Isaiah 30:33

30:33 For ¹  the burial place is already prepared; ² 

it has been made deep and wide for the king. ³ 

The firewood is piled high on it. ⁴ 

The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,

will ignite it.

Isaiah 33:11-12

33:11 You conceive straw, ⁵ 

you give birth to chaff;

your breath is a fire that destroys you. ⁶ 

33:12 The nations will be burned to ashes; ⁷ 

like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.

Isaiah 64:1-2

64:1 (63:19b) ⁸  If only you would tear apart the sky ⁹  and come down!

The mountains would tremble ¹⁰  before you!

64:2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,

or fire makes water boil,

let your adversaries know who you are, ¹¹ 

and may the nations shake at your presence!

Ezekiel 20:47-48

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, ¹²  I am about to start a fire in you, ¹³  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 ¹⁴  will see that I, the Lord, have burned it; it will not be extinguished.’”

Malachi 4:1

4:1 (3:19) ¹⁵  “For indeed the day ¹⁶  is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It ¹⁷  will not leave even a root or branch.

[30:33]  ¹ tn Or “indeed.”

[30:33]  ² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for arranged from before [or “yesterday”] is [?].” The meaning of תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh), which occurs only here, is unknown. The translation above (as with most English versions) assumes an emendation to תֹּפֶת (tofet, “Topheth”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) and places the final hey (ה) on the beginning of the next word as an interrogative particle. Topheth was a place near Jerusalem used as a burial ground (see Jer 7:32; 19:11).

[30:33]  ³ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Also it is made ready for the king, one makes it deep and wide.” If one takes the final hey (ה) on תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh) and prefixes it to גָּם (gam) as an interrogative particle (see the preceding note), one can translate, “Is it also made ready for the king?” In this case the question is rhetorical and expects an emphatic affirmative answer, “Of course it is!”

[30:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “its pile of wood, fire and wood one makes abundant.”

[33:11]  ⁵ tn The second person verb and pronominal forms in this verse are plural. The hostile nations are the addressed, as the next verse makes clear.

[33:11]  ⁶ sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.

[33:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “will be a burning to lime.” See Amos 2:1.

[64:1]  ⁸ sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[64:1]  ⁹ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[64:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.

[64:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to make known your name to your adversaries.” Perhaps the infinitive construct with preposition -לְ (lamed) should be construed with “come down” in v. 1a, or subordinated to the following line: “To make known your name to your adversaries, let the nations shake from before you.”

[20:47]  ¹² tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[20:47]  ¹³ tn Fire also appears as a form of judgment in Ezek 15:4-7; 19:12, 14.

[20:48]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[4:1]  ¹⁵ sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:6 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:19 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:20 HT, etc., through 4:6 ET = 3:24 HT. Thus the book of Malachi in the Hebrew Bible has only three chapters, with 24 verses in ch. 3.

[4:1]  ¹⁶ sn This day is the well-known “day of the Lord” so pervasive in OT eschatological texts (see Joel 2:30-31; Amos 5:18; Obad 15). For the believer it is a day of grace and salvation; for the sinner, a day of judgment and destruction.

[4:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.