Exodus 15:14-16

15:14 The nations will hear ¹  and tremble;

anguish ²  will seize ³  the inhabitants of Philistia.

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

trembling will seize ⁵  the leaders of Moab,

and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.

15:16 Fear and dread ⁶  will fall ⁷  on them;

by the greatness ⁸  of your arm they will be as still as stone ⁹ 

until ¹⁰  your people pass by, O Lord,

until the people whom you have bought ¹¹  pass by.

Exodus 15:2

15:2 The Lord ¹²  is my strength and my song, ¹³ 

and he has become my salvation.

This is my God, and I will praise him, ¹⁴ 

my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Exodus 20:1

The Decalogue

20:1 ¹⁵ God spoke all these words: ¹⁶ 

Nehemiah 6:16

6:16 When all our enemies heard and all the nations who were around us saw ¹⁷  this, they were greatly disheartened. ¹⁸  They knew that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

Esther 8:17

8:17 Throughout every province and throughout every city where the king’s edict and his law arrived, the Jews experienced happiness and joy, banquets and holidays. Many of the resident peoples ¹⁹  pretended ²⁰  to be Jews, because the fear of the Jews had overcome them. ²¹ 

Psalms 40:3

40:3 He gave me reason to sing a new song, ²² 

praising our God. ²³ 

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord! ²⁴ 

Isaiah 60:5

60:5 Then you will look and smile, ²⁵ 

you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride. ²⁶ 

For the riches of distant lands ²⁷  will belong to you

and the wealth of nations will come to you.

Hosea 3:5

3:5 Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. ²⁸  Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings ²⁹  in the future. ³⁰ 

Micah 7:16-17

7:16 Nations will see this and be disappointed by ³¹  all their strength,

they will put their hands over their mouths,

and act as if they were deaf. ³² 

7:17 They will lick the dust like a snake,

like serpents crawling on the ground. ³³ 

They will come trembling from their strongholds

to the Lord our God; ³⁴ 

they will be terrified ³⁵  of you. ³⁶ 

Zechariah 12:2

12:2 “I am about to make Jerusalem ³⁷  a cup that brings dizziness ³⁸  to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged.

[15:14]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The word properly refers to “pangs” of childbirth. When the nations hear, they will be terrified.

[15:14]  ³ tn The verb is again a prophetic perfect.

[15:15]  ⁴ tn This is a prophetic perfect.

[15:15]  ⁵ tn This verb is imperfect tense.

[15:16]  ⁶ tn The two words can form a nominal hendiadys, “a dreadful fear,” though most English versions retain the two separate terms.

[15:16]  ⁷ tn The form is an imperfect.

[15:16]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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).

[15:2]  ¹² tn Heb “Yah.” Moses’ poem here uses a short form of the name Yahweh, traditionally rendered in English by “the LORD.”

[15:2]  ¹³ tn The word וְזִמְרָת (vÿzimrat) is problematic. It probably had a suffix yod (י) that was accidentally dropped because of the yod (י) on the divine name following. Most scholars posit another meaning for the word. A meaning of “power” fits the line fairly well, forming a hendiadys with strength – “strength and power” becoming “strong power.” Similar lines are in Isa 12:2 and Ps 118:14. Others suggest “protection” or “glory.” However, there is nothing substantially wrong with “my song” in the line – only that it would be a nicer match if it had something to do with strength.

[15:2]  ¹⁴ tn The word נָוָה (navah) occurs only here. It may mean “beautify, adorn” with praises (see BDB 627 s.v.). See also M. Dahood, “Exodus 15:2: ‘anwehu and Ugaritic snwt,” Bib 59 (1979): 260-61; and M. Klein, “The Targumic Tosefta to Exodus 15:2,” JJS 26 (1975): 61-67; and S. B. Parker, “Exodus 15:2 Again,” VT 21 (1971): 373-79.

[20:1]  ¹⁵ sn This chapter is the heart of the Law of Israel, and as such is well known throughout the world. There is so much literature on it that it is almost impossible to say anything briefly and do justice to the subject. But the exposition of the book must point out that this is the charter of the new nation of Israel. These ten commands (words) form the preamble; they will be followed by the decisions (judgments). And then in chap. 24 the covenant will be inaugurated. So when Israel entered into covenant with God, they entered into a theocracy by expressing their willingness to submit to his authority. The Law was the binding constitution for the nation of Israel under Yahweh their God. It was specifically given to them at a certain time and in a certain place. The Law legislated how Israel was to live in order to be blessed by God and used by him as a kingdom of priests. In the process of legislating their conduct and their ritual for worship, the Law revealed God. It revealed the holiness of Yahweh as the standard for all worship and service, and in revealing that it revealed or uncovered sin. But what the Law condemned, the Law (Leviticus) also made provision for in the laws of the sacrifice and the feasts intended for atonement. The NT teaches that the Law was good, and perfect, and holy. But it also teaches that Christ was the end (goal) of the Law, that it ultimately led to him. It was a pedagogue, Paul said, to bring people to Christ. And when the fulfillment of the promise came in him, believers were not to go back under the Law. What this means for Christians is that what the Law of Israel revealed about God and his will is timeless and still authoritative over faith and conduct, but what the Law regulated for Israel in their existence as the people of God has been done away with in Christ. The Ten Commandments reveal the essence of the Law; the ten for the most part are reiterated in the NT because they reflect the holy and righteous nature of God. The NT often raises them to a higher standard, to guard the spirit of the Law as well as the letter.

