¹sn The account recorded in this chapter is one of the best known events in all of Scripture. In the argument of the book it marks the division between the bondage in Egypt and the establishment of the people as a nation. Here is the deliverance from Egypt. The chapter divides simply in two, vv. 1-14 giving the instructions, and vv. 15-31 reporting the victory. See among others, G. Coats, “History and Theology in the Sea Tradition,” ST 29 (1975): 53-62); A. J. Ehlen, “Deliverance at the Sea: Diversity and Unity in a Biblical Theme,” CTM 44 (1973): 168-91; J. B. Scott, “God’s Saving Acts,” The Presbyterian Journal 38 (1979): 12-14; W. Wifall, “The Sea of Reeds as Sheol,” ZAW 92 (1980) :325-32; P. J. Smith, “Yahweh and Moses in the Story of the Exodus According to Exodus 14,” OTWSA 24 (1981): 84-92.
²tn The two imperfects follow the imperative and therefore express purpose. The point in the verses is that Yahweh was giving the orders for the direction of the march and the encampment by the sea.
³tn Or “before.”
⁴sn The places have been tentatively identified. Kaiser summarizes the suggestions that Pi-Hahiroth as an Egyptian word may mean “temple of the [Syrian god] Hrt” or “The Hir waters of the canal” or “The Dwelling of Hator” (W. C. Kaiser, Jr, “Exodus,” in EBC 387; see the literature on these names, including C. DeWit, The Date and Route of the Exodus [London: Tyndale, 1959], 17).
⁵tn Heb “and will say.”
⁶sn The word translated wandering around confused means “perplexed, confused”; Pharaoh thought that the Israelites would not know which way to turn in order to escape—and they would never dream of crossing the sea (Driver, 115).
⁷tn The expression has also been translated “the desert has shut [the way] for them,” and more freely “[the Israelites are] hemmed in by the desert.”
⁸tn In this place the verb qzj (hazaq) is used; it indicates that God would make Pharaoh’s will strong or firm.
⁹tn The form is hd*b=K*a!w+ (w^e’ikkab^eda), the Niphal cohortative; coming after the perfect tenses with vav consecutives expressing the future, this cohortative indicates the purpose of the hardening and chasing. Yahweh intended to gain glory by this final and great victory over the strength of Pharaoh. There is irony in this expression since the word was used frequently to describe Pharaoh’s hard heart. So judgment will not only destroy the wicked—it will reveal the glory and majesty of the sovereignty of God. See also Exod 28:22, 29:13.
¹⁰tn This is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive. But it announces the fulfillment of an long standing purpose—that they might know….
¹¹tn Heb “and they did so.”
¹²tn Heb “and it was told”; also possible is the translation “when it was told.” The present translation uses “reported” since this involves information given to a superior.
¹³tn The verb must be given a past perfect translation because the fleeing occurred before the telling.
¹⁴tn Heb “and he said.”
¹⁵tn The question literally has “what is this we have done?” This is the use of the demonstrative pronoun as an enclitic, an undeclined particle stressing emphasis (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, §118).
¹⁶tn Heb “released Israel.” By metonymy the name of the nation is used collectively for the people who constitute it.
¹⁷tn The infinitive absolute is used as a noun here, the object of the preposition.
¹⁸tn Heb “bound.”
¹⁹tn Heb “his people.”
²⁰tn The passive participle of the verb “to choose” means that these were “choice” or superb chariots.
²¹tn The meaning is “all the other chariots.”
²²tn The word <v!l!v* (salisim) means “officers” or some special kind of military officer. At one time it was taken to mean a “three man chariot,” but the pictures of Egyptian chariots only show two in a chariot. It may mean officers near the king, “men of the third rank” (B. Jacob, 394). So the chariots and the crew represented the elite. See the old view by A. E. Cowley that linked it to a Hittite word (“A Hittite Word in Hebrew,” JTS 21 [1920]: 326), and the more recent work by P. C. Craigie connecting it to Egyptian “commander” (“An Egyptian Expression in the Song of the Sea: Exodus XV.4,” VT 20 [1970]: 85).
²³tn Heb “with a high hand”; the expression means “defiantly; boldly” or “with confidence.” The phrase is usually used for arrogant sin and pride, the defiant fist, as it were. The image of the high hand can also mean the hand raised to deliver the blow (Job 38:15). So the narrative here builds tension between these two resolute forces.
