Bible Strands
Psalms 11:6
On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist pronounces what the LORD will do to the wicked, situated between God's testing of both righteous and wicked (v.5) and His love of justice (v.7). It is a declaration of judgment, not a petition.
The words — יַמְטֵ֥ר (yāmeṭēr, "he will rain down") is the same verb used for the destruction of Sodom (Gen 19:24), binding this verse to that event. The BSB renders פַּ֫חִ֥ים as "fiery coals," but the Hebrew root is pāḥāh ("snares"), a discrepancy worth noting.
The thread — The same meteorological judgment language recurs in Ezekiel 38:22 (rain, hailstones, fire, sulfur) and Ezekiel 13:13 (windstorm, torrents of rain), where divine wrath is depicted as atmospheric catastrophe.
Why it lands — The verse removes ambiguity: the cost of wickedness is not abstract but shares the specific vocabulary of Sodom's destruction. It asks the reader to stop treating "judgment" as a general concept and see it as a concrete, named event.
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
Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 38:22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.
- Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Ezekiel 13:13 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: In My wrath I will release a windstorm, and in My anger torrents of rain and hail will fall with destructive fury.
- Luke 17:29 But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
- Psalms 75:8 For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.
- Job 18:15 Fire resides in his tent; burning sulfur rains down on his dwelling.
- Job 20:23 When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.
- Job 27:13 This is the wicked man’s portion from God—the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
- Psalms 105:32 He gave them hail for rain, with lightning throughout their land.
- Jeremiah 4:11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift;