The Peoples Heard and Trembled and Philistia Seized With Dread

"The peoples heard, they trembled" (Exodus 15:14). When they heard that Pharaoh and his army perished in the sea, and the kingdom of Egypt was destroyed, and judgments were executed upon their idols, they began to tremble. Another interpretation: when they heard that the Holy One, blessed be He, was raising up the horn of Israel, they began to be angry. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: How many kings arose from you, and My children were not provoked -- "And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel" (Genesis 36:31)? How many chieftains arose from you, and My children were not angry -- "chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah" (Genesis 36:29)? Now you are angry? I will give you an anger in which there is no favor: "The LORD reigns, let the peoples tremble" (Psalms 99:1). "Trembling took hold of the inhabitants of Philistia" (Exodus 15:14). They said: Now they are coming to exact the testimony [reckoning] of Ephraim their father, as it is said, "The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle" (Psalms 78:9). Another interpretation: "trembling took hold of the inhabitants of Philistia" -- they said: They have no road except through us; now they are coming to plunder our property and lay waste our land.