New English Translation
Nahum 1:4
4He shouts a battle cry against the seaand makes it dry up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither; the blossom of Lebanon withers.
Nahum 1:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
- New International Version (NIV)He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade.
- English Standard Version (ESV)He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers.
- New King James Version (NKJV)He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, And dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, And the flower of Lebanon wilts.
Context of Nahum 1:4
2The Lord is a zealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and very angry. The Lord takes vengeance against his foes; he sustains his rage against his enemies. 3The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will certainly not allow the wicked to go unpunished. He marches out in the whirlwind and the raging storm; dark storm clouds billow like dust under his feet. He shouts a battle cry against the seaand makes it dry up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither; the blossom of Lebanon withers. 5The mountains tremble before him, the hills convulse; the earth is laid waste before him, the world and all its inhabitants are laid waste. 6No one can withstand his indignation! No one can resist his fierce anger! His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire, boulders are broken up as he approaches.
Read all of Nahum 1Nahum 1:4 word by word
גּוֹעֵ֤ר בַּיָּם֙ וַֽיַּבְּשֵׁ֔הוּ וְכָל־הַנְּהָר֖וֹת הֶֽחֱרִ֑יב אֻמְלַ֤ל בָּשָׁן֙ וְכַרְמֶ֔ל וּפֶ֥רַח לְבָנ֖וֹן אֻמְלָֽל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- He rebukethגָּעַרgâ‛ar · to rebukeH1605
- the seaיָםyâm · seaH3220
- and maketh it dryחָרֵבchârab chârêb · to dryH2717
- and drieth upיָבֵשׁyâbêsh · to witherH3001
- all the riversנָהָרnâhâr · riverH5104
- Bashanבָּשָׁןbâshân · BashanH1316
- languishethאָמַל'âmal · be weakH535
- and Carmelכַּרְמֶלkarmel · CarmelH3760
- and the flowerפֶּ֫רַחperach · flowerH6525
- of Lebanonלְבָנוֹןlebânôn · LebanonH3844
Cross-references for Nahum 1:4
- Job 38:11when I said, ‘To here you may come and no farther, here your proud waves will be confined’?
- Psalms 104:7Your shout made the waters retreat; at the sound of your thunderous voice they hurried off –
- Psalms 106:9He shouted at the Red Sea and it dried up; he led them through the deep water as if it were a desert.
- Psalms 114:3The sea looked and fled; the Jordan River turned back.
- Isaiah 50:2Why does no one challenge me when I come? Why does no one respond when I call? Is my hand too weak to deliver you? Do I lack the power to rescue you? Look, with a mere shout I can dry up the sea; I can turn streams into a desert, so the fish rot away and die from lack of water.
- Isaiah 51:10Did you not dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep? Did you not make a path through the depths of the sea, so those delivered from bondage could cross over?
- Amos 5:8(But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion; he can turn the darkness into morning and daylight into night. He summons the water of the seas and pours it out on the earth’s surface. The Lord is his name!
- Matthew 8:26But he said to them, “Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was dead calm.
- Joshua 3:13When the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Ruler of the whole earth, touch the water of the Jordan, the water coming downstream toward you will stop flowing and pile up.”
- Psalms 74:15You broke open the spring and the stream; you dried up perpetually flowing rivers.
- Isaiah 19:5The water of the sea will be dried up, and the river will dry up and be empty.
- Isaiah 44:27who says to the deep sea, ‘Be dry! I will dry up your sea currents,’
- Ezekiel 30:12I will dry up the waterways and hand the land over to evil men. I will make the land and everything in it desolate by the hand of foreigners. I, the Lord, have spoken!
- Isaiah 33:9The land dries up and withers away; the forest of Lebanon shrivels up and decays. Sharon is like the desert; Bashan and Carmel are parched.
- Amos 1:2Amos said: “The Lord comes roaring out of Zion; from Jerusalem he comes bellowing! The shepherds’ pastures wilt; the summit of Carmel withers.”
Commentaries on Nahum 1:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4He rebuketh the sea - The Red Sea and the rivers: probably an allusion to the passage of the Red Sea and Jordan. The description of the coming of Jehovah, from the third to the sixth verse, is dreadfully majestic. He is represented as controlling universal nature. The sea and the rivers are dried up, the mountains tremble, the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his presence. Bashan, Carmel, and Lebanon are withered and languish: streams of fire are…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4He rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry - Delivering His people, as He did from Pharaoh Psalm 106:9, the type of all later oppressors, and of antichrist. “His word is with power; to destroy them at once with one rough word (Wisd. 12:9). The restlessness of the barren and troubled sea is an image of the wicked. “And drieth up all the rivers” Isaiah 57:20, as He did Jordan. His coming shall be far more terrible than when all the hearts of the inhabitants of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Like clouds (Nahum 1:3) and mountains (1:5), oceans and rivers are under God's control. The Old Testament prophets often recall God's actions against the seas and rivers during the exodus (Exodus 15:8–10; 2 Samuel 22:16; Psalms 66:6; 77:16; Habakkuk 3:15). God's power over the waters challenged the myths of the ancient Canaanites, who believed the sea-god Yam controlled the oceans and rivers. Bashan, east of the Sea of Galilee, was known for its rich…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. rebuketh the sea--as Jesus did (Mt 8:26), proving Himself God (compare Is 50:2). Bashan languisheth--through drought; ordinarily it was a region famed for its rich pasturage (compare Joe 1:10). flower of Lebanon--its bloom; all that blooms so luxuriantly on Lebanon (Ho 14:7). As Bashan was famed for its pastures, Carmel for its corn fields and vineyards, so Lebanon for its forests (Is 33:9). There is nothing in the world so blooming that God cannot…Read the comment
Topics related to Nahum 1:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Nahum 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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