The Hebrew noun gophrith refers to brimstone or sulfur — the yellow, highly flammable mineral that burns with a suffocating smell. It appears about 7 times in the Old Testament, most memorably in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24) and in prophetic descriptions of divine judgment.
Gophrith is one of Scripture's signature words of divine judgment. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah — 'the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah — from the LORD out of the heavens' (Genesis 19:24) — established brimstone as the archetypal image of God's wrath against wickedness. The phrase 'fire and brimstone' echoes throughout Scripture as shorthand for catastrophic divine retribution. Isaiah 30:33 describes Tophet (the valley of judgment) as having a pyre whose fire and gophrith were kindled by the breath of God. Ezekiel 38:22 promises that in the last days God will rain 'flooding rain, hailstones and burning sulfur' on the armies of Gog. The book of Revelation carries this imagery forward with 'the lake of fire burning with brimstone' (Revelation 19:20; 20:10; 21:8) — the ultimate destination of unrepentant evil. Gophrith is not gratuitous — it is the honest revelation that God is not indifferent to wickedness. His holiness demands judgment.