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Monday, July 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

Complete Jewish Bible

Psalms 18:9

Smoke arose in his nostrils; out of his mouth came devouring fire; sparks blazed forth from him.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God;   Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena;   Readings, Select;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Fire;   Psalms, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Apocalyptic Literature;   David;   English Versions;   Greek Versions of Ot;   Jonah;   Kingdom of God;   Psalms;   Salvation, Saviour;   Sin;   Text, Versions, and Languages of Ot;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Darkness;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - David;   Psalms the book of;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Feet (under);  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bush, the Burning;   Cherubim (1);   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Anger;   Coal;   Theophany;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He bent the heavens and came down,total darkness beneath his feet.
Hebrew Names Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.
King James Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
English Standard Version
He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
New Century Version
He tore open the sky and came down with dark clouds under his feet.
New English Translation
He made the sky sink as he descended; a thick cloud was under his feet.
Amplified Bible
He bowed the heavens also and came down; And thick darkness was under His feet.
New American Standard Bible
He also bowed the heavens down low, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.
World English Bible
He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.
Geneva Bible (1587)
He bowed the heauens also & came downe, and darkenes was vnder his feete.
Legacy Standard Bible
He bowed the heavens and came downWith thick darkness under His feet.
Berean Standard Bible
He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds under His feet.
Contemporary English Version
You opened the heavens like curtains, and you came down with storm clouds under your feet.
Darby Translation
And he bowed the heavens, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.
Easy-to-Read Version
He tore open the sky and came down! He stood on a thick, dark cloud.
George Lamsa Translation
He bowed the heavens and came down; and thick darkness was under his feet.
Good News Translation
He tore the sky open and came down with a dark cloud under his feet.
Lexham English Bible
So he bowed the heavens and came down with a thick cloud under his feet.
Literal Translation
He bowed the heavens also and came down, and darkness was under His feet;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He bowed the heaues & came downe, & it was darcke vnder his fete.
American Standard Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet.
Bible in Basic English
The heavens were bent, so that he might come down; and it was dark under his feet.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Smoke arose up in His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth did devour;
King James Version (1611)
He bowed the heauens also, and came downe: and darkenesse was vnder his feet.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
He bowed the heauens also, and he came downe: and it was darke vnder his feete.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he bowed the heaven, and came down: and thick darkness was under his feet.
English Revised Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down, and thick darkness was under his feet.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Smoke stiede in the ire of hym, and fier brente out fro his face; coolis weren kyndlid of hym.
Update Bible Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet.
Webster's Bible Translation
He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness [was] under his feet.
New King James Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.
New Living Translation
He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.
New Life Bible
He parted the heavens and came down. Dark clouds were under His feet.
New Revised Standard
He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then he stretched out the heaven, and came down, - and, thick gloom, was under his feet;
Douay-Rheims Bible
(17-10) He bowed the heavens, and came down, and darkness was under his feet.
Revised Standard Version
He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
Young's Literal Translation
And He inclineth the heavens, and cometh down, And thick darkness [is] under His feet.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.

Contextual Overview

1 For the leader. By David the servant of Adonai , who addressed the words of this song to Adonai on the day when Adonai delivered him from the power of all his enemies, including from the power of Sha'ul. 2 He said: "I love you, Adonai , my strength! 3 " Adonai is my Rock, my fortress and deliverer, my God, my Rock, in whom I find shelter, my shield, the power that saves me, my stronghold. 4 I call on Adonai , who is worthy of praise; and I am saved from my enemies. 5 "For the cords of death surrounded me, the floods of B'liya‘al terrified me, 6 the ropes of Sh'ol were wrapped around me, the snares of death lay there before me. 7 In my distress I called to Adonai ; I cried out to my God. Out of his temple he heard my voice; my cry reached his ears. 8 "Then the earth quaked and shook, the foundations of the mountains trembled. They were shaken because he was angry. 9 Smoke arose in his nostrils; out of his mouth came devouring fire; sparks blazed forth from him. 10 He lowered heaven and came down with thick darkness under his feet.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

