Nahum 1:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Nahum 1:3
The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
great (in any sense) · conjunction + adjective, masculine singular construct
power
כֹּ֔חַKo.ach
H3581
vigor · noun, common masculine singular absolute
all
וְנַקֵּ֖הve.na.Keh
H5352
to be (or make) clean (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, piel infinitive absolute
acquit
יְנַקֶּ֑הye.na.Keh
H5352
to be (or make) clean (literally or figuratively) · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
way
דַּרְכּ֔וֹdar.Ko
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
whirlwind
בְּסוּפָ֤הbe.su.Fah
H5492
a hurricane · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
storm
וּבִשְׂעָרָה֙u.vis.'a.Rah
H8183
a hurricane · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
clouds
וְעָנָ֖ןve.'a.Nan
H6051
a cloud (as covering the sky) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
dust
אֲבַ֥ק'a.Vak
H80
light particles (as volatile) · noun, common masculine singular construct
feet
רַגְלָֽיוrag.Lav
H7272
a foot (as used in walking) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Exodus 34:6-7 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness an…
Psalms 147:5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
Nehemiah 9:17 And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appoin…
Psalms 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Psalms 104:3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
Psalms 145:8 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
Psalms 97:2-5 Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Nahum 1:2-8
Nineveh knows not God, that God that contends with her, and therefore is here told what a God he is; and it is good for us all to mix faith with that which is here said concerning him, which speaks a great deal of terror to the wicked and comfort to good people; for this glorious description of the Sovereign of the world, like the pillar of cloud and fire, has a bright side towards Israel and a dark side towards the Egyptians. Let each take his portion from it; let sinners read it and tremble; let saints read it and triumph. The wrath of God is here revealed from heaven against him enemies, his favour and mercy are here assured to his faithful loyal subjects, and his almighty power in both,…
slow to anger, and great in power--that is, but great in power, so as to be able in a moment, if He pleases, to destroy the wicked. His long-suffering is not from want of power to punish (Exo 34:6-7).
not at all acquit--literally, "will not acquitting acquit," or treat as innocent.
Lord hath his way in the whirlwind--From this to Nah 1:5, inclusive, is a description of His power exhibited in the phenomena of nature, especially when He is wroth. His vengeance shall sweep away the Assyrian foe like a whirlwind (Pro 10:25).
clouds are the dust of his feet--Large as they are, He treads on them, as a man would on the small dust; He is Lord of the clouds, and uses them as He pleases.
Adam Clarke on Nahum 1:3
The Lord is slow to anger - He exercises much longsuffering towards his enemies, that this may lead them to repentance. And it is because of this longsuffering that vengeance is not speedily executed on every evil work.
Great in power - Able at all times to save or to destroy.
The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm - These are the effects of his power; and when they appear unusual, they may be considered as the immediate effects of his power: and although he be in them to punish and destroy, he is in them to direct their course, to determine their operations, and to defend his followers from being injured by their violence. The pestilential wind which slew one hundred and ei…
"The Lord is longsuffering, great is his power, and he will certainly not clear the guilty." He does not suddenly and all at once inflict punishment, but only after exercising extreme longsuffering. You Ninevites are witnesses to this, practicing repentance and finding salvation, and then guilty of extreme wickedness and for a time not paying the penalty for it. But after putting up with people's wickedness for a long time, he is accustomed to inflict punishment on the unrepentant (the meaning of "he will certainly not clear the guilty," that is, he will not exempt from retribution the person whose sins deserve punishment).
And again: "I will reestablish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am Lord, that you may remember and be confounded and may no more open your mouth because of your confusion, when I shall be pacified toward you for all that you have done, says the Lord God." Thus it is clearly indicated by these divine words what was meant in another place by the statement "And though cleansing you he shall not make you innocent." Even the just, being restored to their former state after committing sin, do not dare open their mouth but say with the apostle, "I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God."
