healing could not come from the figure, but from God, who appointed it to be made, the Targum of Jonathan adds, that one bitten should live,

``if he directed his heart to the Word of the Lord,''

even to that divine Logos or Word of God, whose lifting up was figured hereby; see ( John 3:14 ) .

Numbers 21:8 In-Context

6 And Jehovah sendeth among the people the burning serpents, and they bite the people, and much people of Israel die;

7 and the people come in unto Moses and say, `We have sinned, for we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee; pray unto Jehovah, and He doth turn aside from us the serpent;' and Moses prayeth in behalf of the people.

8 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Make for thee a burning [serpent], and set it on an ensign; and it hath been, every one who is bitten and hath seen it -- he hath lived.

9 And 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.

10 And the sons of Israel journey, and encamp in Oboth.