Psalms 18:8

18:8 Smoke ascended from ¹  his nose; ² 

fire devoured as it came from his mouth; ³ 

he hurled down fiery coals. ⁴ 

Psalms 39:3

39:3 my anxiety intensified. ⁵ 

As I thought about it, I became impatient. ⁶ 

Finally I spoke these words: ⁷ 

Psalms 79:5

79:5 How long will this go on, O Lord? ⁸ 

Will you stay angry forever?

How long will your rage ⁹  burn like fire?

Psalms 89:46

89:46 How long, O Lord, will this last?

Will you remain hidden forever? ¹⁰ 

Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

[18:8]  ¹ tn Heb “within”; or “[from] within.” For a discussion of the use of the preposition -בְּ (bÿ) 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.

[18:8]  ² 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. See also v. 15, “the powerful breath of your nose.”

[18:8]  ³ tn Heb “fire from his mouth devoured.” In this poetic narrative context 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.

[18:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “coals burned from him.” Perhaps the psalmist pictures God’s fiery breath igniting coals (cf. Job 41:21), which he then hurls as weapons (cf. Ps 120:4).

[39:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “my heart was hot within me.”

[39:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “In my reflection fire burned.” The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite (past tense) or an imperfect being used in a past progressive or customary sense (“fire was burning”).

[39:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “I spoke with my tongue.” The phrase “these words” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[79:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “How long, O Lord?”

[79:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “jealous anger.”

[89:46]  ¹³ tn Heb “How long, O Lord, will hide yourself forever?”