Exodus 14:4

14:4 I will harden ¹  Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them. I will gain honor ²  because of Pharaoh and because of all his army, and the Egyptians will know ³  that I am the Lord.” So this is what they did. ⁴ 

Exodus 15:11-16

15:11 Who is like you, ⁵  O Lord, among the gods? ⁶ 

Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, ⁷  working wonders?

15:12 You stretched out your right hand,

the earth swallowed them. ⁸ 

15:13 By your loyal love you will lead ⁹  the people whom ¹⁰  you have redeemed;

you will guide ¹¹  them by your strength to your holy dwelling place.

15:14 The nations will hear ¹²  and tremble;

anguish ¹³  will seize ¹⁴  the inhabitants of Philistia.

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

trembling will seize ¹⁶  the leaders of Moab,

and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.

15:16 Fear and dread ¹⁷  will fall ¹⁸  on them;

by the greatness ¹⁹  of your arm they will be as still as stone ²⁰ 

until ²¹  your people pass by, O Lord,

until the people whom you have bought ²²  pass by.

Exodus 18:11

18:11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for in the thing in which they dealt proudly against them he has destroyed them.” ²³ 

Joshua 2:10-11

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. ²⁴  2:11 When we heard the news we lost our courage and no one could even breathe for fear of you. ²⁵  For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below!

Joshua 2:1

Joshua Sends Spies into the Land

2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: ²⁶  “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” ²⁷  They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. ²⁸ 

Joshua 4:8

4:8 The Israelites did just as Joshua commanded. They picked up twelve stones, according to the number of the Israelite tribes, from the middle of the Jordan as the Lord had instructed Joshua. They carried them over with them to the camp and put them there.

Psalms 136:10-15

136:10 to the one who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

for his loyal love endures,

136:11 and led Israel out from their midst,

for his loyal love endures,

136:12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,

for his loyal love endures,

136:13 to the one who divided ²⁹  the Red Sea ³⁰  in two, ³¹ 

for his loyal love endures,

136:14 and led Israel through its midst,

for his loyal love endures,

136:15 and tossed ³²  Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,

for his loyal love endures,

[14:4]  ¹ tn In this place the verb חָזַק (hazaq) is used; it indicates that God would make Pharaoh’s will strong or firm.

[14:4]  ² tn The form is וְאִכָּבְדָה (vÿ’ikkavÿda), the Niphal cohortative; coming after the perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives expressing the future, this cohortative indicates the purpose of the hardening and chasing. Yahweh intended to gain glory by this final and great victory over the strength of Pharaoh. There is irony in this expression since a different form of the word was used frequently to describe Pharaoh’s hard heart. So judgment will not only destroy the wicked – it will reveal the glory and majesty of the sovereignty of God.

[14:4]  ³ tn This is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive. But it announces the fulfillment of an long standing purpose – that they might know.

[14:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they did so.”

[15:11]  ⁵ tn The question is of course rhetorical; it is a way of affirming that no one is comparable to God. See C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament, 22, 66-67, and 94-97.

[15:11]  ⁶ sn Verses 11-17 will now focus on Yahweh as the incomparable one who was able to save Israel from their foes and afterward lead them to the promised land.

[15:11]  ⁷ tn S. R. Driver suggests “praiseworthy acts” as the translation (Exodus, 137).

[15:12]  ⁸ tn The verb is the prefixed conjugation, the preterite without the vav consecutive. The subject, the “earth,” must be inclusive of the sea, or it may indicate the grave or Sheol; the sea drowned them. Some scholars wish to see this as a reference to Dathan and Abiram, and therefore evidence of a later addition or compilation. It fits this passage well, however.

[15:13]  ⁹ tn The verbs in the next two verses are perfect tenses, but can be interpreted as a prophetic perfect, looking to the future.

[15:13]  ¹⁰ tn The particle זוּ (zu) is a relative pronoun, subordinating the next verb to the preceding.

[15:13]  ¹¹ tn This verb seems to mean “to guide to a watering-place” (See Ps 23:2).

[15:14]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn The word properly refers to “pangs” of childbirth. When the nations hear, they will be terrified.

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

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

[15:15]  ¹⁶ tn This verb is imperfect tense.

[15:16]  ¹⁷ tn The two words can form a nominal hendiadys, “a dreadful fear,” though most English versions retain the two separate terms.

[15:16]  ¹⁸ tn The form is an imperfect.

[15:16]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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).

[18:11]  ²³ tn The end of this sentence seems not to have been finished, or it is very elliptical. In the present translation the phrase “he has destroyed them” is supplied. Others take the last prepositional phrase to be the completion and supply only a verb: “[he was] above them.” U. Cassuto (Exodus, 216) takes the word “gods” to be the subject of the verb “act proudly,” giving the sense of “precisely (כִּי, ki) in respect of these things of which the gods of Egypt boasted – He is greater than they (עֲלֵיהֶם, ‘alehem).” He suggests rendering the clause, “excelling them in the very things to which they laid claim.”

[2:10]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “And we heard and our heart[s] melted and there remained no longer breath in a man because of you.”

[2:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”

[2:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”

[136:13]  ²⁹ tn Or “cut.”

[136:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Reed Sea” (also in v. 15). “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See the note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.

[136:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “into pieces.”

[136:15]  ³² tn Or “shook off.”