Nahum 1:4
What does Nahum 1:4 mean?
A plain-English look at Nahum 1:4 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nahum 1:4 means
Jehovah’s rebuke dries seas and rivers; even the most fruitful regions—Bashan’s pastures, Carmel’s wooded heights, and Lebanon’s flowering beauty—wither before Him. The pictures draw on Israel’s geography and history: God once parted waters to deliver, and He controls the sources of prosperity. Creation flourishes by His word and languishes at His command. This is not random destruction but a demonstration that no natural abundance can shield the wicked when He contends. At the same time, it reassures the faithful that the elements are not gods; Jehovah alone governs them. His sovereignty over water and land means He can both rescue and judge at will.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
KJV
King James Version · 1611He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949He says sharp words to the sea and makes it dry, drying up all the rivers: Bashan is feeble, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon is without strength.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862He is pushing against a sea, and drieth it up, Yea, all the floods He hath made dry, Languishing <FI>are<Fi> Bashan and Carmel, Yea, the flower of Lebanon <FI>is<Fi> languishing.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752He rebuketh the sea and drieth it up: and bringeth all the rivers to be a desert. Basan languisheth and Carmel: and the flower of Libanus fadeth away.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
Context
The storm imagery of verse 3 expands here into concrete effects on land and water. By naming famed fertile places, Nahum shows that even the best of earth cannot withstand God’s approach. The widening lens prepares for the cosmic trembling of verse 5. The reader should see that the God who will topple Nineveh is the God who commands seas and seasons. This foundation heightens the seriousness of what will soon be said about Assyria and offers Judah confidence that their Deliverer is not limited by geography or power structures.
v.3Jehovah is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear the guilty: Jehovah hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
v.4This passage
v.5The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt; and the earth is upheaved at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Matthew 8:26
And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
- Amos 1:2
And he said, Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
- Joshua 3:13
And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap.
- Ezekiel 30:12
And I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, Jehovah, have spoken it.
- Isaiah 51:10
Is it not thou that driedst up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that madest the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
- Isaiah 19:5
And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and become dry.
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