Exodus 23:27
in Exodus 23I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will send my terror before thee, and will discomfit all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
KJV
I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
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This verse in Exodus 23
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
I will send my fear before thee
on Exodus 23:27-28
The fear arrives ahead of the army. Exodus 15:14 to 15:16 had already sung that the peoples would hear and be afraid, and Joshua 2:9 to 2:11 records Rahab saying it happened, that the terror was fallen upon them and their hearts had melted. The hornets of verse 28 return at Deuteronomy 7:20 and Joshua 24:12, which with this verse are the only three places the Hebrew word occurs; some readers take them as insects and others as a figure for the panic just described.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And I will send my fear before thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Destroy - Rather, overthrow. See Exo 23:23.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֵֽימָתִי֙ | ʾeimati | terror my | H367 → | |
| אֲשַׁלַּ֣ח | ʾashalach | I will send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| לְפָנֶ֔יךָ | lefaneikha | <to> before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וְהַמֹּתִי֙ | vehamoti | and I will confuse | H2000 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֔ם | haam | <the> people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תָּבֹ֖א | tavo' | you will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בָּהֶ֑ם | bahem | among <the> them | ||
| וְנָתַתִּ֧י | venatati | and I will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֹיְבֶ֛יךָ | ʾoyeveikha | enemies your | H341 → | 282 times |
| אֵלֶ֖יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עֹֽרֶף׃ | ʾoref | neck | H6203 → | 33 times |
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֵֽימָתִי֙terror my
ʾeimatiH367 →
אֲשַׁלַּ֣חI will send
ʾashalachH7971 →845 times
לְפָנֶ֔יךָ<to> before you
lefaneikhaH6440 →2123 times
וְהַמֹּתִי֙and I will confuse
vehamotiH2000 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֔ם<the> people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
תָּבֹ֖אyou will go
tavo'H935 →2568 times
בָּהֶ֑םamong <the> them
bahem
וְנָתַתִּ֧יand I will give
venatatiH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֹיְבֶ֛יךָenemies your
ʾoyeveikhaH341 →282 times
אֵלֶ֖יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
עֹֽרֶף׃neck
ʾorefH6203 →33 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 11:25No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.
it leads to
- Joshua 5:1
Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 7:24
He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.
- Joshua 1:5
No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
- Deuteronomy 2:25
This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”
- Joshua 2:9
and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting…
- Joshua 5:1
Through
Deuteronomy 2:25This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 11:25
No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.
- Exodus 15:14–16
The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.
- Deuteronomy 28:10
Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.
- Deuteronomy 11:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Exodus
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.