The Meaning of Nahum 1:6 Explained

Nahum 1:6

KJV: Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

YLT: Before His indignation who doth stand? And who riseth up in the heat of His anger? His fury hath been poured out like fire, And the rocks have been broken by Him.

Darby: Who shall stand before his indignation? and who shall abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him.

ASV: Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Who can stand  before  his indignation?  and who can abide  in the fierceness  of his anger?  his fury  is poured out  like fire,  and the rocks  are thrown down  by him. 

What does Nahum 1:6 Mean?

Verse Meaning

No one can continue to exist if Yahweh is indignant with him or her. Nahum did not mean that the final destiny of God"s enemies is annihilation. He meant that no one can survive His unchecked wrath. The Hebrew word translated "indignant," za"am, means to be enraged, like boiling water. No one can endure Yahweh"s burning anger. Nahum made these points strongly by using two rhetorical questions.
"Unlike a regular question, which is soliciting information, a rhetorical question assumes the answer is already known by both the asker and the asked. Instead of the statement which could have been used in its place, the rhetorical question forces the hearer to get actively involved in the discussion.... The technique is used elsewhere in Nahum ( Nahum 2:11; Nahum 3:7-8) and in other prophetic texts." [1]
The Assyrians should have learned this truth when God destroyed their army, as it surrounded Jerusalem, in one night ( 2 Kings 18-19). Yahweh"s wrath pours out like fire, and then even solid rocks break up (cf. 1 Kings 19:11). How much less will human flesh and manmade walls stand against His anger!

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 1:6 mean?

Before His indignation who can stand and who can endure the fierceness of His anger His fury is poured out like fire and the rocks are thrown down by Him
לִפְנֵ֤י ؟ זַעְמוֹ֙ מִ֣י יַֽעֲמ֔וֹד וּמִ֥י יָק֖וּם בַּחֲר֣וֹן ؟ אַפּ֑וֹ חֲמָתוֹ֙ נִתְּכָ֣ה כָאֵ֔שׁ וְהַצֻּרִ֖ים נִתְּצ֥וּ מִמֶּֽנּוּ

לִפְנֵ֤י  Before 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
؟ זַעְמוֹ֙  His  indignation 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: זַעַם  
Sense: anger, indignation.
יַֽעֲמ֔וֹד  can  stand 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: עָמַד  
Sense: to stand, remain, endure, take one’s stand.
וּמִ֥י  and  who 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Interrogative
Root: מִי  
Sense: who?, whose?, whom?, would that, whoever, whosoever.
יָק֖וּם  can 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.
בַּחֲר֣וֹן  endure  the  fierceness 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: חָרֹון  
Sense: anger, heat, burning (of anger).
؟ אַפּ֑וֹ  of  His  anger 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אַף 
Sense: nostril, nose, face.
חֲמָתוֹ֙  His  fury 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: חֵמָא 
Sense: heat, rage, hot displeasure, indignation, anger, wrath, poison, bottles.
נִתְּכָ֣ה  is  poured  out 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: נָתַךְ  
Sense: to pour out or forth, drop (or rain), be poured, be poured out, be melted, be molten.
כָאֵ֔שׁ  like  fire 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, common singular
Root: אֵשׁ  
Sense: fire.
וְהַצֻּרִ֖ים  and  the  rocks 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: צוּר 
Sense: rock, cliff.
נִתְּצ֥וּ  are  thrown  down 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: נָתַץ  
Sense: to pull down, break down, cast down, throw down, beat down, destroy, overthrow, break out (teeth).
מִמֶּֽנּוּ  by  Him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.