Yesaya 30:27-28

30:27 Look, the name ¹  of the Lord comes from a distant place

in raging anger and awesome splendor. ² 

He speaks angrily

and his word is like destructive fire. ³ 

30:28 His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river ⁴ 

that reaches one’s neck.

He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff; ⁵ 

he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction. ⁶ 

Yesaya 33:14

33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;

panic ⁷  grips the godless. ⁸ 

They say, ⁹  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?

Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ¹⁰  fire?’

Yesaya 64:1-2

64:1 (63:19b) ¹¹  If only you would tear apart the sky ¹²  and come down!

The mountains would tremble ¹³  before you!

64:2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,

or fire makes water boil,

let your adversaries know who you are, ¹⁴ 

and may the nations shake at your presence!

Yesaya 66:15-16

66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,

his chariots come like a windstorm, ¹⁵ 

to reveal his raging anger,

his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. ¹⁶ 

66:16 For the Lord judges all humanity ¹⁷ 

with fire and his sword;

the Lord will kill many. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 66:24

66:24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, ¹⁹  and the fire that consumes them will not die out. ²⁰  All people will find the sight abhorrent.” ²¹ 

Bilangan 11:1-3

The Israelites Complain

11:1 ²² When the people complained, ²³  it displeased ²⁴  the Lord. When the Lord heard ²⁵  it, his anger burned, ²⁶  and so ²⁷  the fire of the Lord ²⁸  burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp. 11:2 When the people cried to Moses, he ²⁹  prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. ³⁰  11:3 So he called the name of that place Taberah ³¹  because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.

Bilangan 16:35

16:35 Then a fire ³²  went out from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense.

Mazmur 18:8

18:8 Smoke ascended from ³³  his nose; ³⁴ 

fire devoured as it came from his mouth; ³⁵ 

he hurled down fiery coals. ³⁶ 

Mazmur 21:9

21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace ³⁷  when you appear; ³⁸ 

the Lord angrily devours them; ³⁹ 

the fire consumes them.

Mazmur 50:3

50:3 Our God approaches and is not silent; ⁴⁰ 

consuming fire goes ahead of him

and all around him a storm rages. ⁴¹ 

Mazmur 83:14-15

83:14 Like the fire that burns down the forest,

or the flames that consume the mountainsides, ⁴² 

83:15 chase them with your gale winds,

and terrify ⁴³  them with your windstorm.

Yeremia 4:4

4:4 Just as ritual circumcision cuts away the foreskin

as an external symbol of dedicated covenant commitment,

you must genuinely dedicate yourselves to the Lord

and get rid of everything that hinders your commitment to me, ⁴⁴ 

people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.

If you do not, ⁴⁵  my anger will blaze up like a flaming fire against you

that no one will be able to extinguish.

That will happen because of the evil you have done.”

Yeremia 7:20

7:20 So,” the Lord God ⁴⁶  says, “my raging fury will be poured out on this land. ⁴⁷  It will be poured out on human beings and animals, on trees and crops. ⁴⁸  And it will burn like a fire which cannot be extinguished.”

Maleakhi 4:1-3

4:1 (3:19) ⁴⁹  “For indeed the day ⁵⁰  is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It ⁵¹  will not leave even a root or branch. 4:2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication ⁵²  will rise with healing wings, ⁵³  and you will skip about ⁵⁴  like calves released from the stall. 4:3 You will trample on the wicked, for they will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Matius 3:12

3:12 His winnowing fork ⁵⁵  is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, ⁵⁶  but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” ⁵⁷ 

Matius 3:2

3:2 “Repent, ⁵⁸  for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Matius 1:7-9

1:7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, ⁵⁹  1:8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, 1:9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

Ibrani 12:29

12:29 For our God is indeed a devouring fire. ⁶⁰ 

[30:27]  ¹ sn The “name” of the Lord sometimes stands by metonymy for the Lord himself, see Exod 23:21; Lev 24:11; Pss 54:1 (54:3 HT); 124:8. In Isa 30:27 the point is that he reveals that aspect of his character which his name suggests – he comes as Yahweh (“he is present”), the ever present helper of his people who annihilates their enemies and delivers them. The name “Yahweh” originated in a context where God assured a fearful Moses that he would be with him as he confronted Pharaoh and delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. See Exod 3.

[30:27]  ² tn Heb “his anger burns, and heaviness of elevation.” The meaning of the phrase “heaviness of elevation” is unclear, for מַשָּׂאָה (masa’ah, “elevation”) occurs only here. Some understand the term as referring to a cloud (elevated above the earth’s surface), in which case one might translate, “and in heavy clouds” (cf. NAB “with lowering clouds”). Others relate the noun to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”) and interpret it as a reference to judgment. In this case one might translate, “and with severe judgment.” The present translation assumes that the noun refers to his glory and that “heaviness” emphasizes its degree.

[30:27]  ³ tn Heb “his lips are full of anger, and his tongue is like consuming fire.” The Lord’s lips and tongue are used metonymically for his word (or perhaps his battle cry; see v. 31).

