Psalms 21:9

21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace 1  when you appear; 2 

the Lord angrily devours them; 3 

the fire consumes them.

Psalms 89:46

89:46 How long, O Lord, will this last?

Will you remain hidden forever? 4 

Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

1 tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).

2 tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.

3 tn Heb “the Lord, in his anger he swallows them, and fire devours them.” Some take “the Lord” as a vocative, in which case he is addressed in vv. 8-9a. But this makes the use of the third person in v. 9b rather awkward, though the king could be the subject (see vv. 1-7).

4 tn Heb “How long, O Lord, will hide yourself forever?”