Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Key: khaki:verbs, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXXΚαὶ παραγενόμενος ὁ λαὸς πρὸς Μωυσῆν, ἔλεγον, ὅτι ἡμάρτομεν, ὅτι κατελαλήσαμεν κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ κατὰ σοῦ· εὔξαι οὖν πρὸς Κύριον, καὶ ἀφελέτω ἀφʼ ἡμῶν τὸν ὄφιν. (Kai paragenomenos ho laos pros Mōusaʸn, elegon, hoti haʸmartomen, hoti katelalaʸsamen kata tou Kuriou, kai kata sou; euxai oun pros Kurion, kai afeletō afʼ haʸmōn ton ofin. )
BrTrAnd the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee: pray therefore to the Lord, and let him take away the serpent from us.
ULTAnd the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh and may he remove from on us the snake,” and Moses prayed on behalf of the people.
USTThen the people came to Moses and cried out, saying, “We now know that we have sinned against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, asking that he will take away the snakes!” So Moses prayed for the people.
BSB § Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people.
WEBBEThe people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” Moses prayed for the people.
NETThen 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 the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
LSVand the people come to Moses and say, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against YHWH and against you; pray to YHWH that He turns the serpent aside from us”; and Moses prays in behalf of the people.
FBVThe people went to see Moses and told him, “We were wrong to make complaints against the Lord and against you. Please pray to the Lord to get rid of the snakes from us.” Moses prayed to the Lord on their behalf.
T4TThen the people came to Moses/me and cried out, saying, “We now know that we have sinned against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, asking that he will take away the snakes!” So Moses/I prayed for the people.
LEBThe people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh and let him remove the snakes[fn] from among us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
BBEThen the people came to Moses and said, We have done wrong in crying out against the Lord and against you: make prayer to the Lord to take away the snakes from us. So Moses made prayer for the people.
JPSAnd the people came to Moses, and said: 'We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that He take away the serpents from us.' And Moses prayed for the people.
ASVAnd the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee; pray unto Jehovah, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
DRAUpon which they came to Moses, and said: We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and thee: pray that he may take away these serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
YLTand the people come in unto Moses and say, 'We have sinned, for we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee; pray unto Jehovah, and He doth turn aside from us the serpent;' and Moses prayeth in behalf of the people.
DrbyAnd 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.
RVAnd the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
WbstrTherefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
KJB-1769¶ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. (¶ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee/you; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. )
KJB-1611¶ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We haue sinned: for wee haue spoken against the LORD, and against thee: pray vnto the LORD that hee take away the serpents from vs: and Moses prayed for the people. (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)
BshpsTherfore the people came to Moyses, & sayd: We haue sinned, for we haue spoken agaynst the Lord and agaynst thee: make intercession to the Lord that he take away the serpentes from vs. And Moyses made intercession for ye people: (Therefore the people came to Moses, and said: We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee/you: make intercession to the Lord that he take away the serpentes from us. And Moses made intercession for ye/you_all people:)
GnvaTherefore the people came to Moses and said, We haue sinned: for wee haue spoken against the Lord, and against thee: pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from vs: and Moses prayed for the people. (Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned: for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee/you: pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us: and Moses prayed for the people. )
CvdlThe came they vnto Moses, and sayde: We haue synned, because we haue spoken agaynst the LORDE and agaynst the. Praye thou vnto the LORDE, that he take awaye the serpentes from vs. And Moses prayed for the people. (The came they unto Moses, and said: We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and against them. Praye thou/you unto the LORD, that he take away the serpentes from us. And Moses prayed for the people.)
Wyclthei camen to Moyses, and seiden, We synneden, for we spaken ayens the Lord and thee; preie thou, that he take awey fro vs the serpentis. (thei came to Moses, and said, We sinnedn, for we spaken against the Lord and thee/you; preie thou/you, that he take away from us the serpentis.)
LuthDa kamen sie zu Mose und sprachen: Wir haben gesündiget, daß wir wider den HErr’s und wider dich geredet haben. Bitte den HErr’s, daß er die Schlangen von uns nehme! Mose bat für das Volk. (So came they/she/them to Mose and said: We have gesündiget, that we/us against the LORD’s and against you/yourself geredet have. Bitte the LORD’s, that he the Schlangen from us/to_us/ourselves nehme! Mose bat for the people.)
ClVgvenerunt ad Moysen, atque dixerunt: Peccavimus, quia locuti sumus contra Dominum et te: ora ut tollat a nobis serpentes. Oravitque Moyses pro populo, (venerunt to Moysen, atque dixerunt: Peccavimus, because locuti sumus on_the_contrary Dominum and te: ora as tollat from us serpentes. Oravitque Moyses for to_the_people, )
21:4-9 The “vow to the Lord” and consequent victory (21:2-3) did not eliminate Israel’s criticisms against God and Moses, even though the long journey was punishment for the same kind of complaining (14:26-35).
Numbers 21:4-9 contains one of many incidents in which the Israelites spoke against God and Moses. When the Israelites complained about their lack of food and water and “this horrible manna” (21:5), the Lord sent poisonous snakes that fatally bit many of the people (cp. Deut 8:15). When the Israelites realized their mistake in speaking against God as well as against Moses, they asked Moses to pray that the Lord would remove the snakes. In response, God instructed Moses to make a bronze replica of a snake; whenever the afflicted would look upon the snake, they would be healed (Num 21:8). What kind of medical treatment was this? The power came from God, but it required an act of faith to look at the bronze image and trust that God would heal. Just as the serpent bites resulted from God’s wrath, the Lord provided deliverance through his own gracious will (see Wisdom of Solomon 16:5-7).