²⁴tn The disjunctive vav introduces a circumstantial clause here.
²⁵tn Heb “drew near.”
²⁶tn Heb “lifted up their eyes,” an expression that indicates an intentional and careful looking—they looked up and fixed their sights on the distance.
²⁷tn The construction uses hN@h! (hinneh) with the participle, traditionally rendered “and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them.” The deictic particle calls attention to what was being seen in a dramatic way. It captures the surprise and the sudden realization of the people.
²⁸tn The verb is intensified by the adverb da)m= (m^e’od), “they feared greatly” or “were terrified.” In one look their defiant boldness seems to have evaporated.
²⁹sn Their cry to the Lord was proper and necessary. But their words against Moses were a rebuke and disloyal, showing a lack of faith and understanding. Their arrogance failed them in the crisis because it was built on the arm of flesh. Moses would have to get used to this murmuring, but here he takes it in stride and gives them the proper instructions. They had cried to the Lord, and now the Lord would deliver.
³⁰sn B. Jacob notes how the speech is overly dramatic and came from a people given to using such exaggerations (Num 16:14), even using a double negative. The challenge to Moses brings a double irony. To die in the desert would be without proper burial, but in Egypt there were graves—it was a land of tombs and graves! (396-97). Gesenius notes that two negatives in the sentence do not nullify each other but make the sentence all the more emphatic: “Is it because there were no graves…?” (GKC §152.y).
³¹tn The demonstrative pronoun has the enclitic use again, given a special emphasis to the question (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, §118).
³²tn The Hebrew term Wna*yX!ohl= (l^ehosi’anu) is the Hiphil infinitive construct with a suffix, “to bring us out.” It is used epexegetically here, explaining the previous question.
³³tn Heb “Was not this the word that we spoke to you.”
³⁴sn U. Cassuto explains this statement by the people as follows: “The question appears surprising at first, for we have not read previously that such words were spoken to Moses. Nor is the purport of the protest of the Israelite foremen (v 21) identical with that of the words uttered now. However, from a psychological standpoint the matter can be easily explained. In the hour of peril the children of Israel remember that remonstrance, and now it seems to them that it was of a sharper character and flowed from their foresight, and that the present situation justifies it, for death awaits them at this moment in the desert” (p. 164).
³⁵tn Heb “it is better for us to serve.”
³⁶tn The use of la^ (‘al) with the jussive has the force of “stop fearing.” It is a more immediate negative command than a)l (lo’) with the imperfect (as in the Decalogue).
³⁷tn The force of this verb in the Hitpael is “to station oneself” or “stand firm” without fleeing.
³⁸tn The form is War+W (u-r^e’u), a Qal imperative with the sequential vav. It could also be rendered “stand firm and you will see” meaning the result, or “stand firm that you may see” meaning the purpose.
³⁹tn Or “victory” or “deliverance.”
⁴⁰tn Heb “do,” i.e., perform.
⁴¹tn The construction uses the verbal hendiadys, a Hiphil imperfect (“you will not add”) and the Qal infinitive construct with a suffix (“to see them”)—“you will no longer see them.” Then the clause adds “again, for ever.”
sn Cassuto notes that the antithetical parallelism between seeing salvation and seeing the Egyptians in this form, as well as the threefold repetition of the word “see” cannot be accidental; so too the alliteration of the last three words beginning with ayin (p. 164).
⁴²tn The word order places emphasis on “the Lord” (Heb “Yahweh”).
⁴³tn The imperfect tense needs to be interpreted in contrast to all that Yahweh will be doing. It may be given a potential imperfect nuance (as here), or it may be obligatory to follow the command to be still: “you must be still.”
⁴⁴tn The text literally says, “speak to the Israelites that they may journey.” The intent of the line, using the imperative with the subordinate jussive or imperfect expressing purpose is that the speaking is the command to move.
⁴⁵tn The “but you” is emphatic before the imperative “lift up.” In contrast, v. 17 will begin with “but as for me, I….”
⁴⁶tn The imperfect (or jussive) with the vav is sequential coming after the series of imperatives instructing Moses to divide the sea; the form then gives the purpose (or result) of the activity—“that they may go.”
