Psalms 63:2

63:2 Yes, ¹  in the sanctuary I have seen you, ² 

and witnessed ³  your power and splendor.

Isaiah 9:18

9:18 For ⁴  evil burned like a fire, ⁵ 

it consumed thorns and briers;

it burned up the thickets of the forest,

and they went up in smoke. ⁶ 

Isaiah 10:18-19

10:18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard

will be completely destroyed, ⁷ 

as when a sick man’s life ebbs away. ⁸ 

10:19 There will be so few trees left in his forest,

a child will be able to count them. ⁹ 

Ezekiel 20:46-48

20:46 “Son of man, turn toward ¹⁰  the south, ¹¹  and speak out against the south. ¹²  Prophesy against the open scrub ¹³  land of the Negev, 20:47 and say to the scrub land of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ¹⁴  I am about to start a fire in you, ¹⁵  and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The flaming fire will not be extinguished, and the whole surface of the ground from the Negev to the north will be scorched by it. 20:48 And everyone ¹⁶  will see that I, the Lord, have burned it; it will not be extinguished.’”

¹ tn The Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used here to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4).

² tn The perfect verbal form is understood here as referring to a past experience which the psalmist desires to be repeated. Another option is to take the perfect as indicating the psalmist’s certitude that he will again stand in God’s presence in the sanctuary. In this case one can translate, “I will see you.”

³ tn Heb “seeing.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.

⁴ tn Or “Indeed” (cf. NIV “Surely”). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

⁵ sn Evil was uncontrollable and destructive, and so can be compared to a forest fire.

⁶ tn Heb “and they swirled [with] the rising of the smoke” (cf. NRSV).

⁷ tn Heb “from breath to flesh it will destroy.” The expression “from breath to flesh” refers to the two basic components of a person, the immaterial (life’s breath) and the material (flesh). Here the phrase is used idiomatically to indicate totality.

⁸ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. מָסַס (masas), which is used elsewhere of substances dissolving or melting, may here mean “waste away” or “despair.” נָסַס (nasas), which appears only here, may mean “be sick” or “stagger, despair.” See BDB 651 s.v. I נָסַס and HALOT 703 s.v. I נסס. One might translate the line literally, “like the wasting away of one who is sick” (cf. NRSV “as when an invalid wastes away”).

⁹ tn Heb “and the rest of the trees of his forest will be counted, and a child will record them.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “set your face toward.” This expression occurs as well in Ezek 6:2; 13:17.

¹¹ tn Or “the way toward the south,” or “the way toward Teman.” Teman is in the south and may be a location or the direction.

¹² tn Or “toward Darom.” Darom may mean the south or a region just north of southern city of Beer Sheba. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:417-18.

¹³ tn The Hebrew term can also mean “forest,” but a meaning of uncultivated wasteland fits the Negev region far better. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:418.

¹⁴ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

¹⁵ tn Fire also appears as a form of judgment in Ezek 15:4-7; 19:12, 14.

¹⁶ tn Heb “all flesh.”