Commentary for Numbers 21:8

על נס means [SET IT] UPON A POLE which is termed perche in O. F. Similar is, (Isaiah 30:17) “And like a polo (banner) upon the hill”; (Isaiah 49:22) “I will lift up my pole (banner)”; (Isaiah 13:3) “Lift up a banner." Because it is lofty so that it can serve as a sign and as evidence of something it is called נס, something raised on high (cf. Rashi on Exodus 20:17).

עשה לך שרף, the snake should be constructed of material which is associated with שרפה, burning. The association with “burning one’s tongue” should be uppermost in their minds when contemplating their sin which had been that they allowed their tongues to utter thoughts that angered G’d. They would repent when looking at a snake called שרף, something which “burns” (transitively).

עשה לך שרף, "make a fiery snake for yourself, etc." Our sages in Avodah Zarah 44 have this to say on the peculiar word לך, for yourself, in our verse. "The Torah says לך to tell us that Moses was to construct the serpent using his own funds. The reason for this was that a person may not forbid the use of something which is not his." Thus far the Talmud. The meaning of these words is that seeing Moses had made the serpent using his own funds it became his personal property. No one has the right to forbid others something that is not his. [The problem was that in the days of King Chiskiya (Kings II chapter 18) the people appear to have offered incense to this copper snake Moses had made, and to prevent them from doing so King Chiskiyah broke this snake into little pieces. Ed.] Seeing Moses had made this copper snake, the leaders of subsequent generations had been unable to destroy this snake or to forbid the people to worship it in some form. This explanation of the words עשה לך is one that emerged in the course of historical developments. At this time it is hardly likely that G'd meant for Moses to pay for the snake out of his own funds in order that at a later time the kings or religious leaders should be unable to forbid the people to use it as an object of worship. We must understand why G'd would have phrased His instructions so that we could have understood them to mean that Moses pay for the snake. We must also try and understand why G'd called it a שרף, whereas what Moses made is described as נחש (verse 9). Furthermore, we must try and understand why G'd decreed that an object such as this, which resembled a form of idol, had to be made altogether and why looking up to it would heal a person who had sustained a bite. Our sages in Rosh Hashanah 29 claim that as long as the Israelites looked heavenwards this was a demonstration of their faith in G'd, etc. If indeed this was all that G'd had in mind, why did He not order them to look straight at heaven instead of looking at the snake as an intermediary?

ONE WHO SEES IT. Who looks towards heaven above.

וראה אותו וחי, if the afflicted person would look at the copper snake having remorse in his heart he would survive the bite.

עשה לך שרף, “construct for yourself a type of snake called seraph.” In response to this instruction the Torah writes that instead of a seraph, Moses made a נחש נחשת, “a snake of copper.” Moses had understood that what G’d had in mind was that he should make a snake of copper. He did not mean to countermand G’d’s instruction. G’d had refrained from referring to this snake by its proper name so as not to mention the creature (original serpent) by name which had brought mortality into the world. By speaking of seraph, G’d referred only to the adjective associated with the serpent, the result of its bite. When G’d added the word לך, i.e. that Moses should make the seraph for himself, instead of saying simply: make a seraph,” He meant that He had accepted Moses’ prayer on behalf of the people to the extent that He forgave them their trespass against Himself; however Moses had to do something for himself in order for the people’s insult against him, Moses, to be forgiven, in order to demonstrate to the people how seriously G’d takes an insult against His chosen instrument, i.e. Moses.

Because it is [held high] … it is called a banner. Meaning that it is usual for one to signal with a pole by the placement of a signal on it, given that a pole is high, therefore a pole is called a banner.

V. 8. והיה כל הנשוך וגו׳ ,ויאמר ד׳ וגו׳. Der Biss der Schlangen hatte den einzigen Zweck, das Volk die Gefahren sehen zu lassen, die es auf Schritt und Tritt durch die Wüste verfolgten und die nur die Wundermacht Gottes von ihnen bis jetzt fern gehalten hatte, so fern, dass sie nicht einmal eine Ahnung davon hatten. Wer gebissen worden, der hatte sich nur das Bild der Schlange recht fest einzuprägen, damit es ihm gegenwärtig sei, auch wenn Gottes Gnadenmacht die Schlangen wieder fern halten werde, auf dass er des "Vorhandenseins" der Gefahren inne bleibe, an welchen täglich und stündlich der besondere Gottesschutz uns unbewusst vorüberführt, und die jeden Atemzug des Daseins zu einem geretteten, zu einem neuen Geschenke der göttlichen Macht und Güte gestalten. Nichts ist aber also geeignet, uns mit jedem Geschicke, auch der so leicht zu Ungeduld stachelnden, jedes "große Los" der Gottesspenden vermissenden — Alltäglichkeit auszusöhnen und in jeden Augenblick das Hochgefühl gottgewährter Rettung und die Seligkeit neu geschenkten Daseins zu mischen, als die Überzeugung von dem Abgrund, an dessen schmalem Rand unser ganzer Lebenspfad hinzieht, den eine gütige Gotteshand unserem sonst schwindelnden Blick verschleiert und auf Adlerfittichen ihrer Macht und Güte an uns rettend vorüberträgt, nichts also, als die נחשים השרפים zu sehen, die unsichtbar an unseren Wegen lauern, und die nur der allmächtige Gottesschutz in dem Bann der Ohnmacht zu halten weiß. Daher die Strafe dieser כפויי טובה, dieser "Undankbaren", wie das Wort der Weisen diese Verirrung nennt, dass Gott den Schutz und Schleier hinwegzog, der bis dahin die Giftzähne der Schlangen in der Wüste unschädlich machte und verbarg; daher die Heilung, dass sich der Gebissene das Bild der Schlange zum bleibenden Gedächtnis einprägte — והיה כל הנשוך וראה אותו וחי!

