2 Chronicles 20:22-23

20:22 When they began to shout and praise, the Lord suddenly attacked ¹  the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir ²  who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 20:23 The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the men from Mount Seir ³  and annihilated them. ⁴  When they had finished off the men ⁵  of Seir, they attacked and destroyed one another. ⁶ 

Exodus 14:13-14

14:13 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! ⁷  Stand firm ⁸  and see ⁹  the salvation ¹⁰  of the Lord that he will provide ¹¹  for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again. ¹²  14:14 The Lord ¹³  will fight for you, and you can be still.” ¹⁴ 

Exodus 14:25

14:25 He jammed ¹⁵  the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving, ¹⁶  and the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee ¹⁷  from Israel, for the Lord fights ¹⁸  for them against Egypt!”

[20:22]  ¹ tn Heb “set ambushers against.” This is probably idiomatic here for launching a surprise attack.

[20:22]  ² tn Heb “the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir.”

[20:23]  ³ tn Heb “the sons of Ammon and Moab stood against the residents of Mount Seir.”

[20:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “to annihilate and to destroy.”

[20:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “residents.”

[20:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “they helped, each one his fellow, for destruction.” The verb עָזַר (’azar), traditionally understood as the well-attested verb meaning “to help,” is an odd fit in this context. It is possible that it is from a homonymic root, perhaps meaning to “attack.” This root is attested in Ugaritic in a nominal form meaning “young man, warrior, hero.” For a discussion of the proposed root, see HALOT 811 s.v. II עזר.

[14:13]  ⁷ tn The use of אַל (’al) with the jussive has the force of “stop fearing.” It is a more immediate negative command than לֹא (lo’) with the imperfect (as in the Decalogue).

[14:13]  ⁸ tn The force of this verb in the Hitpael is “to station oneself” or “stand firm” without fleeing.

[14:13]  ⁹ tn The form is an imperative with a vav (ו). It could also be rendered “stand firm and you will see” meaning the result, or “stand firm that you may see” meaning the purpose.

[14:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “victory” (NAB) or “deliverance” (NIV, NRSV).

[14:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “do,” i.e., perform or accomplish.

[14:13]  ¹² tn The construction uses a verbal hendiadys consisting of a Hiphil imperfect (“you will not add”) and a Qal infinitive construct with a suffix (“to see them”) – “you will no longer see them.” Then the clause adds “again, for ever.”

[14:14]  ¹³ tn The word order places emphasis on “the Lord” (Heb “Yahweh”).

[14:14]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect tense needs to be interpreted in contrast to all that Yahweh will be doing. It may be given a potential imperfect nuance (as here), or it may be obligatory to follow the command to stand firm: “you must be still.”

[14:25]  ¹⁵ tn The word in the text is וַיָּסַר (vayyasar), which would be translated “and he turned aside” with the sense perhaps of removing the wheels. The reading in the LXX, Smr, and Syriac suggests a root אָסַר (’asar, “to bind”). The sense here might be “clogged – presumably by their sinking in the wet sand” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 120).

[14:25]  ¹⁶ tn The clause is וַיְנַהֲגֵהוּ בִּכְבֵדֻת (vaynahagehu bikhvedut). The verb means “to drive a chariot”; here in the Piel it means “cause to drive.” The suffix is collective, and so the verbal form can be translated “and caused them to drive.” The idea of the next word is “heaviness” or “hardship”; it recalls the previous uses of related words to describe Pharaoh’s heart. Here it indicates that the driving of the crippled chariots was with difficulty.

[14:25]  ¹⁷ tn The cohortative has the hortatory use here, “Let’s flee.” Although the form is singular, the sense of it is plural and so hortatory can be used. The form is singular to agree with the singular subject, “Egypt,” which obviously means the Egyptian army. The word for “flee” is used when someone runs from fear of immanent danger and is a different word than the one used in 14:5.

[14:25]  ¹⁸ tn The form is the Niphal participle; it is used as the predicate here, that is, the verbal use: “the Lord is fighting.” This corresponds to the announcement in v. 14.