Bilangan 21:28

21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon.

It has consumed Ar of Moab

and the lords ¹  of the high places of Arnon.

Mazmur 78:63

78:63 Fire consumed their ²  young men,

and their ³  virgins remained unmarried. ⁴ 

Yesaya 26:11

26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, ⁵ 

but they don’t even notice.

They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, ⁶ 

yes, fire will consume your enemies. ⁷ 

[21:28]  ¹ tc Some scholars emend to בָּלְעָה (bal’ah), reading “and devoured,” instead of בַּעֲלֵי (ba’aley, “its lords”); cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV. This emendation is closer to the Greek and makes a better parallelism, but the MT makes good sense as it stands.

[78:63]  ² tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

[78:63]  ³ tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

[78:63]  ⁴ tn Heb “were not praised,” that is, in wedding songs. The young men died in masses, leaving no husbands for the young women.

[26:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”

[26:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”

[26:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”