🔢WEB · Numbers 21:6
What does Numbers 21:6 mean?
"Yahweh sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died."
— Numbers 21:6 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Yahweh listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Hormah.
They traveled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom The soul of the people was very discouraged because of the journey.
The people spoke against God, and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this disgusting bread.”
Yahweh sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died.
The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh, and against you. Pray to Yahweh, that he take away the serpents from us.” Moses prayed for the people.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Make a venomous snake, and set it on a pole. It shall happen, that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of brass, he lived.
Explanation
Numbers 21:6 records a moment of divine judgment during Israel's long journey through the wilderness toward the Promised Land. The verse states plainly that the LORD sent venomous serpents among the Israelite camp, that these snakes bit the people, and that many died as a result. It is a stark, unadorned statement of consequence following disobedience.
The context is essential to understanding this verse rightly. Israel had been traveling around the land of Edom, and the journey was difficult. In the verses just before this one (Numbers 21:4-5), the people grew impatient and spoke against both God and Moses, complaining bitterly about the lack of bread and water and expressing contempt for the manna God had faithfully provided, calling it "worthless food." This was not the first time Israel had grumbled during the exodus journey, but it came after a long pattern of complaint, doubt, and rebellion despite God's repeated provision and patience. Moses wrote this account as part of the broader narrative of Israel's forty years in the wilderness, addressed to the generation that would eventually enter Canaan, so they would remember both God's judgment and His mercy toward their parents' generation.
Theologically, this verse illustrates a serious biblical principle: God takes sin, particularly ongoing ingratitude and rebellion against His covenant faithfulness, seriously. The complaining was not mere venting about hardship; it was a rejection of God's care and provision, treating His gifts with contempt. The judgment that follows is severe, but it is not the end of the story. In the very next verses, the
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