The Chiefs of Edom and Moab Dismayed and Canaan Melted Away

"Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed" (Exodus 15:15). If you should say that they were coming to inherit their land, it has already been said, "And command the people, saying, You are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau... contend not with them" (Deuteronomy 2:4) -- rather, it was on account of provisions [tolls and supplies]. Another interpretation: they said, Now they are coming to exact the quarrel that was between our father and their father, as it is said, "And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing" (Genesis 27:41). "Trembling seizes the mighty of Moab" (Exodus 15:15). If you should say they were coming to lay waste their land or to inherit it, it has already been said, "Do not distress Moab" (Deuteronomy 2:9) -- rather, it was on account of provisions. Another interpretation: they said, Now they are coming to exact the quarrel that was between our father and their father, as it is said, "And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle" (Genesis 13:7). "All the inhabitants of Canaan melted away" (Exodus 15:15). When they heard that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "But of the cities of these peoples... you shall save alive nothing that breathes" (Deuteronomy 20:16), they began to melt away. They said: These others [Edom and Moab] feared only for their money and their property; but these [Israel] are not coming against us except to destroy us -- how much more so! -- and they began to melt away. "Melting" means nothing other than dissolving, as it is said, "the earth is dissolved and all the inhabitants thereof" (Psalms 75:4), and it says, "that their heart may melt and their stumbling blocks be multiplied... all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away" (Ezekiel 21:20).