From II Kings 18:1-4--"1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
3 And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done.
4 He removed the high places, and brake the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and he brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan."
So, there you go--Skinnydan with his mad Hebraic skilz was closest (and therefore winner of a pat on the back) with, "Nahash (add the guttural in the middle, please)" which is Hebrew for snake. Read more here, or here, or here.
I bask in the glory that is a tiny amount of knowledge. Part of the problem is my grasp of the Prophets and Writings is weak at best. I'm fairly familiar with Joshua, Samuel, Lamentations, and Esther (the latter two are actually read publicly once a year each), but that's the extent of it.
Incidentally, I have a vague memory of attempting to study this ivory cross while in graduate school. It originated, supposedly, at the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, one of the monastic houses in Suffolk I was studying. It contains a representation of the Nehushtan. As opposed to the modern day brazen snake.
Posted by: skinnydan at February 17, 2006 08:30 AM::snort:: Neschumertan!
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at February 17, 2006 08:59 AM