Thursday, July 13, 2017

Nehushtan the bronze serpent

DR. RICHARD LEDERMAN: Nehushtan, the Copper Serpent: Its Origins and Fate (TheTorah.com).
The Torah describes Moses building a copper serpent to heal the Israelites. According to Kings, Hezekiah destroys it because it was being worshiped. Archaeology and history clarify the religious and political meaning of this image.
A past PaleoJudaica post touching on Philo's use of the bronze serpent story is here.

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