Psalm 106:18

Psalm 106:18, in plain English

Fire also broke out and consumed Abiram and the other wicked people in their rebellion.

Why it's here

God's judgment continues with fire consuming the others who participated in the rebellion. The psalmist is stacking image upon image: earth opening, fire consuming. The point is that multiple forms of God's judgment fell on those who actively resisted His authority. It's overwhelming and terrible, but it's also what happens when you openly reject God's chosen order.

Who's speaking

The psalmist, describing the scope of God's judgment

Where it sits in the story

This also occurs in Numbers 16. God used both the earth and fire to eliminate the rebels. The message was unmistakable: rejecting God's appointed leadership has cosmic consequences.

The scholarly reading

As if one catastrophe were insufficient, fire consumed the remaining conspirators—a double judgment suggesting both the completeness of God's judgment and the severity of rebellion against His appointed order.

Language and setting

The 'fire' (esh) blazed through the 'company' (edah), referencing Numbers 16:35 where 'fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.' The dual imagery of earth and fire suggests divine judgment accessing multiple natural elements—earth swallowing and fire consuming, leaving nothing. Medieval Jewish commentator Ibn Ezra notes the theological symmetry: those who offered 'strange fire' (Leviticus 10:1) were consumed by fire.

Voice

The psalmist continuing the recitation of divine judgment.

Significance

This establishes fire as divine judgment's signature throughout Scripture (Sodom in Genesis 19; hell in Matthew 25:41) and becomes a recurring image for God's purifying or destructive will.

16In the camp they envied Moses, as well as Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.

17The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it covered the assembly of Abiram.

18Then fire blazed through their company; flames consumed the wicked.

19At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped a molten image.

20They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.

Read all of Psalm 106 — The other side of Psalm 105. Israel's history retold through the lens of rebellion — yet God saved them again and again for His name's sake.