Isaiah 19:16

19:16 At that time ¹  the Egyptians ²  will be like women. ³  They will tremble and fear because the Lord who commands armies brandishes his fist against them. ⁴ 

Exodus 15:14-16

15:14 The nations will hear ⁵  and tremble;

anguish ⁶  will seize ⁷  the inhabitants of Philistia.

15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, ⁸ 

trembling will seize ⁹  the leaders of Moab,

and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.

15:16 Fear and dread ¹⁰  will fall ¹¹  on them;

by the greatness ¹²  of your arm they will be as still as stone ¹³ 

until ¹⁴  your people pass by, O Lord,

until the people whom you have bought ¹⁵  pass by.

Joshua 2:9-11

2:9 She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. ¹⁶  We are absolutely terrified of you, ¹⁷  and all who live in the land are cringing before ¹⁸  you. ¹⁹  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. ²⁰  2:11 When we heard the news we lost our courage and no one could even breathe for fear of you. ²¹  For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below!

¹ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of vv. 18 and 19.

² tn Heb “Egypt,” which stands by metonymy for the country’s inhabitants.

³ sn As the rest of the verse indicates, the point of the simile is that the Egyptians will be relatively weak physically and will wilt in fear before the Lord’s onslaught.

⁴ tn Heb “and he will tremble and be afraid because of the brandishing of the hand of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], which he brandishes against him.” Since according to the imagery here the Lord’s “hand” is raised as a weapon against the Egyptians, the term “fist” has been used in the translation.

⁵ tn 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.

⁶ tn The word properly refers to “pangs” of childbirth. When the nations hear, they will be terrified.

⁷ tn The verb is again a prophetic perfect.

⁸ tn This is a prophetic perfect.

⁹ tn This verb is imperfect tense.

¹⁰ tn The two words can form a nominal hendiadys, “a dreadful fear,” though most English versions retain the two separate terms.

¹¹ tn The form is an imperfect.

¹² 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.

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ 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).

¹⁵ 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).

¹⁶ tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.

¹⁷ tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”

¹⁸ tn Or “melting away because of.”

¹⁹ tn 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….”

²⁰ tn Heb “and what you did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, how you annihilated them.”

²¹ tn Heb “And we heard and our heart[s] melted and there remained no longer breath in a man because of you.”