Exodus 15:15-16

15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, ¹ 

trembling will seize ²  the leaders of Moab,

and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.

15:16 Fear and dread ³  will fall ⁴  on them;

by the greatness ⁵  of your arm they will be as still as stone ⁶ 

until ⁷  your people pass by, O Lord,

until the people whom you have bought ⁸  pass by.

Isaiah 13:6-8

13:6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment ⁹  is near;

it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. ¹⁰ 

13:7 For this reason all hands hang limp, ¹¹ 

every human heart loses its courage. ¹² 

13:8 They panic –

cramps and pain seize hold of them

like those of a woman who is straining to give birth.

They look at one another in astonishment;

their faces are flushed red. ¹³ 

Daniel 5:6

5:6 Then all the color drained from the king’s face ¹⁴  and he became alarmed. ¹⁵  The joints of his hips gave way, ¹⁶  and his knees began knocking together.

¹ tn This is a prophetic perfect.

² tn This verb is imperfect tense.

³ tn The two words can form a nominal hendiadys, “a dreadful fear,” though most English versions retain the two separate terms.

⁴ tn The form is an imperfect.

⁵ tn The adjective is in construct form and governs the noun “arm” (“arm” being the anthropomorphic expression for what God did). See GKC 428 §132.c.

⁶ sn For a study of the words for fear, see N. Waldman, “A Comparative Note on Exodus 15:14-16,” JQR 66 (1976): 189-92.

⁷ tn Clauses beginning with עַד (’ad) express a limit that is not absolute, but only relative, beyond which the action continues (GKC 446-47 §138.g).

⁸ tn The verb קָנָה (qanah) here is the verb “acquire, purchase,” and probably not the homonym “to create, make” (see Gen 4:1; Deut 32:6; and Prov 8:22).

⁹ tn Heb “the day of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).

¹⁰ tn Heb “like destruction from the sovereign judge it comes.” The comparative preposition (כְּ, kÿ) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the destruction unleashed will have all the earmarks of divine judgment. One could paraphrase, “it comes as only destructive divine judgment can.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x.

¹¹ tn Heb “drop”; KJV “be faint”; ASV “be feeble”; NAB “fall helpless.”

¹² tn Heb “melts” (so NAB).

¹³ tn Heb “their faces are faces of flames.” Their faces are flushed with fear and embarrassment.

¹⁴ tn Aram “[the king’s] brightness changed for him.”

¹⁵ tn Aram “his thoughts were alarming him.”

¹⁶ tn Aram “his loins went slack.”