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.

Joshua 2:9-11

2:9 She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. ¹²  We are absolutely terrified of you, ¹³  and all who live in the land are cringing before ¹⁴  you. ¹⁵  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. ¹⁶  2:11 When we heard the news we lost our courage and no one could even breathe for fear of you. ¹⁷  For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below!

Joshua 9:24

9:24 They said to Joshua, “It was carefully reported to your subjects ¹⁸  how the Lord your God commanded Moses his servant to assign you the whole land and to destroy all who live in the land from before you. Because of you we were terrified ¹⁹  we would lose our lives, so we did this thing.

Psalms 9:20

9:20 Terrify them, Lord! ²⁰ 

Let the nations know they are mere mortals! ²¹  (Selah)

Isaiah 2:19-21

2:19 They ²²  will go into caves in the rocky cliffs

and into holes in the ground, ²³ 

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ²⁴ 

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth. ²⁵ 

2:20 At that time ²⁶  men will throw

their silver and gold idols,

which they made for themselves to worship, ²⁷ 

into the caves where rodents and bats live, ²⁸ 

2:21 so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs

and the openings under the rocky overhangs, ²⁹ 

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ³⁰ 

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth. ³¹ 

Isaiah 64:2

64:2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,

or fire makes water boil,

let your adversaries know who you are, ³² 

and may the nations shake at your presence!

Jeremiah 33:9

33:9 All the nations will hear about all the good things which I will do to them. This city will bring me fame, honor, and praise before them for the joy that I bring it. The nations will tremble in awe at all the peace and prosperity that I will provide for it.’ ³³ 

Zechariah 14:5

14:5 Then you will escape ³⁴  through my mountain valley, for the mountains will extend to Azal. ³⁵  Indeed, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah ³⁶  of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come with all his holy ones with him.

Revelation 6:15-17

6:15 Then ³⁷  the kings of the earth, the ³⁸  very important people, the generals, ³⁹  the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave ⁴⁰  and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 6:16 They ⁴¹  said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ⁴²  6:17 because the great day of their ⁴³  wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” ⁴⁴ 

Revelation 18:9-10

18:9 Then ⁴⁵  the kings of the earth who committed immoral acts with her and lived in sensual luxury ⁴⁶  with her will weep and wail for her when they see the smoke from the fire that burns her up. ⁴⁷  18:10 They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment, and will say,

“Woe, woe, O great city,

Babylon the powerful city!

For in a single hour your doom ⁴⁸  has come!”

[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).

[2:9]  ¹² tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.

[2:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”

[2:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “melting away because of.”

[2:9]  ¹⁵ 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….”

[2:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and what you did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, how you annihilated them.”

[2:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “And we heard and our heart[s] melted and there remained no longer breath in a man because of you.”

[9:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “your servants.”

[9:24]  ¹⁹ tn Or “we were very afraid.”

[9:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “place, Lord, terror with regard to them.” The Hebrew term מוֹרָה (morah, “terror”) is an alternative form of מוֹרָא (mora’; a reading that appears in some mss and finds support in several ancient textual witnesses).

[9:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “let the nations know they [are] man[kind]”; i.e., mere human beings (as opposed to God).

[2:19]  ²² tn The identity of the grammatical subject is unclear. The “idols” could be the subject; they will “go” into the caves and holes when the idolaters throw them there in their haste to escape God’s judgment (see vv. 20-21). The picture of the idols, which represent the foreign deities worshiped by the people, fleeing from the Lord would be highly polemical and fit the overall mood of the chapter. However it seems more likely that the idolaters themselves are the subject, for v. 10 uses similar language in sarcastically urging them to run from judgment.

[2:19]  ²³ tn Heb “dust”; ASV “into the holes of the earth.”

[2:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “trying to escape” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:19]  ²⁵ tn Or “land.” It is not certain if these verses are describing the judgment of Judah (see vv. 6-9) or a more universal judgment on all proud men.

