Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges. Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he maintains wrath against his enemies.
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges. Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he maintains wrath against his enemies.
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God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
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The LORD is a jealous and avenging God, the LORD avengeth and is full of wrath; the LORD taketh vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies.
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (36)
Passages linked to Nahum 1:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 20:5 you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
- Zechariah 8:2 Yahweh of Armies says: “I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath.”
- Exodus 34:14 for you shall worship no other god; for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
- Psalms 94:1 Yahweh, you God to whom vengeance belongs, you God to whom vengeance belongs, shine out.
- Deuteronomy 4:24 For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
- Joshua 24:19 Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins.
- Isaiah 42:13 Yahweh will go out like a mighty man. He will stir up zeal like a man of war. He will raise a war cry. Yes, he will shout aloud. He will triumph over his enemies.
- Ezekiel 39:25 “Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Now I will reverse the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel. I will be jealous for my holy name.
- Hebrews 10:30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me;” says the Lord, “I will repay.” Again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
- Leviticus 26:28 then I will walk contrary to you in wrath. I will also chastise you seven times for your sins.
- Deuteronomy 32:34-35 “Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures? Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”
- Deuteronomy 32:41-43 if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.” Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people.
- Job 20:23 When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating.
- Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
- Isaiah 51:20 Your sons have fainted. They lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in a net. They are full of Yahweh’s wrath, the rebuke of your God.
- Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
- Ezekiel 6:12 He who is far off will die of the pestilence. He who is near will fall by the sword. He who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus I will accomplish my wrath on them.
- Ezekiel 38:18 It will happen in that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord Yahweh, “that my wrath will come up into my nostrils.
- Joel 2:18 Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on his people.
- Micah 5:15 I will execute vengeance in anger, and wrath on the nations that didn’t listen.”
- Romans 12:19 Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- 2 Peter 2:9 the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,
- Isaiah 59:17-18 He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, he will repay as appropriate, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; he will repay the islands their due.
- Isaiah 63:3-6 “I have trodden the wine press alone. Of the peoples, no one was with me. Yes, I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath. Their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come. I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought salvation to me. My own wrath upheld me. I trod down the peoples in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath. I poured their lifeblood out on the earth.”
- Isaiah 66:15 For, behold, Yahweh will come with fire, and his chariots will be like the whirlwind; to render his anger with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
- Jeremiah 3:5 “ ‘Will he retain his anger forever? Will he keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things, and have had your way.”
- Jeremiah 25:15 For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.
- Jeremiah 36:7 It may be they will present their supplication before Yahweh, and will each return from his evil way; for Yahweh has pronounced great anger and wrath against this people.”
- Lamentations 4:11 Yahweh has accomplished his wrath. He has poured out his fierce anger. He has kindled a fire in Zion, which has devoured its foundations.
- Ezekiel 5:13 “ ‘Thus my anger will be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I will be comforted. They will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath on them.
- Ezekiel 8:18 Therefore I will also deal in wrath. My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.”
- Ezekiel 36:6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains, the hills, the watercourses and the valleys, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations.”
- Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.
- Zechariah 1:14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
- Romans 2:5-6 But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God; who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”
- Romans 13:4 for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Nahum begins with the nature of God, that what…
Nahum begins with the nature of God, that what he afterwards subjoins respecting the destruction of Nineveh might be more weighty, and produce a greater impression on the hearers. The preface is general, but the Prophet afterwards applies it to a special purpose. If he had only spoken of what God is, it would have been frigid at least it would have been less efficacious; but when he connects both together, then his doctrine carries its own force and power. We now apprehend the design of the Prophet. He might indeed have spoken of the fall of the city Nineveh: but if he had referred to this abruptly, profane men might have regarded him with disdain; and even the Israelites would have been perhaps less affected. This is the reason why he shows, in a general way, what sort of Being God is. And he takes his words from Moses; and the Prophets are wont to borrow from him their doctrine: and it is from that most memorable vision, when God appeared to Moses after the breaking of the tables. I have therefore no doubt but that Nahum had taken from Exodus 34 what we read here: he does not, indeed, give literally what is found there; but it is sufficiently evident that he paints, as it were, to the life, the image of God, by which his nature may be seen.
He says first, that God is jealous; (amulus — emulous); for the verb קנא, kona, means to irritate, and also to emulate, and to envy. When God is said to be קנוא, konua, the Greeks render it jealous, ζηλωτην, and the Latins, emulous, (amulatorem) But it properly signifies, that God cannot bear injuries or wrongs. Though God then for a time connives at the wickedness of men? he will yet be the defender of his own glory. He calls him afterwards the avenger, and he repeats this three times, Jehovah avengeth, Jehovah avengeth and possesseth wrath, he will avenge. When he says that God keeps for his enemies, he means that vengeance is reserved for the unbelieving and the despisers of God. There is the same mode of speaking in use among us, Je lui garde, et il la garde a ses ennemis. This phrase, in our language, shows what the Prophet means here by saying, that God keeps for his enemies. And this awful description of God is to be applied to the present case, for he says that he proclaims war against the Ninevites, because they had unjustly distressed the Church of God: it is for this reason that he says, that God is jealous, that God is an avenger; and he confirms this three times, that the Israelites might feel assured that this calamity was seriously announced; for had not this representation been set before them, they might have thus reasoned with themselves, — “We are indeed cruelly harassed by our enemies; but who can think that God cares any thing for our miseries, since he allows them so long to be unavenged?” It was therefore necessary that the Prophet should obviate such thoughts, as he does here. We now more fully understand why he begins in a language so vehement, and calls God a jealous God, and an avenger.
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He afterwards adds, that God possesses wrath I do not take חמה, cheme, simply for wrath, but the passion or he it of wrath. We ought not indeed to suppose, as it has been often observed, that our passions belong to God; for he remains ever like himself. But yet God is said to be for a time angry, and for ever towards the reprobate, for he is our and their Judge. Here, then, when the Prophet says, that God is the Lord of wrath, or that he possesses wrath, he means that he is armed with vengeance and that, though he connives at the sins of men, he is not yet indifferent, nor even delays because he is without power, or because he is idle and careless, but that he retains wraths as he afterwards repeats the same thing, He keeps for his enemies In short, by these forms of speaking the Prophet intimates that God is not to be rashly judged of on account of his delay, when he does not immediately execute His judgments; for he waits for the seasonable opportunity. But, in the meantime there is no reason for us to think that he forgets his office when he suspends punishment, or for a season spares the ungodly. When, therefore, God does not hasten so very quickly, there is no ground for us to think that he is indifferent, because he delays his wrath, or retains it, as we have already said; for it is the same thing to retain wrath, as to be the Lord of wrath, and to possess it. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning, of his glory.
Meaning, of his glory.
