He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
Parallel translations
- WEB He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes.
- BSB He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.
- NKJV He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, And dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, And the flower of Lebanon wilts.
- NASB He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, The blossoms of Lebanon wither.
- NLT At his command the oceans dry up, and the rivers disappear. The lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade, and the green forests of Lebanon wither.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God's power dries up seas and rivers and withers the most fertile regions. Creation itself bows before his rebuke.
Overview
Bashan, Carmel, and Lebanon were renowned for lush fruitfulness, so their languishing dramatizes the totality of God's might. The drying of the sea recalls the Exodus, when the Lord delivered his people by mastering the waters. The One who commands creation is the same Lord who in Christ stilled the storm, displaying that this divine power belongs to the Son.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Isa 33:9The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
- Ps 106:9He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.
- Isa 50:2–3Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.
- Isa 19:5–10And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
- Josh 3:13–15And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.
- Isa 51:10Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
- Isa 44:27That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:
- Ps 74:15Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
- Ps 114:5What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
- Ps 104:7At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
- Ps 114:3The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
- Matt 8:26And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
- Amos 1:2And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
- Amos 5:8Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
- Ezek 30:12And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the LORD have spoken it.
- Job 38:11And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
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Christ at the center
The certain judgment on Nineveh and the comfort that 'the LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble' point to Christ, who is both the refuge of his people and the judge of their enemies.
How Nahum 1:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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