Exodus 15:15

Exo 15:15 Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.

Ver. 15. Then the dukes of Edom.] See Deu 2:4.

The mighty men.] See it fulfilled, Num 22:3.

Shall melt.] So they did. {Jos 2:9-11}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 15. The dukes of Edom] Idumea was governed at this time by those called אלפים alluphim, heads, chiefs, or captains. See Clarke on Ge 36:15.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(15) The dukes of Edom.—Comp. Gen_36:15, where the same title is found. Apparently in the course of the thirty-eight years between the Exodus and the approach to. Canaan, the oligarchy of “dukes” had been replaced by a monarchy. (See Num_20:14.) The fear of Israel had also passed away; and the Edomites “came out against Moses with much people, and with a strong hand,” laying a foundation for that prolonged hatred of which we have traces in 2Sa_8:14; 1Ki_11:14-22; 2Ki_8:20-22; 2Ch_20:16; Psa_137:7, &c.

The mighty men of Moab.—On the terror of the Moabites, when Israel approached their borders, see Num_22:3-4. The efforts made by Balak to procure Balaam’s curse upon them were indications of the alarm felt.

All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.—Compare Jos_2:11 : “As soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt;” and Exo_5:1 : “It came to pass . . . when all the kings of the Canaanites heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan, that their hearts melted, neither was there any spirit in them any more.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15.Then were the chiefs of Edom dismayed;

The mighty men of Moab, trembling took hold upon them;

All the inhabitants of Canaan melted away (in fear).

Then] when they heard the tidings of the great disaster to the Egyptians. The terror thus inspired into them continued till Israel had passed by them and entered Canaan (v. 16). The Israelites did, 40 years afterwards, pass round Edom and Moab on the S. and E. of the Dead Sea: see Num_20:21; Num_21:4; Num_21:13; Deu_2:1-9; Deu_2:18.

chiefs] Properly, clan-chiefs, or heads of clans (from ’eleph, a family or clan, Jdg_6:15, 1Sa_10:19, Mic_5:2); a word used specially of the clan-chiefs of Edom (see Gen_36:15-19; Gen_36:21; Gen_36:29-30; Gen_36:40-43 [= 1Ch_1:51-54]), and rare besides (Zec_9:7; Zec_12:5-6, only). In EVV., here and in Genesis 36, ‘duke’ represents the Lat. dux (which in its turn is based upon the ἡγεμών of the LXX.), and means simply leader.

dismayed] as Psa_48:5, for the same Heb. ‘Amazed’ (AS. amasian, to perplex; connected with maze) meant formerly bewildered (cf. ‘to be in a maze’) or confounded by any strong emotion, especially by fear (cf. Jdg_20:41, for the same word as here; Job_32:15 for חתו; and ‘amazement’ for πτόησις in 1Pe_3:6, RV. ‘terror’: also ‘amazing,’ i.e. bewildering, ‘thunder’ in Shakespeare, Richard II. i. 3. 81); but now it suggests a wrong meaning (‘astonished’).

mighty men] The same rare word recurs 2Ki_24:15, Eze_17:13; Eze_31:11; Eze_31:14; Eze_32:21 (‘strong’). It seems to be identical with the Heb. word for ‘ram’: if this is really the case, it must have come to be used figuratively for leader; cf. the similar use of ‘he-goats’ in Isa_14:9 (see RVm.).

trembling (רעד) took hold upon them] Cf. Psa_48:6 (רעדה,—both rare words).

melted away] fig. for, were incapacitated and helpless through terror and despair. Cf. Jos_2:9 b, 24b, (reminiscences of the present passage), Isa_14:31, Nah_2:6 (EVV. ‘is dissolved,’ to be understood in its old fig. sense of relaxed, enfeebled: the Heb. word is the same as here).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed, Of which there were many, see Gen 36:15 the land being first governed by dukes, as perhaps it was at this time, though in some few years after it had a king, Num 20:14 now these, when they heard of the wonderful things that were done for Israel in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, were astonished and surprised, and filled with fear and dread, see Deu 2:4,

the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them: as did on Balak the king of Moab, and his people, Num 22:2, where may be observed a literal accomplishment of this prophecy:

all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away; as their hearts did, through fear, when they heard what God did for Israel against the Egyptians and the Amorites, and understood that they were upon the march to their land to invade it and dispossess them of it: see the fulfilment of this prediction in Jos 2:9 thus when Babylon shall be destroyed, as Pharaoh and his host were, and the people of God saved out of the midst of her, as Israel was, the kings of the earth will stand afar off for fear of her torment, and bewail and lament for her, Rev 18:9.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Stiff, with consternation. See Josue ix. 9. The nations of Chanaan found auxiliaries even among the near relations of the Hebrews, the children of Esau, (who were not governed by princes, Alphim, as Genesis xxxvi.) and of Lot. We easily forget our relations, when our interest is at stake! Hebrew, instead of being stiff, says, they "melted away." Both words insinuate, that their heart was under such a violent struggle, that they could perform no duty.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The Dukes of Edom. Compare Gen_36:15. By the time that the Israelitesapproached the borders of Edom, the dukes had given place to kings, (Num_20:14) and everything like abject fear of Israel had passed sway. The Edomites "came out against Moses with much people and with a strong hand," and refused to allow the Israelites passage through their borders (ib, vers. 20, 21). The mighty men of Moab. The alarm of the Moabites was indicated by Balak"s efforts to induce Balaam to curse the Israelites (Numbers 22-24.). By their "mighty men" some understood men of unusual strength and stature (Cook); but the expression, which is very frequent both in the prophetical and the historical books, seems to be a mere periphrasis for "warriors." All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. This prophecy received a remarkable accomplishment when "it came to pass that all the kings of the Cannanites heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, and their heart melted, neither was their spirit in them any more". (Jos_5:1)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

אלופי אדום אילי מואב [THEN WERE PERTURBED] THE CHIEFTAINS OF EDOM, THE MIGHTY MEN OF MOAB — But surely they had no cause to fear anything because they (the Israelites) were not marching against them! But the explanation is, that they were perturbed by annoyance, because they were annoyed and distressed by the glory that Israel had achieved (cf. Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 251:11).

נמגו means THEY MELTED — just as, (Psalms 65:11) “Thou makest it soft (תמגגנה) with showers”. They said, “They are marching against us to destroy us and to take possession of our land” (therefore they melted away from fear, and were not merely perturbed in mind) (Mekhilta).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.