The noun nachash denotes a serpent or snake. It appears in some of the most pivotal narratives of Scripture: the Edenic fall, the bronze serpent in the wilderness, and the apocalyptic imagery of the prophets. A related homonym (nachash, H5172) is a verb meaning 'to practice divination,' and the connection may reflect ancient associations between serpents and hidden, dangerous knowledge.
Genesis 3 introduces the nachash as the craftiest of all creatures — the vehicle of temptation that deceives Eve and precipitates the Fall. God's curse on the nachash (Gen 3:15) becomes the first messianic promise: the woman's seed will crush the serpent's head, even as the serpent strikes His heel — a prophecy fulfilled on Calvary. Numbers 21:4–9 presents the paradox of healing: the bronze nachash (nachash nehoshet) lifted on a pole — those who were bitten looked at it and lived. Jesus explicitly claims this typology in John 3:14: 'Just as Moses lifted up the snake [nachash] in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.' Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 identify the ancient serpent as Satan — confirming that the Genesis nachash was the devil's instrument, and that Christ's victory over death is the crushing of the serpent.