With his he is but angry for a time, but his anger never assuageth toward the reprobate, though for a time he defer it.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Nah 1:2 God [is] jealous, and the LORD revengeth;…
Nah 1:2 God [is] jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and [is] furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth [wrath] for his enemies.
Ver. 2. God is jealous] {See Trapp on "Zec 1:14"}
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And the Lord revengeth, the Lord revengeth] As he is Pater miserationum to his people, a father of mercies, and God of consolation; so to his and their enemies he is a most sure and severe revenger: Deus ultionum, as David calleth him, Psa 94:1. A God of recompenses, as Jeremiah, Jer 51:56. And when he comes against a people, he usually takes them to do when they are at the strongest and most confident; as Nineveh now was, in the days of proud Sennacherib.
And is furious] Heb. And is master of hot wrath; he is all on a light fire, as it were, with fierce indignation against the enemies of his Church; yet not so, but that he is master of his anger too; and doth nothing in it but what is just and equal. Here the vials of his wrath are said to be golden vials, Rev 15:7, his anger is holy, his fire is pure, and without smoke. And this is further declared in the following words.
The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries] Such as seek to thrust him beside his throne, that oppose his worship, contemn his word, persecute his people, send proud messages after him, saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us," "Bring hither those mine enemies," saith he, "and slay them before me," Luk 19:27. As for such as sin of infirmity and return to him by repentance, they shall not find him furious, but gracious.
And he reserveth wrath for his enemies] Their preservation for a time is but a reservation to that wrath to come. As he precipitateth not his anger, but defers the execution of it, giving men space to repent, as he did Jezebel, Rev 2:20, so they shall find that his forbearance is no quittance; and that
Poena venit gravior, quo mage tarda venit
The penalty comes more heavily which comes with great slowness.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain God; the mighty God, so the French version, and…
God; the mighty God, so the French version, and the Hebrew אל implieth it.
Is jealous; his love is fervent for his people, his displeasure hot against his and their enemies, whose idolatries he will not long bear against himself, nor their cruelties and rage against his people; but, as jealous for his people’s good, and for his own glory, he will appear and act: so Isa 42:13; Eze 39:25; Zec 1:14; 8:2.
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The Lord; Jehovah, the everlasting and unchangeable God, the same always towards his people. Revengeth; as supreme Governor, who by office is, and accounts himself, bound to right the oppressed, and to punish the oppressor; so vengeance is the Lord’s, and he will repay.
The Lord revengeth; it is repeated for confirming the truth, and to affect the wicked with terror, and to awaken them to a timely repentance; to affect God’s own people with joy and hope, that they may wait on him till they see the vengeance from God, mighty, judge, zealous, unchangeable, and eternal.
Is furious, Heb. is Lord or Master of fury; not like furious men, who cannot command or govern their anger, but grow suddenly furious, and as suddenly pour it forth, whether seasonably or unseasonably they regard not; but God, who here threatens enemies, and comforts his friends, is as much Lord of his anger, as he is Lord of power and wisdom to execute his displeasure in fittest time.
Will take vengeance; when it is most seasonable he should do it he most certainly will do it.
He reserveth wrath: this explains the former phrase,
Lord of fury; God restrains and keeps in his own anger, which grows greater by the sufferings of his people and sins of his enemies.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Nineveh knows not God, that God that contends with…
Nineveh knows not God, that God that contends with her, and therefore is here told what a God he is; and it is good for us all to mix faith with that which is here said concerning him, which speaks a great deal of terror to the wicked and comfort to good people; for this glorious description of the Sovereign of the world, like the pillar of cloud and fire, has a bright side towards Israel and a dark side towards the Egyptians. Let each take his portion from it; let sinners read it and tremble; let saints read it and triumph. The wrath of God is here revealed from heaven against him enemies, his favour and mercy are here assured to his faithful loyal subjects, and his almighty power in both, making his wrath very terrible and his favour very desirable.
I. He is a God of inflexible justice, a jealous God, and will take vengeance on his enemies; let Nineveh know this, and tremble before him. Their idols are insignificant things; there is nothing formidable in them. But the God of Israel is greatly to be feared; for, 1. He resents the affronts and indignities done him by those that deny his being or any of his perfections, that set up other gods in competition with him, that destroy his laws, arraign his proceedings, ridicule his word, or are abusive to his people. Let such know that Jehovah, the one only living and true God, is a jealous God, and a revenger; he is jealous for the comfort of his worshippers, jealous for his land (Joe 2:18), and will not have that injured. He is a revenger, and he is furious; he has fury (so the word is), not as man has it, in whom it is an ungoverned passion (so he has said, Fury is not in me, Isa 27:4), but he has it in such a way as becomes the righteous God, to put an edge upon his justice, and to make it appear more terrible to those who otherwise would stand in no awe of it. He is Lord of anger (so the Hebrew phrase is for that which we read, he is furious); he has anger, but he has it at command and under government. Our anger is often lord over us, as theirs that have no rule over their own spirits, but God is always Lord of his anger and weighs a path to it, Psa 78:50. 2. He resolves to reckon with those that put those affronts upon him. We are told here, not only that he is a revenger, but that he will take vengeance; he has said he will, he has sworn it, Deu 32:40, Deu 32:41. Whoever are his adversaries and enemies among men, he will make them feel his resentments; and, though the sentence against his enemies is not executed speedily, yet he reserves wrath for them and reserves them for it in the day of wrath. Against his own people, who repent and humble themselves before him, he keeps not his anger for ever, but against his enemies he will for ever let out his anger. He will not at all acquit the wicked that sin, and stand to it, and do not repent, Nah 1:3. Those wickedly depart from their God that depart, and never return (Psa 18:21), and these he will not acquit. Humble supplicants will find him gracious, but scornful beggars will not find him easy, or that the door of mercy will be opened to a loud, but late, Lord, Lord. This revelation of the wrath of God against his enemies is applied to Nineveh (Nah 1:8), and should be applied by all those to themselves who go on still in their trespasses: With an over-running flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof. The army of the Chaldeans shall overrun the country of the Assyrians, and lay it all waste. God's judgments, when they come with commission, are like a deluge to any people, which they cannot keep off nor make head against. Darkness shall pursue his enemies; terror and trouble shall follow them, whitersoever they go, shall pursue them to utter darkness; if they think to flee from the darkness which pursues them they will but fall into that which is before them.
