morally wrong · noun, common masculine plural absolute
rain
יַמְטֵ֥רyam.Ter
H4305
to rain · verb, hiphil jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
snares
פַּ֫חִ֥יםpa.Chim
H6341
a (metallic) sheet (as pounded thin) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
fire
אֵ֣שׁ'esh
H784
fire (literally or figuratively) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
brimstone
וְ֭גָפְרִיתVe.ga.fe.rit
H1614
properly · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
horrible
זִלְעָפ֗וֹתzil.'a.Fot
H2152
a glow (of wind or anger) · noun, common feminine plural absolute
tempest
וְר֥וּחַve.Ru.ach
H7307
wind · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
portion
מְנָ֣תme.Nat
H4521
an allotment (by courtesy · noun, common feminine singular construct
cup
כּוֹסָֽםko.Sam
H3563
a cup (as a container) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
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
Ezekiel 38:22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are…
Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
Ezekiel 13:13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger…
Luke 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Psalms 75:8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereo…
Job 18:15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
Job 20:23 When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.
Job 27:13-23 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 11:4–end
The shaking of a tree (they say) makes it take the deeper and faster root. The attempt of David's enemies to discourage his confidence in God engages him to cleave so much the more closely to his first principles, and to review them, which he here does, abundantly to his own satisfaction and the silencing of all temptations to infidelity. That which was shocking to his faith, and has been so to the faith of many, was the prosperity of wicked people in their wicked ways, and the straits and distresses which the best men are sometimes reduced to: hence such an evil thought as this was apt to arise, Surely it is vain to serve God, and we may call the proud happy. But, in order to stifle and sha…
Their punishment is described by vivid figures denoting abundant, sudden, furious, and utter destruction (compare Gen 19:24; Job 18:15; Psa 7:15; Psa 9:15).
cup--is a frequent figure for God's favor or wrath (Psa 16:5; Psa 23:5; Mat 20:22-23).
John Gill on Psalms 11:6
Upon the wicked,.... The wicked one, the man of sin, antichrist, and upon all that worship the beast and his image, on all persecutors, and upon all wicked men in general:
he shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this will be in hell, as Jarchi observes. The allusion is to the Lord's raining fire and brimstone from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah, which was an example and emblem of eternal fire; see Genesis 19:24. For the beast and the false prophet, and all the antichristian party, and all wicked men, will have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. The phrases used express the dreadfulness and horribleness of their punishment; the suddenness,…
Psalm 11:6-7
6. He will rain upon the ungodly snares, fire and brimstone, and a storm of whirlwinds: this is the portion of their cup. 7. For the righteous Jehovah loveth righteousness; [246] his countenance approveth the upright. [247]
6. He will rain upon the ungodly. David now, in the last place, lays it down as a certain truth, that although God, for a time, may be still and delay his judgments, yet the hour of vengeance will assuredly come. Thus we see how by degrees he rises up to the hope of a happy issue to his present affliction, and he uses his efforts to attain this, that the social and moral disorder, which he saw prevailing around him, might not weaken his faith. As the tribun…
The Church Fathers
"It rains" refers to the words of the preachers flowing down from heaven which are rain showers for the pious, but fiery snares for the ungodly. For the pious produce fruit based on their proper understanding of the words, but the ungodly suffocate their souls with the noose of their perversity by handling the words improperly.
Harsh punishments are often denoted in Scripture by the word cup.… So it follows that even in this place "cup" denotes the punishment to be poured out, especially, the fullness of this cup is fire, sulphur and a stormy wind, whose symbols were written in Genesis, the type of punishment inflicted by the Lord on Sodom and Gomorrah. Besides fire and sulphur, there is also in the cup the stormy wind. The fire indicates threatening flames; sulphur, the force by which more fire is burned; and, finally, the wind illustrates the certain whirlwind of temptations; chiefly we are able to learn this from the writing of Isaiah. … Let us flee impiety, so that there is no cup of this type for us, and we may live righteously; so that we may drink to drunkenness that which is the best. From which also it is said: "The Lord is my portion and my cup." Because the Lord is just and loves justice, he shows his face to the upright.
Eternal life will be given in the future only to the one to whom forgiveness of sins has been given in this world. Only he will receive the forgiveness of sins here who renounces his sins and hastens to the highest and true God with true conversion of heart. For that will not be a time of forgiveness but of retribution. There mercy will not justify the sinner, but justice will distinguish the just and the sinner. This is written in the psalm: "The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked." And, so that he might show that in iniquity lies the destruction, not the salvation, of the soul, he goes on the say, "He who loves iniquity hates his own soul." Lest they who persist in iniquity to the end of the present life promise themselves mercy, it is said subsequently concerning God: "On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and sulphur; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face." … Whoever, hearing these things, is unwilling to seek the mercy of God through conversion in the present time, will never be able to find it in the future life.
Dictionary and topics
Brimstone — An inflammable mineral substance found in quantities on the shores of the Dead Sea. The cities of the plain were destroyed by a rain of fire and brimstone (Gen. 19:24, 25). In Isa. 34:9 allusion is…
Cup — A wine-cup (Gen. 40:11, 21), various forms of which are found on Assyrian and Egyptian monuments. All Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold (1 Kings 10: 21). The cups mentioned in the New Testament…
Naioth — Dwellings, the name given to the prophetical college established by Samuel near Ramah. It consisted of a cluster of separate dwellings, and hence its name. David took refuge here when he fled from…
Brimstone · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Cup · .Of — .Of
Rain · Illustrative: (Destructive,) of God’s judgments — Illustrative: (Destructive,) of God’s judgments
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).
The words of David's counsellors who fear for him are now ended. And David justifies his confidence in God with which he began his song. Jahve sits enthroned above all that takes place on earth that disheartens those of little faith. At an infinite distance above the earth, and also above Jerusalem, now in rebellion, is a קדשׁ היכל קד, Psa 18:7; Psa 29:9, and in this holy temple is Jahve, the Holy One. Above the earth are the heavens, and in heaven is the throne of Jahve, the King of kings. And this temple, this palace in the heavens, is the place whence issues the final decision of all earthly matters, Hab 2:20; Mic 1:2. For His throne above is also the super-terrestrial judgment-seat, Psa…
God rained blazing coals and burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19) as symbols of judgment (Pss 18:8; 120:4; 140:10).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 11:6
Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
"But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth:"why, then, shall I flee from these wicked men? If God hateth them, I will not fear them. Haman was very great in the palace until he lost favour, but when the king abhorred him, how bold were the meanest attendants to suggest the gallows for the man at whom they had often trembled! Look at the black mark upon the faces of our persecutors, and we shall not run away from them. If God is in the quarrel as well as ourselves, it would be foolish to question the result, or avoid the conflict. Sodom and Gomorrah per…
