Psalms 18 · Verse 8

Psalms 18:8

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
Psalms 18:8, King James Version

Psalms 18:8 in other translations

BSBSmoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth.
WEBSmoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it.
ASVThere went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it.
YLTGone up hath smoke by His nostrils, And fire from His mouth consumeth, Coals have been kindled by it.
DARBYThere went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals burned forth from it.
BBEThere went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: flames were lighted by it.
WebsterThere went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

What does Psalms 18:8 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 18:7-8

7-8. God's coming described in figures drawn from His appearance on Sinai (compare De 32:22).

Read the full comment on Psalms 18:7-8 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils - Or, 'There ascended into his nostrils a smoke,' as the words, literally rendered, signify. The ancients placed the seat of anger in the nose, or nostrils; because when the passions are warm and violent, it discovers itself by the heated vehement breath which proceeds from them. Hence the physiognomists considered open wide nostrils as a sign of an angry, fiery disposition. "This description of a smoke arising into and a fire breaking forth from the nostrils of God, denotes, by a poetical figure, the greatness of his anger and indignation. "Fire out of his mouth devoured - means that consuming fire issued out of his mouth. Coals were kind led by it, thus we render the next clause; but the words do not mean that fire proceeding from God kindled coals, but that burning coals issued from his mouth; and it should be rendered 'living coals from his mouth burned, and consumed around him.' - Chandler.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 18:1-19

The first words, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength," are the scope and contents of the psalm. Those that truly love God, may triumph in him as their Rock and Refuge, and may with confidence call upon him. It is good for us to observe all the circumstances of a mercy which magnify the power of God and his goodness to us in it. David was a praying man, and God was found a prayer-hearing God. If we pray as he did…

Read the full comment on Psalms 18:1-19 →

Psalms 18:8 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

עָ֘לָ֤ה'a.Lahit went upH5927
עָשָׁ֨ן\׀'a.ShansmokeH6227
בְּאַפּ֗וֹbe.'a.Poin nose hisH639
וְאֵשׁ\־ve.'esh-and fireH784
מִפִּ֥יוmi.Pivfrom mouth hisH6310
תֹּאכֵ֑לto.Khelit consumedH398
גֶּ֝חָלִ֗יםge.cha.LimcoalsH1513
בָּעֲר֥וּba.'a.Ruthey burnedH1197
מִמֶּֽנּוּ\׃mi.Me.nufrom himH4480

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 18:8

  • Psalms 21:9

    Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.

  • Psalms 11:6

    Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

  • Nahum 1:5-6

    The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

  • Leviticus 10:2

    And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

  • Psalms 144:5-6

    Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.

  • Numbers 16:35

    And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

  • Amos 4:11

    I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.

  • Daniel 7:10

    A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

  • Genesis 19:28

    And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

  • Deuteronomy 29:23-24

    And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?

  • Revelation 11:5

    And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

  • Deuteronomy 29:20

    The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
went.
11:6; 21:9; 74:1; 104:32; 144:5,6; Ge 19:28; Le 10:2; Nu 11:1; 16:35
De 29:20,23,24, 2Th 1:8
out of his. Heb. by his. fire.
Da 7:10; Am 4:11; Na 1:5,6; Re 11:5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 18:7

    Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

  • Psalms 18:8

    There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

  • Psalms 18:9

    He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

Read all of Psalms 18

Psalms 18:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Humo subió de su nariz, y de su boca consumidor fuego; carbones fueron por él encendidos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Alors la terre fut ébranlée, et trembla, et les fondements des montagnes furent secoués et furent ébranlés, parce qu’il était irrité.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Rauch stieg auf von seiner Nase, und Feuer fraß aus seinem Munde; glühende Kohlen brannten aus ihm.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Lex Domini immaculata, convertens animas; testimonium Domini fidele, sapientiam præstans parvulis.