Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 4:24
Context4:24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God. 1
Psalms 50:3
Context50:3 Our God approaches and is not silent; 2
consuming fire goes ahead of him
and all around him a storm rages. 3
Psalms 97:2
Context97:2 Dark clouds surround him;
equity and justice are the foundation of his throne. 4
Psalms 97:2
Context97:2 Dark clouds surround him;
equity and justice are the foundation of his throne. 5
Psalms 1:1
ContextBook 1
(Psalms 1-41)
1:1 How blessed 7 is the one 8 who does not follow 9 the advice 10 of the wicked, 11
or stand in the pathway 12 with sinners,
or sit in the assembly 13 of scoffers! 14
Hebrews 12:29
Context12:29 For our God is indeed a devouring fire. 15
Revelation 1:14-16
Context1:14 His 16 head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, 17 and his eyes were like a fiery 18 flame. 1:15 His feet were like polished bronze 19 refined 20 in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar 21 of many waters. 1:16 He held 22 seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His 23 face shone like the sun shining at full strength.
[4:24] 1 tn The juxtaposition of the Hebrew terms אֵשׁ (’esh, “fire”) and קַנָּא (qanna’, “jealous”) is interesting in light of Deut 6:15 where the
[50:3] 2 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] 3 tn Heb “fire before him devours, and around him it is very stormy.”
[97:2] 4 sn The Lord’s throne symbolizes his kingship.
[97:2] 5 sn The Lord’s throne symbolizes his kingship.
[1:1] 6 sn Psalm 1. In this wisdom psalm the author advises his audience to reject the lifestyle of the wicked and to be loyal to God. The psalmist contrasts the destiny of the wicked with that of the righteous, emphasizing that the wicked are eventually destroyed while the godly prosper under the Lord’s protective care.
[1:1] 7 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see v. 3; Pss 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
[1:1] 8 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” (Generic “he” is employed in vv. 2-3). Since the godly man described in the psalm is representative of followers of God (note the plural form צַדִּיקִים [tsadiqim, “righteous, godly”] in vv. 5-6), one could translate the collective singular with the plural “those” both here and in vv. 2-3, where singular pronouns and verbal forms are utilized in the Hebrew text (cf. NRSV). However, here the singular form may emphasize that godly individuals are usually outnumbered by the wicked. Retaining the singular allows the translation to retain this emphasis.
[1:1] 9 tn Heb “walk in.” The three perfect verbal forms in v. 1 refer in this context to characteristic behavior. The sequence “walk–stand–sit” envisions a progression from relatively casual association with the wicked to complete identification with them.
[1:1] 10 tn The Hebrew noun translated “advice” most often refers to the “counsel” or “advice” one receives from others. To “walk in the advice of the wicked” means to allow their evil advice to impact and determine one’s behavior.
[1:1] 11 tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21).
[1:1] 12 tn “Pathway” here refers to the lifestyle of sinners. To “stand in the pathway of/with sinners” means to closely associate with them in their sinful behavior.
[1:1] 13 tn Here the Hebrew term מוֹשַׁב (moshav), although often translated “seat” (cf. NEB, NIV), appears to refer to the whole assembly of evildoers. The word also carries the semantic nuance “assembly” in Ps 107:32, where it is in synonymous parallelism with קָהָל (qahal, “assembly”).
[1:1] 14 tn The Hebrew word refers to arrogant individuals (Prov 21:24) who love conflict (Prov 22:10) and vociferously reject wisdom and correction (Prov 1:22; 9:7-8; 13:1; 15:12). To “sit in the assembly” of such people means to completely identify with them in their proud, sinful plans and behavior.
[12:29] 15 sn A quotation from Deut 4:24; 9:3.
[1:14] 16 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[1:14] 17 tn The clause, “even as white as snow” seems to heighten the preceding clause and is so understood in this ascensive sense (“even”) in the translation.
[1:14] 18 tn The genitive noun πυρός (puros) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
[1:15] 19 tn The precise meaning of the term translated “polished bronze” (χαλκολιβάνῳ, calkolibanw), which appears nowhere else in Greek literature outside of the book of Revelation (see 2:18), is uncertain. Without question it is some sort of metal. BDAG 1076 s.v. χαλκολίβανον suggests “fine brass/bronze.” L&N 2.57 takes the word to refer to particularly valuable or fine bronze, but notes that the emphasis here and in Rev 2:18 is more on the lustrous quality of the metal.
[1:15] 20 tn Or “that has been heated in a furnace until it glows.”
[1:15] 21 tn Grk “sound,” but the idea is closer to the roar of a waterfall or rapids.
[1:16] 22 tn Grk “and having.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but because contemporary English style employs much shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “he.”
[1:16] 23 tn This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation.
