Refers to the incident related in 2 Kings 18:4) And when he had it broken up, he called it, in derision, "nehushtan," a "thing made of brass."
Nephi, commenting on this incident in the wilderness, refers to the twelve tribes as "nations." To his prophetic eye the tribes represented the nations of the world, and the serpent was the picture of their crucified Savior. (See notes on "the prophetic language" under verse 1) But the expression is also literally correct. For the tribes of Israel were, in fact, so many little republics, each independent of the rest, except as common interests dictated cooperation. The book of Judges gives ample evidence for this proposition. (See 8:1-3; 12:1-3; 18:1-12 and chapter 20)
None Other Name. Comp. Phil. 2:9-12. There is only one Savior, one Mediator between man and God. That is Jesus Christ. And the testimony of St. Paul is that the day will come when every tongue shall "confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father." And this, he says, applies to everything, in heaven, on earth and under the earth. (Phil 2:10)