# The hearts of the people melted and became like water
These phrases "melted" and "became like water" share similar meanings and are combined to emphasize that the people were extremely afraid. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]])
Here the people are represented by their "hearts" to emphasize their emotions. Alternate translation: "The people were very afraid" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-synecdoche]])