עשה לך שרף, “make for yourself a fiery serpent, etc.” the reason why G–d instructed Moses to construct a serpent, the symbol of everything negative since time immemorial, was to demonstrate that this very negative symbol would miraculously heal them from snake bites if used in the proper manner. It is only the Lord Who can use destructive instruments equally well for constructive purposes.

כל הנשוך ANYONE THAT IS BITTEN — even though a dog or ass had bitten him, he felt the effects of the injury and became enfeebled more and more (cf. Tanchuma); only that the bite of a serpent kills more speedily. On this account it is stated here: וראה אתו, “whoever has been bitten, when he seeth it, [shall live]” — a mere glance sufficed to heal him. But in the case of the serpent’s bite it is stated והביט, and he gazed — “and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he gazed [at the brazen serpent, he lived]”, for the serpent’s bite was not so quick to heal unless he gazed intently (cf. Jerusalem Talmud Rosh Hashanah 3:9). — Our Rabbis said: But could the copper serpent cause death or life?! But the explanation is that when the Israelites in gazing at the serpent looked up on high and subjected their hearts to their Father in Heaven, they were healed, but if they did not do this they waste away (Rosh Hashanah 29a).

Even if a dog. For if this were not so, why was it necessary to write כל ["anyone"], surely it should have merely written “one bitten.”

In accordance with what we have explained earlier that the reason that both נחשים as well as שרפים attacked the people was because they had slandered both Moses and G'd, we can understand G'd's instructions as meant to counteract both kinds of sins. G'd told Moses to "make for yourself a snake," meaning that with regards to the slander the people were guilty of against Moses himself he was to make a נחש, whereas with regard to the people having slandered G'd he was to make a שרף. It was important for the people to recognise that their sin was twofold, that they had slandered G'd as well as Moses. I will explain this in detail later on.

Deteriorate. In the sense of becoming ill, meaning that the body progressively shriveled and he did not die immediately. (Bava Kamma 52).

Moses was astute enough to construct a copper snake (נחש נחשת) for had he not made the snake out of copper (the same word as נחש) the Saraph G'd had commanded him to make [without specifying the material it was to be made of, Ed.] would not have symbolised both sins. This is why the Torah described what Moses actually made not as a שרף but as a נחש נחשת. The animal itself symbolised the slander against G'd, whereas the material from which Moses constructed it symbolised the slander against Moses the people were guilty of.

Can a snake bring death … and subjugated their hearts… (Kitzur Mizrochi) You might ask: If so, why did Hashem tell Moshe to make the snake given that it was dependant upon whether they directed [their hearts etc.]? Ramban has already answered that it was a miracle within a miracle, because when one has been injured by something it is normally dangerous for him to see or to gaze at it. Furthermore, doctors are careful not to mention the thing that caused the injury in front of him. However Hashem said that “anyone bitten will look at it and live” which is contrary to nature, to teach that it is not the snake that brings death, rather it is sin that brings death. (Gur Aryeh) writes that He commanded Moshe to place it on the banner in order that they would look upward, for then it would be impossible for one not to direct his heart toward heaven concerning this matter and to see who had brought it about. Accordingly when Hashem said [specifically] to make a snake, this was because when one sees the thing that injured him fear overtakes him. Consequently he concentrates more in prayer over the thing that injured him when he sees it before his eyes.

As to the overall meaning of the whole episode, it remains for us to explain why Moses' prayer did not suffice to remove both kinds of snakes from the Israelites so no one would be bitten and require a cure. Clearly, G'd had found that the people on whose behalf Moses had prayed had not repented, or at least had not not been sufficiently penitent. This is spite of the fact that they did say חטאנו, "we have sinned in having spoken out against the Lord and against you" (verse 7). The most important element of repentance is an undertaking not to again become guilty of the sin one asks G'd to forgive. The people had failed to mention such an undertaking on their part. This is why their affliction had not been removed. G'd in His wisdom and His desire to cure the Israelites, invented the stratagem of the artificial snake placed high above the people to give them a chance to either repent properly and not be bitten or to be bitten to awaken them to the need to repent properly. He commanded them to look up to the snake which would result in their being cured.

