Nehushtan
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Nehushtan was a staff of copper and brass.
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Serpent staff
Image:Michelangelo Buonarroti 024.jpg The staff was a serpent on a pole which Moses made in the wilderness (Numbers 21:4–9) in obedience to God's directions. At the time, the Israelites were being attacked by poisonous snakes and were dying. After Moses made the staff, any who were bitten and looked at it, survived the snakebite (II Kings 18:4; Num. 21:4-10).
Generations later, Hezekiah destroyed it because the children of Israel had forgotten its symbolism and began to regard the object itself as an idol, "burning incense to it". The worshippers were called Naassian, "snake-worshippers". The lapse of nearly one thousand years had invested the "brazen serpent" with a mysterious sanctity; and in order to deliver the people from their infatuation, and impress them with the idea of its worthlessness, Hezekiah called it, in contempt, "Nehushtan", a brazen thing, a mere piece of brass (2 Kings 18:4). This, however, may be a subtle play on words: heb. נחש (nachash) means serpent while נחשת (nachoshet) means brass or bronze.
While most of the references to serpents in the Bible are negative, Jesus is reported to have compared his own person and the crucifixtion to Nehushtan. Referring to his forthcoming crucifixtion, Jesus said "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).
Archaeological excavations at Midianite sites such as Timna have unearthed copper statues of serpents. Whether these were cult objects similar to the Nehushtan is unknown.
See also
References
This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.
External links
- Naassian". The Mystica.