⁴⁷tn yn]n+h! (hin^eni) before the participle carries the force of the futur instans participle, “Here I am hardening” meaning “I am about to harden” or “I am going to harden” their heart.
⁴⁸tn The form again is the imperfect tense with the vav to express the purpose or the result of the hardening. The repetition of the verb is interesting: Moses is to divide the sea in order that the people may cross, but God will harden the Egyptians’ hearts in order that they may follow.
⁴⁹tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.
⁵⁰tn Or “I will get glory over.”
⁵¹tn The construction is unusual in that it says, “And Egypt will know.” The verb is plural, and so “Egypt” must mean “the Egyptians.” The verb is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive, showing that this recognition or acknowledgment by Egypt will be the result or purpose of the defeat of them by God.
⁵²tn The form is yd!b=K*h!B= (b^ehikkab^edi), the Niphal infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffix. For the suffix on a Niphal, see GKC §61.c. The word forms a temporal clause in the line.
⁵³sn B. Jacob makes a good case that there may have been only one pillar, one cloud; it would have been a dark cloud behind it, but in front of it, shining the way, a pillar of fire. He compares the manifestation on Sinai, when the mountain was on fire but veiled by a dark cloud (Deut 4:11 and 5:19). See B. Jacob, 400-401. See also Exod 13:21; Num 14:14; Deut 1:33; 5:22; Neh 9:12, 19; Josh 24:7; Pss 78:14; 105:39.
⁵⁴tn The two nouns form a nominal hendiadys: “and it was the cloud and the darkness” would mean “and it was the dark cloud.” Perhaps this is what the Egyptians saw, preventing them from observing Moses and the Israelites.
⁵⁵tn Heb “this to this”; for the use of the pronouns in this reciprocal sense of “the one to the other,” see GKC §139, note.
⁵⁶tc The LXX reads very differently at the end of this verse: “and there was darkness and blackness and the night passed.” Childs summarizes three proposals: (1) One takes the MT as it stands and explains it along the lines of the Targum and Jewish exegesis, that there was one cloud that was dark to one group and light to the other; (2) Another tries to reconstruct a verb from the noun “darkness” or make some use of the Greek verb; and (3) A third seeks a different meaning for the verb “lit,” “gave light” (y’r) by comparative philology, but no consensus has been reached (p. 218). Given that there is no easy solution apart from reconstructing the text, and given that the MT can be interpreted as it is, the present translation follows the MT.
⁵⁷tn The verb is simply the Hiphil of Elh (halak), “to walk, go.” The context requires that it be interpreted along the lines of “go back, go apart.”
⁵⁸tn The clause literally reads, “and the waters [were] for them a wall.” This is a disjunctive clause with the vav on the noun introducing a circumstantial clause.
sn Driver, still trying to explain things with natural explanations, suggests that a NE wind is to be thought of (an east wind would be directly in their face he says), such as a shallow ford might cooperate with an ebb tide in keeping a passage clear (p. 119). He then quotes Dillmann about the “wall” of water: “A very summary poetical and hyperbolical (xv. 8) description of the occurrence, which at most can be pictured as the drying up of a shallow ford, on both sides of which the basin of the sea was much deeper, and remained filled with water.” There is no way to “water down” the text to fit natural explanations; the report clearly shows a miraculous work of God making a path through the sea—a path that had to be as wide as half a milein order for the many people and their animals to cross between about 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (W. C. Kaiser, Jr, “Exodus,” in EBC 389). The text does not say that they actually only started across in the morning watch, however.
⁵⁹tn “after them” has been supplied.
⁶⁰tn The night was divided into three watches of about four hours each, making the morning watch about 2:00-6:00 a.m. The text has this as “the watch of the morning,” the genitive qualifying which of the night watches was meant.
⁶¹tn This particular verb, [qv (saqap) is a bold anthropomorphism: Yahweh looked down. But its usage is always with some demonstration of mercy or wrath. Driver suggests that the look might be with fiery flashes to startle the Egyptians, throwing them into a panic. Ps 77:17-19 pictures torrents of rain with lightning and thunder (p. 120).
⁶²tn Heb “camp.”
