Discovery BoxExodus 15:10-11 
Context15:10 But 1 you blew with your breath, and 2 the sea covered them.
They sank 3 like lead in the mighty waters.
15:11 Who is like you, 4 O Lord, among the gods? 5
Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, 6 working wonders?
Exodus 15:14-16
Context15:14 The nations will hear 7 and tremble;
anguish 8 will seize 9 the inhabitants of Philistia.
15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, 10
trembling will seize 11 the leaders of Moab,
and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.
15:16 Fear and dread 12 will fall 13 on them;
by the greatness 14 of your arm they will be as still as stone 15
until 16 your people pass by, O Lord,
until the people whom you have bought 17 pass by.
1 tn “But” has been supplied here.
2 tn Here “and” has been supplied.
3 tn The verb may have the idea of sinking with a gurgling sound, like water going into a whirlpool (R. A. Cole, Exodus [TOTC], 124; S. R. Driver, Exodus, 136). See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, “The Song of Miriam,” JNES 14 (1955): 243-47.
4 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.
5 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.
6 tn S. R. Driver suggests “praiseworthy acts” as the translation (Exodus, 137).
7 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.
8 tn The word properly refers to “pangs” of childbirth. When the nations hear, they will be terrified.
9 tn The verb is again a prophetic perfect.
10 tn This is a prophetic perfect.
11 tn This verb is imperfect tense.
12 tn The two words can form a nominal hendiadys, “a dreadful fear,” though most English versions retain the two separate terms.
13 tn The form is an imperfect.
14 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 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.
16 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).
17 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).