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II. He is a God of irresistible power, and is able to deal with his enemies, be they ever so many, ever so mighty, ever so hardy. He is great in power (Nah 1:3), and therefore it is good having him our friend and bad having him our enemy. Now here,
1. The power of God is asserted and proved by divers instances of it in the kingdom of nature, where we always find its visible effects in the ordinary course of nature, and sometimes in the surprising alterations of that course. (1.) If we look up into the regions of the air, there we shall find proofs of his power, for he has his ways in the whirlwind and the storm. Which way soever God goes he carries a whirlwind and a storm along with him, for the terror of his enemies, Psa 18:9, etc. And, wherever there is a whirlwind and a storm, God has the command of it, the control of it, makes his way through it, goes on his way in it, and serves his own purposes by it. He spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, and even stormy winds fulfil his word. He has his way in the whirlwind, that is, he goes on undiscerned, and the methods of his providence are to us unaccountable; as it is said, His way is in the sea. The clouds are the dust of his feet; he treads on them, walks on them, raises them when he pleases, as a man with his feet raises a cloud of dust. It is but by permission, or usurpation rather, that the devil is the prince of the power of the air, for that power is in God's hand. (2.) If we cast our eye upon the great deeps, there we find that the sea is his, for he made it; for, when he pleases, he rebukes the sea and makes it dry, by drying up all the rivers with which it is continually supplied. He gave those proofs of his power when he divided the Red Sea and Jordan, and can do the same again whenever he pleases. (3.) If we look round us on this earth, we find proofs of his power, when, either by the extreme heat and drought of summer or the cold and frost of winter, Bashan languishes, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languishes, the choicest and strongest flower languishes. His power is often seen in earthquakes, which shake the mountains (Nah 1:5), melt the hills, and melt them down, and level them with the plains. When he pleases the earth is burnt at his presence by the scorching heat of the sun, and he could burn it with fire from heaven, as he did Sodom, and at the end of time he will burn the world and all that dwell therein. The earth, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. Thus great is the Lord and of great power.
2. This is particularly applied to his anger. If God be an almighty God, we may thence infer (Nah 1:6), Who can stand before his indignation? The Ninevites had once found God slow to anger (as he says Nah 1:3), and perhaps presumed upon the mercy they had then had experience of, and thought they might make bold with him; but they will find he is just and jealous as well as merciful and gracious, and, having shown the justice of his wrath, in the next he shows the power of it, and the utter insufficiency of his enemies to contend with him. It is in vain for the stoutest and strongest of sinners to think to make their part good against the power of God's anger. (1.) See God here as a consuming fire, terrible and mighty. Here is his indignation against sin, and the fierceness of his anger, his fury poured out, not like water, but like fire, like the fire and brimstone rained on Sodom, Psa 11:6. Hell is the fierceness of God's anger, Rev 16:19. God's anger is so fierce that it beats down all before it: The rocks are thrown down by him, which seemed immovable. Rocks have sometimes been rent by the eruption of subterraneous fires, which is a faint resemblance of the fierceness of God's anger against sinners whose hearts are rocky, for none ever hardened their hearts against him and prospered. (2.) See sinners here are stubble before the fire, weak and impotent, and a very unequal match for the wrath of God. [1.] They are utterly unable to bear up against it, so as to resist it, and put by the strokes of it: Who can stand before his indignation? Not the proudest and most daring sinner; not the world of the ungodly; no, not the angels that sinned. [2.] They are utterly unable to bear up under it so as to keep up their spirits, and preserve any enjoyment of themselves: Who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? As it is irresistible, so it is intolerable. Some of the effects of God's displeasure in this world a man may bear up under, but the fierceness of his anger, when it fastens immediately upon the soul, who can bear? Let us therefore fear before him; let us stand in awe, and not sin.
III. He is a God of infinite mercy; and in the midst of all this wrath mercy is remembered. Let the sinners in Zion be afraid, that go on still in their transgressions, but let not those that trust in God tremble before him. For, 1. He is slow to anger (Nah 1:3), not easily provoked, but ready to show mercy to those who have offended him and to receive them into favour upon their repentance. 2. When the tokens of his rage against the wicked are abroad he takes care for the safety and comfort of his own people (Nah 1:7): The Lord is good to those that are good, and to them he will be a stronghold in the day of trouble. Note, The same almighty power that is exerted for the terror and destruction of the wicked is engaged, and shall be employed, for the protection and satisfaction of his own people; he is able both to save and to destroy. In the day of public trouble, when God's judgments are in the earth, laying all waste, he will be a place of defence to those that by faith put themselves under his protection, those that trust in him in the way of their duty, that live a life of dependence upon him, and devotedness to him; he knows them, he owns them for his, he takes cognizance of their case, knows what is best for them, and what course to take most effectually for their relief. They are perhaps obscure and little regarded in the world, but the Lord knows them, Psa 1:6.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth,.... He is…
God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth,.... He is jealous of his own honour and glory, and for his own worship and ordinances; and will not give his glory to another, nor his praise to graven images; and therefore will punish all idolaters, and particularly the idolatrous Assyrians: he is jealous for his people, and cannot bear to see them injured; and will avenge the affronts that are offered, and the indignities done unto them:
the Lord revengeth, and is furious; or, is "master of wrath" (u); full of it, or has it at his command; can restrain it, and let it out as he pleases, which man cannot do; a furious and passionate man, who has no rule over his spirit. The Lord's revenging is repeated for the confirmation of it; yea, it is a third time observed, as follows; which some of the Jewish writers think has respect to the three times the king of Assyria carried the people of Israel captive, and for which the Lord would be revenged on him, and punish him:
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the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries; on all his adversaries; particularly the Assyrians are here meant, who were both the enemies of him and of his people. The Targum explains it,
"that hate his people:''
vengeance belongs to the Lord, and he will repay it sooner or later; if not immediately, he will hereafter; for it follows:
and he reserveth wrath for his enemies: and them for that; if not in this world, yet in the world to come; he lays it up among his treasures, and brings it forth at his pleasure. The word "wrath" is not in the text; it is not said what he reserves for the enemies of himself and church; it is inconceivable and inexpressible.
(u) "dominus irae", Calvin, Vatablus, Grotius; "dominus excandescentiae", Piscator, Tarnovius; "dominus irae aestuantis, sive fervoris", Burkius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Jealous - For his own glory. Revengeth - As…
Jealous - For his own glory. Revengeth - As supreme governor, who by office is bound to right the oppressed, and to punish the oppressor.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. God is jealous] For his own glory.
Verse 2. God is jealous] For his own glory.
And - revengeth] His justice; by the destruction of his enemies.
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And is furious] So powerful in the manifestations of his judgments, that nothing can stand before him.