[30:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “his breath is like a flooding river.” This might picture the Lord breathing heavily as he runs down his enemy, but in light of the preceding verse, which mentions his lips and tongue, “breath” probably stands metonymically for the word or battle cry that he expels from his mouth as he shouts. In Isa 34:16 and Ps 33:6 the Lord’s “breath” is associated with his command.

[30:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “shaking nations in a sieve of worthlessness.” It is not certain exactly how שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness, worthlessness”) modifies “sieve.” A sieve is used to separate grain from chaff and isolate what is worthless so that it might be discarded. Perhaps the nations are likened to such chaff; God’s judgment will sift them out for destruction.

[30:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “and a bit that leads astray [is] in the jaws of the peoples.” Here the nations are likened to horse that can be controlled by a bit placed in its mouth. In this case the Lord uses his sovereign control over the “horse” to lead it to its demise.

[33:14]  ⁷ tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”

[33:14]  ⁸ tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”

[33:14]  ⁹ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[33:14]  ¹⁰ tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[64:1]  ¹¹ sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[64:1]  ¹² tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[64:1]  ¹³ tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.

[64:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to make known your name to your adversaries.” Perhaps the infinitive construct with preposition -לְ (lamed) should be construed with “come down” in v. 1a, or subordinated to the following line: “To make known your name to your adversaries, let the nations shake from before you.”

[66:15]  ¹⁵ sn Chariots are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way that they kick up dust.

[66:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to cause to return with the rage of his anger, and his battle cry [or “rebuke”] with flames of fire.”

[66:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “upon all men”; TEV “all the people of the world.”

[66:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “many are the slain of the Lord.”

[66:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for their worm will not die.”

[66:24]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and their fire will not be extinguished.”

[66:24]  ²¹ tn Heb “and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

[66:24]  sn This verse depicts a huge mass burial site where the seemingly endless pile of maggot-infested corpses are being burned.

[11:1]  ²² sn The chapter includes the initial general complaints (vv. 1-3), the complaints about food (vv. 4-9), Moses’ own complaint to the Lord (vv. 10-15), God’s response to Moses (vv. 16-25), Eldad and Medad (vv. 26-29), and the quail (vv. 30-35). The first part records the burning of the camp, named Taberah. Here is one of the several naming narratives in the wilderness experience. The occasion for divine judgment is the complaining of the people. The passages serve to warn believers of all ages not to murmur as the Israelites did, for such complaining reveals a lack of faith in the power and goodness of God. For additional literature, see W. Brueggemann, “From Hurt to Joy, from Death to Life,” Int 28 (1974): 3-19; B. S. Childs, “The Etiological Tale Re-examined,” VT 24 (1974): 387-97; G. W. Coats, Rebellion in the Wilderness; and A. C. Tunyogi, “The Rebellions of Israel,” JBL 81 (1962): 385-90.

[11:1]  ²³ tn The temporal clause uses the Hitpoel infinitive construct from אָנַן (’anan). It is a rare word, occurring in Lam 3:39. With this blunt introduction the constant emphasis of obedience to the word of the Lord found throughout the first ten chapters suddenly comes to an end. It is probable that the people were tired of moving for several days, the excitement of the new beginning died out quickly in the “great and terrible wilderness.” Resentment, frustration, discomfort – whatever it all involved – led to complaining and not gratitude.

[11:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “it was evil in the ears of the Lord.” The word רַע (ra’) is a much stronger word than “displeased” would suggest. The bold anthropomorphism shows that what the Lord heard was painful to him.

[11:1]  ²⁵ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb as a temporal clause.

[11:1]  ²⁶ tn The common Hebrew expression uses the verb חָרָה (harah, “to be hot, to burn, to be kindled”). The subject is אַפּוֹ (’appo), “his anger” or more literally, his nose, which in this anthropomorphic expression flares in rage. The emphasis is superlative – “his anger raged.”

[11:1]  ²⁷ tn The vav (ו) consecutive does not simply show sequence in the verbs, but here expresses the result of the anger of the Lord for their complaining. With such a response to the complaining, one must conclude that it was unreasonable. There had been no long deprivation or endured suffering; the complaining was early and showed a rebellious spirit.

[11:1]  ²⁸ sn The “fire of the Lord” is supernatural, for it is said to come from the Lord and not from a natural source. God gave them something to complain about – something to fear. The other significant place where this “fire of the Lord” destroyed was in the case of Nadab and Abihu who brought strange fire to the altar (Lev 10:2).

[11:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Moses.”

[11:2]  ³⁰ sn Here is the pattern that will become in the wilderness experience so common – the complaining turns to a cry to Moses, which is then interpreted as a prayer to the Lord, and there is healing. The sequence presents a symbolic lesson, an illustration of the intercession of the Holy Spirit. The NT will say that in times of suffering Christians do not know how to pray, but the Spirit intercedes for them, changing their cries into the proper prayers (Rom 8).

