Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger - Thou shalt consume or destroy them, "as if" they "were" burned in a heated oven. Or, they shall burn, as if they were a flaming oven; that is, they would be wholly consumed. The word rendered "oven" - tannûr - means either an "oven" or a "furnace." It is rendered "furnace and furnaces" in Genesis 15:17; Nehemiah 3:11; Nehemiah 12:38; Isaiah 31:9; and, as here, "oven" or "ovens," in Exodus 8:3; Leviticus 2:4; Leviticus 7:9; Leviticus 11:35; Leviticus 26:26; Lamentations 5:10; Hosea 7:4, Hosea 7:6-7; Malachi 4:1. It does not occur elsewhere. The oven among the Hebrews was in the form of a large "pot," and was heated from within by placing the wood inside of it. Of course, while being heated, it had the appearance of a furnace. The meaning here is that the wicked would be consumed or destroyed "as if" they were such a burning oven; as if they were set on fire, and burned up.
The Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath - The same idea of the utter destruction of the wicked is here presented under another form - that they would be destroyed as if the earth should open and swallow them up. Perhaps the allusion in the language is to the case of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Numbers 16:32; compare Psalms 106:17.
And the fire shall devour them - The same idea under another form. The wrath of God would utterly destroy them. That wrath is often represented under the image of "fire." See Deuteronomy 4:24; Deuteronomy 32:22; Psalms 18:8; Matthew 13:42; Matthew 18:8; Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:44; II Thessalonians 1:8. Fire is the emblem by which the future punishment of the wicked is most frequently denoted.
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