Bible Strands
Psalms 78:48
He abandoned their cattle to the hail and their livestock to bolts of lightning.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Israel’s history, placing this verse between the destruction of crops and the unleashing of destroying angels. The speaker recounts God’s direct intervention against the nation’s agricultural resources.
The words — וַ/יַּסְגֵּ֣ר (va/i.yas.Ger) translates literally as "he delivered up," and לָ/רְשָׁפִֽים (la./re.sha.Fim) means "to lightning bolts." These terms frame the verse as a deliberate transfer of possession rather than accidental damage.
The thread — The imagery of divine hail and lightning against livestock appears in Exodus 9:19 and Exodus 9:28. These references establish a pattern of God using weather to enforce covenant consequences.
Why it lands — The text states that God surrendered livestock to destructive forces, requiring the reader to acknowledge divine sovereignty over creation. It demands recognition that survival depends on heeding warnings before wrath is unleashed.
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
He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
Cross-references
- Exodus 9:19 So give orders now to shelter your livestock and everything you have in the field. Every man or beast that remains in the field and is not brought inside will die when the hail comes down upon them.’”
- Exodus 9:28 Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”