מלכים ב, פרק י״ח, פסוק ד׳

King Hezekiah enacts a bold and unprecedented religious reform, targeting not only foreign idolatry but also improper practices directed toward God. He begins by dismantling the high places and smashing the sacred pillars. These high places were not necessarily used for pagan worship; they were altars intended for sacrifices to God. However, they had become strictly forbidden the moment the Temple was built [מצודת דוד]. Previous kings of Judah had left these altars intact [רלב״ג], and Hezekiah's drastic move to remove them was not universally popular among the people [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Similarly, the erection of sacred pillars was prohibited by the Torah even when dedicated to God, let alone when used for idolatry [רלב״ג].

The most extraordinary step of Hezekiah's reform is the destruction of a historical holy object: the bronze serpent crafted by Moses. Originally, this serpent was made by God's direct command in the wilderness, serving as a conduit for healing anyone bitten by a snake who looked upon it [מצודת דוד]. For generations, it was preserved as a memorial to this divine miracle, much like the jar of manna [רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Yet, over time, the ancient glory and miraculous history of the serpent became a spiritual stumbling block. The Israelites began burning incense to it, attributing independent divine power to the artifact itself. According to one tradition, people who suffered snakebites from the time of Moses until Hezekiah's era continued to find healing by looking at the serpent. This led the masses to abandon God and turn directly to the bronze figure for cures [חומת אנך]. Recognizing the danger, Hezekiah zealously crushes the serpent, grinding it down to mere dust [מצודת ציון, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Commentators explore why earlier righteous kings, such as Asa and Jehoshaphat, did not destroy this idol. The primary approach among commentators suggests that during the reigns of previous kings, the people simply kept the serpent as a historical memorial and had not yet begun to worship it. It was only in Hezekiah's time that the populace strayed after it, prompting him to eradicate the object before the error could spread further [רד״ק]. Another perspective offers that earlier generations intentionally left this specific task undone so that Hezekiah could earn the merit of fulfilling it [רד״ק]. Furthermore, destroying the serpent involved significant legal complexity. Previous kings believed they lacked the authority to destroy an object originally forged by God's command, reasoning that it was not the property of idolaters. Hezekiah, however, determined that once the people performed acts of worship toward the serpent, they effectively claimed it as their own idolatrous possession. This transformation made its destruction both permissible and obligatory [מלבי״ם, רד״ק].

To finalize the eradication of the idol's mystique, the serpent is renamed Nehushtan. The primary approach among commentators is that Hezekiah himself coined this term as an expression of contempt and belittlement. By adding a diminishing suffix to the word for copper, he sought to mock the object and deliver a clear message to the people. He demanded they realize the absurdity of their worship, emphasizing that the artifact was nothing more than a piece of metal, completely devoid of any independent power to cause harm or bring blessing [רש״י, מצודת דוד, רלב״ג, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ, חומת אנך]. A minority opinion, however, suggests that it was the Israelites themselves who reverently called the serpent Nehushtan during their worship [רד״ק].