As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
Parallel Translations
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As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
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As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
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(68-3) As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Psalms 68:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Micah 1:4 The mountains melt under him, and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place.
- Psalms 37:20 But the wicked shall perish. The enemies of Yahweh shall be like the beauty of the fields. They will vanish— vanish like smoke.
- Hosea 13:3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that passes away early, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, and like the smoke out of the chimney.
- Psalms 97:5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of Yahweh, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
- Isaiah 9:18 For wickedness burns like a fire. It devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
- Revelation 6:16-17 They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”
- Psalms 80:16 It’s burned with fire. It’s cut down. They perish at your rebuke.
- Psalms 22:14 I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me.
- Psalms 76:7 You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry?
- Isaiah 64:2 As when fire kindles the brushwood, and the fire causes the water to boil; Make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!
- Nahum 1:5-6 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus, who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 68:2 As smoke is driven away, [so] drive…
Psa 68:2 As smoke is driven away, [so] drive [them] away: as wax melteth before the fire, [so] let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
Ver. 2. As smoke is driven away, &c.] Smoke at first sight seemeth formidable, but soon vanisheth; and the higher it ascendeth the sooner it is dissipated: so here. Guicciardine saith of Charles VIII of France, that he came into the field like thunder and lightning, but went out like a snuff; more than a man at first, and less than a woman at last. A semblably of God’s enemies.
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As wax melteth before the fire, &c.] Wax is a more solid substance than smoke, but, held to the fire, it quickly dissolveth. The psalmist both prayeth and prophesieth here, that the downfall of the Church’s enemies may be praeceps et praesentissimum, sad and sudden, as is elegantly set forth by these two similitudes.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain As smoke is driven away; as smoke at first…
As smoke is driven away; as smoke at first mounts high and fills a great space of air, but speedily vanisheth into air, or is dispersed with the wind.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain As smoke is driven away, so drive them away,....…
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away,.... This both describes the character of wicked men, Christ's enemies; as their darkness and ignorance, their will worship and superstition, and their detestableness to God, Rev 9:2; and the manner of their destruction; which is as easily brought about as smoke is driven by the wind, and is as irretrievable, like smoke that vanisheth into air (o); see Psa 37:20;
as wax melteth before fire; whereby its consistency, form, and strength, are lost. Respect may be had, both in this and the foregoing metaphor, to the fire of, divine wrath, and the smoke of eternal torments; since it follows:
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so let the wicked perish at the presence of God; the appearance of Christ, either in his awful dispensation against the Jews, or in the last judgment; when the wicked shall not be able to stand before his face, but shall call to the rocks and mountains to hide them from him; and when they shall be bid to depart from him, and shall be punished with everlasting destruction in soul and body, from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power.
(o) "----et tenues fugit, ceu fumus in auras". Virgil. Aeneid. 5. prope finem.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain As smoke is driven away - To wit, by…
As smoke is driven away - To wit, by the wind. Smoke - vapor - easily disturbed and moved by the slightest breath of air - represents an object of no stability, or having no power of resistance, and would thus represent the real weakness of the most mighty armies of men as opposed to God.
So drive them away - With the same ease with which smoke is driven by the slightest breeze, so do the enemies of God disappear before his power. Compare the notes at Psa 1:4.
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As wax melteth before the fire - Compare Psa 22:14. The meaning here is plain. As wax is melted down by fire - losing all its hardness, its firmness, its power of resistance, so must the most mighty armies melt away before God.
