Isaiah 4:4

4:4 At that time ¹  the sovereign master ²  will wash the excrement ³  from Zion’s women,

he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst, ⁴ 

as he comes to judge

and to bring devastation. ⁵ 

Isaiah 10:16-17

10:16 For this reason ⁶  the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. ⁷  His majestic glory will go up in smoke. ⁸ 

10:17 The light of Israel ⁹  will become a fire,

their Holy One ¹⁰  will become a flame;

it will burn and consume the Assyrian king’s ¹¹  briers

and his thorns in one day.

Isaiah 30:33

30:33 For ¹²  the burial place is already prepared; ¹³ 

it has been made deep and wide for the king. ¹⁴ 

The firewood is piled high on it. ¹⁵ 

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

will ignite it.

Isaiah 37:36

37:36 The Lord’s messenger ¹⁶  went out and killed 185,000 troops ¹⁷  in the Assyrian camp. When they ¹⁸  got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 66:15-16

66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,

his chariots come like a windstorm, ²⁰ 

to reveal his raging anger,

his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. ²¹ 

66:16 For the Lord judges all humanity ²² 

with fire and his sword;

the Lord will kill many. ²³ 

Psalms 46:9

46:9 He brings an end to wars throughout the earth; ²⁴ 

he shatters ²⁵  the bow and breaks ²⁶  the spear;

he burns ²⁷  the shields with fire. ²⁸ 

Ezekiel 39:8-10

39:8 Realize that it is coming and it will be done, declares the sovereign Lord. It is the day I have spoken about.

39:9 “‘Then those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and use the weapons for kindling ²⁹  – the shields, ³⁰  bows and arrows, war clubs and spears – they will burn them for seven years. 39:10 They will not need to take ³¹  wood from the field or cut down trees from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons. They will take the loot from those who looted them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them, ³²  declares the sovereign Lord.

Malachi 3:2-3

3:2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, ³³  like a launderer’s soap. 3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering.

Matthew 3:11

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 ³⁴  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ³⁵ 

Acts 2:3

2:3 And tongues spreading out like a fire ³⁶  appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them.

Acts 2:19

2:19 And I will perform wonders in the sky ³⁷  above

and miraculous signs ³⁸  on the earth below,

blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

Acts 2:2

2:2 Suddenly ³⁹  a sound ⁴⁰  like a violent wind blowing ⁴¹  came from heaven ⁴²  and filled the entire house where they were sitting.

Acts 1:8

1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts ⁴³  of the earth.”

[4:4]  ¹ tn Heb “when” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); CEV “after”; NRSV “once.”

[4:4]  ² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[4:4]  ³ tn The word refers elsewhere to vomit (Isa 28:8) and fecal material (Isa 36:12). Many English versions render this somewhat euphemistically as “filth” (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV). Ironically in God’s sight the beautiful jewelry described earlier is nothing but vomit and feces, for it symbolizes the moral decay of the city’s residents (cf. NLT “moral filth”).

[4:4]  ⁴ sn See 1:21 for a related concept.

[4:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.” The precise meaning of the second half of the verse is uncertain. רוּחַ (ruakh) can be understood as “wind” in which case the passage pictures the Lord using a destructive wind as an instrument of judgment. However, this would create a mixed metaphor, for the first half of the verse uses the imagery of washing and rinsing to depict judgment. Perhaps the image would be that of a windstorm accompanied by heavy rain. רוּחַ can also mean “spirit,” in which case the verse may be referring to the Lord’s Spirit or, more likely, to a disposition that the Lord brings to the task of judgment. It is also uncertain if בָּעַר (ba’ar) here means “burning” or “sweeping away, devastating.”

[10:16]  ⁶ sn The irrational arrogance of the Assyrians (v. 15) will prompt the judgment about to be described.

[10:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “will send leanness against his healthy ones”; NASB, NIV “will send a wasting disease.”

[10:16]  ⁸ tc Heb “and in the place of his glory burning will burn, like the burning of fire.” The highly repetitive text (יֵקַד יְקֹד כִּיקוֹד אֵשׁ, yeqad yiqod kiqod ’esh) may be dittographic; if the second consonantal sequence יקד is omitted, the text would read “and in the place of his glory, it will burn like the burning of fire.”

