Bible Strands
Nahum 1:6
Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Nahum addresses Judah and the nations, pronouncing judgment on Assyria immediately after describing the earth's physical collapse at God's presence. The declaration occurs within a poetic oracle that juxtaposes divine wrath with divine refuge.
The words — זַעְמוֹ (za'amo) translates literally as "his indignation," and חֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ (charon appo) means "burning of his anger." These terms frame the rhetorical question regarding who can survive the outpouring of divine judgment.
The thread — The motif of unstandable wrath and consuming fire recurs in Jeremiah 10:10 where the earth quakes at His wrath, Malachi 3:2 asking who can endure His appearing, and Deuteronomy 32:22 where fire is kindled by anger.
Why it lands — The text states that wrath pours out like fire and shatters rocks, establishing human inability to withstand divine judgment. It requires the reader to acknowledge this severity before turning to the refuge described in the subsequent verse.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
- Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
- Psalms 76:7 You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
- Nahum 1:2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes and reserves wrath for His enemies.
- 1 Kings 19:11 Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
- Psalms 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
- Psalms 90:11 Who knows the power of Your anger? Your wrath matches the fear You are due.
- Isaiah 10:16 Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame.
- Isaiah 27:4 I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground.