Ezekiel 30:9

30:9 On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten overly confident Ethiopia; panic will overtake them on the day of Egypt’s doom; ¹  for beware – it is coming!

Exodus 15:14-16

15:14 The nations will hear ²  and tremble;

anguish ³  will seize ⁴  the inhabitants of Philistia.

15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, ⁵ 

trembling will seize ⁶  the leaders of Moab,

and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.

15:16 Fear and dread ⁷  will fall ⁸  on them;

by the greatness ⁹  of your arm they will be as still as stone ¹⁰ 

until ¹¹  your people pass by, O Lord,

until the people whom you have bought ¹²  pass by.

Psalms 48:6-7

48:6 Look at them shake uncontrollably, ¹³ 

like a woman writhing in childbirth. ¹⁴ 

48:7 With an east wind

you shatter ¹⁵  the large ships. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 19:16-17

19:16 At that time ¹⁷  the Egyptians ¹⁸  will be like women. ¹⁹  They will tremble and fear because the Lord who commands armies brandishes his fist against them. ²⁰  19:17 The land of Judah will humiliate Egypt. Everyone who hears about Judah will be afraid because of what the Lord who commands armies is planning to do to them. ²¹ 

Revelation 18:9-10

18:9 Then ²²  the kings of the earth who committed immoral acts with her and lived in sensual luxury ²³  with her will weep and wail for her when they see the smoke from the fire that burns her up. ²⁴  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 ²⁵  has come!”

[30:9]  ¹ tn Heb “in the day of Egypt.” The word “doom” has been added in the translation to clarify the nature of this day.

[15:14]  ² 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]  ³ tn The word properly refers to “pangs” of childbirth. When the nations hear, they will be terrified.

[15:14]  ⁴ tn The verb is again a prophetic perfect.

[15:15]  ⁵ tn This is a prophetic perfect.

[15:15]  ⁶ tn This verb is imperfect tense.

[15:16]  ⁷ tn The two words can form a nominal hendiadys, “a dreadful fear,” though most English versions retain the two separate terms.

[15:16]  ⁸ tn The form is an imperfect.

[15:16]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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).

[48:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “trembling seizes them there.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here, as often in poetic texts, to point “to a spot in which a scene is localized vividly in the imagination” (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[48:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[with] writhing like one giving birth.”

[48:7]  ¹⁵ tn The switch to the imperfect, as well as the introduction of the ship metaphor, perhaps signals a change to a generalizing tone; the Lord typically shatters these large ships, symbolic of the human strength of hostile armies (see the following note on “large ships”). The verb שָׁבַר (shavar, “break”) appears in the Piel here (see Pss 29:5; 46:9). In the OT it occurs thirty-six times in the Piel, always with multiple objects (the object is either a collective singular or grammatically plural or dual form). The Piel may highlight the repetition of the pluralative action, or it may suggest an intensification of action, indicating repeated action comprising a whole, perhaps with the nuance “break again and again, break in pieces.” Another option is to understand the form as resultative: “make broken” (see IBHS 404-7 §24.3).

[48:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to and from the distant western port of Tarshish. These ships, which were the best of their class, here symbolize the mere human strength of hostile armies, which are incapable of withstanding the Lord’s divine power (see Isa 2:16).

[19:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of vv. 18 and 19.

[19:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Egypt,” which stands by metonymy for the country’s inhabitants.

[19:16]  ¹⁹ sn As the rest of the verse indicates, the point of the simile is that the Egyptians will be relatively weak physically and will wilt in fear before the Lord’s onslaught.

[19:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he will tremble and be afraid because of the brandishing of the hand of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], which he brandishes against him.” Since according to the imagery here the Lord’s “hand” is raised as a weapon against the Egyptians, the term “fist” has been used in the translation.

[19:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “and the land of Judah will become [a source of] shame to Egypt, everyone to whom one mentions it [i.e., the land of Judah] will fear because of the plan of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] which he is planning against him.”

[18:9]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[18:9]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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.”