Psalms 104:4

Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
maketh	עֹשֶׂ֣ה 'o.Seh	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
angels	מַלְאָכָ֣יו mal.'a.Khav	H4397	a messenger · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
spirits	רוּח֑וֹת ru.Chot	H7307	wind · noun, common feminine plural absolute
ministers	מְ֝שָׁרְתָ֗יו me.sha.re.Tav	H8334	to attend as a menial or worshipper · verb, piel active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
flaming	לֹהֵֽט lo.Het	H3857	properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
fire	אֵ֣שׁ 'esh	H784	fire (literally or figuratively) · noun, common both genders singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Hebrews 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
2 Kings 2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them…
2 Kings 6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: a…
Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Psalms 148:8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
Ezekiel 1:13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up a…
Acts 23:8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 104:1-9

When we are addressing ourselves to any religious service we must stir up ourselves to take hold on God in it (Isa 64:7); so David does here. "Come, my soul, where art thou? What art thou thinking of? Here is work to be done, good work, angels' work; set about it in good earnest; let all the powers and faculties be engaged and employed in it: Bless the Lord, O my soul!" In these verses, I. The psalmist looks up to the divine glory shining in the upper world, of which, though it is one of the things not seen, faith is the evidence. With what reverence and holy awe does he begin his meditation with that acknowledgment: O Lord my God! thou art very great! It is the joy of the saints that he who…

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John Gill on Psalms 104:4

Who maketh his angels spirits,.... The angels are spirits, or spiritual substances, yet created ones; and so differ from God, who is a spirit, and from the Holy Spirit of God, who are Creators and not creatures; angels are spirits without bodies, and so differ from the souls or spirits of men, and are immaterial, and so die not; these are made by Christ, by whom all things are made, Colossians 1:16 and so he must be greater and more excellent than they; for which purpose the passage is quoted in Hebrews 1:7. Some render it, "who maketh his angels as the winds"; to which they may be compared for their invisibility, they being not to be seen, no more than the wind, unless when they assume an e…

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John Calvin on Psalms 104:1-4

Psalm 104:1-4 1. Bless Jehovah, O my soul! O Jehovah my God! thou art exceeding great; thou hast clothed thyself with praise and glory. 2. Being arrayed [177] with light as with a garment; and spreading out the heavens as a curtain: 3. Laying the beams of his upper rooms [178] in the waters; making the clouds his chariot; and walking upon the wings of the wind; 4. Making the winds his messengers; and his ministers a flaming fire. 1 Bless Jehovah, O my soul! After having exhorted himself to praise God, the Psalmist adds, that there is abundant matter for such an exercise; thus indirectly condemning himself and others of ingratitude, if the praises of God, than which nothing ought to be bett…

The Church Fathers

"Who makes spirits His angels, and flaming fire His ministers" [Psalm 104:4]: that is, those who are already spirits, who are spiritual, not carnal, He makes His Angels, by sending them to preach His gospel. "And flaming fire His ministers." For unless the minister that preaches be on fire, he enflames not him to whom he preaches.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 104

But the angels also are called spirits and fire: "he who makes", it says, "his angels spirits and his ministers a burning fire"; to the holy ones they are spirits, but to those who deserve punishments they supply fire and burning. According to which sense our Lord and Savior too, since he is "spirit", "came to send fire upon the earth".
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 26

[God] is the maker and creator of the angels. He brought into being and made them after his own image into a bodiless nature, some sort of spirit, as it were, and immaterial fire—as the divine David says: "Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a burning fire." And he determined their lightness, fieriness, heat, extreme acuity, their keenness in their desire for God and his service and their being raised up and removed from every material consideration.
— John Damascene, ORTHODOX FAITH 2:3

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Angel — A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam.…
Minister — One who serves, as distinguished from the master. (1.) Heb. meshereth, applied to an attendant on one of superior rank, as to Joshua, the servant of Moses (Ex. 33:11), and to the servant of Elisha (2…
Angels · Are ministering Spirits — Are ministering Spirits
Birds · God provides for — God provides for
Fire · .Spiritual power — .Spiritual power

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 104:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 104:1-9

John Gill on Psalms 104:4

John Calvin on Psalms 104:1-4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 104:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 104:1-9

John Gill on Psalms 104:4

John Calvin on Psalms 104:1-4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 104:1-4

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 104:4

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 104:4