⁶³tn The verb <mh (hamam) means “throw into confusion.” It is used in the Bible for the panic and disarray of an army before a superior force (Josh 10:10; Judg 4:15).
⁶⁴tn The word in the text is rs^Y`w~ (wayyasar), which would be translated “and he turned aside” with the sense perhaps of removing the wheels. The reading in the LXX, SP, and Syriac suggests a root rsa (‘asar), “to bind.” The sense here might be “clogged—presumably by their sinking in the wet sand” (Driver, 120).
⁶⁵tn The clause is td%b@k=B! Whg@h&n~y+w~ (waynahagehu bikbedut). The verb means “to drive a chariot”; here in the Piel it means “cause to drive.” The suffix is collective, and so the verbal form can be translated “and caused them to drive.” The idea of the next word is, of course, “heavy”; it reflects the previous uses of the word for Pharaoh’s heart. Here it indicates that the driving of the crippled chariots was with difficulty—a sign that the wheels had not actually come off.
⁶⁶tn The cohortative has the hortatory use here, “Let’s flee.” Although the form is singular, the sense of it is plural and so hortatory can be used. The form is singular to agree with the singular subject, “Egypt,” which obviously means the Egyptian armies.
⁶⁷tn The form is the Niphal participle; it is used as the predicate here, that is, the verbal use: “the Lord is fighting.” This corresponds to the announcement of Moses in v. 14.
⁶⁸tn The verb, “and they will return,” is here subordinated to the imperative preceding it, showing the purpose of that act.
⁶⁹tn The Hebrew term ont*yoa@l= (l^e’etano) means “to its place,” or better, “to its perennial state.” Driver summarizes the research done in the Arabic cognate which was used of a stream or a river to be perennial or ever flowing. The point is that the sea here had a normal level, and now when the Egyptians were in the sea on the dry ground the water would return to that level.
⁷⁰tn Heb “at the turning of the morning.”
⁷¹tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav on the noun, signaling either a circumstantial clause, or a new beginning. It could be rendered, “Although the Egyptians…Yahweh…” or “as the Egyptians….”
⁷²tn The verb means “shake out” or “shaking off.” It has the significance of “throw downward.” See Neh 5:13, or Job 38:13.
⁷³tn Heb “and the waters returned.”
⁷⁴tn Heb “that was going into the sea after them.” The referent of “them” (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁷⁵tn Heb “not was left among them as much as one.”
⁷⁶tn The Hebrew term uv^oYw~ (wayyosa’) is the key summation of the chapter, and this part of the book: “So Yahweh saved Israel.” This is the culmination of all the powerful works of God through these chapters.
⁷⁷tn The participle “dead” is singular, agreeing in form with “Egypt.”
⁷⁸tn The preterite with the vav consecutive introduces a clause that is subordinate to the main points that the verse it making.
⁷⁹tn Heb “the great hand,” with “hand” being a metonymy for work or power.
⁸⁰tn Heb “did, made.”
⁸¹tn Heb “and the people feared.”
⁸²tn The verb is the Hiphil preterite of /ma (‘aman). Driver says that the belief intended here is not simply a crediting of a testimony concerning a person or a thing, but a laying firm hold morally on a person or a thing (p. 122). Others would take the Hiphil sense to be declarative, and that would indicate a considering of the object of faith trustworthy or dependable, and so therefore to be acted on. In this passage it does not mean that here they came to faith, but that they became convinced and were sure that he would save them in the future.
⁸³sn Here the title of “servant” is given to Moses. This is the highest title a mortal can have in the OT—the “servant of Yahweh.” It signifies more than a believer; it describes the individual as acting on behalf of God. For example, when Moses stretched out his hand, God used it as his own (Isa 63:12). Moses was God’s personal representative. The chapter records both a message of salvation and of judgment. Like the earlier deliverance from their dwelling by the Passover, this chapter can be used as a lesson on deliverance from present troubles—if God could do this for Israel, there is no trouble too great for him to overcome. The passage can also be used as a picture (at least) of the deliverance at the final judgment on the world. But the Israelites used this account for a paradigm on the power of God: namely, God is able to deliver his people from danger because he is the sovereign Lord of creation. His people must learn to trust him, even in desperate situations; they must fear him and not the situation. God can bring any threat to an end by bringing his power to bear in judgment on the wicked.