Exodus 15:8

Hebrew Bible

6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power; your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. 7 In the abundance of your majesty you have overthrown those who rise up against you. You sent forth your wrath; it consumed them like stubble. 8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up, the flowing water stood upright like a heap, and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ 10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

Psalm 18:15

Hebrew Bible

13 The Lord thundered in the sky; the Most High shouted. 14 He shot his arrows and scattered them, many lightning bolts and routed them. 15 The depths of the sea were exposed; the inner regions of the world were uncovered by your battle cry, Lord, by the powerful breath from your nose. 16 He reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me from the surging water. 17 He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hate me, for they were too strong for me.

 Notes and References

"... In the Hebrew Bible, bull and horn imagery is applied to YHWH in two ways. The first is exactly what one might expect given the above description of the symbolic import of the bull. The author of Numbers 23:22 likens YHWH to the horns of a wild ox, protecting Israel against Egypt, and, similarly, Isaiah 10:13 likens him to a bull bringing down foreign kings who are enemies of Zion. Another analogy between YHWH and bulls is drawn by the most common idiom used to describe YHWH’s anger, and that is “his nostril(s) grew hot” (e.g., Exodus 15:8; 32:10; Isaiah 11:4; Psalm 18:15; Job 4:9). This idiom conjures the image of YHWH as a snorting bull with flared, if not steaming, nostrils, preparing for conflict. As with a bull, the metaphor of visible heat vaporizing from YHWH’s nostrils serves as a threat of violence to whomever has angered YHWH within that particular pericope, usually by endangering the well-being of Israel, even if sometimes the offender is Israel itself (e.g., Exodus 32:10). The imagery of a bull or a horn as a metaphor for YHWH’s power, particularly as it manifests in the destructive and protective elements of his personality, functions as an expression of that which is made clear in other parts of the Hebrew Bible, independent of such language: that YHWH is a deity who protects the well-being of those who serve him, even at the expense of others ..."

Balogh, Amy L. Moses among the Idols: Mediators of the Divine in the Ancient Near East (pp. 176-177) Fortress Academic, 2018

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