Bible Strands
Psalms 78:49
He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity—a band of destroying angels.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the assembly by recounting God’s judgment during the Egyptian plagues, specifically as divine wrath is poured out immediately before the final plague strikes.
The words — The Hebrew מִ֝שְׁלַ֗חַת (mish.la.chat) literally means "a band" or "detachment," paired with מַלְאֲכֵ֥י (mal.'a.khei), "angels" or "messengers," to describe the destructive agents as an organized force.
The thread — This motif of wrath deployed through angelic execution appears in Exodus 15:7, where burning wrath consumes adversaries, and 2 Samuel 24:16, where an angel's outstretched hand brings calamity.
Why it lands — The text states that God’s judgment operates through deliberate, unstoppable forces, requiring readers to recognize their exposure to that wrath and the necessity of divine mercy.
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 cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
Cross-references
- Exodus 12:13 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a sign; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 15:7 You overthrew Your adversaries by Your great majesty. You unleashed Your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble.
- 2 Samuel 24:16 But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
- 1 Kings 22:21 Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ asked the LORD.
- Psalms 11:6 On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Lamentations 4:11 The LORD has exhausted His wrath; He has poured out His fierce anger; He has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has consumed her foundations.
- Job 1:12 “Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
- Job 2:6 “Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “He is in your hands, but you must spare his life.”
- Job 20:23 When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.
- Isaiah 42:25 So He poured out on them His furious anger and the fierceness of battle. It enveloped them in flames, but they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.