He reserveth wrath] Though they seem to prosper for a time, and God appears to have passed by their crimes without notice, yet he reserveth - treasureth up - wrath for them, which shall burst forth in due time.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Nah 1:2-3. God is jealous — For his own…
Nah 1:2-3. God is jealous — For his own glory; and the Lord revengeth — Or rather, avengeth, namely, the cause, or ill treatment, of his people, as being the Supreme Governor, who, by office, is bound to deliver the oppressed, and punish the oppressor: he also vindicates his own insulted honour. And is furious — Or rather, is angry. In the Hebrew it is literally, And is the Lord of anger, or wrath; that is, can easily give effect to his anger, or execute what it prompts him to. It would be well if the epithet furious were for ever banished from the sacred writings; and, indeed, from all others, when speaking of God. He reserveth wrath for his enemies — There is nothing in the Hebrew to answer the word wrath; it is only, He reserveth for his enemies. Some supply the word punishment; He has punishment in store to execute upon his enemies, when he pleaseth. The Lord is slow to anger, and great [rather, although he be great] in power, and [or, but] will not at all acquit the wicked — The sense of the clause seems to be, that although God defers punishment, yet he has it in his power to inflict it at all times; and though it be long delayed, yet it will, in the end, overtake the wicked, unless the long-suffering of God lead them to repentance. The Lord hath his way — The method of his providence; in the whirlwind — Which often riseth suddenly, and beareth before it all things that stand in its way. Thus God’s judgments often come unexpectedly, and are irresistible, and most terribly destructive. And the clouds are the dust of his feet — He makes the clouds his chariot, and employs them to whatever purpose he pleases. This and the two following verses are a very noble and majestic description of the power of the Almighty.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain God is jealous and the Lord revengeth - Rather…
God is jealous and the Lord revengeth - Rather (as the English margin) God “very jealous and avenging is the Lord.” The Name of God, יהוה (YHVH), “He who Is,” the Unchangeable, is thrice repeated, and thrice it is said of Him that He is an Avenger. It shows both the certainty and greatness of the vengeance, and that He who inflicts it, is the All-Holy Trinity, who have a care for the elect. God’s jealousy is twofold. It is an intense love, not bearing imperfections or unfaithfulness in that which It loves, and so chastening it; or not bearing the ill-dealings of those who would injure what It loves, and so destroying them. To Israel He had revealed Himself as “a Exo 20:5-6 jealous God, visiting iniquity but shewing mercy;” here, as jealous for His people against those who were purely His enemies and the enemies of His people (see Zec 1:14), and so His jealousy burns to their destruction, in that there is in them no good to be refined, but only evil to be consumed.
The titles of God rise in awe; first, “intensely jealous” and “an Avenger;” then, “an Avenger and a Lord of wrath;” One who hath it laid up with Him, at His Command, and the more terrible, because it is so; the Master of it, (not, as man, mastered by it; having it, to withhold or to discharge; yet so discharging it, at last, the more irrevocably on the finally impenitent. And this He says at the last, “an Avenger to His adversaries,” (literally, “those who hem and narrow Him in”). The word “avenged” is almost appropriated to God in the Old Testament, as to punishment which He inflicts, or at least causes to be inflicted , whether on individuals Gen 4:15, Gen 4:24; 1Sa 24:12; 2Sa 4:8; 2Ki 9:7; Jer 11:20; Jer 15:15; Jer 20:12, or upon a people, (His own Lev 26:25; Psa 99:8; Eze 24:8 or their enemies Deu 32:41, Deu 32:43; Psa 18:48; Isa 34:8; Isa 35:4; Isa 47:3; Isa 59:17; Isa 61:2; Isa 63:4; Mic 5:14; Jer 46:10; Jer 50:15, Jer 50:28; Jer 51:6, Jer 51:11, Jer 51:36; Eze 25:14, Eze 25:17, for their misdeeds. In the main it is a defect . Personal vengeance is mentioned only in characters, directly or indirectly censured, as Samson Jdg 15:7; Jdg 16:20 or Saul . It is forbidden to man, punished in him, claimed by God as His own inalienable right. “Vengeance is Mine and requital” (Deu 32:35, compare Psa 94:1). “Thou shalt not avenge nor keep up against the children of My people” Lev 19:18. Yet it is spoken of, not as a mere act of God, but as the expression of His Being. “Shall not My soul be avenged of such a nation as this?” Jer 5:9, Jer 5:29; Jer 9:9.
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And a Reserver of wrath for His enemies - The hardened and unbelieving who hate God, and at last, when they had finally rejected God and were rejected by Him, the object of His aversion. It is spoken after the manner of men, yet therefore is the more terrible. There is that in God, to which the passions of man correspond; they are a false imitation of something which in Him is good, a distortion of the true likeness of God, in which God created us and whisk man by sin defaced. : “Pride doth imitate exaltedness: whereas Thou Alone art God exalted over all. Ambition, what seeks it, but honors and glory? Whereas Thou alone art to be honored above all and glorious for evermore. The cruelty of the great would fain be feared; but who is to be feared but God alone, out of whose power what can be wrested or withdrawn, when, or where, or whither, or by whom? The tendernesses of the wanton would fain be counted love: yet is nothing more tender than Thy charity; nor is aught loved more healthfully than that Thy truth, bright and beautiful above all. Curiosity makes semblance of a desire of knowledge; whereas Thou supremely knowest all. Yea, ignorance and foolishness itself is cloaked under the name of simplicity and uninjuriousness: because nothing is found more single than Thee; and what less injurious, since they are his own works which injure the sinner?
Yea, sloth would fain be at rest; but what stable rest beside the Lord? Luxury affects to be called plenty and abundance; but Thou art the fullness and never-failing plenteousness of incorruptible pleasures. Prodigality presents a shadow of liberality: but Thou art the most overflowing Giver of all good. Covetousness would possess many things; and Thou possessest all things. Envy disputes for excellency: what more excellent than Thou? Anger seeks revenge: who revenges more justly than Thou? Fear startles at things unaccustomed or sudden, which endanger things beloved, and takes forethought for their safety; but to Thee what unaccustomed or sudden, or who separats from Thee what Thou lovest? Or where but with Thee is unshaken safety? Grief pines away for things lost, the delight of its desires; because it would have nothing taken from it, as nothing can from Thee. Thus doth the soul seek without Thee what she finds not pure and untainted, until she returns to Thee. Thus, all pervertedly imitate Thee, who remove far from Thee, and lift themselves up against Thee. But even by thus imitating Thee, they imply Thee to be the Creator of all nature; whence there is no place, whither altogether to retire from Thee.” And so, in man, the same qualities are good or bad, as they have God or self for their end. : “The joy of the world is a passion. Joy in the Holy Spirit or to joy in the Lord is a virtue. The sorrow of the world is a passion. The sorrow according to God which works salvation is a virtue. The fear of the world which hath torment, from which a man is called fearful, is a passion. The holy tear of the Lord, which abides forever, from which a man is called reverential, is a virtue. The hope of the world, when one’s hope is in the world or the princes of the world, is a passion. Hope in God is a virtue, as well as faith and charity. Though these four human passions are not in God, there are four virtues, having the same names, which no one can have, save from God, from the Spirit of God.” in man they are “passions,” because man is so far “passive” and suffers under them, and, through original sin, cannot hinder having them, though by God’s grace he may hold them in.