[20:1]  ¹⁶ sn The Bible makes it clear that the Law was the revelation of God at Mount Sinai. And yet study has shown that the law code’s form follows the literary pattern of covenant codes in the Late Bronze Age, notably the Hittite codes. The point of such codes is that all the covenant stipulations are appropriate because of the wonderful things that the sovereign has done for the people. God, in using a well-known literary form, was both drawing on the people’s knowledge of such to impress their duties on them, as well as putting new wine into old wineskins. The whole nature of God’s code was on a much higher level. For this general structure, see M. G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King. For the Ten Commandments specifically, see J. J. Stamm and M. E. Andrew, The Ten Commandments in Recent Research (SBT). See also some of the general articles: M. Barrett, “God’s Moral Standard: An Examination of the Decalogue,” BV 12 (1978): 34-40; C. J. H. Wright, “The Israelite Household and the Decalogue: The Social Background and Significance of Some Commandments,” TynBul 30 (1979): 101-24; J. D. Levenson, “The Theologies of Commandment in Biblical Israel,” HTR 73 (1980): 17-33; M. B. Cohen and D. B. Friedman, “The Dual Accentuation of the Ten Commandments,” Masoretic Studies 1 (1974): 7-190; D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42; M. Tate, “The Legal Traditions of the Book of Exodus,” RevExp 74 (1977): 483-509; E. C. Smith, “The Ten Commandments in Today’s Permissive Society: A Principleist Approach,” SwJT 20 (1977): 42-58; and D. W. Buck, “Exodus 20:1-17,” Lutheran Theological Journal 16 (1982): 65-75.

[6:16]  ¹⁷ tc The MT understands the root here to be יָרֵא (yare’, “to fear”) rather than רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”).

[6:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they greatly fell [i.e., were cast down] in their own eyes.” Some scholars suggest emending the reading of the MT, וַיִּפְּלוּ (vayyipÿlu) to וַיִּפָּלֵא (vayyippale’, “it was very extraordinary in their eyes”).

[8:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “peoples of the land” (so NASB); NIV “people of other nationalities”; NRSV “peoples of the country.”

[8:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “were becoming Jews”; NAB “embraced Judaism.” However, the Hitpael stem of the verb is sometimes used of a feigning action rather than a genuine one (see, e.g., 2 Sam 13:5, 6), which is the way the present translation understands the use of the word here (cf. NEB “professed themselves Jews”; NRSV “professed to be Jews”). This is the only occurrence of this verb in the Hebrew Bible, so there are no exact parallels. However, in the context of v. 17 the motivation of their conversion (Heb “the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them”) should not be overlooked. The LXX apparently understood the conversion described here to be genuine, since it adds the words “they were being circumcised and” before “they became Jews.”

[8:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “had fallen upon them” (so NRSV); NIV “had seized them.”

[40:3]  ²² sn A new song was appropriate because the Lord had intervened in the psalmist’s experience in a fresh and exciting way.

[40:3]  ²³ tn Heb “and he placed in my mouth a new song, praise to our God.”

[40:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “may many see and fear and trust in the Lord.” The translation assumes that the initial prefixed verbal form is a jussive (“may many see”), rather than an imperfect (“many will see”). The following prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive are taken as indicating purpose or result (“so that they might swear allegiance…and trust”) after the introductory jussive.

[60:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “shine,” or “be radiant” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[60:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and it will tremble and be wide, your heart.”

[60:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the wealth of the sea,” i.e., wealth that is transported from distant lands via the sea.

[3:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “David their king”; cf. NCV “the king from David’s family”; TEV “a descendant of David their king”; NLT “David’s descendant, their king.”

[3:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “his goodness”; NLT “his good gifts.”

[3:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in the end of the days.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT “in the last days.”

[7:16]  ³¹ tn Or “be ashamed of.”

[7:16]  ³² tn Heb “and their ears will be deaf.” Apparently this means the opposing nations will be left dumbfounded by the Lord’s power. Their inability to respond will make them appear to be deaf mutes.

[7:17]  ³³ tn Heb “like crawling things on the ground.” The parallelism suggests snakes are in view.

[7:17]  ³⁴ tn Thetranslationassumesthatthe phrase אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ (’el-yÿhvah ’elohenu, “to the Lord our God”) goes with what precedes. Another option is to take the phrase with the following verb, in which case one could translate, “to the Lord our God they will turn in dread.”

[7:17]  ³⁵ tn Heb “they will be in dread and afraid.”

[7:17]  ³⁶ tn The Lord is addressed directly using the second person.

[12:2]  ³⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[12:2]  ³⁸ sn The image of a cup that brings dizziness is that of drunkenness. The Lord will force the nations to drink of his judgment and in doing so they will become so intoxicated by his wrath that they will stumble and become irrational.