CHAPTER XV _Moses and the Israelites sing a song of praise to God for their_ _late deliverance, in which they celebrate the power of God,_ _gloriously manifested in the destruction of Pharaoh and his host_, 1; _express their confidence in him as their strength and protector_, 2, 3; _detail the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:2. _THE LORD_ IS _MY STRENGTH AND SONG_] How judiciously are the members of this sentence arranged! He who has God for his _strength_, will have him for his _song_; and he to whom Jehovah is become _salvation_, will _exalt his name_. Miserably and untunably, in the ears of God, does... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:3. _THE LORD_ IS _A MAN OF WAR_] Perhaps it would be better to translate the words, _Jehovah is the man_ or _hero of the battle_. As we scarcely ever apply the term to any thing but first-rate armed vessels, the change of the translation seems indispensable, though the common renderi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:4. _PHARAOH'S CHARIOTS - HIS HOST - HIS CHOSEN CAPTAINS_] On such an expedition it is likely that the principal Egyptian nobility accompanied their king, and that the overthrow they met with here had reduced Egypt to the lowest extremity. Had the Israelites been intent on plunder, or... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:6. _THY RIGHT HAND_] Thy omnipotence, manifested in a most extraordinary way.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:7. _IN THE GREATNESS OF THINE EXCELLENCY_] To this wonderful deliverance the Prophet Isaiah refers, Isaiah 63:11: "Then he remembered the days of old, Moses _and_ his people, _saying_, Where _is_ he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where _is_ he tha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:8. _THE DEPTHS WERE CONGEALED_] The strong east wind (Exodus 14:21) employed to dry the bottom of the sea, is here represented as the blast of God's nostrils that had _congealed_ or _frozen_ the waters, so that they stood in heaps like a wall on the right hand and on the left.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:9. _THE ENEMY SAID_] As this song was composed by Divine inspiration, we may rest assured that these words were spoken by Pharaoh and his captains, and the passions they describe felt, in their utmost sway, in their hearts; but how soon was their boasting confounded? "Thou didst blow... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:11. _WHO_ IS _LIKE UNTO THEE, O LORD, AMONG THE GODS?_] We have already seen that all the Egyptian gods, or the objects of the Egyptians' idolatry, were confounded, and rendered completely despicable, by the _ten plagues_, which appear to have been directed principally against _them_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:12. _THE EARTH SWALLOWED THEM._] It is very likely there was also an earthquake on this occasion, and that chasms were made in the bottom of the sea, by which many of them were swallowed up, though multitudes were overwhelmed by the waters, whose dead bodies were afterward thrown ash... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:13. _THOU HAST GUIDED_ THEM _IN THY STRENGTH UNTO THY HOLY_ _HABITATION._] As this ode was dictated by the Spirit of God, It is most natural to understand this and the following verses, to the end of the 18th, as containing a prediction of what God would do for this people which he h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:15. _THE DUKES OF EDOM_] Idumea was governed at this time by those called אלפים _alluphim, heads, chiefs_, or _captains_. Genesis 36:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:16. _TILL THY PEOPLE PASS OVER_] Not over the Red Sea, for that event had been already celebrated; but over the desert and Jordan, in order to be brought into the promised land.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:17. _THOU SHALT BRING THEM IN_] By thy strength and mercy alone shall they get the promised inheritance. _AND PLANT THEM_] Give them a _fixed_ habitation in Canaan, after their unsettled wandering life in the wilderness. _IN THE MOUNTAIN_] Meaning Canaan, which was a very _mountain... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:18. _THE LORD SHALL REIGN FOR EVER AND EVER._] This is properly the grand chorus in which all the people joined. The words are expressive of God's everlasting dominion, not only in the _world_, but in the _Church_; not only under the _law_, but also under the _Gospel_; not only in _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:20. _AND MIRIAM THE PROPHETESS_] We have already seen that Miriam was _older_ than either Moses or Aaron: for when Moses was exposed on the Nile, she was a young girl capable of managing the stratagem used for the preservation of his life; and then Aaron was only three years and thre... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:22. _THE WILDERNESS OF SHUR_] This was on the coast of the Red Sea on their road to Mount Sinai. See the map.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:23. _MARAH_] So called from the _bitter waters_ found there. Dr. Shaw conjectures that this place is the same as that now called _Corondel_, where there is still a small rill which, if not diluted with dews or rain, continues brackish. See his account at the end of Exodus. Exodus 40:... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:24. _THE PEOPLE MURMURED_] They were in a state of great mental degradation, owing to their long and oppressive vassalage, and had no firmness of character. Exodus 13:17, Exodus 13:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:25. _HE CRIED UNTO THE LORD_] Moses was not only their leader, but also their _mediator_. Of prayer and dependence on the Almighty, the great mass of the Israelites appear to have had little knowledge at this time. Moses, therefore, had much to bear from their weakness, and the merci... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:26. _IF THOU WILT DILIGENTLY HEARKEN_] What is contained in this verse appears to be what is intended by the _statute_ and _ordinance_ mentioned in the preceding: _If thou wilt diligently_ _hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which_ _is right in his sight, an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 15:27. _THEY CAME TO ELIM_] This was in the desert of _Sin_, and, according to Dr. Shaw, about two leagues from _Tor_, and thirty from _Marah_ or _Corondel_. _TWELVE WELLS OF WATER_] One for each of the tribes of Israel, say the Targums of _Jonathan_ and _Jerusalem_. _AND THREESCORE A... [ Continue Reading ]