[2:20]  ²⁶ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[2:20]  ²⁷ tn Or “bow down to.”

[2:20]  ²⁸ tn Heb “to the shrews and to the bats.” On the meaning of חֲפַרְפָּרָה (khafarparah, “shrew”), see HALOT 341 s.v. חֲפַרְפָּרָה. The BHS text as it stands (לַחְפֹּר פֵּרוֹת, perot lakhpor), makes no sense. Based on Theodotion’s transliteration and a similar reading in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, most scholars suggest that the MT mistakenly divided a noun (a hapax legomenon) that should be translated “moles,” “shrews,” or “rodents.”

[2:21]  ²⁹ sn The precise point of vv. 20-21 is not entirely clear. Are they taking the idols into their hiding places with them, because they are so attached to their man-made images? Or are they discarding the idols along the way as they retreat into the darkest places they can find? In either case it is obvious that the gods are incapable of helping them.

[2:21]  ³⁰ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “trying to escape” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:21]  ³¹ tn Or “land.” It is not certain if these verses are describing the judgment of Judah (see vv. 6-9) or a more universal judgment on all proud men. Almost all English versions translate “earth,” taking this to refer to universal judgment.

[64:2]  ³² tn Heb “to make known your name to your adversaries.” Perhaps the infinitive construct with preposition -לְ (lamed) should be construed with “come down” in v. 1a, or subordinated to the following line: “To make known your name to your adversaries, let the nations shake from before you.”

[33:9]  ³³ tn Heb “And it [the city] will be to me for a name for joy and for praise and for honor before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good things which I will do for them and which will be in awe and tremble for all the good things and all the peace [or prosperity] which I will do for them.” The long complex Hebrew sentence has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style.

[14:5]  ³⁴ tc For the MT reading נַסְתֶּם (nastem, “you will escape”) the LXX presupposes נִסְתַּם (nistam, “will be stopped up”; this reading is followed by NAB). This appears to derive from a perceived need to eliminate the unexpected “you” as subject. This not only is unnecessary to Hebrew discourse (see “you” in the next clause), but it contradicts the statement in the previous verse that the mountain will be split open, not stopped up.

[14:5]  ³⁵ sn Azal is a place otherwise unknown.

[14:5]  ³⁶ sn The earthquake in the days of King Uzziah, also mentioned in Amos 1:1, is apparently the one attested to at Hazor in 760 b.c.

[6:15]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[6:15]  ³⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated; nor is it translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[6:15]  ³⁹ tn Grk “chiliarchs.” A chiliarch was normally a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

[6:15]  ⁴⁰ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[6:16]  ⁴¹ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:16]  ⁴² tn It is difficult to say where this quotation ends. The translation ends it after “withstand it” at the end of v. 17, but it is possible that it should end here, after “Lamb” at the end of v. 16. If it ends after “Lamb,” v. 17 is a parenthetical explanation by the author.

[6:17]  ⁴³ tc Most mss (A Ï bo) change the pronoun “their” to “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou) in order to bring the text in line with the mention of the one seated on the throne in the immediately preceding verse, and to remove the ambiguity about whose wrath is in view here. The reading αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”) is well supported by א C 1611 1854 2053 2329 2344 pc latt sy. On both internal and external grounds, it should be regarded as original.

[6:17]  ⁴⁴ tn The translation “to withstand (it)” for ἵστημι (Jisthmi) is based on the imagery of holding one’s ground in a military campaign or an attack (BDAG 482 s.v. B.4).

[18:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[18:9]  ⁴⁶ tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”

[18:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “from the burning of her.” For the translation “the smoke from the fire that burns her up,” see L&N 14.63.

[18:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “judgment,” condemnation,” “punishment.” BDAG 569 s.v. κρίσις 1.a.β states, “The word oft. means judgment that goes against a person, condemnation, and the sentence that follows…ἡ κ. σου your judgment Rv 18:10.”