Numbers 21:9

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

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.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיַּ֤עַשׂ מֹשֶׁה֙ נְחַ֣שׁ נְחֹ֔שֶׁת וַיְשִׂמֵ֖הוּ עַל־הַנֵּ֑ס וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־נָשַׁ֤ךְ הַנָּחָשׁ֙ אֶת־אִ֔ישׁ וְהִבִּ֛יט אֶל־נְחַ֥שׁ הַנְּחֹ֖שֶׁת וָחָֽי׃

Transliteration

And wə-ya'aś mōšeh nəḥaš nəḥōšeṯ and wə-yśimēhû upon-the-nēs and wə-hāyâ if-nāšaḵ the-nāḥāš 'eṯ-'îš and wə-hibîṭ to-nəḥaš the-nəḥōšeṯ and-wā-ḥāy.

Grammar Details

• *wə-ya'aś*: conjunctive waw + qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - and he made
• *mōšeh*: proper noun - Moses
• *nəḥaš*: noun, masculine singular construct - serpent of
• *nəḥōšeṯ*: definite noun, feminine singular - the bronze/copper
• *wə-yśimēhû*: conjunctive waw + qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular + 3rd masculine singular suffix - and he placed it
• *nēs*: definite noun, masculine singular - the pole/standard
• *wə-hāyâ*: conjunctive waw + qal perfect 3rd masculine singular - and it was
• *nāšaḵ*: qal perfect 3rd masculine singular - bit
• *nāḥāš*: definite noun, masculine singular - the serpent
• *'îš*: noun, masculine singular - man/person
• *wə-hibîṭ*: conjunctive waw + hiphil perfect 3rd masculine singular - and he looked
• *wā-ḥāy*: conjunctive waw + qal perfect 3rd masculine singular - and he lived

Word Meanings

• *nəḥaš nəḥōšeṯ*: bronze serpent (wordplay in Hebrew)
• *nēs*: pole/standard/banner
• *hibîṭ*: looked/gazed/looked intently

Referenced Verses

• John 3:14-15 : 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
• 2 Kgs 18:4 : 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.
• Zech 12:10 : 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.
• John 1:29 : 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
• John 6:40 : 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.
• John 12:32 : 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
• Rom 1:17 : 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
• Rom 5:20-21 : 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
• Rom 8:3 : 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 Cor 5:21 : 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.
• Heb 12:2 : 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.
• 1 John 3:8 : 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.
• Isa 45:22 : 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.