[10:17]  ⁹ tn In this context the “Light of Israel” is a divine title (note the parallel title “his holy one”). The title points to God’s royal splendor, which overshadows and, when transformed into fire, destroys the “majestic glory” of the king of Assyria (v. 16b).

[10:17]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[10:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his.” In vv. 17-19 the Assyrian king and his empire is compared to a great forest and orchard that are destroyed by fire (symbolic of the Lord).

[30:33]  ¹² tn Or “indeed.”

[30:33]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “its pile of wood, fire and wood one makes abundant.”

[37:36]  ¹⁶ tn Traditionally, “the angel of the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[37:36]  ¹⁷ tn The word “troops” is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.

[37:36]  ¹⁸ tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.

[37:36]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies”; NLT “they found corpses everywhere.”

[66:15]  ²⁰ sn Chariots are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way that they kick up dust.

[66:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “to cause to return with the rage of his anger, and his battle cry [or “rebuke”] with flames of fire.”

[66:16]  ²² tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “upon all men”; TEV “all the people of the world.”

[66:16]  ²³ tn Heb “many are the slain of the Lord.”

[46:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[the] one who causes wars to cease unto the end of the earth.” The participle continues the description begun in v. 8b and indicates that this is the Lord’s characteristic activity. Ironically, he brings peace to the earth by devastating the warlike, hostile nations (vv. 8, 9b).

[46:9]  ²⁵ tn The verb שָׁבַר (shavar, “break”) appears in the Piel here (see Ps 29:5). In the OT it occurs thirty-six times in the Piel, always with multiple objects (the object is either a collective singular or grammatically plural or dual form). The Piel may highlight the repetition of the pluralative action, or it may suggest an intensification of action, indicating repeated action comprising a whole, perhaps with the nuance “break again and again, break in pieces.” Another option is to understand the form as resultative: “make broken” (see IBHS 404-7 §24.3). The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.

[46:9]  ²⁶ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries along the generalizing emphasis of the preceding imperfect.

[46:9]  ²⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.

[46:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “wagons he burns with fire.” Some read “chariots” here (cf. NASB), but the Hebrew word refers to wagons or carts, not chariots, elsewhere in the OT. In this context, where military weapons are mentioned, it is better to revocalize the form as עֲגִלוֹת (’agilot, “round shields”), a word which occurs only here in the OT, but is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic.

[39:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “burn and kindle the weapons.”

[39:9]  ³⁰ tn Two different types of shields are specified in the Hebrew text.

[39:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “they will not carry.”

[39:10]  ³² tn Heb “loot their looters and plunder their plunderers.”

[3:2]  ³³ sn The refiner’s fire was used to purify metal and refine it by melting it and allowing the dross, which floated to the top, to be scooped off.

[3:11]  ³⁴ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:11]  ³⁵ 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.

[2:3]  ³⁶ tn Or “And divided tongues as of fire.” The precise meaning of διαμερίζομαι (diamerizomai) in Acts 2:3 is difficult to determine. The meaning could be “tongues as of fire dividing up one to each person,” but it is also possible that the individual tongues of fire were divided (“And divided tongues as of fire appeared”). The translation adopted in the text (“tongues spreading out like a fire”) attempts to be somewhat ambiguous.

[2:19]  ³⁷ tn Or “in the heaven.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context. Here, in contrast to “the earth below,” a reference to the sky is more likely.

[2:19]  ³⁸ tn Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned; this is made explicit in the translation.

[2:2]  ³⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated for stylistic reasons. It occurs as part of the formula καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto) which is often left untranslated in Luke-Acts because it is redundant in contemporary English. Here it is possible (and indeed necessary) to translate ἐγένετο as “came” so that the initial clause of the English translation contains a verb; nevertheless the translation of the conjunction καί is not necessary.

[2:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “a noise.”

[2:2]  ⁴¹ tn While φέρω (ferw) generally refers to movement from one place to another with the possible implication of causing the movement of other objects, in Acts 2:2 φέρομαι (feromai) should probably be understood in a more idiomatic sense of “blowing” since it is combined with the noun for wind (πνοή, pnoh).

[2:2]  ⁴² tn Or “from the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context.

[1:8]  ⁴³ tn Or “to the ends.”