# Epistle of Barnabas 12.6

- Author: Anonymous
- Work: [Epistle of Barnabas](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/) (*Epistula Barnabae*)
- Date: ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) (disputed)
- Source: Lake, LCL 24:384; Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 340–407 (Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26
- Canonical URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/12/6/

Summary: Moses made the bronze serpent as a type of Jesus.

## Greek text

πέρας γέ τοι αὐτὸς Μωϋσῆς ἐντειλάμενος· Οὐκ ἔσται ὑμῖν οὔτε χωνευτὸν οὔτε γλυπτὸν εἰς θεὸν ὑμῖν. αὐτὸς ποιεῖ, ἵνα τύπον τοῦ Ἰησοῦ δείξῃ. ποιεῖ οὖν Μωϋσῆς χαλκοῦν ὄφιν καὶ τίθησιν ἐνδόξως καὶ κηρύγματι καλεῖ τὸν λαόν.

## English translation (Claude)

Indeed, though Moses himself commanded, “You shall have neither a molten nor a carved image for your god,” he himself makes one, in order to show a type of Jesus. So Moses makes a bronze serpent and sets it up gloriously and calls the people by proclamation.

## Scripture references

- Deut 27:15: quotation, medium confidence
- Lev 26:1: echo, medium confidence
- Num 21:8: allusion, high confidence
- Num 21:9: allusion, high confidence

## Citation (SBL)

Barn. 12.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/12/6/).