What does נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš) mean in the Bible?
A snake or serpent may be a creature in a narrative, an appointed sign, an object later destroyed or an image of harmful speech. Genesis names the serpent's deception within the garden account.
Hebrew · H5175
נָחָשׁ
A snake or serpent may be a creature in a narrative, an appointed sign, an object later destroyed or an image of harmful speech. Genesis names the serpent's deception within the garden account.
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נָחָשׁH5175
Pronunciationnāḥāš
What does נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for נָחָשׁ (H5175) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H5175?
The BSB source-word alignment has 31 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the serpent (5), serpent (4), snakes (4), snake (3), a snake (2).
Where does נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 3:1. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (6), Numbers (5), Isaiah (4), Amos (2).
What This Word Actually Means
A snake or serpent may be a creature in a narrative, an appointed sign, an object later destroyed or an image of harmful speech. Genesis names the serpent's deception within the garden account. Exodus recounts Moses' staff becoming a snake and his being told to take it by the tail. Numbers describes the bronze snake within the particular response to the people's affliction, and Kings later records its destruction because incense was being offered to it.
Proverbs names the difficult-to-trace way of a snake on rock, while Psalm 140 compares hostile speech with serpents and venom. The noun does not make every snake Satan or authorize snake handling. Keep the narrated action and later assessment visible. A congregation should read John's explicit comparison with Moses without turning an appointed sign into a reusable healing object or a reason to neglect protection from danger.
How the Bible Uses It
The garden serpent, Moses' sign, the bronze snake and its later destruction, a creature's movement and hostile speech use one animal vocabulary differently. No single symbolic identity governs every occurrence.
- Gen.3.1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”
The serpent speaks to the woman within the garden account that proceeds through deception, eating and the Lord's response.
- Exod.4.3
“Throw it on the ground,” said the Lord. So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
Moses' staff becomes a snake in an appointed sign, and his flight is part of the narrated response.
- Num.21.9
So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.
Moses makes a bronze snake and the narrated bitten person lives after looking at it as instructed.
- 2Kgs.18.4
He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.
Hezekiah destroys the bronze snake because the people have been burning incense to it.
- Prov.30.19
The way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship at sea, and the way of a man with a maiden.
The snake's way on rock is one of four ways the speaker describes as wonderful and beyond his understanding.
- Ps.140.3
They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah
The praying speaker compares hostile tongues with snakes and says the venom of vipers is on their lips.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itthe serpent5×Genesis 3:2, Genesis 3:4, Genesis 3:13, Genesis 3:14
serpent4×Job 26:13, Isaiah 27:1, Jeremiah 46:22
snakes4×Numbers 21:6, Deuteronomy 8:15, Psalms 140:3, Jeremiah 8:17
snake3×Numbers 21:9, 2 Kings 18:4
a snake2×Genesis 49:17, Exodus 4:3
by a snake2×Ecclesiastes 10:8, Amos 5:19
like a snake2×Proverbs 23:32, Micah 7:17
of a snake2×Psalms 58:4, Proverbs 30:19
. . .1×Numbers 21:9
into a snake1×Exodus 7:15
Now the serpent1×Genesis 3:1
of the serpent1×Isaiah 65:25
of the snake1×Isaiah 14:29
the snake1×Ecclesiastes 10:11
the snakes1×Numbers 21:7
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 3:1וְהַנָּחָשׁ֙toNow the serpentConjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 3:2הַנָּחָ֑שׁtothe serpentArticle | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 3:4הַנָּחָ֖שׁtothe serpentArticle | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 3:13הַנָּחָ֥שׁtoThe serpentArticle | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 3:14הַנָּחָשׁ֮tothe serpentArticle | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 49:17נָחָ֣שׁtoa snakeNoun - masculine singularExodus 4:3לְנָחָ֑שׁtoa snakePreposition-l | Noun - masculine singularExodus 7:15לְנָחָ֖שׁtointo a snakePreposition-l | Noun - masculine singularNumbers 21:6הַנְּחָשִׁ֣יםtosnakesArticle | Noun - masculine pluralNumbers 21:7הַנָּחָ֑שׁtothe snakesArticle | Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 3:1
