“What shall be given to you?
What more shall be done to you?
You have a deceitful tongue.
It is like a warrior’s sharp arrows!
It is like glowing coals of the broom tree!”
What should be given to this deceitful tongue? What should be done to it? A deceitful tongue is like a warrior’s sharp arrows. This deceitful tongue is like glowing coals of a broom tree, which was some kind of tree that produced a long simmering burning fire.
“Then the earth reeled.
The earth rocked.
The foundations also of the mountains trembled.
The foundations quaked.
Because Yahweh was angry.
Smoke went up from his nostrils.
Devouring fire came from his mouth.
Glowing coals flamed forth from him.”
Just like in 2 Samuel, chapter 22, Yahweh’s reaction was formidable. God was angry. The earth rocked and rolled. The foundations of the mountains and not the heavens as in 2 Samuel, trembled and quaked. Smoke and fire came from his mouth and nose. Yahweh’s face, nose, and mouth become important for expressing the feelings of the divine spiritual God. Just as in 2 Samuel, flames rose up all around with glowing coals.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 