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Deuteronomy 4:24

in Deuteronomy 4

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

For Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.

KJV

For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

This verse in Deuteronomy 4

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

On the Holy Spirit 1.14.140 · Written before 397.

So the prophets called him a burning fire, because in those three points we see more intensely the majesty of the Godhead. Since to sanctify is of the Godhead, to illuminate is the property of fire and light, and the Godhead is frequently pointed out or seen in the appearance of fire: "For our God is a consuming fire," as Moses said.

This site's exposition

Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget

on Deuteronomy 4:23-24

Forget returns at verse 23, and the thing to be forgotten is the covenant itself. Hebrews 12:29 carries the clause of verse 24 over as it stands, for our God is a consuming fire, and places it at the end of an argument about a kingdom which cannot be moved. Jealous is the word God used of himself in the second commandment at Exodus 20:5, and the fire that spoke at Horeb in verse 12 is now said to be what he is.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers4 voices

A commentator

Jerome

St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER SEVEN · Written before 420.

proposed

[Daniel 7:9] "I beheld until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of days took His seat. His garment was as white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was composed of fiery flames and its wheels were set on fire. From before His presence there issued forth a rushing, fiery stream." We read something similar in John's Apocalypse: "After these things I was immediately in the Spirit, and lo, a throne was set up in heaven, and one was seated upon the throne; and He who sat upon it had the likeness of jasper and sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne like the appearance of emerald. Around the throne there were twenty-four other thrones, and upon the twenty-four thrones there sat twenty-four elders, clothed in shining garments; upon their heads was a golden crown, and lightning flashes issued from the throne, and voices and thunder. And in front of the throne there were seven torches of burning fire, which were the seven spirits of God. And in front of the throne lay a glassy sea like unto crystal." (Revelation 4:2-6) And so the many thrones which Daniel saw seem to me to be what John called the twenty-four thrones. And the Ancient of days is the One who, according to John sits alone upon His throne. Likewise the Son of man, who came unto the Ancient of days, is the same as He who, according to John, is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, and the titles of that sort (Revelation 5:5). I imagine that these thrones are the ones of which the Apostle Paul says, "Whether thrones or dominions..." (Colossians 1:16). And in the Gospel we read, "Ye yourselves shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28). And God is called the One who sits and who is the Ancient of days, in order that His character as eternal Judge might be indicated. […]

A commentator

Jerome

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 57 · Written before 420.

proposed

If God is fire, he is fire in order to drive out the cold of the devil.

A commentator

Origen of Alexandria

HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 26.1 · Written before 253.

proposed

"God is spirit, and those who worship him should worship in spirit and in truth." Our God is also "a consuming fire." Therefore God is called by two names: "spirit" and "fire." To the just he is spirit; to sinners he is fire.

A commentator

Origen of Alexandria

HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 5.3 · Written before 253.

proposed

Hear what is written: "Our God is a consuming fire." What does the God of fire consume? Will we be so senseless as to think that God consumes the firewood or straw or hay? But the God of fire consumes human sins. He consumes them, devours them, purges them, as he says in another place, "I will purge you with fire for purity."

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

John Damascene

ON THE ORTHODOX FAITH 4.9 · Written before 749.

proposed

And the Holy Spirit descended upon the holy apostles in the form of fire, because he is God, and "God is a consuming fire."
3 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire,.... To his enemies; his wrath is like fire to burn up and destroy all that oppose him and break his commands, and especially idolaters; whose sin of all others is the most provoking to him, since it strikes at his being, his honour and glory; wherefore it follows: even a jealous God; who is jealous of his honour in matters of worship, and will not suffer his glory to be given to another, nor his praise to graven images, without resenting it or punishing for it.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

God's jealousy over us is a good reason for our godly jealousy over ourselves. Secondly, He has a heavy hand to punish an affront, especially in his worship, for therein he is in a special manner jealous. He is a consuming fire; his wrath against sinners is so; it is dreadful and destroying, it is a fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries, Heb. x.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Thy God is a consuming fire - They had seen him on the mount as an unconsuming fire, while appearing to Moses, and giving the law; and they had seen him as a consuming fire in the case of Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their company. They had, therefore, every good to expect from his approbation, and every evil to dread from his displeasure.

The words behind it

8 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כִּ֚יfor

    kiH35884482 times

  • יְהוָ֣הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָGod your

    ʾeloheikhaH4302601 times

  • אֵ֥שׁ[is] a fire

    ʾeshH784378 times

  • אֹכְלָ֖הconsuming

    ʾokhelahH398810 times

  • ה֑וּאhe

    hu'H19311879 times

  • אֵ֖לa God

    ʾelH410241 times

  • קַנָּֽא׃ פjealous

    kana'H70676 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    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…

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 12:29

      “For our God is a consuming fire.”

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

    • Romans 8:31

      What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

    • Deuteronomy 20:4

      For the LORD your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”

  • Through

    Hebrews 12:29

    “For our God is a consuming fire.”

    it leads to

    • 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…

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Exodus 24:17

      And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies2

On this verse

About Deuteronomy

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 1.14.140; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER SEVEN; Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 57; John Damascene, ON THE ORTHODOX FAITH 4.9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 26.1; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 5.3 and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.