Fire and brimstone ( "gafrit va’eish", ) is an idiomatic expression referring to God's wrath found in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament. In the Bible, it often appears in reference to the fate of the unfaithful. Brimstone, an archaic term synonymous with sulfur, evokes the acrid odor of sulfur dioxide given off by lightning strikes. Lightning was understood as divine punishment by many ancient religions; the association of sulfur with divine retribution is common in the Bible.