Psalms 78:21
in Psalms 78Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth; And a fire was kindled against Jacob, And 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;
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This verse in Psalms 78
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
they continued to sin against Him
on Psalms 78:17-22
They tested God willfully, demanding the food they craved, and asked whether He could prepare a table in the wilderness. Verse 20 puts the question after the rock had already given water and torrents. The wrath that answered was a fire kindled against Jacob.
This site's exposition
a fire was kindled against Jacob
Numbers 11:1 tells of fire from the LORD burning the edges of the camp at Taberah. Albert Barnes allowed that the fire here may be both a figure for wrath and a literal burning. Spurgeon said God heard the words for Himself.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Wherefore the Lord heard, and He delayed, and fire was lighted in Jacob, and wrath went up into Israel." He hath explained what he hath called fire. He hath called anger fire: although in strict propriety fire did also burn up many men. What is therefore this that he saith, "The Lord heard, and He delayed"? Did He delay to conduct them into the land of promise, whither they were being led: which might have been done in the space of a few days, but on account of sins they must needs be wasted in the desert, where also they were wasted during forty years? And if this be so, He did then delay the people, not those very persons who tempted and slandered God: for they all perished in the desert, and their children journeyed into the land of promise. Or did He delay punishment, in order that He might first satisfy unbelieving concupiscence, lest He might be supposed to be angry, because they were asking of Him what He was not able to do? "He heard," then, "and He delayed to avenge:" and after He had done what they supposed He was not able to do, then "anger went up upon Israel."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
To unbelievers our God is himself a consuming fire. Those that will not believe the power of God's mercy shall feel the power of his indignation, and be made to confess that it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands. Now here we are told, (1.) Why God thus resented the provocation (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Therefore the Lord heard this,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth. He was not indifferent to what they said. He dwelt among them in the holy place, and, therefore, they insulted him to his face. He did not hear a report of it, but the language itself came into his ears. So a fire was kindled against Jacob. The fire of his anger which was also attended with literal burnings. And anger also came up against Israel.
Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth. He was not indifferent to what they said. He dwelt among them in the holy place, and, therefore, they insulted him to his face. He did not hear a report of it, but the language itself came into his ears. So a fire was kindled against Jacob. The fire of his anger which was also attended with literal burnings. And anger also came up against Israel. Whether he viewed them in the lower or higher light, as Jacob or as Israel, he was angry with them: even as mere men they ought to have believed him; and as chosen tribes, their wicked unbelief was without excuse. The Lord doeth well to be angry at so ungrateful, gratuitous and dastardly an insult as the questioning of his power.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth - See Num 11:1, Num 11:10. So a fire was kindled against Jacob ... - Fire may be used here, as in Num 11:1, as an emblem of wrath; a fire may have been literally sent down to consume them.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֤ן׀ | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| שָׁמַ֥ע | shama' | he heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַֽיִּתְעַבָּ֥ר | vaiyitabar | and he was furious | H5674 → | 556 times |
| וְ֭אֵשׁ | veesh | and fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| נִשְּׂקָ֣ה | nisekah | it was kindled | H5400 → | |
| בְיַעֲקֹ֑ב | veyaako | in Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אַ֝֗ף | ʾaf | anger | H639 → | 276 times |
| עָלָ֥ה | ʾalah | it went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| בְיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | veyisrael | in Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
לָכֵ֤ן׀<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
שָׁמַ֥עhe heard
shama'H8085 →1159 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַֽיִּתְעַבָּ֥רand he was furious
vaiyitabarH5674 →556 times
וְ֭אֵשׁand fire
veeshH784 →378 times
נִשְּׂקָ֣הit was kindled
nisekahH5400 →
בְיַעֲקֹ֑בin Jacob
veyaakoH3290 →350 times
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
אַ֝֗ףanger
ʾafH639 →276 times
עָלָ֥הit went up
ʾalahH5927 →890 times
בְיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃in Israel
veyisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 10:11Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
it leads to
- Romans 15:4
For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
- Romans 15:4
Through
Hebrews 12:29“For our God is a consuming fire.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
- Deuteronomy 9:3
But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate…
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- Hebrews 10:27
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.
- Deuteronomy 4:24
Through
Jude 1:5Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.
it leads to
- Hebrews 3:16
For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?
- Numbers 26:64–65
Among all these, however, there was not one who had been numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sinai.
- 1 Corinthians 10:1–12
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.
- Hebrews 3:16
Where this verse is studied
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About Psalms
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.