The Meaning of Nahum 1:4 Explained

Nahum 1:4

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.

YLT: He is pushing against a sea, and drieth it up, Yea, all the floods He hath made dry, Languishing are Bashan and Carmel, Yea, the flower of Lebanon is languishing.

Darby: He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

ASV: He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

Discover Nahum 1:4

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Nahum 1:4?

MEANING: What does Nahum 1:4 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Nahum 1:4 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Nahum 1:4?

What is the context of Nahum 1:4?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

What does Nahum 1:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

A simple word from Yahweh can cause the humanly uncontrollable sea and the rivers to dry up. The Lord had demonstrated this power when He parted the Red Sea and stopped the Jordan River from flowing ( Exodus 14:21; Joshua 3:16). It can make Bashan, Carmel, and Lebanon, which were normally lush, productive regions, wither away. The Lord had likewise sent many droughts on various parts of Canaan to encourage His people to return to Him (cf1Kings17-18). It is heat that causes bodies of water to dry up and bodies of land to wither away, but it is the heat of God"s wrath in judgment that is sometimes behind this physical heat.

Context Summary

Nahum 1:1-15 - God's Goodness And Righteous Anger

The native city of Nahum was Elkosh, near the Lake of Galilee. The name Capernaum means literally "the village of Nahum." He lived about 150 years after Jonah, who also had been especially concerned with the sins and doom of Nineveh. Though as a Jew he must have dreaded Nineveh, which had already carried Samaria into captivity and was now menacing Jerusalem, he accounted its fate a grievous burden-"the burden of Nineveh." We must never speak of the doom of the ungodly, save from a broken heart.

Nahum 1:1-8 forms a magnificent preamble combining the goodness and severity of God. His dealings with mankind are wrapped in mystery, but He is good and the stronghold of His saints. In Nahum 1:9-15 we see how mad Assyria was to enter into conflict with Jehovah. The fate of thorns in fiercely burning flame is the emblem of their doom. Compare Nahum 1:14 with Isaiah 37:38. When the hour of anguish is past, let us not forget to pay our vows. [source]

Chapter Summary: Nahum 1

¹ The majesty of God in goodness to his people, and severity against his enemies

What do the individual words in Nahum 1:4 mean?

He rebukes the sea and makes it dry and all the rivers Dries up wither Bashan and Carmel and the flower of Lebanon wilts

גּוֹעֵ֤ר בַּיָּם֙ וַֽיַּבְּשֵׁ֔הוּ וְכָל־ הַנְּהָר֖וֹת הֶֽחֱרִ֑יב אֻמְלַ֤ל בָּשָׁן֙ וְכַרְמֶ֔ל וּפֶ֥רַח לְבָנ֖וֹן אֻמְלָֽל

גּוֹעֵ֤ר	He rebukes
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular Root: גָּעַר Sense: (Qal) to rebuke, reprove, corrupt.
בַּיָּם֙	the sea
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular Root: יָם Sense: sea.
וַֽיַּבְּשֵׁ֔הוּ	and makes it dry
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular, third person masculine singular Root: יָבֵשׁ Sense: to make dry, wither, be dry, become dry, be dried up, be withered.
וְכָל־	and all
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct Root: כֹּל Sense: all, the whole.
הַנְּהָר֖וֹת	the rivers
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural Root: נָהָר Sense: stream, river.
הֶֽחֱרִ֑יב	Dries up
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person masculine singular Root: חָרֵב Sense: to be waste, lay waste, make desolate, be desolate, be in ruins.
אֻמְלַ֤ל	wither
Parse: Verb, Pual, Perfect, third person masculine singular Root: אֻמְלַל Sense: weak, feeble.
בָּשָׁן֙	Bashan
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular Root: בָּשָׁן Sense: a district east of the Jordan known for its fertility which was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh.
וְכַרְמֶ֔ל	and Carmel
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, feminine singular Root: כַּרְמֶל Sense: a mountain on the Mediterranean coast of northern Israel, just below Haifa.
וּפֶ֥רַח	and the flower
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct Root: פֶּרַח Sense: bud, sprout.
לְבָנ֖וֹן	of Lebanon
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular Root: לְבָנׄון Sense: a wooded mountain range on the northern border of Israel.
אֻמְלָֽל	wilts
Parse: Verb, Pual, Perfect, third person masculine singular Root: אֻמְלַל Sense: weak, feeble.

What are the major concepts related to Nahum 1:4?

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