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When God heard them, he was very angry, and he completely rejected Israel.
Psalms 78:59 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel;
  • KJV When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
  • BSB On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.
  • NKJV When God heard this, He was furious, And greatly abhorred Israel,
  • NASB When God heard them, He was filled with wrath And He utterly rejected 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

When God heard their idolatry He was angry and rejected Israel. Persistent sin brought His severe displeasure.

Overview

God 'heard' their rebellion and 'greatly abhorred Israel,' a strong expression of holy displeasure. His response sets up the historical judgment that follows. This shows the gravity of covenant unfaithfulness, even as later verses reveal God's ultimate purpose of mercy through chosen David and Zion.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Ps 106:40Therefore Yahweh burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
  • Lam 2:7The Lord has cast off his altar, he has abhorred his sanctuary; He has given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces: They have made a noise in Yahweh’s house, as in the day of a solemn assembly.
  • Deut 32:19Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
  • Lev 20:23You shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I am casting out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
  • Ps 11:4Yahweh is in his holy temple. Yahweh is on his throne in heaven. His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men.
  • Ps 14:2–5Yahweh looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who understood, who sought after God.
  • Zech 11:8I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
  • Gen 18:20–21Yahweh said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,
  • Lev 26:44Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them; for I am Yahweh their God;

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 78:59YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 78:59 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.