So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died.
- KJV And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
- NKJV So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
- NASB Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
- NLT So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Lord sent venomous snakes that bit the people, and many Israelites died. God judged their rebellion with a deadly plague.
Overview
The fiery serpents bring tangible judgment on the people's contempt for God's goodness. The deadliness of the bites mirrors the deadliness of their sin in despising the Lord. This sober discipline prepares the way for a gracious remedy that will display both judgment and mercy together.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Cor 10:9We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.
- Jer 8:17“For behold, I will send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” declares the LORD.
- Deut 8:15He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
- Amos 9:3–4Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.
- Isa 30:6This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people of no profit to them.
- Isa 14:29Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg.
- Gen 3:14–15So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 21:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.