Study

a Bible passage

Click a verse to see commentary

Select a resource above

An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

The Consuming Wrath of God

A jealous and avenging God is the L ord,

the L ord is avenging and wrathful;

the L ord takes vengeance on his adversaries

and rages against his enemies.

The L ord is slow to anger but great in power,

and the L ord will by no means clear the guilty.

His way is in whirlwind and storm,

and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,

and he dries up all the rivers;

Bashan and Carmel wither,

and the bloom of Lebanon fades.

The mountains quake before him,

and the hills melt;

the earth heaves before him,

the world and all who live in it.

Who can stand before his indignation?

Who can endure the heat of his anger?

His wrath is poured out like fire,

and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.

The L ord is good,

a stronghold in a day of trouble;

he protects those who take refuge in him,

even in a rushing flood.

He will make a full end of his adversaries,

and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

Why do you plot against the L ord?

He will make an end;

no adversary will rise up twice.

Like thorns they are entangled,

like drunkards they are drunk;

they are consumed like dry straw.

From you one has gone out

who plots evil against the L ord,

one who counsels wickedness.

Good News for Judah

Thus says the L ord,

“Though they are at full strength and many,

they will be cut off and pass away.

Though I have afflicted you,

I will afflict you no more.

And now I will break off his yoke from you

and snap the bonds that bind you.”

The L ord has commanded concerning you:

“Your name shall be perpetuated no longer;

from the house of your gods I will cut off

the carved image and the cast image.

I will make your grave, for you are worthless.”

Look! On the mountains the feet of one

who brings good tidings,

who proclaims peace!

Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,

fulfill your vows,

for never again shall the wicked invade you;

they are utterly cut off.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Nahum continues his discourse, — that God, in giving proof of his displeasure, would disturb the sea or make it dry. There may be here an allusion to the history, described by Moses; for the Prophets, in promising God’s assistance to his people, often remind them how God in a miraculous manner brought up their fathers from Egypt. As then the passage through the Red Sea was in high repute among the Jews, it may be that the Prophet alluded to that event, (Exodus 14:22.) But another view seems to me more probable. We indeed know how impetuous an element is that of the sea; and hence in Jeremiah 5, God, intending to set forth his own power, says, that it is in his power to calm the raging of the sea, than which nothing is more impetuous or more violent. In the same manner also is the majesty of God described in Job 28. The meaning of this place, I think, is the same, — that God by his chiding makes the sea dry, ²¹¹²¹¹     Literally, “chiding the sea, he even made it dry.” The ו here, though conversive, must be rendered, “even,” for the first verb is a participle. By taking the words in their poetical order, the whole verse may be thus rendered, —
   Chiding the sea, he even made it dry;
And all the rivers he dried up:
Wither did Bashan and Carmel,
And the bud of Lebanon withered.
   The verbs in this, and in the following verse, are in the past tense; reference is made to the past works of God, and in some instances to those performed in the wilderness. — Ed. and that he can dry up the rivers That the prophet connects rivers with the sea, confirms what I have just said, — that the passage through the Red Sea is not here referred to; but that the object is to show in general how great is God’s power in governing the whole world.

To the same purpose is what he adds, Bashan shall be weakened, and Carmel, and the branch of Lebanon shall be weakened, or destroyed. By these words he intimates, that there is nothing so magnificent in the world, which God changes not, when he gives proofs of his displeasure; as it is said in Psalm 104,

‘Send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be renewed;’

and again, ‘Take away thy Spirit,’ or remove it, ‘and all things will return to the dust;’ yea, into nothing. So also Nahum says in this place, “As soon as God shows his wrath, the rivers will dry up, the sea itself will become dry, and then the flowers will fade and the grass will wither;” that is, though the earth be wonderfully ornamented and replenished, yet all things will be reduced to solitude and desolation whenever God is angry. And he afterwards adds —

²¹¹ Literally, “chiding the sea, he even made it dry.” The ו here, though conversive, must be rendered, “even,” for the first verb is a participle. By taking the words in their poetical order, the whole verse may be thus rendered, — Chiding the sea, he even made it dry; And all the rivers he dried up: Wither did Bashan and Carmel, And the bud of Lebanon withered. The verbs in this, and in the following verse, are in the past tense; reference is made to the past works of God, and in some instances to those performed in the wilderness. — Ed.