God, without passion and in perfect holiness, has qualities, which in man were jealousy, wrath, vengeance, unforgivingness, a “rigor of perfect justice toward the impenitent, which punishes so severely, as though God had fury;” only, in Him it is righteous to punish man’s unrighteousness. Elsewhere it is said, “God keepeth not for ever” Psa 103:9, or it is asked, “will He keep forever?” Jer 3:5, and He answers, “Return, and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you, for I am merciful, saith the Lord, I will not keep for ever” Jer 3:12. Man’s misdeeds and God’s displeasure remain with God, to be effaced on man’s repentance, or “by his hardness and impenitent heart man treasureth up unto himself wrath in the day of wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will reward each according to his works” Rom 2:5-6.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The Lord. The six following verses (Haydock) tend to…
The Lord. The six following verses (Haydock) tend to excite attention. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain jealous--In this there is sternness, yet tender affection. We…
jealous--In this there is sternness, yet tender affection. We are jealous only of those we love: a husband, of a wife; a king, of his subjects' loyalty. God is jealous of men because He loves them. God will not bear a rival in His claims on them. His burning jealousy for His own wounded honor and their love, as much as His justice, accounts for all His fearful judgments: the flood, the destruction of Jerusalem, that of Nineveh. His jealousy will not admit of His friends being oppressed, and their enemies flourishing (compare Exo 20:5; Co1 16:22; Co2 11:2). Burning zeal enters into the idea in "jealous" here (compare Num 25:11, Num 25:13; Kg1 19:10).
the Lord revengeth . . . Lord revengeth--The repetition of the incommunicable name JEHOVAH, and of His revenging, gives an awful solemnity to the introduction.
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furious--literally, "a master of fury." So a master of the tongue, that is, "eloquent." "One who, if He pleases, can most readily give effect to His fury" [GROTIUS]. Nahum has in view the provocation to fury given to God by the Assyrians, after having carried away the ten tribes, now proceeding to invade Judea under Hezekiah.
reserveth wrath for his enemies--reserves it against His own appointed time (Pe2 2:9). After long waiting for their repentance in vain, at length punishing them. A wrong estimate of Jehovah is formed from His suspending punishment: it is not that He is insensible or dilatory, but He reserves wrath for His own fit time. In the case of the penitent, He does not reserve or retain His anger (Psa 103:9; Jer 3:5, Jer 3:12; Mic 7:18).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain DECREE OF NINEVEH’S DOOM, Nah_1:2-15 (+ Nah_2:2?).
DECREE OF NINEVEH’S DOOM, Nah_1:2-15 (+ Nah_2:2?).
Nah_1:2-15 (+ Nah_2:2?) contains the first section of the Book of Nahum. On its originality and poetic form see pp. 432ff. It opens with a sublime description of Jehovah as a God jealous and merciful, the avenger of evil, at whose appearance no one can stand; even heaven and earth tremble (2-6). In Nah_1:7 the prophet turns to his specific theme, and shows what bearing these phases of the divine character have upon the future history of Judah and of Nineveh. Jehovah will be faithful toward those who rely upon him (Nah_1:7), but woe unto his enemies (8). The destruction of the chief of these is already decreed: Nineveh must fall, and her downfall will bring deliverance and rejoicing to Judah (9-15.)
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Divine manifestations and their effects, Nah_1:2-6.
These verses serve a twofold purpose: 1. They bring the judgment upon Nineveh, which is announced in the rest of the book, into connection with the universal purpose and providence of Jehovah; 2. They remove all doubt concerning the possibility of the execution of the threat.
The entire book deals with the manifestations of the divine wrath against the enemies of Jehovah and of the people of Jehovah. These manifestations are not due to arbitrary decisions on his part; they are the inevitable outgrowth of his character; he cannot rest until sin and wickedness, and all who represent these, are swept away. To emphasize this side of the divine character is the purpose of Nah_1:2-3. For the sake of greater emphasis the divine name is mentioned three times, as also the fact of the divine vengeance; and the intensity of the divine emotions is brought out in a climax — jealous, furious, preserveth wrath. Like other prophets seeking to describe the divine attributes, Nahum is compelled to resort to very bold anthropomorphisms.
Jealous — See on Joe_2:18.
Revengeth — Better, R.V., “avengeth.” Jehovah must vindicate himself and his character, he must show himself holy; hence he is bound to avenge all wrongdoing, and to sweep away all who seek to prevent the carrying out of his holy purpose. Applied to the case in hand, he must destroy the Assyrians, who, through ill treatment accorded to the chosen people, have proved themselves his own enemies.
Furious — R.V., “full of wrath”; literally, possessor of wrath. The divine wrath may be defined as “an energy of the divine nature called forth by the presence of daring or presumptuous transgression, and expressing the reaction of the divine holiness against it, in the punishment or destruction of the transgressor.” The divine wrath, jealousy, and vengeance, all express essentially the same idea (see further A.B. Davidson, The Theology of the Old Testament, 318ff.).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. God is jealous] The original order of words…
2. God is jealous] The original order of words being retained:
A jealous God and vengeful is Jehovah,
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Jehovah is vengeful and wrathful;
Jehovah is vengeful upon His adversaries,
And retaineth wrath against His enemies.
“Jealousy” is the reaction of injured self-consciousness, it is God’s resentful self-assertion when He Himself, or that which is His, as His people or land, is too nearly touched; Deu_4:23-24; Jos_24:19; Exo_20:5; Exo_34:14. Here His “jealousy” is awakened by the long-continued injuries inflicted on His people. The form of spelling the Heb. word “jealous” occurs again Jos_24:19; the more usual form, Exo_20:5. “Wrathful” is lit. the possessor, cherisher, of wrath; the phrase again, Pro_29:22, cf. Pro_22:24. On the “vengeance” of God, comp. Isa_63:4 “the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come”; Isa_34:8; Isa_61:2. After “retaineth” wrath is understood, Jer_3:5; Psa_103:9.
2–6. An introduction on the attributes of Jehovah, God of Israel
The introduction, Nah_1:2-6, leads up to Jehovah’s interposition against Nineveh: (1) Nah_1:2-3 a His moral attributes; (2) Nah_1:3 b – Nah_1:6 the activity of these attributes when He reveals Himself in the Theophany of the tempest.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) God . . . furious.—Better, A jealous and…
(2) God . . . furious.—Better, A jealous and vengeful God is Jehovah, an avenger is Jehovah, aye, wrathful. This verse lays the groundwork for the declaration of God’s sentence against the offending city. There are, of course, several passages in the Law which attribute the same character to Jehovah, e.g., Exo_20:5; Deu_4:24. Nahum’s model, however, is a passage of opposite purport, the well-known proclamation of Jehovah’s attribute of mercy (Exo_34:6-7). To that passage the present is a kind of counterpoise, Êl kannô v’nôkêm here being the pendant to Êl rachoom v’channoon there.