He bowed: Jehovah is here represented as a mighty warrior going forth to fight the battles of David. When He descended to the engagement, the very heavens bowed to render his descent more awful: His military tent was substantial darkness; the voice of His thunder was the warlike alarm which sounded to battle; the chariot in which He rode was the thick clouds of heaven, conducted by cherubs, and carried on by the irresistible force and rapid wings of an impetuous tempest; and the darts and weapons He employed were thunder-bolts, lightnings, fiery hail, deluging rains, and stormy winds! No wonder that when God arose all His enemies were scattered, and those that hated Him fled before Him. Psalms 68:4, Psalms 144:5-15, Deuteronomy 33:26, 2 Samuel 22:10, Isaiah 51:6, Joel 3:16, Matthew 24:29, Hebrews 12:26, 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 20:11

darkness: Deuteronomy 5:22, Deuteronomy 5:23, Mark 15:33, John 13:7

Reciprocal: Exodus 3:8 - I am Exodus 19:11 - the Lord Exodus 20:21 - thick Luke 9:34 - there

Cross-References

Genesis 4:9
Adonai said to Kayin, "Where is Hevel your brother?" And he replied, "I don't know; am I my brother's guardian?"
Genesis 24:67
Then Yitz'chak brought her into his mother Sarah's tent and took Rivkah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. Thus was Yitz'chak comforted for the loss of his mother.
Genesis 31:33
Lavan went into Ya‘akov's tent, then into Le'ah's tent and into the tent of the two slave-girls; but he did not find them. He left Le'ah's tent and entered Rachel's tent.
Titus 2:5
to be self-controlled and pure, to take good care of their homes and submit to their husbands. In this way, God's message will not be brought into disgrace.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He bowed the heavens also, and came down,.... To execute wrath and vengeance on wicked men; which is always the sense of these phrases when they go together; see Psalms 144:6; The Targum is, "he bowed the heavens, and his glory appeared"; that is, the glory of his power, and of his mighty hand of vengeance; for not his grace and mercy, but his indignation and wrath, showed themselves; for it follows,

and darkness [was] under his feet; the Targum is, "a dark cloud", expressive of the awfulness of the dispensation to wicked men; who are not allowed to see the face of God, are debarred his presence, and denied, communion with him, and to whom everything appears awful and terrible, Psalms 97:2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He bowed the heavens also - He seemed to bend down the heavens - to bring them nearer to the earth. “He inclines the canopy of the heavens, as it were, toward the earth; wraps himself in the darkness of night, and shoots forth his arrows; hurls abroad his lightnings, and wings them with speed.” Herder, Spirit of Hebrew Poetry (Marsh), ii. 157. The allusion is still to the tempest, when the clouds ran low; when they seem to sweep along the ground; when it appears as if the heavens were brought nearer to the earth - as if, to use a common expression, “the heavens and earth were coming together.”

And came down - God himself seemed to descend in the fury of the storm.

And darkness was under his feet - A dark cloud; or, the darkness caused by thick clouds. Compare Nahum 1:3, “The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” Deuteronomy 4:11, “the mountain burned ... with thick darkness.” Deuteronomy 5:22, “these words the Lord spake out of the thick darkness.” Psalms 97:2, “clouds and darkness are round about him.” The idea here is that of awful majesty and power, as we are nowhere more forcibly impressed with the idea of majesty and power than in the fury of a storm.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 18:9. He bowed the heavens also, and came down — - He made the heavens bend under him when he descended to take vengeance on his enemies. The psalmist seems here to express the appearance of the Divine majesty in a glorious cloud, descending from heaven, which underneath was substantially dark, but above, bright, and shining with exceeding lustre; and which, by its gradual approach to the earth, would appear as though the heavens themselves were bending down and approaching towards us.


 
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