Numbers 21:6-9

21:6 So the Lord sent poisonous ¹  snakes ²  among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died. 21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away ³  the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

21:8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks ⁴  at it, he will live.” 21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. ⁵ 

Psalms 91:13

91:13 You will subdue ⁶  a lion and a snake; ⁷ 

you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent.

Mark 16:18

16:18 they will pick up snakes with their hands, and whatever poison they drink will not harm them; ⁸  they will place their hands on the sick and they will be well.”

Luke 10:19

10:19 Look, I have given you authority to tread ⁹  on snakes and scorpions ¹⁰  and on the full force of the enemy, ¹¹  and nothing will ¹²  hurt you.

John 3:14-15

3:14 Just as ¹³  Moses lifted up the serpent ¹⁴  in the wilderness, ¹⁵  so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁶  3:15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” ¹⁷ 

Romans 16:20

16:20 The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Revelation 9:3-4

9:3 Then ¹⁸  out of the smoke came locusts onto the earth, and they were given power ¹⁹  like that of the scorpions of the earth. 9:4 They ²⁰  were told ²¹  not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree, but only those people ²²  who did not have the seal of God on their ²³  forehead.

[21:6]  ¹ tn Heb “fiery.”

[21:6]  ² tn The designation of the serpents/ snakes is נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim), which is similar to the word for “bronze” (נְחֹשֶׁת, nÿkhoshet). This has led some scholars to describe the serpents as bronze in color. The description of them as fiery indicates they were poisonous. Perhaps the snake in question is a species of adder.

[21:7]  ³ tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.

[21:8]  ⁴ tn The word order is slightly different in Hebrew: “and it shall be anyone who is bitten when he looks at it he shall live.”

[21:9]  ⁵ sn The image of the snake was to be a symbol of the curse that the Israelites were experiencing; by lifting the snake up on a pole Moses was indicating that the curse would be drawn away from the people – if they looked to it, which was a sign of faith. This symbol was later stored in the temple, until it became an object of worship and had to be removed (2 Kgs 18:4). Jesus, of course, alluded to it and used it as an illustration of his own mission. He would become the curse, and be lifted up, so that people who looked by faith to him would live (John 3:14). For further material, see D. J. Wiseman, “Flying Serpents,” TynBul 23 (1972): 108-10; and K. R. Joines, “The Bronze Serpent in the Israelite Cult,” JBL 87 (1968): 245-56.

[91:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “walk upon.”

[91:13]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “cobra” (see Ps 58:4).

[16:18]  ⁸ tn For further comment on the nature of this statement, whether it is a promise or prediction, see ExSyn 403-6.

[10:19]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps, “trample on” (which emphasizes the impact of the feet on the snakes). See L&N 15.226.

[10:19]  ¹⁰ sn Snakes and scorpions are examples of the hostility in the creation that is defeated by Jesus. The use of battle imagery shows who the kingdom fights against. See Acts 28:3-6.

[10:19]  ¹¹ tn Or “I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and [authority] over the full force of the enemy.” The second prepositional phrase can be taken either as modifying the infinitive πατεῖν (patein, “to tread”) or the noun ἐξουσίαν (exousian, “power”). The former is to be preferred and has been represented in the translation.

[10:19]  ¹² tn This is an emphatic double negative in the Greek text.

[3:14]  ¹³ tn Grk “And just as.”

[3:14]  ¹⁴ sn Or the snake, referring to the bronze serpent mentioned in Num 21:9.

[3:14]  ¹⁵ sn An allusion to Num 21:5-9.

[3:14]  ¹⁶ sn So must the Son of Man be lifted up. This is ultimately a prediction of Jesus’ crucifixion. Nicodemus could not have understood this, but John’s readers, the audience to whom the Gospel is addressed, certainly could have (compare the wording of John 12:32). In John, being lifted up refers to one continuous action of ascent, beginning with the cross but ending at the right hand of the Father. Step 1 is Jesus’ death; step 2 is his resurrection; and step 3 is the ascension back to heaven. It is the upward swing of the “pendulum” which began with the incarnation, the descent of the Word become flesh from heaven to earth (cf. Paul in Phil 2:5-11). See also the note on the title Son of Man in 1:51.

[3:15]  ¹⁷ tn This is the first use of the term ζωὴν αἰώνιον (zwhn aiwnion) in the Gospel, although ζωή (zwh) in chap. 1 is to be understood in the same way without the qualifying αἰώνιος (aiwnios).

[9:3]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[9:3]  ¹⁹ tn See BDAG 352 s.v. ἐξουσία 2, “potential or resource to command, control, or govern, capability, might, power.”

[9:4]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:4]  ²¹ tn The dative indirect object (αὐταῖς, autais) was converted into the subject (“they”) as this more closely approximates English usage. The following ἵ῞να (Jina) is taken as substantival, introducing a direct object clause. In this case, because it is reported speech, the ἵνα is similar to the declarative ὅτι (Joti).

[9:4]  ²² tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here of both men and women.

[9:4]  ²³ tn The article τῶν (twn) has been translated as a possessive pronoun here (ExSyn 215).