"The wrath of God", an anthropomorphic expression for the attitude which some believe God has towards sin, is mentioned many times in the
Bible.
Hebrew Bible '' by
John Martin, 1852 Divine retribution is often portrayed in the
Tanakh or
Old Testament. • Genesis 3:14–24 –
Curse upon Adam and Eve and expulsion from the
Garden of Eden; disobedience • Genesis 4:9–15 –
Curse upon Cain after his slaying of his brother, Abel • Genesis 6–7 – The
Great Flood; rampant evil and
Nephilim • Genesis 11:1–9 – The confusion of languages at the
Tower of Babel; to scatter them over the Earth • Genesis 19:23–29 – Destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah; people of no redeeming value • Genesis 38:6–10 – Destruction of
Er and
Onan; wickedness in the Lord's sight • Exodus 7–14 –
Plagues of Egypt; to establish his power over that of the gods of Egypt • Exodus 19:10–25 – Divine threats at
Mount Sinai; warn that the mountain is off limits and holy • Exodus 32 –
Plagues at the incident of the
golden calf; disowning the people for breaking his covenant with them • Leviticus 10:1–2 –
Nadab and Abihu are burned; offering unauthorized fire in their censers • Leviticus 26:14–39 – Curses upon the disobedient; divine warning • Numbers 11 – A plague accompanies the giving of manna in the wilderness; rejecting his gracious gift of heavenly food and failing his test of obedience • Numbers 16 – The rebellion of
Korah,
Dathan, and
Abiram – their supernatural deaths and the plague that followed; insolence and attempting self-promotion to roles they were unworthy of holding • Numbers 20:9–13 – Reprimand of
Moses at the water of
Meribah; disobeying the Lord's instruction, showing distrust and indifference in God's presence • Numbers 21 – Murmuring of the people and the plague of
fiery flying serpent; spurning God's grace • Numbers 25 – Whoredom with the
Moabites and resulting plague; breaching God's covenant through sexual immorality and worshipping other gods • Deuteronomy 28 – Curses pronounced upon the disobedient; another divine warning • 1 Samuel 6:19 – some/many men of
Beth Shemesh killed; looking into the
Ark of the Covenant • 2 Samuel 6:1–7 –
Uzzah struck dead; touching the Ark of the Covenant • 1 Kings 11 – God promises to tear
King Solomon's kingdom from his son except for a single tribe; building altars to other gods for his wives • – sending trials to the just man
Job New Testament and Christian thought The New Testament associates the wrath of God particularly with imagery of
the Last Day, described allegorically in as the "day of wrath". The wrath of God is mentioned in at least twenty verses of the
New Testament. Examples are: • –
John the Baptist declares that whoever believes in the Son has
eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son, or in some
English translations, does not believe the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. • –
Ananias and his wife Sapphira are struck dead for holding back some of the proceeds after selling a piece of property • – For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. • – Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. • – Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." • – Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. • – For the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to withstand? • – So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. • – Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God was finished. • – From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
Eusebius suggests that the final illness and death of
Herod the Great was an example of divine punishment for the
slaughter of the innocents after the
birth of Jesus.
Matthew's gospel mentions Herod's death in passing.
Josephus gives a more vivid portrayal of his condition and demise.
Heinrich Meyer observes in his consideration of John 3:36 that the wrath of God "remains" on anyone who rejects belief in the Son, meaning that the rejection of faith is not the trigger for God's wrath, it is there already. Their refusal to believe amounts to a refusal to allow the wrath of God to be lifted from them.
Quran In Islam, the concept of divine retribution is fundamentally the principle of
Jaza (recompense), affirming that Allah (God)
justly and perfectly recompenses all human actions. This comprehensive system of
accountability manifests through both reward for good deeds and punishment for wrongdoing. While consequences may be experienced in
worldly life as trials or natural repercussions, the full measure of Jaza is delivered in the
Hereafter. The doctrine’s ultimate goal is to establish
absolute justice, compelling believers toward righteousness by balancing the
fear of divine wrath with the
hope for divine mercy. 40:17 This Day every soul will be recompensed for what it earned. No injustice today! Indeed, Allāh is swift in account. • :
People of Nuh (Noah) who were drowned in the flood • and :
Ād (people of Hud) who God sent a stormy cold wind against them for seven nights and eight Days successively, which killed them all • :
Thamud (people of
Salih), who killed the miraculous she-camel, so God sent against them several
natural disasters, such as a storm and a powerful earthquake, thereby destroying them • and : Sodom and Gomorrah, who because of
homosexuality, God turned the town upside down and rained on them stones. Previously when they asked
Lut to leave his guests to them in order to commit the shameful act, God blinded their eyes. • : People of
Ibrahim (Abraham) that had divine retribution after denying Ibrahim • and : Dwellers of the Cities of Median and Aikah, who denied prophet
Shuaib (Jethro) and in selling did notgive full measure and weight with justice, so an earthquake and blast hit them and killed them all. • : Pharaoh's people were punished by Years of drought and shortage of crops. Also God sent upon them all sorts of calamities: a flood, locusts, lice, frogs and blood, a succession of signs representing Allah's wrath. • Pharaoh and his people, which God drowned in the sea, because they belied his signs and miracles and were heedless about them • :
Korah was punished due to his extreme arrogance by being swallowed by earth along with all his great material wealth. • and : 70 chosen Israelites who asked for visiting God, and were seized with a thunderbolt, and then were raised to life after death • and : Companions of the
Sabbath who became apes, because of breaking the rule of Sabbath and fishing on that day • and :
Israelites, when they revoltingly persisted in what they had been forbidden, the Lord announced that He would send against them those who would impose the worst torment on them until Resurrection Day • and : the wrongdoers of the
Israelites changed The Word which was stated to them, for an irrelevant word, so God sent them a plague from the heavens due to their evildoing • : The
Israelites breaking their covenant, whom God cursed them and made their hearts Hard, so they changed the words of Torah from their right places and have forgotten a part of the Message that was sent to them • and : People of
Yunus (
Jonah), whom when they saw the symptoms of torment, believed God and obeyed him, so he removed from them the torment; because Yunus wasn't patient enough and left his people before God tells him to do so, a fish swallowed him; and after he admitted his wrongdoing and glorified God, God accepted his repentance and released him from the fish's belly • :
People of Sabaʾ(Sheba) whom because of their ingratitude, God afflicted them with a violent flood arising from a broken dam, and destroyed their productive gardens and dispersed the people • and : People of
Tubba who were punished by God after denying their prophet • and :
Companions of the Rass that rejected their messenger, so they became the subject of divine torment • : Owners of the burnt garden, whom because of not giving to the poor, an affliction fell upon their garden from God, and the garden was turned into a black barren land • : The owner of a beautiful garden, whom because of his arrogance and denial of the day of resurrection, an affliction fell upon their garden from God, and the garden was ruined on its trellises and its fruits were all destroyed • :
People of Ya-Sin: After they belied the messengers and killed the believer, there was a single and sudden divine outcry and they all became silent and Motionless corpses. • :
Companions of the elephant who were stoned by birds, because they wanted to destroy the
Kaaba. ==Alleged modern examples==