Nehushtan facts for kids

Moses lifts up the brass snake, curing the Israelites of snakebites. Hezekiah called the snake 'Nehushtan'.

The Nehushtan (which means "a bronze thing" in Hebrew) was a special bronze snake on a pole. It is first mentioned in the Book of Numbers in the Bible. This story tells us that God told Moses to create it.

The Nehushtan was made to help the Israelites. They were suffering from bites from "fiery serpents" that God had sent. Anyone who looked at the bronze snake would be healed from the deadly bites. This happened after the Israelites complained against God and Moses (Numbers 21:4-9).

Later, in the biblical Books of Kings (around 550 BCE), the Nehushtan is mentioned again. King Hezekiah of Judah led a big religious clean-up. He destroyed many idols and objects that people were wrongly worshipping.

What Was the Nehushtan?

The Nehushtan was a statue of a serpent made from bronze. It was placed on a pole. In the Bible story, it had a special power given by God to heal people.

Why Was It Made?

The Israelites were traveling through the desert. They became impatient and complained about God and Moses. Because of their complaints, God sent poisonous snakes among them. Many people were bitten and died.

The people realized their mistake and asked Moses to pray for them. God then told Moses to make the bronze snake. He said that anyone who was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze serpent would live. Moses did as God commanded, and it worked.

King Hezekiah's Actions

Hundreds of years after Moses, the Nehushtan was still around. The Bible says that the Israelites had started to worship it. They were burning incense (a type of offering) to it, treating it like a god.

Destroying False Idols

King Hezekiah became king of Judah. He was known for being a good king who followed God's laws. He saw that the people were worshipping the bronze snake instead of God. This was against God's rules.

So, King Hezekiah decided to destroy it. He broke the bronze serpent into pieces. He called it "Nehushtan," meaning "a mere piece of brass" or "a brazen thing." This showed that it was just a metal object, not something to be worshipped. Hezekiah wanted his people to worship only God.

Images for kids

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  The Brazen Serpent (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)

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  The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan has a Roman column and, on top of it, a bronze serpent donated by emperor Basil II in 1007.

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  In 1508 Michelangelo's image of the Israelites deliverance from the plague of serpents by the creation of the bronze serpent, on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

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  A modern monument of the bronze serpent (which Moses erected in the Negev desert) on Mount Nebo, in front of the church of Saint Moses (2018).