Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, anger also went up against Israel,
- BSB Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,
- NKJV Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel,
- NASB ¶Therefore the Lord heard and was full of wrath; And a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also mounted against Israel,
- NLT When the Lord heard them, he was furious. The fire of his wrath burned against Jacob. Yes, his anger rose against Israel,
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 heard their grumbling and responded in righteous anger, with judgment kindled against His people. Persistent unbelief provokes the Lord's holy displeasure.
Overview
Yahweh's anger 'kindled' like fire against Jacob in response to their distrust. This shows that God's patience has a moral limit and that unbelief is not a trivial matter. The fire of judgment here points ahead to the greater reality that sin must be answered, a debt Christ ultimately bore at the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Jude 1:5I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
- Num 11:1–3And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.
- 1 Cor 10:11Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
- Num 11:10Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.
- Heb 12:29For our God is a consuming fire.
- Deut 32:22For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
- Ps 78:31The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
- 1 Cor 10:5But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 78:21 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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