Psalms 83:14
in Psalms 83As fire consumes a forest, as a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As the fire that burneth the forest, And as the flame that setteth the mountains on fire,
KJV
As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
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This verse in Psalms 83
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAs fire that burns up a forest. He did not say "fruitful trees," but "forest," which has no fruit. If anyone, then, is stubble, and has no wheat; if anyone is a forest, and has no fruit — let this perish. As a flame burning up the mountains: let the pride in them perish.
This site's exposition
O my God, make them like a wheel
on Psalms 83:13-16
The images that follow, a wheel or whirling stubble before the wind, fire through a wood, flame across the mountains, ask that the enemy's own momentum undo them, driven and consumed rather than met force for force. The gracious rule that governs the whole book governs this passage without exception: the prayer is Scripture, spoken against a specific ancient confederacy bent on erasing Israel, and it is never read onto any people living now. Fill their faces with shame carries its purpose into the next verse: the desired end is not destruction for its own sake but that they may seek thy name, O Lord.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When the stubble is driven by the wind it will rest, at last, under some hedge, in some ditch or other; but he prays that they might not only be driven away as stubble, but burnt up as stubble.
on Psalms 83:9-18
This, in the singing of it, we may apply to the enemies of the gospel-church, all anti-christian powers and factions, representing to God their confederacies against Christ and his kingdom, and rejoicing in the hope that all their projects will be baffled and the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
My God, make them like thistles, like stubble which are driven away by the wind. Now what is גלגל? It is the tips of the thorns of the field, which are called chardons in French, thistles.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Who said These nations mentioned above: Edom, Ishmael, and all their allies.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּאֵ֥שׁ | keesh | like a fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| תִּבְעַר־ | tivar- | [which] it burns | H1197 → | 94 times |
| יָ֑עַר | yaar | a forest | H3293 → | 59 times |
| וּ֝כְלֶהָבָ֗ה | ukhelehavah | and like a flame | H3852 → | 19 times |
| תְּלַהֵ֥ט | telahet | [which] it sets ablaze | H3857 → | 11 times |
| הָרִֽים׃ | harim | mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
כְּאֵ֥שׁlike a fire
keeshH784 →378 times
תִּבְעַר־[which] it burns
tivar-H1197 →94 times
יָ֑עַרa forest
yaarH3293 →59 times
וּ֝כְלֶהָבָ֗הand like a flame
ukhelehavahH3852 →19 times
תְּלַהֵ֥ט[which] it sets ablaze
telahetH3857 →11 times
הָרִֽים׃mountains
harimH2022 →546 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
- Isaiah 5:24
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected…
Reached by 3 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- 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.
- Isaiah 47:14
Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside.
- Isaiah 5:24
Through
Nahum 1:10For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.
it leads to
- 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Micah 7:4
The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time…
- Malachi 4:1
Through
Nahum 1:6Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:10
But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
- Jeremiah 10:10
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Jerome, Homily 15, on Psalm 82 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.