Therefore the LORD heard [this], and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;
Ver. 21. Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth] Efferbuit, excanduit. Anger is a kind of fire, a boiling of the blood about the heart, through desire of revenge. "But fury is not in me," saith God, Isaiah 27:4. If anger be ascribed unto him, as here, it is an expression fitted to our apprehension, because he doeth that which angry men use to do, viz. chide and smite for sin; but all in a way of justice, and without the least perturbation.
So a fire was kindled] It began to smoke and burn.
And anger also came up] Ascended, i.e. Flamed, for anger beginneth at the heart, and then cometh up into the brain, face, nostrils.