(2-8) God’s character a pledge that the oppressor of His servants shall be destroyed.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 2-6. The prophet describes the inflexible justice of…
Vers. 2-6. The prophet describes the inflexible justice of God, and illustrates his irresistible power by the control which he exercises over the material world.
God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; better, Jehovah is a jealous and avenging God, as Exo_20:5 Deu_4:24 Jos_24:19. The threefold repetition of the name of Jehovah and the attribute "avenging" gives a wonderful force to this sublime description of the Divine character. God is here called jealous (zhlwthv , Septuagint) anthropopothically, as ready to defend his honour against all who oppose him, as One who loves his people and punishes their oppressors. Is furious; literally, master of fury, as Gen_37:19, "master of dreams." The Lord is full of wrath. (comp. Pro_10:12:24 Pro_29:22) The word used implies a permanent feeling, Hire the Greek mhniv . He reserveth wrath. The Hebrew is simply "watching," "observing" for punishment. Septuagint, exairwn auto , "himself cutting off his enemies;" Vulgate, irascens ipse inimicis ejus. God withholds his hand for a time, but does not forget. All this description of God"s attributes is intended to show that the destruction of Assyria is his doing, and that its accomplishment is certain.
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Vers. 2-6. The wrath of God a warning.
I NECESSARY AS TO ITS EXISTENCE Based upon the character of God as a jealous God. Jealous:
1. For his own glory, and therefore admitting of no rival claimant to man"s worship and homage. (Exo_34:14 Deu_4:24)
2. For his holy Law, and therefore shut up to punish iniquity. (Deu_5:9 Deu_29:20 Jos_24:19)
3. For his own people, and therefore impelled to take vengeance on their adversaries.
II RIGHTEOUS AS TO ITS CHARACTER. Directed only and always:
1. Against his adversaries; i.e. against those who decline to do him homage, and show this by worshipping idols.
2. Against those who dishonour his holy Law by their disobedience and unrighteousness.
3. Against those who oppress and tyrannize over his people, as the Assyrians had done and were doing.
III FURIOUS AS TO OPERATION. The wrath of Jehovah is not a trifle. Nahum speaks of it as something that has fury in it (vers. 2, 6). The prophets generally represented it as terrible in its forth flashing against sin and sinners. (Deu_29:28 2Ch_28:13 Jer_21:5 Zep_1:18 Zec_7:12) Christ did not view it as of small moment. (Luk_21:23 Luk_22:22) Reason does not warrant the idea that it will be slight and easy to bear, it being the anger of a great and holy God.
IV SLOW AS TO MANIFESTATION. It does not spring forth readily. Scripture distinctly testifies that God is slow to anger (ver. 3).
1. Jehovah himself claimed that such was his character,
(1) when he spake to the people at Mount Sinai; (Exo_20:6) and
(2) when he declared his Name to Moses. (Exo_34:6)
2. The Bible throughout concedes to him this character. Moses, (Num_14:18) David, (Psa_86:15) Jonah, (Jon_4:2) Micah, (Mic_7:18) Nehemiah, (Neh_9:17) alike proclaim it. In the New Testament, Paul (Rom_9:22) and Peter (2Pe_3:9, 2Pe_3:15) entertain the same idea.
3. Experience sufficiently confirms the Divine claim and the Scripture representation. The providential treatment of the world, of the antediluvian race, of Israel and Judah, of Nineveh and Babylon, of unbelievers in Christendom and of idolaters in heathendom, the best evidence that God is not willing that any should perish.
V CERTAIN AS TO INCIDENCE.
1. His character such as to demand this. "He will by no means clear the guilty." If he did he would contradict the representations of his character, falsify his word, and endanger his government. Hence his long suffering cannot arise from any secret sympathy which he has with sin, but must spring solely from his own inherent mercifulness.
2. His power sufficient to secure this. If Jehovah is slow to anger, this proceeds not from any defect in his ability to execute wrath upon his adversaries. He is of great power a truth explicitly set forth in Scripture, (Gen_18:14 Exo_15:11 Deu_7:21Jo Deu_9:4 Psa_89:8, etc.) and amplified and illustrated by Nahum, who depicts that power in a threefold way.
(1) By its character as supernatural. "The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet" (ver. 3). As such it is mysterious, violent, and swift, inscrutable as to origin, immeasurable as to vehemence, incalculable as to velocity.
(2) By its effects as irresistible. Nothing can stand before it; not the most uncontrollable element in nature, the sea, which with its dashing billows and moaning waters is to the human mind a striking emblem of power. "He rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers" (ver. 4) an allusion to the drying up of the Red Sea and of the Jordan for the Israelites to pass over, (Exo_14:22Jo Exo_3:17) Jehovah"s supremacy over the sea a frequent theme with Scripture writers. (Job_9:8 Job_38:8, 11 Psa_29:3 Psa_65:7 Psa_74:15 Isa_44:27 Isa_51:10) Not the freshest and most vigorous, of which Bashan, Carmel, and Lebanon are cited as examples these languish and fade, their beauty decaying and their fruitfulness departing when he directs against them the fury of his wrathful power (ver. 4; cf. Psa_107:34). Not the most solid and stable, the mountains, the hills, the earth, the world, all of which quake, melt, and burn at his presence (ver. 5; cf. Psa_68:8 Mic_1:4 Isa_64:1). Not the most exalted and wise, the living creatures that dwell upon the surface of the globe, beasts and men, both of which are upheaved with terror before the manifestations of Jehovah"s power. (Joe_1:18, 20 Hos_4:3 Psa_65:8)
APPLICATION. "Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger?" (ver. 6).
Vers. 2-6. The Divine vengeance.
