Numbers 21:6 (DBY)

Passage

Then Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, which bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Nearby Context

Numbers 21:4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to go round the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became impatient on the way;

Numbers 21:5 and the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Why have ye brought us up out of Egypt that we should die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and no water, and our soul loathes this light bread.

Numbers 21:6 Then Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, which bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Numbers 21:7 And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, in that we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee: pray to Jehovah that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

Numbers 21:8 And Jehovah said to Moses, Make thee a fiery [serpent], and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, and looketh upon it, shall live.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "sent", "fiery", "serpents", "people", and "much". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "sent", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "and the people spoke against God and..." into verse 7's "And the people came to Moses and...", so "jehovah" and "sent" belong inside that flow. In Numbers context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jehovah" and "sent" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.