XIV. THE PURSUIT BY PHARAOH AND THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. (2) SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, THAT THEY TURN. — The march of the Israelites had been hitherto almost due south-east. They had reached the edge of the desert (Exodus 13:20), near the head of the Bitter Lakes. If this direction had b... [ Continue Reading ]
ENTANGLED IN THE LAND. — Literally, _confused, perplexed._ (Comp. Esther 3:15.) Pharaoh, seeing that the Israelites had placed the Bitter Lakes on their left, and were marching southward, in a direction which would soon put the Red Sea on one side of them and a desert region — that about the Jebel A... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HEART OF PHARAOH AND OF HIS SERVANTS WAS TURNED AGAINST THE PEOPLE. — No doubt the change began as soon as Israel commenced its march. The emigration left Eastern Egypt a solitude, suspended all the royal works that were in progress, threw the whole course of commerce and business into disorder.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MADE READY HIS CHARIOT. — Egyptian monarchs of the Rameside period almost always led their armies out to battle, and when they did so, uniformly rode with a single attendant, who acted as charioteer, in a two-horse chariot. “Made ready” means, of course, _ordered to be made ready. _... [ Continue Reading ]
SIX HUNDRED CHOSEN CHARIOTS. — The chariot force was that on which the Egyptians chiefly relied for victory from the beginning of the eighteenth dynasty. Diodorus Siculus assigns to his Sesostris (probably Rameses II.) a force of 27,000 chariots; but this is, no doubt, an exaggeration. The largest n... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WENT OUT. — Rather, _were going out._ WITH AN HIGH HAND — i.e., confidently, boldly, perhaps somewhat proudly, as having brought the Egyptians to entreat them to take their departure (Exodus 12:33).... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE HORSES AND CHARIOTS OF PHARAOH. — Heb., _all the chariot-horses of Pharaoh._ AND HIS HORSEMEN. — It is questioned whether “horsemen” are really intended here, and suggested that the word used may apply to the “riders” _in the chariots._ But it certainly means “horsemen” in the later books of... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL... WERE SORE AFRAID. — It has been objected that 600,000 men above twenty years of age had no need to be afraid of such an army as the Pharaoh could have hastily gathered. The entire armed force of Egypt is reckoned by Herodotus (2:166-168) at 410,000, and it is tolerably clea... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE THERE WERE NO GRAVES IN EGYPT. — Spoken in bitter irony, doubtless, but scarcely with any conscious reference to Egypt as “a land of tombs.” They meant simply to say: “Might we not as well have died there as here?”... [ Continue Reading ]
IS NOT THIS THE WORD THAT WE DID TELL THEE...? — At one time they had refused to listen to Moses (Exodus 6:9) but in the main they had acquiesced in his proceedings, and allowed him to act in their name. The reproach was therefore unjust and undeserved; but it is in human nature to make such reproac... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR YE NOT, STAND STILL. — There are times when all our strength must be “in quietness and confidence” (Isaiah 30:15). So long as we have means of resistance put in our power, with a reasonable prospect of success, it is our duty to use them — to exert ourselves to the uttermost, to make all possib... [ Continue Reading ]
(15-18) WHEREFORE CRIEST THOU UNTO ME? — Like the people (Exodus 14:10), Moses had cried to Jehovah, though he tells us of his cry only thus indirectly. God made answer that it was not a time to cry, but to act: “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward,” &c. The Israelites were to st... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ANGEL OF GOD, WHICH WENT BEFORE THE CAMP OF ISRAEL — The “Jehovah” of Exodus 13:21 becomes here “the angel of God,” as “the angel of Jehovah” in the burning bush (Exodus 3:2) becomes “God” (Exodus 14:4), and “Jehovah” (Exodus 14:7). The angel is distinguished from the cloud, and represented as a... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD CAUSED THE SEA TO GO BACK BY A STRONG EAST WIND. — By “a strong east wind” we are at liberty to understand one blowing from any point between N.Ë. and S.E. If we imagine the Bitter Lakes joined to the Red Sea by a narrow and shallow channel, and a south-east wind blowing strongly up this ch... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WATERS WERE A WALL UNTO THEM. — Any protection is in Scripture called “a wall,” or “a rampart” (1 Samuel 25:16; Proverbs 18:11; Isaiah 26:1; Jeremiah 1:18; Nahum 3:8). In the present case, the waters protected Israel on either flank — the Red Sea upon the right, the Bitter Lakes upon the left. P... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL PHARAOH’S HORSES, HIS CHARIOTS, AND HIS HORSEMEN. — The chariot and cavalry force alone entered the sea, not the infantry. (Comp, Exodus 14:28 and Exodus 15:1.) The point is of importance as connected with the question whether the Pharaoh himself perished. If all his force entered, he could not... [ Continue Reading ]
(23-28) THE EGYPTIANS PURSUED. — All the Israelites having entered the bed of the sea, the pillar of the cloud, it would seem, withdrew after them, and the Egyptians, who, if they could not see, could at any rate hear the sound of the departure, began to advance, following on the track of the fugiti... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE MORNING WATCH. — Between 2 a.m. and 6.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID. — Or, _The Lord had said._ Probably the command was given as soon as the Israelites were safe across. It would take some hours for the north-west wind to bring back the waters of the Bitter Lakes.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE MORNING APPEARED. — This would be about five o’clock. The light showed the Egyptian their danger. The white-crested waves were seen advancing on either side, and threatening to fill up the channel. The Egyptians had to race against them; but in vain. Their chariot wheels clogged, themselves... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHARIOTS, AND THE HORSEMEN, AND ALL THE HOST... — This translation is misleading. The Heb. runs thus: “The chariots and the horsemen (who were) all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea.” It is implied that his footmen did not enter the sea. THERE REMAINED NOT SO MUCH AS ONE OF THEM. — The... [ Continue Reading ]
ISRAEL SAW THE EGYPTIANS DEAD UPON THE SEA SHORE. — On one who saw this sight it would be likely to make a great impression; to after generations it was nothing, since it had no further consequences. That it is recorded indicates the pen of an eyewitness.... [ Continue Reading ]
ISRAEL SAW THAT GREAT WORK. — The destruction of the Pharaoh’s chariot force and cavalry in the Red Sea secured the retreat of Israel, and saved them from any further molestation at the hands of the Egyptians. The spirit of the nation was effectually broken for the time; and it was not till after se... [ Continue Reading ]