Exodus 15:15

15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, ¹ 

trembling will seize ²  the leaders of Moab,

and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.

Deuteronomy 20:8

20:8 In addition, the officers are to say to the troops, “Who among you is afraid and fainthearted? He may go home so that he will not make his fellow soldier’s ³  heart as fearful ⁴  as his own.”

Joshua 2:9-11

2:9 She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. ⁵  We are absolutely terrified of you, ⁶  and all who live in the land are cringing before ⁷  you. ⁸  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. ⁹  2:11 When we heard the news we lost our courage and no one could even breathe for fear of you. ¹⁰  For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below!

Joshua 5:1-2

5:1 When all the Amorite kings on the west side of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the seacoast heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites while they ¹¹  crossed, they lost their courage and could not even breathe for fear of the Israelites. ¹² 

A New Generation is Circumcised

5:2 At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites once again.” ¹³ 

Joshua 17:10

17:10 Ephraim’s territory was to the south, and Manasseh’s to the north. The sea was Manasseh’s ¹⁴  western border and their territory ¹⁵  touched Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.

Nahum 2:10

2:10 Destruction, devastation, and desolation! ¹⁶ 

Their hearts faint, ¹⁷ 

their knees tremble, ¹⁸ 

each stomach churns, ¹⁹  each face ²⁰  turns ²¹  pale! ²² 

[15:15]  ¹ tn This is a prophetic perfect.

[15:15]  ² tn This verb is imperfect tense.

[20:8]  ³ tn Heb “his brother’s.”

[20:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “melted.”

[2:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”

[2:9]  ⁷ tn Or “melting away because of.”

[2:9]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And we heard and our heart[s] melted and there remained no longer breath in a man because of you.”

[5:1]  ¹¹ tc Another textual tradition has, “while we crossed.”

[5:1]  ¹² tn Heb “their heart[s] melted and there was no longer in them breathe because of the sons of Israel.”

[5:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “return, circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate the repetition of an action.

[17:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (their territory) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Emptiness and devastation and being laid waste.” Several English versions attempt to reproduce the assonance, alliteration, and paronomasia of three similarly sounding Hebrew words: בּוּקַָה וּמְבוּקָה וּמְבֻלָּקָה (buqah umÿvuqah umÿvullaqah; NJPS “Desolation, devastation, and destruction!”; NRSV: “Devastation, desolation, and destruction!”).

[2:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and melting heart.”

[2:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and tottering of knees.”

[2:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and shaking in all of the loins.”

[2:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “all of their faces.”

[2:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “gather” or “withdraw.” The Piel perfect קִבְּצוּ (qibbÿtsu) from קָבַץ (qavats, “to gather”) may be nuanced in the intensive sense “to gather glow; to glow [in excitement]” (HALOT 1063 s.v. קבץ pi. 4) or the privative sense “to take away, withdraw” (BDB 868 s.v. קָבַץ Pi.3). The phrase קִבְּצוּ פָארוּר (qibbÿtsu pa’rur) is very difficult; it occurs only here and in Joel 2:6 which also describes the fearful facial reaction to an invading army. It probably means: (1) to grow red in fear; (2) to grow pale in fear; or (3) to turn ashen in fear. This difficult phrase may be translated by the modern English idioms: “every face grows pale” or “every face flushes red in fear.”

[2:10]  ²² tn The Hebrew term פָּארוּר (pa’rur) occurs only here and in Joel 2:6 where it also describes a fearful facial reaction. The meaning of פָּארוּר is debated and numerous etymologies have been suggested: (1) From פָּרוּר (parur, “cooking pot”; HALOT 964 s.v. פָּרוּר): LXX τὸ πρόσωπον πάντων ὡς πρόσκαυμα ξύτρας (to proswpon pantwn Jw" proskauma xutra", “all their faces are like a blackened/burned pot”); Vulgate et facies omnium sicut nigredo ollae (“all their faces are like a black pot”); Targum Jonathan (“covered with black like a pot”). This approach is adopted by the KJV and AV: “the faces of them all gather blackness.” (2) From פְּאֵר (pÿ’er, “beauty”). Taking קָבַץ (qavats) in a private sense (“gather in”), several scholars propose: “to draw in beauty, withdraw color,” hence: “their faces grow pale” (NASB, NIV); see K&D 26:192-93; A. Haldar, Studies in the Book of Nahum, 59. (3) From פָּרַר (parar, “break in pieces”). Due to fear, their faces have gathered wrinkles. (4) From IV פּרר (“to boil”), related to Arabic ’pr and Syriac npr (“to boil”): “their faces glow red in excitement” (HALOT 860 s.v.). (5) From פּאר (“grey, ash grey”): “their faces turn grey” (J. J. Gluck, “parur – paárur: A Case of Biblical Paronomasia,” OTWSA 12 [1969]: 21-26). The NJPS translation appears to adopt this approach: “all faces turn ashen.”