in the flame of a burning thorn-bush

πῦρ, ός, τό (Hom.+) fire

ⓐ of earthly fire, as an important element in creation Dg 7:2.—Mt 17:15; Mk 9:22; Ac 28:5; Js 5:3 (cp. 4 Macc 15:15); ITr 2:3. Melting lead 2 Cl 16:3. Necessary for forging metals Dg 2:3. Testing precious metals for purity 1 Pt 1:7; Hv 4, 3, 4; in metaphor Rv 3:18. For ἄνθρακες πυρός Ro 12:20 s. ἄνθραξ. For κάμινος (τοῦ) πυρός (Iren. 5, 5, 2 [Harv. II 332, 2) 1 Cl 45:7; 2 Cl 8:2 s. κάμινος. For βάλλειν εἰς (τὸ) π. s. βάλλω 1b.—περιάπτειν πῦρ kindle a fire Lk 22:55. κατακαίειν τι πυρί burn someth. (up) with fire, in a pass. construction Mt 13:40; τινὰ ἐν πυρὶ Rv 17:16 (v.l. without ἐν). Pass. construction 18:8. ὑπὸ πυρὸς κατακαίεσθαι MPol 5:2 (κατακαίω, end). πῦρ καιόμενον 11:2b (καίω 1a). πυρὶ καίεσθαι Hb 12:18; Rv 8:8 (καίω 1a). Fire is used in comparisons γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός Ac 2:3 (Ezek. Trag. 234 [in Eus., PE 9, 29, 14] ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ φέγγος ὡς πυρὸς ὤφθη ἡμῖν). φλὸξ πυρός a flame of fire (Ex 3:2; Is 29:6; PsSol 15:4; JosAs 14:9): ὀφθαλμοὶ ὡς φλὸξ πυρός Rv 1:14; cp. 2:18; 19:12.—Of a Christian worker who has built poorly in the congregation it is said σωθήσεται ὡς διὰ πυρός he will be saved as if through (the) fire, i.e. like a person who must pass through a wall of fire to escape fr. a burning house (Ps.-Crates, Ep. 6 [=Malherbe p. 56] κἂν διὰ πυρός; Jos., Ant. 17, 264 διὰ τοῦ πυρός; Diod S 1, 57, 7; 8 διὰ τοῦ φλογὸς … σωθείς from a burning tent) 1 Cor 3:15 (HHollander, NTS 40, ’94, 89–104; s. σῴζω 3). Cp. Jd 23 (ἁρπάζω 2a).—Of the torture of a loyal confessor by fire IRo 5:3; ISm 4:2; MPol 2:3; 11:2a; 13:3; 15:1f; 16:1; 17:2; cp. Hb 11:34; in imagery of Rome ἀπέρχομαι εἰς κάμινον πυρός AcPl Ha 6, 20 (cp. b below).

