MPV Commentary

2. Speak to the Israelites that they turn and encamp—The Israelites had now completed their three days' journey, and at Etham the decisive step would have to be taken whether they would celebrate their intended feast and return, or march onwards by the head of the Red Sea into the desert, with a view to a final departure. They were already on the borders of the desert, and a short march would have placed them beyond the reach of pursuit, as the chariots of Egypt could have made little progress over dry and yielding sand.

But at Etham, instead of pursuing their journey eastward with the sea on their right, they were suddenly commanded to diverge to the south, keeping the gulf on their left. This route not only detained them lingering on the confines of Egypt but also turned their backs on the land of which they had set out to obtain possession. A movement so unexpected could not but excite the astonishment of all, even of Moses himself, although he obeyed due to his implicit faith in the wisdom and power of his heavenly Guide.

The object was to entice Pharaoh to pursue, in order that the moral effect of the judgments on Egypt might be still further extended over the nations by the awful events transacted at the Red Sea. Pi-hahiroth—the mouth of the defile or pass—a description well suited to that of Bedea, which extended from the Nile and opened onto the shore of the Red Sea. Migdol—a fortress or citadel. Baal-zephon—some marked site on the opposite or eastern coast.

3. The wilderness had shut them in—Pharaoh, who would eagerly watch their movements, was now satisfied that they were meditating flight, and he naturally thought from the error into which they appeared to have fallen by entering that defile, he could intercept them. He believed them now entirely in his power, the mountain chain being on one side, the sea on the other, so that if he pursued them in the rear, escape seemed impossible.

5. The heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people—Alas, how soon the obduracy of this reprobate king reappears! He had been convinced but not converted—overawed but not sanctified by the appalling judgments of heaven. He bitterly repented of what he now thought a hasty concession. Pride and revenge, the honor of his kingdom, and the interests of his subjects all prompted him to recall his permission to reclaim those runaway slaves and force them to their wonted labor.

6-7. He made ready his chariot—His preparations for an immediate and hot pursuit are here described: A difference is made between "the chosen chariots" and "the chariots of Egypt." The first evidently composed the king's guard, amounting to six hundred, and they are called "chosen," literally, "third men"; three men being allotted to each chariot, the charioteer and two warriors. As to "the chariots of Egypt," the common cars contained only two persons, one for driving and the other for fighting; sometimes only one person was in the chariot, the driver lashed the reins round his body and fought.

10. When Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes—The great consternation of the Israelites is somewhat astonishing, considering their vast superiority in numbers, but their deep dismay and absolute despair at the sight of this armed host receives a satisfactory explanation from the fact that the civilized state of Egyptian society required the absence of all arms, except when they were on service.

13-14. Moses said... Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord—Never perhaps was the fortitude of a man so severely tried as that of the Hebrew leader in this crisis, exposed as he was to various and inevitable dangers, the most formidable of which was the vengeance of a seditious and desperate multitude. But his meek, unruffled, magnanimous composure presents one of the sublimest examples of moral courage to be found in history.

15-18. The Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me?—When in answer to his prayers, he received the divine command to go forward, he no longer doubted by what kind of miracle the salvation of his mighty charge was to be effected.

19. The angel of God—that is, the pillar of cloud [see on Ex 13:21]. The slow and silent movement of that majestic column through the air, and occupying a position behind them must have excited the astonishment of the Israelites. It was an effectual barrier between them and their pursuers, not only protecting them but concealing their movements.

21. Moses stretched out his hand—The waving of the rod was of great importance on this occasion to give public attestation in the presence of the assembled Israelites, both to the character of Moses and the divine mission with which he was charged.

The Lord caused... a strong east wind all that night—Suppose a mere ebb tide had occurred, it would not have been possible for the Israelites to march over on the sand, in the teeth of a rushing column of wind, strong enough to heap up the waters as a wall on each side of a dry path.

22. The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea—It is highly probable that Moses, along with Aaron, first planted his footsteps on the untrodden sand, encouraging the people to follow him without fear of the treacherous walls; and when we take into account the multitudes that followed him, the immense number who through infancy and old age were incapable of hastening their movements, together with all the appurtenances of the camp, the strong and steadfast character of the leaders' faith was strikingly manifested.

23. The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea—From the darkness caused by the intercepting cloud, it is probable that they were not aware on what ground they were driving: they heard the sound of the fugitives before them, and they pushed on with the fury of the avengers of blood, without dreaming that they were on the bared bed of the sea.

24-25. The Lord looked... through... the cloud, and troubled them—We suppose the fact to have been that the side of the pillar of cloud towards the Egyptians was suddenly, and for a few moments, illuminated with a blaze of light, which, coming as it were in a refulgent flash upon the dense darkness which had preceded, so frightened the horses of the pursuers that they rushed confusedly together and became unmanageable.

27. Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea—What circumstances could more clearly demonstrate the miraculous character of this transaction than that at the waving of Moses' rod, the dividing waters left the channel dry, and on his making the same motion on the opposite side, they returned, commingling with instantaneous fury?

28. There remained not so much as one of them—It is surprising that, with such a declaration, some intelligent writers can maintain there is no evidence of the destruction of Pharaoh himself.

30. Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore—The tide threw them up and left multitudes of corpses on the beach; a result that brought greater infamy on the Egyptians but that tended to enhance the triumph of the Israelites, and doubtless enriched them with arms which they had not before.