Psalms 97:3
in Psalms 97Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A fire goeth before him, And burneth up his adversaries round about.
KJV
A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
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This verse in Psalms 97
Commentary
15 notes on this verseA fire goeth before him, Not the fiery law, which went forth from his right hand on Mount Sinai; but rather his Gospel, which, as it enlightens, warms, comforts, and refreshes his people, searches, torments, and destroys his enemies, and is the savour of death unto death to them; see Jer 23:
This site's exposition
let the distant shores be glad
on Psalms 97:1-3
The LORD reigns, and the gladness reaches the distant shores. Clouds and darkness around Him is the language of Sinai, where Exodus 20:21 puts God in the thick darkness. Fire goes before Him there, and righteousness and justice hold the throne up.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
"There shall go a fire before Him, and burn up His enemies on every side" [Psalm 97:3]. We remember having read in the Gospel, He shall say, "Depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." [Matthew 25:41] I do not think it is said of that fire. Why do I not? Because he speaketh of some fire, which shall go before Him, before He cometh to judgment. For it is said, that the fire goeth before Him, and burneth up His enemies on every side, that is, throughout the whole world. That fire will burn after His advent: this, on the contrary, will go before Him. What fire then is this? ...Behold, we have understood the fire that goeth before Him, that is to be understood of a kind of temporal punishment of the unbelieving and ungodly: let us understand the fire, if possible, of the salvation of the redeemed also; for thus we had proposed. The Lord Himself saith: "I am come to send fire on the earth:" [Luke 12:49] "fire" in the same way as a "sword;" as in another passage He saith, that He was not come to send peace, but a sword, upon earth. [Matthew 10:34] The sword to divide, the fire to burn: but each salutary: for the sword of His own word hath in salutary wise separated us from evil habits. For He brought a sword, and separated every believer either from his father who believed not in Christ, or from his mother in like manner unbelieving: or at least, if we were born of Christian parents, from his ancestors. For no man among us had not either a grandsire, or great grandsire, or some ancestry among the heathen, and in that unbelief which is accursed before God. We are separated from that which we were before; but the sword which separateth, but slayeth not, hath cut between us. […]
If, however, those whom God has accepted and the believers shall attain salvation, it is necessary that those whom God has rejected and the unbelieving should incur the opposite issue, even the loss of salvation. Now here is a judgment, and those who hold it out before us belong to the Creator. Whom else than the God of retribution can I understand by the one who shall "beat his servants with stripes," either "few or many," and shall exact from them what he had committed to them? Whom is it suitable for me to obey, but him who remunerates? Your Christ proclaims, "I have come to send fire on the earth." That most lenient being, the Lord who has no hell, not long before had restrained his disciples from demanding fire on the churlish village. Whereas he burned Sodom and Gomorrah with a tempest of fire. Of him the psalmist sang, "A fire shall go out before him and burn up his enemies round about." By Hosea he uttered the threat, "I will send a fire on the cities of Judah"; and by Isaiah, "A fire has been kindled in my anger." He cannot lie. If it is not he who spoke even out of the burning bush, it can be of no importance what fire you insist on being understood.
A fire shall go before him. Let him who is holy not fear this fire; let him who is a sinner fear it. This fire purges the holy, consumes sinners. A fire shall go before him. "Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a burning fire." I think these are the fires, that is, his angels. These angels, therefore, that is his fire, shall go before him. These angels — whom do they consume? Whoever is wood, hay, stubble. But he who is gold, silver, and precious stones shall indeed be cast into the fire, but shall be found the cleaner.
"Fire shall go before him." The Lord is pure, "he dwells holy among the holy": we cannot be joined to him, unless fire first has burned up our vices. "For of what sort each one's work is, fire shall prove." "And it shall inflame his enemies round about." God does not inflame his enemies as enemies, but as friends: for he burns away the vices of his enemies, that out of enemies he may make friends.
[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."
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
Fire will precede the face of the Judge, by which the face of the earth will be burned up, so that the figure of this world will perish by the conflagration of worldly fires, just as the flood came about by the inundation of waters. …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
This was fulfilled in the enmity of the unbelieving Jews to the gospel of Christ, and the violent persecution which in all places they stirred up against the preachers and professors of it. These enemies are here called hills (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
When the kingdom of Christ was to be set up in the world, after his ascension, it would meet with many enemies, and much opposition would be given to it.
