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.
a. NLT: Then the LORD told him, “Make a replica
of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if
they simply look at it!”
b. NIV: The LORD said to
Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at
it and live.”
c. YLT: 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.
d. Amplified Bible Classic: And
the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent [of bronze] and set it on a pole;
and everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.
e. Septuagint: And Moses prayed
to the Lord for the people; and the Lord said to Moses, Make thee a serpent,
and put it on a signal-[staff]; and it shall come to pass that whenever a
serpent shall bite a man, every one [so] bitten that looks upon it shall live.
f. Stone Edition Chumash: HASHEM
said to Moses, “Make for yourselves a fiery [serpent] and place it on a pole,
and it will be that anyone who was bitten will look at it and live.”
1. “And the LORD said unto Moses…”
a. the LORD [3068 * Yhovah] [Strong:
from 1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name
of God:--Jehovah, the Lord.]
b. said [559 * 'amar] [Strong: a
primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):--answer, appoint, avouch,
bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment),
commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X expressly, X indeed,
X intend, name, X plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak
(against, of), X still, X suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use
(speech), utter, X verily, X yet.]
c. unto Moses Moses [4872 * Mosheh]
[Strong: from 4871; drawing out (of the water), i.e. rescued;Mosheh, the
Israelite lawgiver:--Moses.]
2. “…Make thee a fiery serpent,
and set it upon a pole…”
a. make thee [6213 * `asah
aw-saw' a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest
application (as follows):--accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become,
bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, X certainly, have the charge of,
commit, deal (with), deck, + displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in)
execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, + feast, (fight-)ing man, + finish, fit, fly,
follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, +
hinder, hold ((a feast)), X indeed, + be industrious, + journey, keep, labour,
maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, + officer, pare, bring
(come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, X sacrifice,
serve, set, shew, X sin, spend, X surely, take, X thoroughly, trim, X very, +
vex, be (warr-)ior, work(-man), yield, use.]
b. a fiery serpent [8314 * saraph]
[Strong: from 8313; burning, i.e. (figuratively) poisonous (serpent);
specifically, a saraph or symbolical creature (from their copper color):--fiery
(serpent), seraph.]
c. and set it on [7760 * suwm, or
siym] [Strong: a primitive root; to put (used in a great variety of
applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically):--X any wise,
appoint, bring, call (a name), care, cast in, change, charge, commit, consider,
convey, determine, + disguise, dispose, do, get, give, heap up, hold, impute,
lay (down, up), leave, look, make (out), mark, + name, X on, ordain, order, +
paint, place, preserve, purpose, put (on), + regard, rehearse, reward, (cause
to) set (on, up), shew, + stedfastly, take, X tell, + tread down,
((over-))turn, X wholly, work.]
d. a pole [5251 * nec] [Strong:
nace from 5264; a flag; also a sail; by implication, a flagstaff;
generally a signal; figuratively, a token:--banner, pole, sail, (en-)sign,
standard.]
3. “…and it shall come to pass,
that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.”
a. every one that is bitten [5391
* nashak] [Strong: a primitive root; to strike with a sting (as a serpent);
figuratively, to oppress with interest on a loan:--bite, lend upon usury.]
b. when he looketh upon it [7200
* ra'ah raw-aw' a primitive root; to see, literally or figuratively (in
numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and
causative):--advise self, appear, approve, behold, X certainly, consider,
discern, (make to) enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, X indeed, X
joyfully, lo, look (on, one another, one on another, one upon another, out, up,
upon), mark, meet, X be near, perceive, present, provide, regard, (have)
respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see(-r, -m, one another), shew (self), X sight
of others, (e-)spy, stare, X surely, X think, view, visions.]
1). Contrast the Hebrew word used
for “look upon it” and “beheld”
a). when he beheld [5027 * nabat]
[Strongs: to scan, look intently at; by implication to regard with pleasure,
cause to consider, behold, look.] [Note: Strongs gave a wide variety of
definitions and I was respectful of those that applied to the context.]
2). The note in the Classic
translation of the Amplified is revealing.
a). Amplified Bible Note: under
Numbers 21:9. “Jesus said that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, “that everyone who believes in
Him—who cleaves to Him, trusts and relies on Him-- may not perish, but have
eternal life and actually live forever!” (John 3:14, 15). Obviously this
implies that the look that caused the victim of a fiery serpent to be healed
was something far more than a casual glance. A “look” would save, but what kind
of look? The Hebrew text here means
“look attentively, expectantly, with a steady and absorbing gaze.” Or as Jesus
said in the last verse of the chapter quoted above, “He who believes on, has
faith in, clings to, relies on the Son has (now possess) eternal life.” But
whoever does not so believe in, cling to, and rely on the Son, “will never
see…life.” The look that saves is not just a fleeting glance, it is a God honoring,
God answered, fixed and absorbing gaze!”
3). In defense of healing in the
New Covenant F.F. Bosworth gives a very good point.
a). Christ the Healer, F.F.
Bosworth, Published by Fleming H. Revell Company, 1973, Reprint of 8th
Edition, Copyright, R.V. Bosworth, p.20. “If healing was not in the Atonement,
why were these dying Israelites required to look at the type of the Atonement
for bodily healing? Since both healing and forgiveness came through the type of
the Atonement, why not to us through Christ the antitype? If we cannot, then
the type is placed in higher ground than Christ Himself, and the type becomes a
false prophecy.”
c. shall live [2425 * chayay]
[Strong: a primitive root (Compare 2421); to live; causatively to
revive:--live, save life.]
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