Their looking at the snake was meant to symbolise seven different things.

1) Kohelet 10,11 attributes a snake's biting to it having been incited. The incitement for the snake to attack humans are their sins. When there is no such incitment, לחש, the snake remains silent, harmless. We are to learn from this that if we keep our tongues silent and do not whisper (לחש) slanderous remarks, the snake will be as harmless as the reproduction Moses had made and placed on a pole.

2) The Israelites would be prompted to recognise the nature of their sin. We are told in Tikkuney HaZohar chapter 13 concerning a certain serpent found nesting in a tower that this was the angel of death which is compared to a serpent and had seduced original man. Placing this replica of a serpent on a pole was to symbolise the serpent which is found in a high place. The people were to recognise that their slanderous comment had been responsible for placing the serpent in such a high position. They had been guilty of exactly what the original serpent had done when it made slanderous remarks about G'd who is so High. They were also to remember how they had slandered Moses when they realised what material Moses had made the serpent of.

3) They were to realise the difference between a serpent which crawls on earth, which is the lowest of the low and brings death in its wake, and the serpent constructed by Moses and placed high on a pole which brought life in that it revived people who had been bitten by the deadly poison of a snake. This should remind the people that they had spoken out against the mannah and had professed their preference for bread grown in the ground. Concerning such comments the prophet Isaiah exclaimed in Isaiah 5,20 "Ah, all those who call evil good and good evil, etc."

4) The copper snake on the pole was designed to awaken in the Israelites the need to do Teshuvah concerning their complaint that G'd had led them through a desert in which their needs could not be provided instead of leading them on a route where there was grain and regular bread. They were to realise that the reason G'd who dwells in the heavens had done so was to make them totally dependent on Him for their sustenance and all their other needs and that there is no other source on which they could rely. G'd managed to make this point very clear by refusing to heal the people who had been bitten unless they raised their eyes and looked at the copper snake on the pole, i.e. in the direction of their Father in Heaven. This is what the Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 29 meant which we quoted earlier. The Talmud had only omitted to draw the comparison with the nature of the people's slander, etc. and that G'd wanted the people to rely on Him just as a son relies on the table of his father morning, noon, and night. If G'd had led the people through civilised country they would not have experienced this closeness to G'd as they would have bought their supplies. In that event their whole lifestyle would have been one that would have estranged them from realisation that G'd cared for them every step of the way.

5) G'd also wanted to counter the criticism implied in the people's reference to their having been led through inhospitable country which required miracles in order to keep them alive. We have a principle that one does not rely on miracles because miracles have a habit of failing to materialise when one needs them most. It is a fact that people who deny G'd's miracles endeavour to demonstrate by all kinds of deceptive devices that what are claimed to be miracles are in actual fact natural occurrences which had to occur at that particular time and at that particular place. The argument of these heretics is based on the fact that the so-called miracle occurred only once and only in a particular location. Inasmuch that the people might have harboured similar thoughts, G'd determined to demonstrate that He could maintain such miracles on a permanent basis by supplying the Jewish people with all their needs through miraculous means for a period of 40 years. Bamidbar Rabbah 19,23 describes that Moses threw the copper snake into the air and that it remained suspended there without being supported from the ground. Any person, who had been bitten (even if not by a snake) who would look up at it and would acknowledge that he had been wrong in denying miracles and who now believed that the reason that G'd had led the people through the desert had been in order to demonstrate His ability to perform miracles on a regular basis, would be healed.

6) G'd wanted to demonstrate the power of true penitence. Our sages in Yuma 86 have said that if someone is a truly penitent person even his former sins will be accounted as merits for him, i.e. not only will he have his sins forgiven but they will be turned into meritorious deeds. In our situation a person who had been bitten and who looked up at the copper snake observed that the very symbol of death, the snake, now kept silent although by definition every kind of snake is guilty of voicing slander. The fact that this very snake now had turned into a life-giving force rather than the reverse taught the repentant sinner this valuable lesson about the power of repentance.

7) G'd wanted that every individual Jew experience His miracles as something which had happened to him personally. This occurred when the person who had been bitten experienced the cure by looking up at the copper snake.

והיה כל הנשוך, it would be that everyone who had been bitten, etc. When the Torah here used the word והיה which denotes something joyous rather than the word ויהי which suggests something sad, this was to show the positive effect of having been bitten. A person who had to look up at the copper snake because he had been bitten learned seven lessons in faith. This was certainly a joyous experience for him. The reason the Torah wrote כל הנשוך, "everyone who had been bitten" without adding the word "by a snake," is that even people, who had sustained snake bites before the snakes had proliferated and Moses had made the copper snake as a result of the people's slanderous remarks, were healed also if they looked up at the copper snake. The reason the Torah added the conjunctive letter ו at the beginning of the word וחי was to inform us that looking up at the copper snake also cured those people who had been bitten by a שרף by the kind of snake that burned their souls.