ⓑ of fire that is heavenly in origin and nature (cp. Diod S 4, 2, 3 of the ‘fire’ of lightning, accompanying the appearance of Zeus; 16, 63, 3 τὸ θεῖον πῦρ; Just., D. 88, 3 πῦρ ἀνήφθη ἐν τῷ Ἰορδάνῳ [at Jesus’ baptism]. In gnostic speculation Iren. 1, 17, 1 [Harv. I 164, 14]; Hippol., Ref. 6, 9, 5.—Orig., C. Cels. 4, 13, 19): an angel appears to Moses ἐν φλογὶ πυρὸς βάτου in the flame of a burning thorn-bush Ac 7:30 (s. Ex 3:2; cp. Just., A I, 62, 3 ἐν ἰδέᾳ πυρός.—PKatz, ZNW 46, ’55, 133–38). God makes τοὺς λειτουργοὺς αὐτοῦ πυρὸς φλόγα (cp. Ps 103:4, esp. in the v.l. [ARahlfs, Psalmi cum Odis ’31]) Hb 1:7; 1 Cl 36:3. Corresp., there burn before the heavenly throne seven λαμπάδες πυρός Rv 4:5 and the ‘strong angel’ 10:1 has πόδες ὡς στῦλοι πυρός, but both of these pass. fit equally well in a. Fire appears mostly as a means used by God to execute punishment: in the past, in the case of Sodom ἔβρεξεν πῦρ καὶ θεῖον ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ Lk 17:29 (Gen 19:24; cp. 1QH 3:31). Cp. Lk 9:54 (4 Km 1:10, 12; TestAbr A 10 p. 88, 13 [Stone p. 24, 13] ἐξ οὐρανοῦ; Jos., Ant. 9, 23 πῦρ ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ πεσόν). Quite predom. in connection w. the Last Judgment: the end of the world διʼ αἵματος καὶ πυρός Hv 4, 3, 3; cp. Ac 2:19 (Jo 3:3. Also Sib-Or 4, 173; 5, 376f); Rv 8:7. κόσμος αἴρεται ἐν πυρί AcPl Ha 2, 26; 9, 11. The Judgment Day ἐν πυρὶ ἀποκαλύπτεται makes its appearance with fire 1 Cor 3:13a; cp. 13b (JGnilka, Ist 1 Cor 3:10–15 … Fegfeuer? ’55); 2 Pt 3:7 (on first-century cosmological views s. FDowning, L’AntCl 64, ’95, 99–109, esp. 107f). When Jesus comes again he will reveal himself w. his angels ἐν πυρὶ φλογός (cp. Sir 45:19) 2 Th 1:8. Oft. in Rv: fire is cast fr. heaven upon the earth 8:5; 13:13; 20:9 (καταβαίνω 1b). It proceeds fr. the mouths of God’s two witnesses 11:5 and fr. the mouths of plague-bringing horses 9:17f. See 16:8. For πυρὸς ζῆλος ἐσθίειν μέλλοντος τ. ὑπεναντίους Hb 10:27 s. ζῆλος 1, end. ἡ χείρ μου πυρὶ ἀποπίπτει ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ my hand falls off me from (burning in) the fire GJs 20:1 (codd.).—The fire w. which God punishes sinners (cp. ApcSed 4:1 κόλασις καὶ πῦρ ἐστιν ἡ παίδευσίς σου) οὐ σβέννυται (cp. Is 66:24) Mk 9:48; 2 Cl 7:6; 17:5. Hence it is called (s. PGM 5, 147 τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἀθάνατον): (τὸ) πῦρ (τὸ) αἰώνιον (4 Macc 12:12; TestZeb 10:3; GrBar 4:16; Just., A I, 21, 6 al.; Tat. 17, 1; Theoph. Ant. 1, 14 [p. 92, 9]) Mt 18:8; 25:41; Jd 7; Dg 10:7 (opp. τὸ πῦρ τὸ πρόσκαιρον 10:8). πῦρ ἄσβεστον (ἄσβεστος 1) Mt 3:12; Mk 9:43, 45 v.l.; Lk 3:17; 2 Cl 17:7; IEph 16:2; AcPl Ha 1, 22. It burns in the γέεννα (τοῦ) πυρός (ApcEsdr 1:9 p. 25, 1 Tdf.; s. γέεννα and cp. En 10:13 τὸ χάος τοῦ πυρός) Mt 5:22; 18:9 (cp. 1QS 2:7f); Mk 9:47 v.l.; 2 Cl 5:4 (a saying of Jesus not recorded elsewhere). ἡ λίμνη τοῦ πυρὸς (καὶ θείου) Rv 19:20; 20:10, 14ab, 15 (cp. Jos As 12, 10 ἄβυσσον τοῦ πυρός); cp. Rv 21:8; 14:10, 18; 15:2. The fiery place of punishment as ἡ κάμινος τοῦ πυρός Mt 13:42, 50 (difft. AcPl Ha 6, 20 see at the end of a, above). τὸ πῦρ ἐστι μετʼ αὐτοῦ fire awaits that person AcPlCor 2:37. The fire of hell is also meant in certain parables and allegories, in which trees and vines represent persons worthy of punishment Mt 3:10; 7:19; Lk 3:9; J 15:6. The one whose coming was proclaimed by John the Baptist βαπτίσει ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί; whether πῦρ in Mt 3:11; Lk 3:16 refers to reception of the Holy Spirit (esp. in Lk 3:16) or to the fire of divine judgment is debatable; for association of πῦρ with πνεῦμα s. Ac 2:3f; AcPlCor 2:13 (βαπτίζω 3b). As Lord of Judgment God is called πῦρ καταναλίσκον Hb 12:29 (Dt 4:24; 9:3.—Mesomedes calls Isis πῦρ τέλεον ἄρρητον [IAndrosIsis p. 145, 14]).—Of a different kind is the idea that fire is to be worshiped as a god (Maximus Tyr. 2, 4b of the Persians: πῦρ δέσποτα; Theosophien 14 p. 170, 11 τὸ πῦρ ἀληθῶς θεός) Dg 8:2.

ⓒ fig. (Just., D. 8, 1 πῦρ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἀνήφθη; Chariton 2, 4, 7 πῦρ εἰς τ. ψυχήν; Ael. Aristid. 28, 110 K.=49 p. 527 D.: τὸ ἱερὸν κ. θεῖον πῦρ τὸ ἐκ Διός; Aristaen., Ep. 2, 5; PGrenf I=Coll. Alex. p. 177 ln. 15 [II B.C.] of the fire of love; Theoph. Ant. 1, 3 [p. 62, 21] of God’s wrath) ἡ γλῶσσα πῦρ Js 3:6 (s. γλῶσσα 1a). The saying of Jesus πῦρ ἦλθον βαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν Lk 12:49 seems, in the context where it is now found, to refer to the fire of discord (s. vss. 51–53). πῦρ is also taken as fig. in Agr 3, the sense of which, however, cannot be determined w. certainty (s. Unknown Sayings, 54–56) ὁ ἐγγύς μου ἐγγὺς τοῦ πυρός. ὁ δὲ μακρὰν ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ μακρὰν ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλείας (cp. ἐγγύς 3; ἐγγὺς εἶναι τοῦ πυρός as someth. dangerous also Chariton 6, 3, 9). On the difficult pass. πᾶς πυρὶ ἁλισθήσεται Mk 9:49 and its variants s. ἁλίζω and cp. ἅλας b (s. also NColeman, JTS 24, 1923, 381–96, ET 48, ’37, 360–62; PHaupt, Salted with Fire: AJP 45, 1924, 242–45; AFridrichsen, Würzung durch Feuer: SymbOsl 4, 1926, 36–38; JdeZwaan, Met vuur gezouten worden, Mc 9:49: NThSt 11, 1928, 179–82; RHarris, ET 48, ’37, 185f; SEitrem, Opferritus u. Voropfer der Griechen u. Römer 1915, 309–44. JBauer, TZ 15, ’59, 446–50; HZimmermann [Mk 9:49], TQ 139, ’59, 28–39; TBaarda [Mk 9:49], NTS 5, ’59, 318–21).—B. 71; RAC VII 786–90; BHHW I 479f. DELG. M-M. EDNT. TW. Sv.