Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; 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,
- KJV Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came 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,
- 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 1:5Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who didn’t believe.
- Num 11:1–3The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger burned; and Yahweh’s fire burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.
- 1 Cor 10:11Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
- Num 11:10Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and Yahweh’s anger burned greatly; and Moses was displeased.
- Heb 12:29for our God is a consuming fire.
- Deut 32:22For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.
- Ps 78:31when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of their fattest, and struck down the young men of Israel.
- 1 Cor 10:5However with most 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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