Joshua 5:1

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 ¹  crossed, they lost their courage and could not even breathe for fear of the Israelites. ² 

Joshua 7:5

7:5 The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures ³  and defeated them on the steep slope. ⁴  The people’s ⁵  courage melted away like water. ⁶ 

Joshua 14:8

14:8 My countrymen ⁷  who accompanied ⁸  me frightened the people, ⁹  but I remained loyal to the Lord my God. ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 1:28

1:28 What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage ¹¹  by describing people who are more numerous ¹²  and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven ¹³  itself! Moreover, they said they saw ¹⁴  Anakites ¹⁵  there.”

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 ¹⁶  heart as fearful ¹⁷  as his own.”

Isaiah 13:7

13:7 For this reason all hands hang limp, ¹⁸ 

every human heart loses its courage. ¹⁹ 

Nahum 2:10

2:10 Destruction, devastation, and desolation! ²⁰ 

Their hearts faint, ²¹ 

their knees tremble, ²² 

each stomach churns, ²³  each face ²⁴  turns ²⁵  pale! ²⁶ 

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

[5:1]  ² tn Heb “their heart[s] melted and there was no longer in them breathe because of the sons of Israel.”

[7:5]  ³ tn The meaning and correct translation of the Hebrew word שְׁבָרִים (shÿvarim) is uncertain. The translation “fissures” is based on usage of the plural form of the noun in Ps 60:4 HT (60:2 ET), where it appears to refer to cracks in the earth caused by an earthquake. Perhaps deep ravines or gorges are in view, or the word is a proper noun (“all the way to Shebarim”).

[7:5]  ⁴ sn The precise geographical location of the Israelite defeat at this “steep slope” is uncertain.

[7:5]  ⁵ tn Or “army’s.”

[7:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the heart of the people melted and became water.”

[14:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “brothers.”

[14:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “went up with.”

[14:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “made the heart[s] of the people melt.”

[14:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I filled up after the Lord my God,” an idiomatic statement meaning that Caleb remained loyal to the Lord.

[1:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “have caused our hearts to melt.”

[1:28]  ¹² tn Heb “greater.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “stronger,” NAB, NIV, NRSV; “bigger,” NASB).

[1:28]  ¹³ tn Or “as the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[1:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “we have seen.”

[1:28]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the sons of the Anakim.”

[20:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his brother’s.”

[20:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “melted.”

[13:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “drop”; KJV “be faint”; ASV “be feeble”; NAB “fall helpless.”

[13:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “melts” (so NAB).

[2:10]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Heb “and melting heart.”

[2:10]  ²² tn Heb “and tottering of knees.”

[2:10]  ²³ tn Heb “and shaking in all of the loins.”

[2:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “all of their faces.”

[2:10]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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.”