[11:3]  ³¹ tn The name תַּבְעֵרָה (tav’erah) is given to the spot as a commemorative of the wilderness experience. It is explained by the formula using the same verbal root, “to burn.” Such naming narratives are found dozens of times in the OT, and most frequently in the Pentateuch. The explanation is seldom an exact etymology, and so in the literature is called a popular etymology. It is best to explain the connection as a figure of speech, a paronomasia, which is a phonetic wordplay that may or may not be etymologically connected. Usually the name is connected to the explanation by a play on the verbal root – here the preterite explaining the noun. The significance of commemorating the place by such a device is to “burn” it into the memory of Israel. The narrative itself would be remembered more easily by the name and its motif. The namings in the wilderness wanderings remind the faithful of unbelief, and warn us all not to murmur as they murmured. See further A. P. Ross, “Paronomasia and Popular Etymologies in the Naming Narrative of the Old Testament,” Ph.D. diss., University of Cambridge, 1982.

[16:35]  ³² tn For a discussion of the fire of the Lord, see J. C. H. Laughlin, “The Strange Fire of Nadab and Abihu,” JBL 95 (1976): 559-65.

[18:8]  ³³ tn Heb “within”; or “[from] within.” For a discussion of the use of the preposition -בְּ (bÿ) here, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 163-64.

[18:8]  ³⁴ tn Or “in his anger.” The noun אַף (’af) can carry the abstract meaning “anger,” but the parallelism (note “from his mouth”) suggests the more concrete meaning “nose” here. See also v. 15, “the powerful breath of your nose.”

[18:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “fire from his mouth devoured.” In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the two perfect verbal forms in the verse.

[18:8]  sn Fire devoured as it came from his mouth. For other examples of fire as a weapon in OT theophanies and ancient Near Eastern portrayals of warring gods and kings, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 165-67.

[18:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “coals burned from him.” Perhaps the psalmist pictures God’s fiery breath igniting coals (cf. Job 41:21), which he then hurls as weapons (cf. Ps 120:4).

[21:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).

[21:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.

[21:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the Lord, in his anger he swallows them, and fire devours them.” Some take “the Lord” as a vocative, in which case he is addressed in vv. 8-9a. But this makes the use of the third person in v. 9b rather awkward, though the king could be the subject (see vv. 1-7).

[50:3]  ⁴⁰ tn According to GKC 322 §109.e, the jussive (note the negative particle אַל, ’al) is used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.”

[50:3]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “fire before him devours, and around him it is very stormy.”

[83:14]  ⁴² sn The imagery of fire and flames suggests unrelenting, destructive judgment.

[83:15]  ⁴³ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 15 express the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

[4:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskin of your heart.” The translation is again an attempt to bring out the meaning of a metaphor. The mention of the “foreskin of the heart” shows that the passage is obviously metaphorical and involves heart attitude, not an external rite.

[4:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “lest.”

[7:20]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.

[7:20]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “this place.” Some see this as a reference to the temple but the context has been talking about what goes on in the towns of Judah and Jerusalem and the words that follow, meant as a further explanation, are applied to the whole land.

[7:20]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the trees of/in the field and the fruit of/in the ground.”

[4:1]  ⁴⁹ sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:6 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:19 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:20 HT, etc., through 4:6 ET = 3:24 HT. Thus the book of Malachi in the Hebrew Bible has only three chapters, with 24 verses in ch. 3.

[4:1]  ⁵⁰ sn This day is the well-known “day of the Lord” so pervasive in OT eschatological texts (see Joel 2:30-31; Amos 5:18; Obad 15). For the believer it is a day of grace and salvation; for the sinner, a day of judgment and destruction.

[4:1]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[4:2]  ⁵² tn Here the Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah), usually translated “righteousness” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT; cf. NAB “justice”), has been rendered as “vindication” because it is the vindication of God’s people that is in view in the context. Cf. BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 6; “righteousness as vindicated, justification, salvation, etc.”

[4:2]  sn The expression the sun of vindication will rise is a metaphorical way of describing the day of the Lord as a time of restoration when God vindicates his people (see 2 Sam 23:4; Isa 30:26; 60:1, 3). Their vindication and restoration will be as obvious and undeniable as the bright light of the rising sun.

[4:2]  ⁵³ sn The point of the metaphor of healing wings is unclear. The sun seems to be compared to a bird. Perhaps the sun’s “wings” are its warm rays. “Healing” may refer to a reversal of the injury done by evildoers (see Mal 3:5).

[4:2]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “you will go out and skip about.”

[3:12]  ⁵⁵ sn A winnowing fork was a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blew away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels.

[3:12]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building to house livestock).

[3:12]  ⁵⁷ sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.

[3:2]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “and saying, ‘Repent.’” The participle λέγων (legwn) at the beginning of v. 2 is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[1:7]  ⁵⁹ tc The reading ᾿Ασάφ (Asaf), a variant spelling on ᾿Ασά (Asa), is found in the earliest and most widespread witnesses (Ì^1vid א B C [D^luc] Ë^1,13 700 pc it co). Although Asaph was a psalmist and Asa was a king, it is doubtful that the author mistook one for the other since other ancient documents have variant spellings on the king’s name (such as “Asab,” “Asanos,” and “Asaph”). Thus the spelling ᾿Ασάφ that is almost surely found in the original of Matt 1:7-8 has been translated as “Asa” in keeping with the more common spelling of the king’s name.

[12:29]  ⁶⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 4:24; 9:3.