1 Kings 18:38

18:38 Then fire from the Lord fell from the sky. ¹  It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench.

Genesis 15:17

15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch ²  passed between the animal parts. ³ 

Exodus 3:2

3:2 The angel of the Lord ⁴  appeared ⁵  to him in ⁶  a flame of fire from within a bush. ⁷  He looked ⁸  – and ⁹  the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed! ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 4:11-12

4:11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it ¹¹  and yet dark with a thick cloud. ¹²  4:12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything – only a voice was heard. ¹³ 

Deuteronomy 4:33

4:33 Have a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of fire, as you yourselves have, and lived to tell about it?

Deuteronomy 4:2

4:2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to ¹⁴  you.

Deuteronomy 1:10

1:10 The Lord your God has increased your population ¹⁵  to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky. ¹⁶ 

Deuteronomy 2:11

2:11 These people, as well as the Anakites, are also considered Rephaites; ¹⁷  the Moabites call them Emites.

Hebrews 12:29

12:29 For our God is indeed a devouring fire. ¹⁸ 

¹ tn The words “from the sky” are added for stylistic reasons.

² sn A smoking pot with a flaming torch. These same implements were used in Mesopotamian rituals designed to ward off evil (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 113-14).

³ tn Heb “these pieces.”

⁴ sn The designation “the angel of the Lord” (Heb “the angel of Yahweh”) occurred in Genesis already (16:7-13; 21:17; 22:11-18). There is some ambiguity in the expression, but it seems often to be interchangeable with God’s name itself, indicating that it refers to the Lord.

⁵ tn The verb וַיֵּרָא (vayyera’) is the Niphal preterite of the verb “to see.” For similar examples of רָאָה (ra’ah) in Niphal where the subject “appears,” that is, allows himself to be seen, or presents himself, see Gen 12:7; 35:9; 46:29; Exod 6:3; and 23:17. B. Jacob notes that God appears in this way only to individuals and never to masses of people; it is his glory that appears to the masses (Exodus, 49).

⁶ tn Gesenius rightly classifies this as a bet (ב) essentiae (GKC 379 §119.i); it would then indicate that Yahweh appeared to Moses “as a flame.”

⁷ sn Fire frequently accompanies the revelation of Yahweh in Exodus as he delivers Israel, guides her, and purifies her. The description here is unique, calling attention to the manifestation as a flame of fire from within the bush. Philo was the first to interpret the bush as Israel, suffering under the persecution of Egypt but never consumed. The Bible leaves the interpretation open. However, in this revelation the fire is coming from within the bush, not from outside, and it represents the Lord who will deliver his people from persecution. See further E. Levine, “The Evolving Symbolism of the Burning Bush,” Dor le Dor 8 (1979): 185-93.

⁸ tn Heb “And he saw.”

⁹ tn The text again uses the deictic particle with vav, וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh), traditionally rendered “and behold.” The particle goes with the intense gaze, the outstretched arm, the raised eyebrow – excitement and intense interest: “look, over there.” It draws the reader into the immediate experience of the subject.

¹⁰ tn The construction uses the suffixed negative אֵינֶנּוּ (’enennu) to convey the subject of the passive verb: “It was not” consumed. This was the amazing thing, for nothing would burn faster in the desert than a thornbush on fire.

¹¹ tn Heb “a mountain burning with fire as far as the heart of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

¹² tn Heb “darkness, cloud, and heavy cloud.”

¹³ tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.

¹⁴ tn Heb “commanding.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “multiplied you.”

¹⁶ tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

¹⁷ sn Rephaites. The earliest reference to this infamous giant race is, again, in the story of the invasion of the eastern kings (Gen 14:5). They lived around Ashteroth Karnaim, probably modern Tell Ashtarah (cf. Deut 1:4), in the Bashan plateau east of the Sea of Galilee. Og, king of Bashan, was a Rephaite (Deut 3:11; Josh 12:4; 13:12). Other texts speak of them or their kinfolk in both Transjordan (Deut 2:20; 3:13) and Canaan (Josh 11:21-22; 14:12, 15; 15:13-14; Judg 1:20; 1 Sam 17:4; 1 Chr 20:4-8). They also appear in extra-biblical literature, especially in connection with the city state of Ugarit. See C. L’Heureux, “Ugaritic and Biblical Rephaim,” HTR 67 (1974): 265-74.

¹⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 4:24; 9:3.