In engaging in work for God, the worker must not be unmindful of the terrible consequences resulting from despising the riches of Divine mercy and grace. There is, assuredly, such a thing as retribution following a course of alienation from God"s ways. It must be so. The very love of God renders the punishment of the ungodly absolutely essential. Objectors sometimes point to the scriptural teaching concerning the future of the impenitent as indicating that the God of the Bible is unlovely and severe. But surely, where there is love there will also be found regard for justice. There is a mawkish sentimentalism about the teaching which dwells upon the love of God to the exclusion of all regard for his rectoral character. There is much of this teaching prevalent today. It is the recoil from extreme Calvinism, and, as is usual in such eases, the very opposite extreme is reached. It is impossible to indicate the extent to which the intense sense of God possessed by the Reformer of Geneva gave strength to his work; and let God be realized by us as "infinite Justice, infinite Love, and infinite Truth, blended in one indivisible ray of whitest light," and the thought of his all-embracing sovereignty and wise and perfect administration will be found full of comfort and inspiration to our hearts. And so long as he is righteous, sin, unrepented of and unabandoned, must be followed by bitter results; and hence, whilst joyfully proclaiming "the acceptable year of the Lord," we must also declare the coming of "the day of vengeance of our God." In these verses
I LIGHT IS CAST UPON THE NATURE OF THE DIVINE VENGEANCE. Our conceptions of the Divine Being are sometimes assisted by our ascribing to him certain characteristics belonging to the children of men. Analogy, however, in this direction must not be pressed too far, or we may be led to form very erroneous views concerning our God. We have in these verses a case in point. Nothing is more strongly to be condemned in men than the cherishing by them of the spirit of jealousy and of vengeance; yet this is here ascribed to God. "The Lord is jealous, and the Lord revengeth," etc. (ver. 2). But then "jealousy" and "vengeance" mean something very different when applied to man from what is intended when the same terms are used in reference to God. By jealousy on the part of man we understand envy, but by the same word in reference to God we are reminded of his regard for the maintenance of truth, his holy concern for the upholding of righteousness. And by vengeance on the part of man we understand revenge, a determination that satisfaction shall be given for the injury we consider has been done to us; whereas the same word as applied to God carries with it no such idea of vindictiveness, but simply a pure desire that the cause of justice and rectitude may be established and secure complete vindication. Since this brief book of prophecy has almost exclusive reference to the Divine judgments to fall upon the Assyrians, it is all-important that we clearly understand at the outset that Divine vengeance has absolutely no malice in it, and is ever exercised in the maintenance of righteousness. This is indicated in the next verse in three particulars (ver. 3).
1. The Divine slowness. "The Lord is slow to anger." Vindictiveness will not brook delay; human vengeance reckons with its victims at the earliest moment; revenge burns; passion rages; but the Divine vengeance delays, that perchance, through penitence, the blow may not be required to fall.
2. The restraining of Divine power. Man, cherishing the spirit of vindictiveness, sometimes lingers because conscious of his want of power to inflict the penalty; but God "great in power" (ver. 3) restrains his might, holds back his avenging hand, that "space for repentance" may be given, and the fact be made manifest that he "desires not the death of the wicked.
3. The Divine concern for the maintenance of his pure Law. "And will not at all acquit the wicked" (ver. 3). His vengeance is not vindictive, but is exercised in order that the supremacy of his holy Law may be asserted. He has graciously made provision for the forgiveness of sin and the salvation of transgressors from condemnation, (Rom_8:1) and they who wilfully persist in iniquity must bear the consequences, which will light upon them, not because God is vindictive, but because the honour of his pure Law must be sustained.
II THIS ASPECT OF THE DIVINE CHARACTER IS SET FORTH IN GRAPHIC IMAGERY. (Vers. 3-6.) For sublimity and grandeur this passage stands unrivalled. The Divine vengeance is presented to us here:
1. In its irresistibleness. Like the whirlwind, it sweeps everything before it (ver. 3).
2. In its terribleness. In vivid symbolical language all nature is represented as full of terror at the Divine manifestations (ver. 5).
3. In its destructiveness. Desolation is brought about the sea and the rivers are dried up at the rebuke of the Lord; the rich pastures of Bashan, the beautiful gardens of Carmel, and the fragrant flowers and fruitful vines and stately trees of Lebanon languish (ver. 4); as a devouring fire this vengeance consumes in every direction (vers 5, 6); yea, so mighty is it that the very rocks crumble to pieces when it is put forth (ver. 6).
III THIS VIEW OF OUR GOD IS PRESSED HOME UPON OUR HEARTS BY EARNEST INQUIRY. "Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger?" (ver. 6). The design of the questions is to quicken conscience. They contain and suggest the answers. Humbled in the very dust of self-abasement, we cry, "Enter not into judgment with thy servants, O Lord; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified". S.D.H. (Psa_143:2)
The patience of God.
"The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked." These words suggest two thoughts concerning God"s patience.
I HIS PATIENCE ALWAYS IMPLIES GREAT POWER. "The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power." This is a remarkable expression. It seems as if the prophet meant, God is "slow to anger" because he is "great in power;" if he had leas power he would be less patient. A man may be "slow to anger," slow to deal out vengeance, because he lacks power to do so. But God is "slow to anger" because he has abundance of power. In order to see the power revealed in his forbearance towards sinners in this world, think of four things.
1. His exquisite sensibility. There are some men "slow to anger" because they have not the susceptibility of feeling an insult or offence; their patience, such as it is, is nothing but a natural stoicism. Many men are lauded for their calmness under insults, who are rather to be pitied for their natural insensibility, or denounced for their moral callousness. But the great God is ineffably sensitive. He is sensibility itself. He is love. He feels everything. Every immoral act vibrates, so to speak, on his heart chord; and yet he is "slow to anger.
2. His abhorrence of sin. It is the "abominable thing" which he emphatically hates. His whole nature revolts from it. He feels that it is antagonism to his will and to the order and well being of the universe.
3. His provocation by the world. Multiply the sins of each man in one day by the countless millions of men that populate the globe; then you will have some conception of the provocation that this God of exquisite sensibility, of an ineffable hatred to sin, receives every day from this planet. One insult often sets man"s blood ablaze. Surely, if all the patience of all the angels in heaven were to be embodied in one personality, and that personality were entrusted with the government of this world for one day, before the clock struck the hour of midnight he would set the globe in flames.
4. His right to do whatever he pleases He could show his anger if he pleased, at any time, anywhere, or anyhow. He is absolutely irresponsible. He has no one to fear. When men feel anger there are many reasons to prevent them from showing it; but he has no such reason. How great, then, must be his "power" in holding back his anger! His power of self-control is infinite. "He is Slow... to anger, and of great power." "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance". (2Pe_3:9)
II HIS PATIENCE PRECLUDES NOT THE PUNISHMENT OF THE IMPENITENT. "And will not at all acquit the wicked." That is, the impenitent wicked. However wicked a man is, if he repents he will be acquitted. "Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts," etc. (Isa_55:7)
1. To "acquit" the impenitent would be an infraction of his law. He has bound suffering to sin by a law as strong and as inviolable as that which binds the planets to the sun. "The wages of sin is death;" "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Sin leads to ruin: this is a law.
2. To "acquit" the impenitent would be a violation of his word. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, with all the nations that forget God;" "Unless ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish;" "I will laugh at your calamities, and mock when your fear cometh.
3. To "acquit" the impenitent would be to break the harmony of his universe. If inveterate rebels and incorrigible sinners were acquitted, what an impulse there would be given in God"s moral empire to anarchy and rebellion!
CONCLUSION. Abuse not the patience of God; nay, avail yourselves of it. While he forbears, and because he forbears, repent! "Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?". D.T. (Rom_2:4)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth.
Nah_1:2
God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth.
