2 Samuel 22:8-10

22:8 The earth heaved and shook; ¹ 

the foundations of the sky ²  trembled. ³ 

They heaved because he was angry.

22:9 Smoke ascended from ⁴  his nose; ⁵ 

fire devoured as it came from his mouth; ⁶ 

he hurled down fiery coals. ⁷ 

22:10 He made the sky sink ⁸  as he descended;

a thick cloud was under his feet.

Isaiah 27:4

27:4 I am not angry.

I wish I could confront some thorns and briers!

Then I would march against them ⁹  for battle;

I would set them ¹⁰  all on fire,

Matthew 3:10-12

3:10 Even now the ax is laid at ¹¹  the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy ¹²  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹³  3:12 His winnowing fork ¹⁴  is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, ¹⁵  but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” ¹⁶ 

Matthew 13:42

13:42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, ¹⁷  where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Luke 19:14

19:14 But his citizens ¹⁸  hated ¹⁹  him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man ²⁰  to be king ²¹  over us!’

Luke 19:27

19:27 But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, ²²  bring them here and slaughter ²³  them ²⁴  in front of me!’”

John 15:6

15:6 If anyone does not remain ²⁵  in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, ²⁶  and are burned up. ²⁷ 

John 15:2

15:2 He takes away ²⁸  every branch that does not bear ²⁹  fruit in me. He ³⁰  prunes ³¹  every branch that bears ³²  fruit so that it will bear more fruit.

John 1:8

1:8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify ³³  about the light.

John 2:8

2:8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,” ³⁴  and they did.

Hebrews 6:8

6:8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; ³⁵  its fate is to be burned.

[22:8]  ¹ tn The earth heaved and shook. The imagery pictures an earthquake, in which the earth’s surface rises and falls. The earthquake motif is common in Old Testament theophanies of God as warrior and in ancient Near eastern literary descriptions 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), 160-62.

[22:8]  ² tn Ps 18:7 reads “the roots of the mountains.”

[22:8]  ³ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the three prefixed verbal forms with vav consecutive in the verse.

[22:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “within” or “[from] within.” For a discussion of the use of the preposition בְּ (bet) 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.

[22:9]  ⁵ 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 (most English versions, “nostrils”). See also v. 16, “the powerful breath of your nose.”

[22:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “fire from his mouth devoured.” In this poetic narrative 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.

[22:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “coals burned from him.” Perhaps the psalmist pictures God’s fiery breath igniting coals (see Job 41:21), which he then hurls as weapons (see Ps 120:4).

[22:10]  ⁸ tn The verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “[to cause to] bend; [to cause to] bow down” (see HALOT 693 s.v. נָטָה). For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden (cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “He bowed the heavens”; NAB “He inclined the heavens”). Here the Lord causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to bend or sink down as he descends in the storm.

[27:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense. For other examples of a cohortative expressing resolve after a hypothetical statement introduced by נָתַן with מִי (miwith natan), see Judg 9:29; Jer 9:1-2; Ps 55:6.

[27:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense.

[3:10]  ¹¹ sn Laid at the root. That is, placed and aimed, ready to begin cutting.

[3:11]  ¹² tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:11]  ¹³ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[3:12]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building to house livestock).

[3:12]  ¹⁶ sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.

[13:42]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Dan 3:6.

[19:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “subjects.” Technically these people were not his subjects yet, but would be upon his return. They were citizens of his country who opposed his appointment as their king; later the newly-appointed king will refer to them as his “enemies” (v. 27).

[19:14]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect is intense in this context, suggesting an ongoing attitude.

[19:14]  ²⁰ tn Grk “this one” (somewhat derogatory in this context).

[19:14]  ²¹ tn Or “to rule.”

[19:27]  ²² tn Grk “to rule over them.”

[19:27]  ²³ tn This term, when used of people rather than animals, has some connotations of violence and mercilessness (L&N 20.72).

[19:27]  ²⁴ sn Slaughter them. To reject the king is to face certain judgment from him.

[15:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “reside.”

[15:6]  ²⁶ sn Such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire. The author does not tell who it is who does the gathering and throwing into the fire. Although some claim that realized eschatology is so prevalent in the Fourth Gospel that no references to final eschatology appear at all, the fate of these branches seems to point to the opposite. The imagery is almost certainly that of eschatological judgment, and recalls some of the OT vine imagery which involves divine rejection and judgment of disobedient Israel (Ezek 15:4-6, 19:12).

[15:6]  ²⁷ tn Grk “they gather them up and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

[15:2]  ²⁸ tn Or “He cuts off.”

[15:2]  ²⁹ tn Or “does not yield.”

[15:2]  ³⁰ tn Grk “And he”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been omitted in the translation in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[15:2]  ³¹ tn Or “trims”; Grk “cleanses” (a wordplay with “clean” in v. 3). Καθαίρει (kaqairei) is not the word one would have expected here, but it provides the transition from the vine imagery to the disciples – there is a wordplay (not reproducible in English) between αἴρει (airei) and καθαίρει in this verse. While the purpose of the Father in cleansing his people is clear, the precise means by which he does so is not immediately obvious. This will become clearer, however, in the following verse.

[15:2]  ³² tn Or “that yields.”

[1:8]  ³³ tn Or “to bear witness.”

[2:8]  ³⁴ tn Or “the master of ceremonies.”

[6:8]  ³⁵ tn Grk “near to a curse.”