Leviticus 9:24
And behold a fire, coming forth from the Lord, devoured the holocaust, and the fat that was upon the altar: which when the multitude saw, they praised the Lord, falling on their faces.
Open Leviticus 9:24 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- et ecce egressus ignis a Domino, devoravit holocaustum, et adipes qui erant super altare. Quod cum vidissent turbæ, laudaverunt Dominum, ruentes in facies suas.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- καὶ ἐξῆλθεν πῦρ παρὰ Κυρίου, καὶ κατέφαγεν τὰ ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, τά τε ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ τὰ στέατα· καὶ εἶδεν πᾶς ὁ λαὸς καὶ ἐξέστη, καὶ ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וַתֵּ֤צֵא אֵשׁ֙ מִלִּפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה וַתֹּ֨אכַל֙ עַל הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ אֶת הָעֹלָ֖ה וְאֶת הַחֲלָבִ֑ים וַיַּ֤רְא כָּל הָעָם֙ וַיָּרֹ֔נּוּ וַֽיִּפְּל֖וּ עַל פְּנֵיהֶֽם
Haydock's commentary
The Lord: 2 Machabees ii. 10, explains this text. Fire came down from heaven, appearing like a flash of lightning, in the midst of the victims. (Josephus, Antiquities iii. 9.) (Calmet)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Ambrose On the Duties of the Clergy, Chapter XVII. With what virtuous feelings the fathers of old hid the sacred fires when on the point of going into captivity
101. When this sign became known, the king of Persia ordered a temple to be built on that spot where the fire had been hidden and the water afterwards found, to which many gifts were made. They who were with holy Nehemiah called it Naphthar, which means cleansing, by many it is called Nephi. It is to be found also in the history of the prophet Jeremiah, that he bade those who should come after him to take of the fire. That is the fire which fell on Moses’ sacrifice and consumed it, as it is written: “There came a fire out from the Lord and consumed upon the altar all the whole burnt-offering.” The sacrifice must be hallowed with this fire only. Therefore, also, fire went out from the Lord upon the sons of Aaron who wished to offer strange fire, and consumed them, so that their dead bodies were cast forth without the camp.