נְחֻשְׁתָּן (ne.chush.tan)
ne.chush.tan
Nehushtan
N:N-M-TQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- N:N-M-T
Word Overview
The noun nehushtan literally means "a piece of brass" or "bronze," yet in Scripture it functions as a specific proper name for the bronze serpent Moses lifted up in the wilderness. The term appears only once, in 2 Kings 18:4, where King Hezekiah orders its destruction. By this time, the Israelites had begun burning incense to the object, treating it not as a historical symbol but as an idol named Nehushtan.
The word’s power lies in its reduction of sacred history to mere material. What began as a divine instrument for healing during the Exodus journey had been degraded into a cultic object. Hezekiah’s renaming and smashing of the statue stripped away any lingering reverence, reminding the people that even good things become idols when they are worshipped instead of God.
This single occurrence highlights a recurring biblical theme: the danger of ritualizing faith until the original purpose is forgotten. The bronze serpent was never meant to be an object of veneration, but a reminder of God’s provision. Its destruction under Hezekiah marks a decisive turn away from syncretism and back toward exclusive loyalty to Yahweh.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word Nehushtan appears only once in Scripture, yet it carries a heavy warning for every believer. It refers to the bronze serpent Moses lifted up in the wilderness, an object God used to heal the Israelites from snake bites. Over centuries, however, the people stopped looking to God and started worshipping the metal object itself. They gave it a name that essentially meant "just a lump of brass," stripping away its sacred history and reducing it to mere material.
This story reminds us that even good things can become idols if we love them more than the Giver. A prayer journal, a church building, or a theological tradition might start as helpful tools for faith but later become objects of trust in themselves. When we fixate on the means rather than the Source, we miss the point entirely.
Hezekiah’s decision to break the bronze serpent was not an act of disrespect toward Moses, but a necessary correction to restore true worship. It invites us to examine our own lives: what habits or objects have we elevated above our relationship with God? May we keep our eyes fixed on Christ alone, trusting in His provision rather than in any symbol that points to Him.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- Nehushtan1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- נְחֻשְׁתָּֽן\׃1×
Key Verses
-
II Kings 18:4
He removed the high places, broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because in those days the children of Israel burned incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.
This verse records the moment Hezekiah redefines the bronze serpent as Nehushtan, exposing how ritual had replaced genuine faith in the hearts of the people.