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Nehushtan AI simulator
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Hub AI
Nehushtan AI simulator
(@Nehushtan_simulator)
Nehushtan
In the biblical Books of Kings (2 Kings 18:4; written c. 550 BC), the Nehushtan (/nəˈhʊʃtən/; Hebrew: נְחֻשְׁתָּן, romanized: Nəḥuštān [nəħuʃtaːn]) is the bronze image of a serpent on a pole. The image is described in the Book of Numbers, where Yahweh instructed Moses to erect it so that the Israelites who saw it would be cured and be protected from dying from the bites of the "fiery serpents", which Yahweh had sent to punish them for speaking against him and Moses (Numbers 21:4–9).
According to 2 Kings 18:4, King Hezekiah instituted an iconoclastic reform: "He abolished the shrines, smashed the pillars, and cut down the sacred post. He also broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until that time, the Israelites had been offering sacrifices to it; it was called Nehushtan." Historical findings have also shown that the utilization of bronze serpents was not unique. In several Canaanite cities there were discoveries of the cultic use of these objects. It may have represented traces of an older practice associated with medicine and healing, that was also not restricted to the Levant.
"Nehushtan" is a pun on either the Hebrew word for "snake" (נָחָשׁ, nāḥāš) or "brass" (נְחשֶׁת, nəḥošeṯ), and thus may mean "The (Great) Serpent" or "The (Great) Brass".
The English Standard Version of the Bible and the majority of contemporary English translations refer to the serpent as made of "bronze", whereas the King James Version and a number of other versions state "brass". 2 Kings 18:4 is translated as "brasen" in the King James Version. The Douay-Rheims 1899 edition has "brazen". Eugene H. Peterson, in his paraphrase of the Bible The Message (2002), opted for "a snake of fiery copper".
Snake cults had been well established in Canaan in the Bronze Age: archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo, one at Gezer, one in the sanctuary of the Area H temple at Tel Hazor and two at Shechem. Cultic serpent imagery was not isolated to Canaan. It appeared in surrounding areas, including the Esagila or temple of Marduk as tutelary deity in Babylon, where pairs of bronze serpents were erected beside each entrance to the temple.
According to Lowell K. Handy, the Nehushtan may have been the symbol of a deity for snakebite cure within the Temple in Jerusalem.
In the biblical story, following their Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites set out from Mount Hor to go to the Red Sea. However they had to detour around the land of Edom (Numbers 20:21, 25). Impatient, they complained against Yahweh and Moses (Numbers 21:4–5), and in response God sent "fiery serpents" among them and many died. The people came to Moses to repent and asked him to ask God to take away the serpents. Verse 9 says, "Moses made a copper serpent and mounted it on a standard; and when bitten by a serpent, anyone who looked at the copper serpent would recover."
The term appears in 2 Kings 18:4 in a passage describing reforms made by King Hezekiah, in which he tore down the high places, cut down symbols of Asherah, destroyed the Nehushtan, and according to many Bible translations, gave it that name.
Nehushtan
In the biblical Books of Kings (2 Kings 18:4; written c. 550 BC), the Nehushtan (/nəˈhʊʃtən/; Hebrew: נְחֻשְׁתָּן, romanized: Nəḥuštān [nəħuʃtaːn]) is the bronze image of a serpent on a pole. The image is described in the Book of Numbers, where Yahweh instructed Moses to erect it so that the Israelites who saw it would be cured and be protected from dying from the bites of the "fiery serpents", which Yahweh had sent to punish them for speaking against him and Moses (Numbers 21:4–9).
According to 2 Kings 18:4, King Hezekiah instituted an iconoclastic reform: "He abolished the shrines, smashed the pillars, and cut down the sacred post. He also broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until that time, the Israelites had been offering sacrifices to it; it was called Nehushtan." Historical findings have also shown that the utilization of bronze serpents was not unique. In several Canaanite cities there were discoveries of the cultic use of these objects. It may have represented traces of an older practice associated with medicine and healing, that was also not restricted to the Levant.
"Nehushtan" is a pun on either the Hebrew word for "snake" (נָחָשׁ, nāḥāš) or "brass" (נְחשֶׁת, nəḥošeṯ), and thus may mean "The (Great) Serpent" or "The (Great) Brass".
The English Standard Version of the Bible and the majority of contemporary English translations refer to the serpent as made of "bronze", whereas the King James Version and a number of other versions state "brass". 2 Kings 18:4 is translated as "brasen" in the King James Version. The Douay-Rheims 1899 edition has "brazen". Eugene H. Peterson, in his paraphrase of the Bible The Message (2002), opted for "a snake of fiery copper".
Snake cults had been well established in Canaan in the Bronze Age: archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo, one at Gezer, one in the sanctuary of the Area H temple at Tel Hazor and two at Shechem. Cultic serpent imagery was not isolated to Canaan. It appeared in surrounding areas, including the Esagila or temple of Marduk as tutelary deity in Babylon, where pairs of bronze serpents were erected beside each entrance to the temple.
According to Lowell K. Handy, the Nehushtan may have been the symbol of a deity for snakebite cure within the Temple in Jerusalem.
In the biblical story, following their Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites set out from Mount Hor to go to the Red Sea. However they had to detour around the land of Edom (Numbers 20:21, 25). Impatient, they complained against Yahweh and Moses (Numbers 21:4–5), and in response God sent "fiery serpents" among them and many died. The people came to Moses to repent and asked him to ask God to take away the serpents. Verse 9 says, "Moses made a copper serpent and mounted it on a standard; and when bitten by a serpent, anyone who looked at the copper serpent would recover."
The term appears in 2 Kings 18:4 in a passage describing reforms made by King Hezekiah, in which he tore down the high places, cut down symbols of Asherah, destroyed the Nehushtan, and according to many Bible translations, gave it that name.