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The jealous God
There is in man a selfishness that is Divine. It is a singular fact, in our moral constitution, that often the tenderest feelings of our nature should also be the most selfish. Love, even apparently in its highest moods, is sometimes also most exacting and difficult of satisfaction. I have known a mother most jealous of the departure of a daughters heart to its natural home and rest. When I have seen this, I have thought of the selfishness of God. God is infinitely selfish, for we may appropriately use that term. For selfishness may be celestial, and an attribute of benevolence. We do not, indeed, think much of love that cannot, in circumstances, be jealous; such is but a cold, indifferent, impoverished affection. How can it be other than that the best natures of the universe must he most selfish? Jealousy is not necessarily an infirmity. It may be a Divine emotion. The apostle speaks of a godly jealousy. No doubt all our love is |infirmity. The best, what we call the most purely unselfish, has its infirmity: I call that rove of the highest which most intensely desires the well-being of its objects! this is me selfishness of love. Jealousy is a passion that depends for its character upon the fuel that gives its flame. It is the sorrowing and pitying passion which would save, if it could, from the perdition and the doom, and unable to do so, or even seeking to do so, moves all its powers, takes all the minor emotions, faculties, and casts them into the flames of its love, bidding all blue. This is the apostles godly jealousy. And God is jealous. Do not think of Him as beneath the influence of that passion which sometimes, as envy, spite, and malice, disturbs our rest; still think of Him as, in a lofty sense, the jealous God. There are many terms applied to Him in Scripture which seem to anthropomorphise His character. Angry, repenting, foreseeing. Whenever such terms are used, think of them as steps of Divine descent. We may be sure they do represent some qualities of the Divine nature on which it is important that we should reflect, and of which we should stand in awe. The meaning of words assists to the conception of things. Jealous is the same word as zealous, and both are derived from the Greek word zeal, fire; zeal is enthusiasm--moral fire; and jealousy,--what is jealousy but love on fire? Is not this the representation we constantly have of God? I do believe in the mercy, and gentleness, and goodness of God. I do believe that He who knows our frame does save His children from the alienation of eternity, even when the heart has so vehemently loved in time the children of time. But then you must take the consequences here of that too vehement love. God is jealous of sin, of all aberrations from Himself. He is jealous of love, of power, of knowledge. See how He is constantly reminding man of his weakness as He incarnates his strength; and God is constantly absorbing mans knowledge, power, and love to Himself. Divine love on fire, God is jealous! There is no love where there is no fire, but let it burn with the white, not with the red heat. Imagine no evil against God from this declaration of His Book. God is jealous, His love is on fire, the Holy Spirit is love on fire,--hell is love on fire. The one by gentle persuasion entreats; the other, by forcible compulsion, guards His holy ones. Thus His fire folds inward and outward; inward to bless, outward to punish--so a calm breath of holy life, a stormy fire of doom. (Paxton Hood.)
The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries.
Great sins bringing great ruin
I. That the great sins of a people must ever bring upon them great ruin. The population of Nineveh was pre-eminently wicked. It is represented in the Scriptures as a bloody city, a city full of lies and robberies; the Hebrew prophets dwell upon its impious haughtiness and ruthless fierceness (Isa_10:7-8). Great sins bring great ruin. It was so with the antediluvians, with the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. The principle of moral causation and the Eternal Justice of the universe demand that wherever there is sin there shall be suffering, and in proportion to the amount of sin shall be the amount of suffering.
II. The great ruin that comes presents God to the vision of man as terribly indignant. The passions of man are here ascribed to God. It is only when terrible anguish comes upon the sinner that God appears to the observer as indignant. (Homilist.)
National punishments part of Gods moral government
I. The certainty that sin will not remain unpunished.
1. The inevitable working of natural laws secures this. Physical, social, and spiritual evils follow sin.
2. The declared character of God secures it. He is a jealous God.
II. There is no resisting the judgments of God. His power is seen in nature. The rolling whirlwind, the dark tempest, the desolating storm are symbols of His wrath and of His might.
III. Yet in wrath God remembers mercy.
1. There is a refuge for those who turn and repent.
2. No sins preclude hope.
3. Salvation is full and certain to the truly penitent.
4. Though the godly suffer trouble, they will be delivered from it. Their trials are only a discipline, if used aright. (C. Cunningham Geikie, D. D.)
Gods judgments will be fulfilled
As you stood some stormy day upon a sea cliff and marked the giant billow rise from the deep to rush on with foaming crest, and throw itself thundering on the trembling shore, did you ever fancy that you could stay its course and hurl it back to the depths of the ocean? Did you ever stand beneath the leaden, lowering cloud, and mark the lightnings leap as it shot and flashed, and think that you could grasp the bole and change its path? Still more foolish and vain his thought who fancies that he can arrest and turn aside the purpose of God. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain God is jealous
God is jealous
The great ethical lesson of Nahum is that the character of God makes Him not only "slow to anger," and "a stronghold to them that trust Him," but also one who "will not at all acquit the wicked." He can be "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" Rom 3:26 but only because His holy law has been vindicated in the cross.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Nahum begins to describe Yahweh coming to judge his enemies and to save his people. The vision is full of metaphorical language and uses different kinds of parallelism. (See: Metaphor and Parallelism)
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Yahweh
This is the name of God that he revealed to his people in the Old Testament. See the translationWord page about Yahweh concerning how to translate this.
full of wrath
"very angry"
he continues his anger for
"continues to be angry with"
slow to anger
"slow to become angry"
he will not allow the wicked to go unpunished
This emphatic negative statement can be translated positively. AT: "he will always be sure to punish the wicked" (See: Litotes)
Yahweh makes his way in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet
The biblical writers often associated Yahweh's presence with powerful storms. Here Yahweh rides in strong storm winds and his feet are creating clouds by kicking up dust as he is coming to judge the people. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
the dust of his feet
"the dust that his feet kick up"
translationWords
Yahweh
jealous
God
avenge
wrath
adversary
anger
power
declare
innocent
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:2-11 This short, two-stanza hymn (1:2-6, 7-11) tells of…
1:2-11 This short, two-stanza hymn (1:2-6, 7-11) tells of God’s sovereign power.
1:2-6 The hymn’s first stanza draws from biblical texts commemorating Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The message is that everything in all creation is subject to God’s sovereign power, and God will ensure the punishment of those who oppose him.
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1:2 jealous (or zealous): God zealously guards the welfare of his people and zealously desires their faithfulness (see Exod 20:4-5; Deut 4:23-24; 6:4; Jer 2:1–3:5). • God’s vengeance and rage cannot be confused with the human attitude of “getting even.” God’s actions emerge from his holiness (Jer 50:28-29), justice (Isa 63:1-9), and faithfulness to the covenant with his people (Lev 26:23-25; Isa 1:24-26). His vengeance is never arbitrary.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.