Numbers 21:5 (WEB)
The people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loathes this disgusting food!”
Catechism · 1
“Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Num 21:4-9; Wis 16:5-14; Jn 3:14-15; Ex 25:10-22; 1 Kings 6:23-28; 7:23-26.
Fathers and councils · 2
“…anything,” set forth a brazen serpent, placed on a “tree,” in a hanging posture, for a spectacle of healing to Israel, at the time when, after their idolatry, they were suffering extermination by serpents, except that in this case he was exhibiting the Lord’s cross on which the “serpent” the devil was “made a show…” — editor's note: Their sin was “speaking against God and against Moses” (Num. xxi. 4–9).
Read the whole comment“But so far as I, with my poor powers, understand, the Lord figuratively retorted upon Israel the reproach they had cast on the Lord.” — editor's note: Viz. by their murmuring for bread (see Ex. xvi. 3, 7); and again—nearly forty years after—in another place. See Num. xxi. 5.
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Cross-references · 1
Exodus 17:3 and Numbers 21:5 share the same wording (10 words).