Serpent, Fiery

The fiery serpents (Hebrew hanechashim hasaraphim, "the burning/fiery serpents") were venomous snakes sent by God as judgment against the Israelites who spoke against God and Moses in the wilderness: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food" (Num. 21:5–6). Many Israelites died. When Moses interceded, God commanded him to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole, so that anyone bitten who looked at it would live (Num. 21:8–9). Jesus cited this episode as a typological preview of his own crucifixion and the salvation available through faith: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14–15). The bronze serpent later became an object of idolatry in Israel and was destroyed by Hezekiah (2 Kgs. 18:4).