#brazen serpent

Willem Ignatius Kerricx - The Raising of the Brass Snake (between 1735 and 1737), Cathedral of Our Lady of Antwerp

The Israelites destroy the Canaanites

1 The king of Arad city lived in the Negev desert. That was in the south part of Canaan. People told him that the Israelites were coming on the road to Atharim. So he attacked the Israelites and he caught some of them. 2 The Israelites made this promise to the Lord: ‘If you put these people under our power, we will destroy their towns for you.’ 3 The Lord accepted the Israelites' promise. He put the Canaanites under their power. The Israelites destroyed them and all their towns. After that, the place was called Hormah.

The bronze snake

4 The Israelites left Hor mountain. They travelled round the edge of Edom to the Red Sea. As they travelled, the people were upset. 5 They complained to God and to Moses, ‘You should not have brought us from Egypt to die here in the desert. There is nothing to eat. There is no water to drink. We do not like this bad food, manna.’

6 Then the Lord sent snakes among the people. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. 7 So the people came to Moses and they said, ‘We did a bad thing when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Please pray to the Lord on our behalf. Ask him to remove the snakes from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people.

~ Hermes

022 Moses showing the Brazen Serpent Moses showing the Brazen Serpent. 30 August 1793. Print. Line engraving, engraved by John Hall. Published by Thomas Macklin. 310 mm x 247 mm. Royal Academy of Arts collection.