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
A fire goeth before him. Like an advance guard clearing the way. So was it at Sinai, so must it be: the very Being of God is power, consuming all opposition; omnipotence is a devouring flame which burneth up his enemies round about. God is longsuffering, but when he comes forth to judgment he will make short work with the unrighteous, they will be as chaff before the flame.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The attending illustrations of God's awful justice on enemies (Ps 83:14) are seen in the disclosures of His almighty power on the elements of nature (compare Ps 46:2;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A fire goeth before him. Like an advance guard clearing the way. So was it at Sinai, so must it be: the very Being of God is power, consuming all opposition; omnipotence is a devouring flame which burneth up his enemies round about. God is longsuffering, but when he comes forth to judgment he will make short work with the unrighteous, they will be as chaff before the flame. Reading this verse in reference to the coming of Jesus, and the descent of the Spirit, we are reminded of the tongues of fire, and of the power which attended the gospel, so that all opposition was speedily overcome. Even now where the gospel is preached in faith, and in the power of the Spirit, it burns its own way, irresistibly destroying falsehood, superstition, unbelief, sin, indifference, and hardness of heart. In it the Lord reigneth, and because of it let the earth rejoice.
A fire goeth before him - Literally, this and the following verse may refer to the electric fluid, or to manifestations of the Divine displeasure, in which, by means of ethereal fire, God consumed his enemies. But fire is generally represented as an accompaniment of the appearances of the Supreme Being. He appeared on Mount Sinai in the midst of fire, thunder, and lightninys, Exo 19:16-18. Daniel, Dan 7:9, Dan 7:10, represents the Sovereign Judge as being on a throne which was a fiery flame, and the wheels of his chariot like burning fire; and a fiery streamer issuing from it, and coming forth from before him. St. Paul tells us (2Th 1:8) that the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in faming fire; and St. Peter, (2Pe 3:7, 2Pe 3:10, 2Pe 3:11), that when the Lord shall come to judgment the heavens and the earth shall be destroyed by fire. the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, the elements melt with fervent heat, and the earth and its works be burnt up. Here then, will appear: - “Our God in grandeur, and our world on fire.” Burneth up his enemies round about - The fire is his pioneer which destroys all the hinderances in his way, and makes him a plain passage.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A fire goeth before him - See Psa 18:13, note; Psa 50:3, note. And burneth up his enemies round about - Is especially directed against his foes. That is, he manifests himself as a just God, inflicting vengeance on his enemies. He comes to reign, and in his reign all his foes will be destroyed.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Fire will go before Him in the war of Gog and Magog, for it is written concerning his war (Ezek.:22): “And I shall plead against him with pestilence and with blood, and rain bringing floods and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.”
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. 5 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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֵ֭שׁ | ʾesh | fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| לְפָנָ֣יו | lefanav | <to> before him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| תֵּלֵ֑ךְ | telekh | it goes | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וּתְלַהֵ֖ט | utelahet | and it may burn up | H3857 → | 11 times |
| סָבִ֣יב | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| צָרָֽיו׃ | tzarav | opponents his | H6862 → | 109 times |
אֵ֭שׁfire
ʾeshH784 →378 times
לְפָנָ֣יו<to> before him
lefanavH6440 →2123 times
תֵּלֵ֑ךְit goes
telekhH1980 →1546 times
וּתְלַהֵ֖טand it may burn up
utelahetH3857 →11 times
סָבִ֣יבall around
savivH5439 →336 times
צָרָֽיו׃opponents his
tzaravH6862 →109 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
Malachi 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…
it leads to
- 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Peter 3:7
And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Malachi 3:2
But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
Through
Hebrews 12:29“For our God is a consuming fire.”
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:27
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- Hebrews 10:27
Through
2 Thessalonians 1:8in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 4:17
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
- 1 Peter 4:17
About Psalms
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 97; Bonaventure, Breviloquium, Part 7; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 24, on Psalm 96; Jerome, Homily 73, on Psalm 96 (Alternate Series); Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER SEVEN; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 4.29.