נָחָשׁ
na.chash
serpent
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word "na.chash" (Strong's number: H5175) is defined as "serpent." This single term encompasses a range of meanings, from a general reference to any serpentine creature to a specific, individual serpent that plays a significant role in a biblical narrative. Its semantic domain is Animals & Creatures, indicating that it is primarily used to describe snakes or other serpentine animals. The word "na.chash" appears 31 times in the Bible, demonstrating its significance and recurring use in various biblical contexts. This frequency suggests that serpents held a particular importance in ancient Hebrew culture or played a notable role in storytelling. Without further information, it is impossible to pinpoint a specific reason for its recurring appearance, but its repeated use underscores its prominence in biblical narratives. Its significance as "serpent" contributes to larger themes or motifs within the biblical text, such as creation, sin, and temptation. While we cannot draw conclusions about the specific role it plays without examining its contexts, the word itself simply conveys a clear, tangible meaning as a serpent.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
31 total occurrences across the text
By his Spirit the heavens are garnished. His hand has pierced the swift serpent.
Psalms 58:4Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
Psalms 140:3They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips.
Isaiah 14:29Don’t rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent’s root an adder will emerge, and his fruit will be a fiery flying serpent.
Proverbs 23:32In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.
Proverbs 30:19The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man with a maiden.
Ecclesiastes 10:8He who digs a pit may fall into it; and whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
Ecclesiastes 10:11If the snake bites before it is charmed, then is there no profit for the charmer’s tongue.
Isaiah 27:1In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.
Isaiah 27:1In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.
Isaiah 65:25The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 8:17“For, behold, I will send serpents, adders among you, which will not be charmed; and they will bite you,” says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 46:22Its sound will go like the serpent; for they will march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.
Amos 5:19As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.
Amos 9:3Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hidden from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.
Micah 7:17They will lick the dust like a serpent. Like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their dens. They will come with fear to Yahweh our God, and will be afraid because of you.
Genesis 3:1Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”
Genesis 3:2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden,
Genesis 3:4The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die,
Genesis 3:13Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:14Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
Genesis 49:17Dan will be a serpent on the trail, an adder in the path, that bites the horse’s heels, so that his rider falls backward.
Exodus 4:3He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.
Exodus 7:15Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he is going out to the water. You shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You shall take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand.
Numbers 21:6Yahweh sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died.
Numbers 21:7The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, that he take away the serpents from us.” Moses prayed for the people.
Numbers 21:9Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived.
Numbers 21:9Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived.
Numbers 21:9Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived.
Deuteronomy 8:15who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint;
2 Kings 18:4He removed the high places, and 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.