Nehushtan

The name that eventually came to be associated with the bronze snake Moses had made in the wilderness (Num 21:4-9). We hear nothing of it again until the time of King Hezekiah, when we are told that, in its long history, it had become an object of idolatrous veneration. Upon becoming king over Judah, Hezekiah began a programme of removing "the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)" (2 Ki 18:4).