Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 11:6

"Upon the wicked he will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind shall be the portion of their cup." — Psalms 11:6 (ASV)

Rain snares. —Or nooses. (Compare to 1 Corinthians 7:35.) This is certainly an extraordinary figure, and various emendations have been suggested.

Ewald’s emendation, “coals of fire” (pecham for pachîm), is considered the best. For comparison, see Psalms 18:13, where the Hebrew word is gechalîm (“live, or red coals”). In contrast, pecham is used in Proverbs 26:21 as fuel for fire, distinct from live coals. However, in Isaiah 44:12 and Isaiah 54:16, pecham itself is plainly burning coal.

Ewald arranges the clauses as follows: “He causes coals of fire with brimstone to rain upon wicked men; a glowing blast is the portion of their cup.”

“Let us put our quarrel to the will of Heaven,
Who, when He sees the hours ripe on earth,
Will rain hot vengeance on offenders’ heads.”

—SHAKESPEARE: Richard II, Acts 1, Scene 2.

Horrible tempest. —Literally, wind of heats. For example, the Vulgate has spiritus procellarum, and the Targum uses storm and whirlwind. Just as in Latin, where aestus combines the ideas of heat and violent motion, so too does the Hebrew word used here. Probably, therefore, we must think of a hot, poisonous wind—the simoom.

Or might we see one more reminiscence of the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, stamped indelibly on the Hebrew mind?