Exodus 15:16

Exo 15:16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be [as] still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, [which] thou hast purchased.

Ver. 16. Till thy people pass over.] Over Jordan; as now they have done over the Red Sea, into Canaan.

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.

Or, for thy great power.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 16. Till thy people pass over] Not over the Red Sea, for that event had been already celebrated; but over the desert and Jordan, in order to be brought into the promised land.

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

(16) Fear and dread shall fall upon them.—A portion of the Edomites felt so much fear of Israel that they allowed them to pass through their coasts (Deu_2:4). The Moabites of Aracted similarly (Deu_2:29).

Till thy people pass over—i.e., cross the frontier of the Canaanites, and enter their country. There is no need to suppose that Moses had as yet any distinct idea of the place where the frontier would be crossed.

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

16.Terror and dread fell upon them;

By the greatness of thine arm, they were as still as a stone:

Till thy people passed through, O Yahweh,

Till thy people passed through, which thou hadst purchased.

Terror, &c.] Cf. Jos_2:9 ‘and that your terror is fallen upon us.’

as still as a stone] i.e. at once motionless (Jos_10:13 Heb.) and silent (Psa_31:17) through fear. For the comparison, cf. the ‘dumb stone’ of Hab_2:19.

passed through] viz. the nations through whom they passed on their progress to Canaan (Di. Bä., &c.): cf. for the expression Deu_29:16 ‘and how we passed through the midst of the nations through which ye passed.’ The poet idealizes the past; and pictures the neighbouring peoples terror-struck, unable to move a hand to resist Israel, as it marched on to take possession of its inheritance in Canaan. The words do not refer, as the rend. of EVV. would imply that they do, to the passage of the Jordan.

purchased] The word does mean (marg.) to get (Gen_4:1, Pro_16:16 al.) or acquire; but it is commonly used in the sense of to get by purchase, or buy (Gen_33:19, &c.). And this no doubt is its meaning here; the idea being that Jehovah has ‘redeemed’ Israel (v. 13, Exo_6:6), like a slave, from servitude, and purchased it as His own possession (cf. Neh_5:8 RVm.). The word is used similarly of Israel in Isa_11:11 (see RVm.), Psa_74:2 (cf. Psa_78:54 b).

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.

Fear and dread shall fall upon them.... On the several nations and people before mentioned, especially the Canaanites, which the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem interpret of the fear of death, lest the Israelites should fall upon them and destroy them, or God should fight for them, against them, and bring ruin and destruction on them:

by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; awed by the power of God, visible in what he had done for the Israelites, and upon their enemies; they should be like stocks and stones, immovable, have no power to act, nor stir a foot in their own defence, and against Israel, come to invade and possess their land; nor in the least molest them, or stop them in their passage over Jordan, or dispute it with them, but stand like persons thunderstruck, and as stupid as stones, not having any spirit or courage left in them:

till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased; pass over the brook of Arnon, and the ford of Jabbok, according to the Targum of Jonathan; or the ford of Jabbok, and the ford of Jordan, according to the Jerusalem Targum; the river of Jordan is doubtless literally meant, at least chiefly; and the accomplishment of this prediction may be seen in Jos 3:15 which was an emblem of the quiet passage of Christ's purchased people, through the ford or river of death, to the Canaan of everlasting rest and happiness: Christ's people are purchased by him, who is able to make the purchase, and had a right to do it, and has actually made it, by giving his flesh, shedding his blood, laying down his life, and giving himself a ransom price for them: these do, and must pass over Jordan, or go through the cold stream of death; it is the way of all the earth, of good men as well as others; it is a passage from one world to another; and there is no getting to the heavenly Canaan without going this way, or through this ford; and all the Lord's purchased people, like Israel, clean pass over through it, not one are left in it; their bodies are raised again, their souls are reunited to them, and both come safe to heaven and happiness: and, for the most part, they have a quiet and easy passage, the enemy is not suffered to disturb them, neither the sins and corruptions of their nature, nor an evil heart of unbelief, nor Satan with his temptations; and the terrors of death are taken away from them; so that they can sit and sing on the shores of eternity, in the view of death and another world, saying, death, where is thy sting? grave, where is thy victory? &c. and this is to be ascribed to the greatness of Jehovah's arm, to his almighty power, on which they lean, and go on comfortably in the wilderness; and by this they are carried safely through death to glory, and it is owing to this that the enemy and the avenger are stilled.

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

In the, &c. When they shall behold thy wonders, wrought in our defence. --- Let them cease to make opposition. Hebrew, "let them be silent as a stone." (Haydock)

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).

Be as still, or, be as silent; they shall be so struck. with amazement, that they shall be impotent both for speech and motion.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Fear and dread shall fall upon them. Compare Deu_2:25 Deu_11:25. The Edomites of Mount Seir and the Moabites gave Israel a free passage through their borders, (Deu_2:4-8, Deu_2:18, Deu_2:29) being afraid to oppose them. Till thy people pass over, O Lord. Some see in this an anticipation of the crossing of Jordan; but perhaps Moses meant no more than the crossing of the Canaanite frontier, in some place or other, which must take place if the urea was to be occupied. The event made the expression used peculiarly appropriate. When thou hast purchased. By bringing his people out of Egypt, their ownership had passed to him from the Egyptians, just as if he had bought them. (see Exo_6:6, 7 19:5)

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

Connecting Statement:

Moses continues to sing about how the people of other nations will feel when they see God's people.

Terror and dread will fall on them

These two words mean that fear will come upon them. AT: "Fear will come upon them" (See: Doublet)

dread

Dread is extreme fear or anxiety about something that is going to happen or might happen.

Because of your arm's power

God's arm represents his great strength. AT: "Because of your great strength" (See: Metonymy)

they will become as still as a stone

Possible meanings are 1) "They will be silent like stone" or 2) "They will be motionless as stone" (See: Simile)

translationWords

terror

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

תפל עליהם אימתה THERE SHALL FALL UPON THEM DREAD — upon those of them who are far away (Mekhilta),

ופחד AND HORROR — shall fall upon those of them who are near by; and all this really happened just as the matter is stated, (Joshua 2:10) “For we have heard how the Lord dried up [the waters of the Red Sea]” (Mekhilta).

עד יעבר... עד יעבר TILL THY PEOPLE PASS … TILL THE PEOPLE PASS — The repetition must be explained as the Targum takes it (until they pass over the Arnon, until they pass over the Jordan).

קנית denotes [THE PEOPLE] WHICH THOU HOLDEST DEAR above all peoples — like an article purchased (קנוי) at a high price and which is therefore held in affection by the man who bought it.

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.