Nahum 1:2 (ASV)

Passage

Jehovah is a jealous God and avengeth; Jehovah avengeth and is full of wrath; Jehovah taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth [wrath] for his enemies.

Nearby Context

Nahum 1:1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

Nahum 1:2 Jehovah is a jealous God and avengeth; Jehovah avengeth and is full of wrath; Jehovah taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth [wrath] for his enemies.

Nahum 1:3 Jehovah is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear [the guilty]: Jehovah hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Nahum 1:4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "jealous", "avengeth", "full", and "wrath". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "jealous", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "The burden of Nineveh The book of..." into verse 3's "Jehovah is slow to anger and great...", so "jehovah" and "jealous" belong inside that flow. In Nahum context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jehovah" and "jealous" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.