Bible Dictionaries
Fire

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

(akin to which are No. 2, pura, and puretos, "a fever," Eng., "fire," etc.) is used (besides its ordinary natural significance):

(a) of the holiness of God, which consumes all that is inconsistent therewith, Hebrews 10:27; 12:29; cp. Revelation 1:14; 2:18; 10:1; 15:2; 19:12; similarly of the holy angels as His ministers, Hebrews 1:7; in Revelation 3:18 it is symbolic of that which tries the faith of saints, producing what will glorify the Lord:

(b) of the Divine judgment, testing the deeds of believers, at the judgment seat of Christ, 1 Corinthians 3:13,15 :

(c) of the fire of Divine judgment upon the rejectors of Christ, Matthew 3:11 (where a distinction is to be made between the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the "fire" of Divine retribution; Acts 2:3 could not refer to baptism): Luke 3:16 :

(d) of the judgments of God at the close of the present age previous to the establishment of the kingdom of Christ in the world, 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Revelation 18:8 :

(e) of the "fire" of Hell, to be endured by the ungodly hereafter, Matthew 5:22; 13:42,50; 18:8,9; 25:41; Mark 9:43,48; Luke 3:17 :

(f) of human hostility both to the Jews and to Christ's followers, Luke 12:49 :

(g) as illustrative of retributive judgment upon the luxurious and tyrannical rich, James 5:3 :

(h) of the future overthrow of the Babylonish religious system at the hands of the Beast and the nations under him, Revelation 17:16 :

(i) of turning the heart of an enemy to repentance by repaying his unkindness by kindness, Romans 12:20 :

(j) of the tongue, as governed by a "fiery" disposition and as exercising a destructive influence over others, James 3:6 :

(k) as symbolic of the danger of destruction, Jude 1:23 .

Note: See also under FLAME.

from No. 1, denotes "a heap of fuel" collected to be set on fire (hence Eng., "pyre"), Acts 28:2,3 .

Note: In Mark 14:54 , the italicized phrase "of the fire" is added in the Eng. versions to indicate the light as coming from the "fire."

"fiery" (akin to A, No. 1), is translated "of fire" in Revelation 9:17 . In the Sept., Ezekiel 28:14,16 .

is translated "being on fire" (Middle Voice) in 2 Peter 3:12 . See FIERY.

"to set on fire, burn up," is used figuratively, in both Active and Passive Voices, in James 3:6 , of the tongue, firstly, of its disastrous effects upon the whole round of the circumstances of life; secondly, of satanic agency in using the tongue for this purpose.