Exodus 15:14-16

15:14 The nations will hear¹ and tremble;

anguish² will seize³ the inhabitants of Philistia.

15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified,⁴

trembling will seize⁵ the leaders of Moab,

and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.

15:16 Fear and dread⁶ will fall⁷ on them;

by the greatness⁸ of your arm they will be as still as stone⁹

until¹⁰ your people pass by, O Lord,

until the people whom you have bought¹¹ pass by.

Genesis 35:5

35:5 and they started on their journey.¹² The surrounding cities were afraid of God,¹³ and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

Deuteronomy 2:25

2:25 This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth¹⁴ with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach.”¹⁵

Deuteronomy 11:23

11:23 then he¹⁶ will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.

Deuteronomy 11:25

11:25 Nobody will be able to resist you; the Lord your God will spread the fear and terror of you over the whole land on which you walk, just as he promised you.

Joshua 2:9-11

2:9 She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you.¹⁷ We are absolutely terrified of you,¹⁸ and all who live in the land are cringing before¹⁹ you.²⁰ 2:10 For we heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt and how you annihilated the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, on the other side of the Jordan.²¹ 2:11 When we heard the news we lost our courage and no one could even breathe for fear of you.²² For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below!

Joshua 2:1

Joshua Sends Spies into the Land

2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them:²³ “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.”²⁴ They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there.²⁵

Joshua 14:15

14:15 (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba. Arba was a famous Anakite.²⁶) Then the land was free of war.

Joshua 14:2

14:2 The land assignments to the nine-and-a-half tribes were made by drawing lots, as the Lord had instructed Moses.²⁷

Joshua 7:6

7:6 Joshua tore his clothes;²⁸ he and the leaders²⁹ of Israel lay face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening³⁰ and threw dirt on their heads.³¹

Joshua 7:2

7:2 Joshua sent men from Jericho³² to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel³³) and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai.

Joshua 14:14

14:14 So Hebron remains the assigned land of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this very day³⁴ because he remained loyal to the Lord God of Israel.

¹tn This verb is a prophetic perfect, assuming that the text means what it said and this song was sung at the Sea. So all these countries were yet to hear of the victory.

²tn The word properly refers to “pangs” of childbirth. When the nations hear, they will be terrified.

³tn The verb is again a prophetic perfect.

⁴tn This is a prophetic perfect.

⁵tn This verb is imperfect tense.

⁶tn The two words can form a nominal hendiadys, “a dreadful fear,” though most English versions retain the two separate terms.

⁷tn The form is an imperfect.

⁸tn 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.

⁹sn For a study of the words for fear, see N. Waldman, “A Comparative Note on Exodus 15:14-16,” JQR 66 (1976): 189-92.

¹⁰tn 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).

¹¹tn 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).

¹²tn Heb “and they journeyed.”

¹³tn Heb “and the fear of God was upon the cities which were round about them.” The expression “fear of God” apparently refers (1) to a fear of God (objective genitive; God is the object of their fear). (2) But it could mean “fear from God,” that is, fear which God placed in them (cf. NRSV “a terror from God”). Another option (3) is that the divine name is used as a superlative here, referring to “tremendous fear” (cf. NEB “were panic-stricken”; NASB “a great terror”).

¹⁴tn Heb “under heaven” (so NIV, NRSV).

¹⁵tn Heb “from before you.”

¹⁶tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

¹⁷tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.

¹⁸tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”

¹⁹tn Or “melting away because of.”

²⁰tn Both of these statements are actually subordinated to “I know” in the Hebrew text, which reads, “I know that the Lord…and that terror of you…and that all the inhabitants….”

²¹tn Heb “and what you did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, how you annihilated them.”

²²tn Heb “And we heard and our heart[s] melted and there remained no longer breath in a man because of you.”

²³tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”

²⁴tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”

²⁵tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”

²⁶tn Heb “And he was the great man among the Anakites.”

²⁷tn Heb “By lot was their inheritance, as the Lord had commanded by Moses, to the nine tribes and the half-tribe.”

²⁸sn Tearing one’s clothes was an outward expression of extreme sorrow (see Gen 37:34; 44:13).

²⁹tn Or “elders.”

³⁰tn Heb “and fell on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel.”

³¹sn Throwing dirt on one’s head was an outward expression of extreme sorrow (see Lam 2:10; Ezek 27:30).

³²map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.

³³map For the location of Bethel see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

³⁴tn Heb “Therefore Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh for an inheritance to this day.”