Exodus 14:25

14:25 He jammed ¹  the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving, ²  and the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee ³  from Israel, for the Lord fights ⁴  for them against Egypt!”

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.

Deuteronomy 32:30

32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, ¹⁶ 

and two pursue ten thousand;

unless their Rock had delivered them up, ¹⁷ 

and the Lord had handed them over?

[14:25]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[15:14]  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.

[15:14]  ⁶ tn The word properly refers to “pangs” of childbirth. When the nations hear, they will be terrified.

[15:14]  ⁷ tn The verb is again a prophetic perfect.

[15:15]  ⁸ tn This is a prophetic perfect.

[15:15]  ⁹ tn This verb is imperfect tense.

[15:16]  ¹⁰ tn The two words can form a nominal hendiadys, “a dreadful fear,” though most English versions retain the two separate terms.

[15:16]  ¹¹ tn The form is an imperfect.

[15:16]  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.

[15:16]  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.

[15:16]  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).

[15:16]  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).

[32:30]  ¹⁶ tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[32:30]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).