Exodus 15:16

Fear and dread ¹  will fall ²  on them; by the greatness ³  of your arm they will be as still as stone ⁴  until ⁵  your people pass by, O Lord, until the people whom you have bought ⁶  pass by.

Ex 11:7; Ex 19:5,6; De 2:25; De 11:25; De 32:6,9; Jos 2:9; 1Sa 2:9; 1Sa 25:37; 2Sa 7:23; Ps 74:2; Isa 43:1-3; Isa 51:10; Jer 31:11; Ac 20:28; Tit 2:14; 1Pe 2:9; 2Pe 2:1

¹ tn The two words can form a nominal hendiadys, “a dreadful fear,” though most English versions retain the two separate terms.

² tn The form is an imperfect.

³ 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.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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).

⁶ 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).