Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 15:14

"The peoples have heard, they tremble: Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia." — Exodus 15:14 (ASV)

The people. — Hebrew, The peoples: i.e., all the various tribes and nations of the desert and of Palestine—the Amalekites, Edomites, Philistines, Moabites, Amorites, etc.

Shall hear, and be afraid. — On the fear which was actually felt, see Numbers 22:3; Joshua 2:11; Joshua 5:1; Joshua 9:3–15, etc.

The inhabitants of Palestina are the Philistines, from whom the Holy Land derived the name which it still retains in most of the languages of modern Europe. The Hebrew word is Phĕlâsheth, of which the nearest English equivalent would be “Philistia.”