Exodus 15:16 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Exodus 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.
a (sudden) alarm (properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
fall
תִּפֹּ֨לti.Pol
H5307
to fall · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
greatness
בִּגְדֹ֥לbig.Dol
H1419
great (in any sense) · preposition + adjective, masculine singular construct
arm
זְרוֹעֲךָ֖ze.ro.'a.Kha
H2220
the arm (as stretched out) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
still
יִדְּמ֣וּyi.de.Mu
H1826
to be dumb · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
stone
כָּאָ֑בֶןka.'A.ven
H68
a stone · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
people
עַמְּךָ֙'a.me.Kha
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
over
יַעֲבֹ֤רya.'a.Vor
H5674
to cross over · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
people
עַם'am-
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
over
יַעֲבֹ֖רya.'a.Vor
H5674
to cross over · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
which
ז֥וּzu
H2098
this or that · relative particle
purchased
קָנִֽיתָka.Ni.ta
H7069
to erect · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 74:2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherei…
Deuteronomy 2:25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report…
Joshua 2:9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitant…
1 Samuel 25:37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within…
Exodus 11:7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put…
Deuteronomy 11:25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that…
Isaiah 43:1-3 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called…
Isaiah 51:10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 15:1-21
Having read how that complete victory of Israel over the Egyptians was obtained, here we are told how it was celebrated; those that were to hold their peace while the deliverance was in working (Exo 14:14) must not hold their peace now that it was wrought; the less they had to do then the more they had to do now. If God accomplishes deliverance by his own immediate power, it redounds so much the more to his glory. Moses, no doubt by divine inspiration, indited this song, and delivered it to the children of Israel, to be sung before they stirred from the place where they saw the Egyptians dead upon the shore. Observe, 1. They expressed their joy in God, and thankfulness to him, by singing; it…
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.
John Gill on Exodus 15:16
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…
Exodus 15:11-21
11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
11. Quis sicut tu in diis, Jehova? quis sicut tu, magnificus in sanctitate, terribilis laudibus, faciens mirabilia?
12. Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
12. Extendisti dexteram tuam, deglutivit eos terra.
13. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
13. Duces in tua misericordia populum hunc quem redemisti, duces in fortitudine tua ad habitaculum sanctitatis tuae.
14. The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take h…
The Church Fathers
I will yet set down one testimony concerning stones, since indeed in the canticle of Exodus it is written: "let them be turned into stones, until your people pass over, O Lord, until this your people pass over, whom you have possessed". And so God is asked that for a little while the Gentiles be turned into stones—for the Greek word sounds this more pointedly, "ἀπολιθούντωσαν" (let them be petrified)—"until the people" of the Jews "pass over". There is no doubt that, after those have passed over, the Gentiles will cease to be stony and, in place of a hard heart, will receive in Christ a human and rational nature: to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Arm — Used to denote power (Ps. 10:15; Ezek. 30:21; Jer. 48:25). It is also used of the omnipotence of God (Ex. 15:16; Ps. 89:13; 98:1; 77:15; Isa. 53:1; John 12:38; Acts 13:17)
Exodus — The great deliverance wrought for the children of Isreal when they were brought out of the land of Egypt with “a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm” (Ex 12:51; Deut. 26:8; Ps 114; 136), about…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Miriam — Their rebellion. (1.) The sister of Moses and Aaron (Ex. 2:4-10; 1 Chr. 6:3). Her name is prominent in the history of the Exodus. She is called “the prophetess” (Ex. 15:20). She took the lead in the…
Moses — Drawn (or Egypt. mesu, “son;” hence Rameses, royal son). On the invitation of Pharaoh (Gen. 45:17-25), Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. This immigration took place probably about 350 years…
Music — Jubal was the inventor of musical instruments (Gen. 4:21). The Hebrews were much given to the cultivation of music. Their whole history and literature afford abundant evidence of this. After the…
Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Red Sea — The sea so called extends along the west coast of Arabia for about 1,400 miles, and separates Asia from Africa. It is connected with the Indian Ocean, of which it is an arm, by the Strait of…
Songs — Of Moses (Ex. 15; Num. 21:17; Deut. 32; Rev. 15:3), Deborah (Judg. 5), Hannah (1 Sam. 2), David (2 Sam. 22, and Psalms), Mary (Luke 1:46-55), Zacharias (Luke 1:68-79), the angels (Luke 2:13), Simeon…
Spies — When the Israelites reached Kadesh for the first time, and were encamped there, Moses selected twelve spies from among the chiefs of the divisions of the tribes, and sent them forth to spy the land…
In the song of praise which Moses and the children of Israel sang at the Red Sea, in celebration of the wonderful works of Jehovah, the congregation of Israel commemorated the fact of its deliverance and its exaltation into the nation of God. By their glorious deliverance from the slave-house of Egypt, Jehovah had practically exalted the seed of Abraham into His own nation; and in the destruction of Pharaoh and his host, He had glorified Himself as God of the gods and King of the heathen, whom no power on earth could defy with impunity. As the fact of Israel's deliverance from the power of its oppressors is of everlasting importance to the Church of the Lord in its conflict with the ungodly…
Philistia, Edom, Moab, and Canaan are the four peoples that would most feel the hand of God’s judgment as he dispossessed them to give the land to the people of Israel. What God had done to Egypt would have been common news throughout that part of the world (see Rahab’s report in Josh 2:9-11, where the same imagery as in Exod 15:15, to melt away, is used).
Rashi on Exodus 15:16
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.
Armies Of Israel, The · Congratulated on returning victorious — Congratulated on returning victorious
Canaanites, The · Terrified at the approach of Israel — Terrified at the approach of Israel
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Caused universal terror and dismay — Caused universal terror and dismay
Epic · .Miriam’s — .Miriam’s
Fear, Unholy · Is described as: Overwhelming — Is described as: Overwhelming
Panic · From God — From God
Poetry · .Moses’ — .Moses’
Praise · General references — General references
Providence Of God, The · Is exercised in: Defeating wicked designs — Is exercised in: Defeating wicked designs
Psalms · Of Moses, celebrating the — Of Moses, celebrating the
Readings, Select · General references — General references
Song · War — War
War · God sends panic in — God sends panic in
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
