The winds are your messengers; flames of fire are your servants.
Parallel translations
- WEB He makes his messengers winds; his servants flames of fire.
- KJV Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
- BSB He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.
- NKJV Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.
- NASB He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God makes winds His messengers and flames of fire His servants. He commands the forces of nature and the angelic hosts to do His bidding.
Overview
This verse pictures God's servants, whether winds and fire or the angels associated with them, as swift instruments of His will. Hebrews 1:7 cites it to show that angels are servants, in contrast to the exalted Son. Thus the verse magnifies Christ, who is worshiped by the very angels who serve God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Heb 1:7Of the angels he says, “Who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.”
- 2 Kgs 2:11As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
- 2 Kgs 6:17Elisha prayed, and said, “Yahweh, please open his eyes, that he may see.” Yahweh opened the young man’s eyes; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.
- Heb 1:14Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
- Ps 148:8lightning and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling his word;
- Ezek 1:13As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: the fire went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and lightning went out of the fire.
- Acts 23:8For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess all of these.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 104:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.