Ulangan 20:8

20:8 In addition, the officers are to say to the troops, “Who among you is afraid and fainthearted? He may go home so that he will not make his fellow soldier’s ¹  heart as fearful ²  as his own.”

Yosua 2:9

2:9 She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. ³  We are absolutely terrified of you, ⁴  and all who live in the land are cringing before ⁵  you. ⁶ 

Yosua 14:8

14:8 My countrymen ⁷  who accompanied ⁸  me frightened the people, ⁹  but I remained loyal to the Lord my God. ¹⁰ 

Yosua 14:1

Judah’s Tribal Lands

14:1 The following is a record of the territory assigned to the Israelites in the land of Canaan by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the Israelite tribal leaders. ¹¹ 

1 Samuel 14:16

14:16 Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin ¹²  looked on ¹³  as the crowd of soldiers seemed to melt away first in one direction and then in another. ¹⁴ 

1 Samuel 14:2

14:2 Now Saul was sitting under a pomegranate tree in Migron, on the outskirts of Gibeah. The army that was with him numbered about six hundred men.

1 Samuel 17:10

17:10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy Israel’s troops this day! Give me a man so we can fight ¹⁵  each other!”

Mazmur 68:2

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ¹⁶ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Yesaya 13:7

13:7 For this reason all hands hang limp, ¹⁷ 

every human heart loses its courage. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 19:1

The Lord Will Judge Egypt

19:1 Here is a message about Egypt:

Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud

and approaches Egypt.

The idols of Egypt tremble before him;

the Egyptians lose their courage. ¹⁹ 

Yehezkiel 21:7

21:7 When they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you will reply, ‘Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand will be limp; everyone ²⁰  will faint and every knee will be wet with urine.’ ²¹  Pay attention – it is coming and it will happen, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Nahum 2:10

2:10 Destruction, devastation, and desolation! ²² 

Their hearts faint, ²³ 

their knees tremble, ²⁴ 

each stomach churns, ²⁵  each face ²⁶  turns ²⁷  pale! ²⁸ 

[20:8]  ¹ tn Heb “his brother’s.”

[20:8]  ² tn Heb “melted.”

[2:9]  ³ tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.

[2:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”

[2:9]  ⁵ tn Or “melting away because of.”

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Both of these statements are actually subordinated to “I know” in the Hebrew text, which reads, “I know that the Lord…and that terror of you…and that all the inhabitants….”

[14:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “brothers.”

[14:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “went up with.”

[14:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “made the heart[s] of the people melt.”

[14:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I filled up after the Lord my God,” an idiomatic statement meaning that Caleb remained loyal to the Lord.

[14:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “These are [the lands] which the sons of Israel received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes assigned as an inheritance to the sons of Israel.”

[14:16]  ¹² tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “saw, and look!”

[14:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the crowd melted and went, even here.”

[17:10]  ¹⁵ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative verbal form indicates purpose/result here.

[68:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[13:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “drop”; KJV “be faint”; ASV “be feeble”; NAB “fall helpless.”

[13:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “melts” (so NAB).

[19:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and the heart of Egypt melts within it.”

[21:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “every spirit will be dim.”

[21:7]  ²¹ sn This expression depicts in a very vivid way how they will be overcome with fear. See the note on the same phrase in 7:17.

[2:10]  ²² tn Heb “Emptiness and devastation and being laid waste.” Several English versions attempt to reproduce the assonance, alliteration, and paronomasia of three similarly sounding Hebrew words: בּוּקַָה וּמְבוּקָה וּמְבֻלָּקָה (buqah umÿvuqah umÿvullaqah; NJPS “Desolation, devastation, and destruction!”; NRSV: “Devastation, desolation, and destruction!”).

[2:10]  sn Destruction, devastation, and desolation. The feminine form of each of these terms is used, referring to Nineveh (e.g., NASB: “She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste!”). Conquered cities are often personified as a desolated woman (e.g., Isa 47:1; 54:1).

[2:10]  ²³ tn Heb “and melting heart.”

[2:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and tottering of knees.”

[2:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and shaking in all of the loins.”

[2:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “all of their faces.”

[2:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “gather” or “withdraw.” The Piel perfect קִבְּצוּ (qibbÿtsu) from קָבַץ (qavats, “to gather”) may be nuanced in the intensive sense “to gather glow; to glow [in excitement]” (HALOT 1063 s.v. קבץ pi. 4) or the privative sense “to take away, withdraw” (BDB 868 s.v. קָבַץ Pi.3). The phrase קִבְּצוּ פָארוּר (qibbÿtsu pa’rur) is very difficult; it occurs only here and in Joel 2:6 which also describes the fearful facial reaction to an invading army. It probably means: (1) to grow red in fear; (2) to grow pale in fear; or (3) to turn ashen in fear. This difficult phrase may be translated by the modern English idioms: “every face grows pale” or “every face flushes red in fear.”

[2:10]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew term פָּארוּר (pa’rur) occurs only here and in Joel 2:6 where it also describes a fearful facial reaction. The meaning of פָּארוּר is debated and numerous etymologies have been suggested: (1) From פָּרוּר (parur, “cooking pot”; HALOT 964 s.v. פָּרוּר): LXX τὸ πρόσωπον πάντων ὡς πρόσκαυμα ξύτρας (to proswpon pantwn Jw" proskauma xutra", “all their faces are like a blackened/burned pot”); Vulgate et facies omnium sicut nigredo ollae (“all their faces are like a black pot”); Targum Jonathan (“covered with black like a pot”). This approach is adopted by the KJV and AV: “the faces of them all gather blackness.” (2) From פְּאֵר (pÿ’er, “beauty”). Taking קָבַץ (qavats) in a private sense (“gather in”), several scholars propose: “to draw in beauty, withdraw color,” hence: “their faces grow pale” (NASB, NIV); see K&D 26:192-93; A. Haldar, Studies in the Book of Nahum, 59. (3) From פָּרַר (parar, “break in pieces”). Due to fear, their faces have gathered wrinkles. (4) From IV פּרר (“to boil”), related to Arabic ’pr and Syriac npr (“to boil”): “their faces glow red in excitement” (HALOT 860 s.v.). (5) From פּאר (“grey, ash grey”): “their faces turn grey” (J. J. Gluck, “parur – paárur: A Case of Biblical Paronomasia,” OTWSA 12 [1969]: 21-26). The NJPS translation appears to adopt this approach: “all faces turn ashen.”