Aligned rows31
Books represented13
Genesis6Exodus2Numbers5Deuteronomy12 Kings1Job1Psalms2Proverbs2Ecclesiastes2Isaiah4Jeremiah2Amos2Micah1
Source forms
הַנָּחָ֖שׁ3xhan·nā·ḥāšGenesis 3:4, Ecclesiastes 10:11, Amos 9:3
הַנָּחָ֑שׁ2xhan·nā·ḥāšGenesis 3:2, Numbers 21:7
נָחָ֣שׁ2xnā·ḥāšGenesis 49:17, Isaiah 27:1
הַנָּחָ֥שׁ1xhan·nā·ḥāšGenesis 3:13
הַנָּחָשׁ֮1xhan·nā·ḥāšGenesis 3:14
הַנָּחָשׁ֙1xhan·nā·ḥāšNumbers 21:9
הַנָּחָֽשׁ׃1xhan·nā·ḥāšAmos 5:19
הַנְּחָשִׁ֣ים1xhan·nə·ḥā·šîmNumbers 21:6
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular10xGenesis 49:17, Deuteronomy 8:15, Job 26:13, Psalms 58:4
Article | Noun - masculine singular9xGenesis 3:2, Genesis 3:4, Genesis 3:13, Genesis 3:14
Noun - masculine singular construct3xNumbers 21:9, 2 Kings 18:4
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular2xJeremiah 46:22, Micah 7:17
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular2xExodus 4:3, Exodus 7:15
Article | Noun - masculine plural1xNumbers 21:6
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular1xIsaiah 65:25
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular1xGenesis 3:1
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Attend to harmful speech and ordinary safety without assigning animal imagery to a person's dignity.
- Support people seeking care without recommending hazardous imitation or object-based healing claims.
Avoid claiming...
- This noun cannot identify every snake as Satan or commission dangerous snake handling.
- A bronze snake cannot become a reusable cure or a continuing object of worship through lexical identity.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Serpent; symbol of deception and evil in theological narratives, especially Genesis 3 temptation account
Source Gloss
a snake (from its hiss)
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Serpent; symbol of deception and evil in theological narratives, especially Genesis 3 temptation account
a snake (from its hiss) BDB: serpent Usage: serpent.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Miraculous transformation of staff into snake, demonstrating divine power
Metaphorical serpent symbolizing danger, threat, or enemy nation's threat
Literal snakes as divine punishment, agents of God's judgment on people
Snake's movement on rock used in wisdom context, illustrating mysterious natural phenomena
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 31 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
נָחָשׁ is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
A serpent image requires its own narrative and assessment. Genesis tells of the speaking serpent in the garden, whereas Exodus records an appointed sign involving Moses' staff. Numbers describes a bronze snake and a particular instruction within the afflicted people's account. Kings then says that Hezekiah destroyed that same object because people were burning incense to it.
The later assessment matters: a narrated sign cannot automatically become a permanent object of worship or a technique that anyone can reproduce. Proverbs considers the creature's way on rock, and Psalm 140 uses its venom to describe hostile speech in a petition for protection. Teach those actual uses rather than assigning every snake a single spiritual identity.
John explicitly compares Moses' lifting of the snake with the Son of Man being lifted up. A congregation should follow John's stated call concerning life and belief, while refusing hazardous imitation, object-based cures or the use of a label to dehumanize an opponent.
Anchor passage
2Kgs.18.4
Doctrinal connections
- Genesis keeps the serpent's speech within the garden's deception and narrated consequences.
- Moses' transformed staff belongs to the appointed signs of his particular commission.
- Numbers gives a particular instruction and narrated response involving the bronze snake.
- Kings explicitly reports incense offered to the object and Hezekiah's destruction of it.
- Proverbs considers a snake's way on rock within the speaker's fourfold wonder.
- Psalm 140's venom comparison belongs to a petition about harmful people and speech.
The noun identifies a snake while narrative, construction and comparison supply its role. Thirty-one direct BSB tokens in twenty-eight verses remain distinct from canonical thirty-one; artifact transliteration is preserved and a shared animal name does not create an identical spiritual referent.
From Old to New Testament
John 3:14-21 explicitly compares Moses lifting up the snake in the wilderness with the Son of Man being lifted up and speaks of eternal life, belief and the light. Follow that stated comparison; it does not commission snake handling, make every serpent occurrence Satan or restore the destroyed bronze object's ritual authority.