Nahum 1:4 (WEB)

Passage

He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes.

Nearby Context

Nahum 1:2 Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges. Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he maintains wrath against his enemies.

Nahum 1:3 Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Nahum 1:4 He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes.

Nahum 1:5 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it.

Nahum 1:6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "rebukes", "makes", "dries", "rivers", "bashan", "languishes", "carmel", and "flower". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "rebukes" and "makes", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Yahweh is slow to anger and great..." into verse 5's "The mountains quake before him and the...", so "rebukes" and "makes" 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 "rebukes" and "makes" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.