Bible Strands
Isaiah 64:2
as fire kindles the brushwood and causes the water to boil, to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that the nations will tremble at Your presence!
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet speaks on behalf of Israel, petitioning God to intervene decisively in history. The prayer occurs during a moment of national distress, requesting divine manifestation after recalling past wonders.
The words — קְדֹחַ (kdoach) translates as "kindles" or "sets ablaze," describing fire consuming brushwood. תִּבְעֶה (tiveah) means "boils" or "seethes," applied to water heated by that same fire.
The thread — The motif of nations trembling at God’s presence appears in Psalms 99:1, where the earth quakes as He reigns. Jeremiah 33:9 extends this by promising that God’s renown will cause all nations to hear and respond.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that God’s visible intervention forces recognition from both enemies and nations. It requires the reader to align personal hope with divine sovereignty rather than human effort.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
Cross-references
- Psalms 99:1 The LORD reigns; let the nations tremble! He is enthroned above the cherubim; let the earth quake!
- Jeremiah 33:9 So this city will bring Me renown, joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I do for it. They will tremble in awe because of all the goodness and prosperity that I will provide for it.
- Exodus 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.
- Psalms 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”
- Psalms 102:15 So the nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.
- Isaiah 37:20 And now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
- Jeremiah 5:22 Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
- Ezekiel 38:22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.
- Daniel 4:32 You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”
- Daniel 6:25 Then King Darius wrote to the people of every nation and language throughout the land: “May your prosperity abound.