2 Samuel 13:15

13:15 Then Amnon greatly despised her. ¹  His disdain toward her surpassed the love he had previously felt toward her. ²  Amnon said to her, “Get up and leave!”

2 Samuel 22:9

22:9 Smoke ascended from ³  his nose; ⁴ 

fire devoured as it came from his mouth; ⁵ 

he hurled down fiery coals. ⁶ 

[13:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and Amnon hated her with very great hatred.”

[13:15]  ² tn Heb “for greater was the hatred with which he hated her than the love with which he loved her.”

[22:9]  ³ tn Heb “within” or “[from] within.” For a discussion of the use of the preposition בְּ (bet) 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.

[22:9]  ⁴ 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 (most English versions, “nostrils”). See also v. 16, “the powerful breath of your nose.”

[22:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “fire from his mouth devoured.” In this poetic narrative 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.

[22:9]  sn For other examples of fire as a weapon in Old Testament theophanies and ancient Near Eastern portrayals of warring gods and kings, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 165-67.

[22:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “coals burned from him.” Perhaps the psalmist pictures God’s fiery breath igniting coals (see Job 41:21), which he then hurls as weapons (see Ps 120:4).