2 Samuel 22:9
in 2 Samuel 22Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it.
KJV
There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 22
Commentary
3 notes on this verseWe do not find that in any of David's battles God fought for him with thunder (as in Samuel's time), or with hail (as in Joshua's time), or with the stars in their courses (as in Deborah's time); but these lofty metaphors are used, [1.] To set forth the glory of God, which was manifested in his deliverance.
This site's exposition
the earth shook and trembled
on 2 Samuel 22:8-10
The earth shook and trembled answers Sinai, where the ground trembled under God's descent at the giving of the law, and the song borrows that theophany's language to describe the rescue of a single man. Smoke out of his nostrils and fire out of his mouth are storm imagery for a king riding to battle for his servant, not a description meant to be read as literal anatomy. He bowed the heavens also, and came down repeats the verb of Sinai's own descent, and Matthew Henry reads the whole section as built from Israel's founding memory of God appearing in the storm.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. See Gill on Psa 18:8.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
He bent heaven. To take revenge from His enemies, from Mitzrayim and from Pharoah.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And He bent down the heavens and his Glory was revealed, and a dark cloud covered before Him.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָלָ֤ה | ʾalah | it went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| עָשָׁן֙ | ʾashan | smoke | H6227 → | |
| בְּאַפּ֔וֹ | beapo | in nose his | H639 → | 276 times |
| וְאֵ֥שׁ | veesh | and fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| מִפִּ֖יו | mipiv | from mouth his | H6310 → | 498 times |
| תֹּאכֵ֑ל | tokhel | it consumed | H398 → | 810 times |
| גֶּחָלִ֖ים | gechalim | coals | H1513 → | 18 times |
| בָּעֲר֥וּ | baaru | they burned | H1197 → | 94 times |
| מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ | mimenu | from him | H4480 → | 1188 times |
עָלָ֤הit went up
ʾalahH5927 →890 times
עָשָׁן֙smoke
ʾashanH6227 →
בְּאַפּ֔וֹin nose his
beapoH639 →276 times
וְאֵ֥שׁand fire
veeshH784 →378 times
מִפִּ֖יוfrom mouth his
mipivH6310 →498 times
תֹּאכֵ֑לit consumed
tokhelH398 →810 times
גֶּחָלִ֖יםcoals
gechalimH1513 →18 times
בָּעֲר֥וּthey burned
baaruH1197 →94 times
מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃from him
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 12:29“For our God is a consuming fire.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
- Deuteronomy 9:3
But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate…
- Isaiah 66:15
For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- Hebrews 10:27
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.
- Deuteronomy 4:24
Through
Jeremiah 5:14Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:29
“Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”
- Jeremiah 1:9
Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
- Hosea 6:5
Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth, and My judgments go forth like lightning.
- Jeremiah 23:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.