Psalms 72:9

72:9 Before him the coastlands ¹  will bow down,

and his enemies will lick the dust. ² 

Exodus 12:35-36

12:35 Now the Israelites had done ³  as Moses told them – they had requested from the Egyptians ⁴  silver and gold items and clothing. 12:36 The Lord ⁵  gave the people favor ⁶  in the sight of the Egyptians, and they gave them whatever they wanted, ⁷  and so they plundered Egypt. ⁸ 

Exodus 14:30

14:30 So the Lord saved ⁹  Israel on that day from the power ¹⁰  of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead ¹¹  on the shore of the sea.

Numbers 14:9

14:9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. ¹²  Their protection ¹³  has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”

[72:9]  ¹ tn Or “islands.” The term here refers metonymically to those people who dwell in these regions.

[72:9]  ² sn As they bow down before him, it will appear that his enemies are licking the dust.

[12:35]  ³ tn The verbs “had done” and then “had asked” were accomplished prior to the present narrative (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 99). The verse begins with disjunctive word order to introduce the reminder of earlier background information.

[12:35]  ⁴ tn Heb “from Egypt.” Here the Hebrew text uses the name of the country to represent the inhabitants (a figure known as metonymy).

[12:36]  ⁵ tn The holy name (“Yahweh,” represented as “the Lord” in the translation) has the vav disjunctive with it. It may have the force: “Now it was Yahweh who gave the people favor….”

[12:36]  ⁶ sn God was destroying the tyrant and his nobles and the land’s economy because of their stubborn refusal. But God established friendly, peaceful relations between his people and the Egyptians. The phrase is used outside Exod only in Gen 39:21, referring to Joseph.

[12:36]  ⁷ tn The verb וַיַּשְׁאִלוּם (vayyash’ilum) is a Hiphil form that has the root שָׁאַל (sha’al), used earlier in Qal with the meaning “requested” (12:35). The verb here is frequently translated “and they lent them,” but lending does not fit the point. What they gave the Israelites were farewell gifts sought by demanding or asking for them. This may exemplify a “permissive” use of the Hiphil stem, in which “the Hiphil designates an action that is agreeable to the object and allowed by the subject” (B. T. Arnold and J. H. Choi, A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 52).

[12:36]  ⁸ sn See B. Jacob, “The Gifts of the Egyptians; A Critical Commentary,” Journal of Reformed Judaism 27 (1980): 59-69.

[14:30]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term וַיּוֹשַׁע (vayyosha’) is the key summation of the chapter, and this part of the book: “So Yahweh saved Israel.” This is the culmination of all the powerful works of God through these chapters.

[14:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the hand,” with “hand” being a metonymy for power.

[14:30]  ¹¹ tn The participle “dead” is singular, agreeing in form with “Egypt.”

[14:9]  ¹² sn The expression must indicate that they could destroy the enemies as easily as they could eat bread.

[14:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “their shade.” The figure compares the shade from the sun with the protection from the enemy. It is also possible that the text is alluding to their deities here.