(Verse 3) The Lord is in the storm and the whirlwind of his life, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. For the storm and the whirlwind, the Septuagint translated it as consummation and commotion: although in the place where we have positioned ourselves, it is written in Hebrew as Basupha (), which can also be understood as commotion. However, this signifies that at the end of the world everything will be moved, according to what is written in Haggai: 'Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' (Haggai 2:7) And when all things are shaken (so that the ways of the Lord may be believed, as he says in the Gospel: 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life.' (John 14:6); and in Mark: 'When the Son of Man comes with the clouds, as it is commanded in Isaiah' (Chapter 5), so that the rain may not fall on the vineyard, and to which the truth of God has come, as the Psalmist says: 'Your truth reaches to the clouds.' (Psalm 36:6)), then even the clouds themselves, namely the prophets and the souls of the saints, who were previously burdened by the connection of the flesh, will be elevated to the heights, becoming of a more refined substance, and brought down as a footstool of God, and will minister to angelic duties in various places. Indeed, the previous and ancient things that pertain to the head cannot be known. On the other hand, another cloud will receive in the opposite direction, which always disturbs the clear and bright light of the sun and the stars with its darkness, and which afterwards reduces the subject to the power of the Lord to dust and nothingness, and dissolves the earth in those things which are rich.
Dictionary and topics
Lightning — Frequently referred to by the sacred writers (Nah. 1:3-6). Thunder and lightning are spoken of as tokens of God’s wrath (2 Sam. 22:15; Job 28:26; 37:4; Ps. 135:7; 144:6; Zech. 9:14). They represent…
Anger Of God, The · Is slow — Is slow
Clouds · Called the: Dust of God’s feet — Called the: Dust of God’s feet
Meteorology And Celestial Phenomena · 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37; — 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37;
Power Of God, The · Described as: Great — Described as: Great
Whirlwind · Illustrative of the: Speed with which God executes his purposes — Illustrative of the: Speed with which God executes his purposes
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Nahum 1:3
The Lord is slow to anger,.... He is not in haste to execute it; he takes time for it, and gives men space for repentance. Nineveh had had a proof of this when it repented at the preaching of Jonah, upon which the Lord deferred the execution of his wrath; but lest they should presume upon this, and conclude the Lord would always bear with them, though they had returned to their former impieties; they are let to know, that this his forbearance was not owing to want of power or will in him to punish: since he is
great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked; he is able to execute the wrath he threatens, and will by no means clear the guilty, or let them go free and unpunished; though…
Nahum 1:3
3. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
3. Jehova tardus iris (ad verbum, sed, tardus ad iram) et magnus robore; et purgando non purgabit; Jehova in turbine et tempestate via ejus, et nubes pulvis pedum ejus.
The Prophet goes on with the same subject; and still longer is the preface respecting the nature of God, which however is to be applied, as I have said, to the special objects which hereafter he will state. He says here that God is slow to wrath Though this saying is taken also from Moses yet the Prophet speaks here for the purpo…
The description of the divine justice, and its judicial manifestation on the earth, with which Nahum introduces his prophecy concerning Nineveh, has this double object: first of all, to indicate the connection between the destruction of the capital of the Assyrian empire, which is about to be predicted, and the divine purpose of salvation; and secondly, to cut off at the very outset all doubt as to the realization of this judgment. Nah 1:2. "A God jealous and taking vengeance is Jehovah; an avenger is Jehovah, and Lord of wrathful fury; an avenger is Jehovah to His adversaries, and He is One keeping wrath to His enemies. Nah 1:3. Jehovah is long-suffering and of great strength, and He does n…
slow to get angry: God’s patience with disobedience is linked to his faithful love (Exod 34:6; Num 14:18; Ps 103:8; Joel 2:13). This trait had disappointed Jonah, who wanted Nineveh destroyed immediately (Jon 4:2). Because God is patient, he sometimes delays the deserved punishment of sinners (Neh 9:29-30; Rom 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9), but those guilty of persisting in sin will ultimately face God’s judgment (Exod 34:7; Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 14:6-7). • the whirlwind and the storm: This imagery describes the fury of God’s judgment against the wicked (see also Isa 29:6).
Rashi on Nahum 1:3
The Lord is slow to anger and great in power—He is great in power, and He has the ability to wreak vengeance. The reason He did not hasten His revenge is that He is slow to anger, but, in any case, He will not acquit.
the Lord - His way is with a tempest and with a storm—They [the tempest and storm] are His messengers for wreaking retribution upon His enemies, as it is stated concerning Egypt (Exod. 14:21): “with a mighty east wind”; and concerning the generation of the Flood (Job 4:9): “From the breath of God they perish.” Concerning Tyre, it is stated (Ezek. 27:26): “The east wind has broken you.”
and cloud is the dust of His feet—That, too, is the way of His vengeance. (Exod. 14:24) “An…