So let the wicked perish at the presence of God - That is, those who rise up against him; his enemies. It will be as easy for God to destroy wicked men as it is for fire to melt down wax.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. Smoke… wax—Emblems of the feebleness and instability of…
2. Smoke… wax—Emblems of the feebleness and instability of such as fight against God.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. The verbs should be rendered as in Psa_68:1…
2. The verbs should be rendered as in Psa_68:1 by futures: As smoke … so shalt thou drive them away: as wax … so shall the wicked perish at the presence of God. The smoke scattered by the wind is an apt emblem for total disappearance (Psa_37:20; Hos_13:3); the wax melted by the fire for unresisting impotence (Psa_97:5; Mic_1:4). “At the blast of the breath of Jehovah” the wicked vanish, leaving no trace behind; the consuming fire of His wrath they are powerless to withstand.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) Smoke.—The figure of the vanishing smoke has occurred…
(2) Smoke.—The figure of the vanishing smoke has occurred before (see Psa_37:20); for that of the melting wax see Psa_97:5. Both figures are too obvious to need reference to the cloud and fire of the ancient encampment.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain As smoke is driven away, so drive them away.…
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As clouds of smoke are dispersed and driven away by the wind, and totally disappear, so let God, whenever his enemies congregate, scatter and disperse them, and reduce them to nothingness. As wax melteth before the firs, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. As smoke vanishes, so wax entirely melts away and disappears before a hot fire. (comp. Psa_22:14 Psa_97:5)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 2. As smoke is driven away. Easily the…
Ver. 2. As smoke is driven away. Easily the wind chases the smoke, completely it removes it, no trace is left; so, Lord, do thou to the foes of thy people. They fume in pride, they darken the sky with their malice, they mount higher and higher in arrogance, they defile wherever they prevail. Lord, let they breath, thy Spirit, thy Providence, make them to vanish for ever from the march of thy people. Philosophic scepticism is as flimsy and as foul as smoke; may the Lord deliver his Church from the reek of it.
As wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. Wax is hard when by itself, but put it to the fire, how soft it is. Wicked men are haughty till they come into contact with the Lord, and then they faint for fear; their hearts melt like wax when they feel the power of his anger. Wax, also, burns and passes away; the taper is utterly consumed by the flame: so shall all the boastful power of the opposers of the gospel be as a thing of nought. Rome, like the candles on her altars, shall dissolve, and with equal certainty shall infidelity disappear. Israel saw, in the ark, God on the mercyseat--power in connection with propitiation --and they rejoiced in the omnipotence of such a manifestation; this is even more clearly the confidence of the New Testament church, for we see Jesus, the appointed atonement, clothed with glory and majesty, and before his advance all opposition melts like snow in the sun; the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. When he comes by his Holy Spirit, conquest is the result; but when he arises in person, his foes shall utterly perish.
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Ver. 2. As smoke is driven away, etc. The psalmist adds a striking figure to illustrate how easily God can overthrow the machinations of our enemies, comparing them to smoke which vanishes away when blown upon by the wind, or wax which melts before the fire. We consider it utterly incredible that such a formidable array of opposition should be made to disappear in a moment. But the Spirit takes this method of chiding the fearfulness of our carnal minds, and teaching us that there is no such strength in our enemies as we suppose--that we allow the smoke of them to blind our eyes, and the solid mass of resistance which they present to deceive us into a forgetfulness of the truth, that the mountains themselves flow down at the presence of the Lord. John Calvin.
Ver. 2. As smoke is driven away, etc. "Their end was bitter as the smoke, "said an aged teacher. What meanest thou, O Master? asked his young disciple. "I was thinking of the end of the unrighteous, " replied the old man, "and of how too often I, like the psalmist, have been envious when they were in prosperity. Their lives have seemed so bright and glowing that I have thought they resembled the blaze of a cheerful fire on a winter's night. But, as I have watched them, they have suddenly vanished like the flame that fades into black and bitter smoke; and I have ceased to envy them. Trust not, O my scholar, only to that which appears brilliant; but watch also for its ending, lest thou be deceived." Hubert Bower, in "Parables and Similitudes of the Christian Life, " 1871.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 68:2 Both smoke and wax represent a transitory existence…
68:2 Both smoke and wax represent a transitory existence (22:12-18; 37:20; 102:3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.