Exodus 9:23-25

9:23 When Moses extended ¹  his staff toward the sky, the Lord ²  sent thunder ³  and hail, and fire fell to the earth; ⁴  so the Lord caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt. 9:24 Hail fell ⁵  and fire mingled ⁶  with the hail; the hail was so severe ⁷  that there had not been any like it ⁸  in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. 9:25 The hail struck everything in the open fields, both ⁹  people and animals, throughout all the land of Egypt. The hail struck everything that grows ¹⁰  in the field, and it broke all the trees of the field to pieces.

Exodus 9:29

9:29 Moses said to him, “When I leave the city ¹¹  I will spread my hands to the Lord, the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. ¹² 

Leviticus 10:2

10:2 So fire went out from the presence of the Lord ¹³  and consumed them so that they died before the Lord.

Numbers 11:1

The Israelites Complain

11:1 ¹⁴ When the people complained, ¹⁵  it displeased ¹⁶  the Lord. When the Lord heard ¹⁷  it, his anger burned, ¹⁸  and so ¹⁹  the fire of the Lord ²⁰  burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.

Numbers 16:35

16:35 Then a fire ²¹  went out from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense.

Numbers 16:2

16:2 and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders ²²  of the community, chosen from the assembly, ²³  famous men. ²⁴ 

Numbers 1:10

1:10 from the sons of Joseph:

from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;

from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

Numbers 1:14

1:14 from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel; ²⁵ 

Revelation 11:5-6

11:5 If ²⁶  anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths ²⁷  and completely consumes ²⁸  their enemies. If ²⁹  anyone wants to harm them, they must be killed this way. 11:6 These two have the power ³⁰  to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the time ³¹  they are prophesying. They ³²  have power ³³  to turn the waters to blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague whenever they want.

[9:23]  ¹ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next clause in view of the emphasis put on the subject, Yahweh, by the disjunctive word order of that clause.

[9:23]  ² tn By starting the clause with the subject (an example of disjunctive word order) the text is certainly stressing that Yahweh alone did this.

[9:23]  ³ tn The expression נָתַן קֹלֹת (natan qolot) literally means “gave voices” (also “voice”). This is a poetic expression for sending the thunder. Ps 29:3 talks about the “voice of Yahweh” – the God of glory thunders!

[9:23]  ⁴ sn This clause has been variously interpreted. Lightning would ordinarily accompany thunder; in this case the mention of fire could indicate that the lightning was beyond normal and that it was striking in such a way as to start fires on the ground. It could also mean that fire went along the ground from the pounding hail.

[9:24]  ⁵ tn The verb is the common preterite וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), which is normally translated “and there was” if it is translated at all. The verb הָיָה (hayah), however, can mean “be, become, befall, fall, fall out, happen.” Here it could be simply translated “there was hail,” but the active “hail fell” fits the point of the sequence better.

[9:24]  ⁶ tn The form מִתְלַקַּחַת (mitlaqqakhat) is a Hitpael participle; the clause reads, “and fire taking hold of itself in the midst of the hail.” This probably refers to lightning flashing back and forth. See also Ezek 1:4. God created a great storm with flashing fire connected to it.

[9:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “very heavy” or “very severe.” The subject “the hail” is implied.

[9:24]  ⁸ tn A literal reading of the clause would be “which there was not like it in all the land of Egypt.” The relative pronoun must be joined to the resumptive pronoun: “which like it (like which) there had not been.”

[9:25]  ⁹ tn The exact expression is “from man even to beast.” R. J. Williams lists this as an example of the inclusive use of the preposition מִן (min) to be rendered “both…and” (Hebrew Syntax, 57, §327).

[9:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all the cultivated grain of.”

[9:29]  ¹¹ tn כְּצֵאתִי (kÿtse’ti) is the Qal infinitive construct of יָצָא (yatsa’); it functions here as the temporal clause before the statement about prayer.

[9:29]  ¹² sn This clause provides the purpose/result of Moses’ intention: he will pray to Yahweh and the storms will cease “that you might know….” It was not enough to pray and have the plague stop. Pharaoh must “know” that Yahweh is the sovereign Lord over the earth. Here was that purpose of knowing through experience. This clause provides the key for the exposition of this plague: God demonstrated his power over the forces of nature to show his sovereignty – the earth is Yahweh’s. He can destroy it. He can preserve it. If people sin by ignoring his word and not fearing him, he can bring judgment on them. If any fear Yahweh and obey his instructions, they will be spared. A positive way to express the expositional point of the chapter is to say that those who fear Yahweh and obey his word will escape the powerful destruction he has prepared for those who sinfully disregard his word.

[10:2]  ¹³ tn See the note on 9:24a.

[11:1]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next verb as a temporal clause.

[11:1]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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).

[16:35]  ²¹ 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.

[16:2]  ²² tn Heb “princes” (so KJV, ASV).

[16:2]  ²³ tn These men must have been counselors or judges of some kind.

[16:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “men of name,” or “men of renown.”

[1:14]  ²⁵ tc There is a textual difficulty with this verb. The Greek form uses r and not d, giving the name Ra‘oul. There is even some variation in the Hebrew traditions, but BHS (following the Leningrad codex of a.d. 1008) has preferred the name Deuel.

[11:5]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:5]  ²⁷ tn This is a collective singular in Greek.

[11:5]  ²⁸ tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”

[11:5]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:6]  ³⁰ tn Or “authority.”

[11:6]  ³¹ tn Grk “the days.”

[11:6]  ³² tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:6]  ³³ tn Or “authority.”