When Hezekiah became king of Judah in 715 BC, the Israelites had begun using Moses’ bronze serpent as an idol (see 2 Kgs 18:1-4). They had probably kept the image as a reminder of God’s power, just as they kept other artifacts from the wilderness period (see Deut 10:5; Heb 9:4-5). But they began worshiping it as another deity, so it had to be destroyed like other pagan shrines and sacred pillars. Such idolatry is a serious threat to the worship of the one true God (cp. Exod 32).
Jesus referred to the incident of the bronze snake to predict the manner of his execution: He would be “lifted up” on the cross just as Moses had lifted up the snake on a pole (John 3:14-15; see also 8:28; 12:32-33). The metal image of a snake offered an antidote to injected venom; by analogy, those who look at the cross and accept God’s sacrifice lay claim to an eternal promise (John 3:14-16). The Lord sent the serpents to punish Israel because they complained about the manna God had sent them in the wilderness (Num 21:4-9). Jesus referred to himself as the “true bread from heaven,” the manna that provides life for his people (John 6:32-40).
After the Israelites received the law on Mount Sinai, which may have been located at Khashm et-Tarif (see also “The Route of the Exodus”), they traveled to Kadesh-barnea, a distance that took eleven days “by the way of Mount Seir” (Deuteronomy 1:2). The phrase “by the way of Mount Seir” suggests that more than one route existed between Mount Sinai and Kadesh, as shown here, but the road the Israelites took probably ran alongside the mountainous region of Seir. This route would have offered greater access to water from wells, natural springs, and seasonal streams flowing from the hills of Seir–a critical necessity for a large group traveling through this very arid region. Nearly every location identified on this map was essentially a small community centered around one of these life-enabling sources of water. After reaching Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, the Israelites prepared to enter Canaan by sending spies to scout out the land. But when ten of the twelve spies brought back news about the strength of the Canaanites, the people became afraid to enter the land, so the Lord punished them by condemning them to travel in the wilderness for forty years until that generation died off. Some Israelites repented and tried to enter the land, but they were beaten back to Hormah by the Amalekites and Canaanites. So for forty years the Israelites traveled from place to place, probably in the general area of Kadesh-barnea, though very few locations mentioned are able to be established with much certainty. As the forty years of traveling drew to a close, the Israelites prepared again to travel to Canaan by requesting permission from the king of Edom to pass through his land. When the king refused, the Israelites “turned away” from the Edomites and set out from Kadesh to travel to Mount Hor. The Jewish historian Josephus located Mount Hor at Jebel Nebi Harun, a very tall mountain in eastern Edom, but this has been rejected by many scholars in favor of other sites such as Jebel Madeira to the northeast of Kadesh. This author is convinced, however, that any candidate for Mount Hor must be sought to the south of Kadesh-barnea. Numbers 33:30 and Deuteronomy 10:6 mention that, during their wilderness travels, the Israelites camped at Moseroth/Moserah, which was apparently located at Mount Hor, since both Moseroth/Moserah and Mount Hor are cited as the place where Aaron died (Numbers 21:29-29; 33:37-39; Deuteronomy 10:6-9). It is difficult to envision the Israelites traveling back to the edge of Canaan after suffering defeat there the last time they attempted to enter the land. These same passages also note that after their stay at Moseroth/Moserah the Israelites traveled to Hor-haggidgad/Gudgodah (probably located along the Wadi Khadakhid) and then to Jotbathah, with no mention of passing through Kadesh, which they would have had to do if Mount Hor was north of Kadesh (since they were avoiding the land of Edom). Also, in Deuteronomy 2:1 Moses says that after the Israelites left Kadesh, “we journeyed back into the wilderness, in the direction of the Red Sea, as the Lord had told me and skirted Mount Seir for many days,” and Aaron’s death on Mount Hor fits best during this time. Similarly, Numbers 21:4 says “from Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom,” but there would have been no way to the Red Sea around the land of Edom if Mount Hor were located northeast of Kadesh. One element of the wilderness narratives that appears to favor a northeast location for Mount Hor, however, is the story of the king of Arad, which the book of Numbers (chapters 21 and 33) places immediately after the death of Aaron on Mount Hor. At first glance, the narrative seems to imply that the king attacked the Israelites at Mount Hor, which fits better with a northern location. Yet, it is also possible that the story is simply noting that it was after the Israelites’ arrival at Mount Hor that the king of Arad first learned of the Israelites’ renewed intentions to enter Canaan, perhaps as a result of their request to pass through Edom. But it may have been later that the king of Arad actually engaged them in battle, perhaps as they were passing north of Zalmonah and appeared to be ready to enter Canaan by way of Arad (see Numbers 33:41-42 and the map “The Journey to Abel-shittim”). For these reasons, this author believes that Har Karkom is the best candidate for the location of Mount Hor. The site is appropriately located at the edge of Seir and along the way to the Red Sea. This site’s role as an ancient cultic center is also well established. Perhaps Aaron’s priestly duties and authority in Israel had grown out of a similar role he had previously held at Mount Hor (see also Numbers 12:1-2; Deuteronomy 33:2; Judges 5:4-5), where he was eventually buried.
