Exodus 15 commentary

EXODUS 15 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
I TRODUCTIO
COFFMA , "Introduction
The account of Israel's Red Sea deliverance and the destruction of their enemies in
the same mighty act of God was just concluded in Exodus 14. And it was
appropriate and fitting indeed that such a colossal event should have been
celebrated at once by those participating in it. And we entertain no doubt whatever
that this chapter indeed records that immediate and spontaneous celebration. The
critical nonsense of finding two or more songs here combined into one, and/or the
ascription of this chapter to a period of time long afterward, and the groundless
supposition that some unknown author wrote these lines is rejected. In the dramatic
Red Sea deliverance, "God had glorified Himself as the God of gods and the King of
the heathen."[1] The appropriate celebration of that triumph is given in Exodus 15.
The glory of this Song of Moses is imperishable. It set the tone and established the
style of Hebrew poetry for all subsequent time. And, in the .T., it is associated with
the final triumph of the church (Revelation 15:3). This is the story of a nation's
birth-hour. "It is an emphatic declaration that Israel did not simply happen, but
was created. It is a mighty act of God."[2]
This song is not, as affirmed by Harford, "An exilic or post-exilic psalm implying
the settlement of Canaan."[3] It is not, as claimed, "A point of beginning for the
later song of Moses."[4] Why?
"In language and style, the hymn bears many marks of high antiquity."[5] The
same author added that, "There can be little objection" to attributing the song to
Moses.
"The emotional fervor and spirit of exultation of Exodus 15 can only be explained as
spontaneous utterances of eyewitnesses of the great drama."[6]
"It is not like the Hebrew poetry written in the time of David or later; it is more like
the poetry of Canaan in the period from 1700 B.C. to 1400 B.C."[7]
For those who might be interested in the critical efforts to fragment this chapter and
assign it to various times and authors, we call attention to the magnificent and
monumental work of Oswald T. Allis, which is a thorough and devastating
refutation of the whole sprawling and contradictory web-work of the so-called
"higher criticism" which, especially during this century, has been directed against
the Holy Bible. We have room here for only one brief quotation:

"It would be a simple matter to break a crystal ball into a number of fragments and
then to fill a volume with an elaborate description and discussion of the marked
differences in the fragments thus obtained, and to argue that these fragments all
came from different globes. The conclusive refutation would be the proof that when
fitted together they form once more a single globe. Thus, it is the unity and harmony
of the Biblical narratives as they appear in the Scriptures which is the best
refutation of the theory that these self-consistent narratives have resulted from the
combining of several more or less diverse and contradictory sources."[8]
That there is far more in this hymn than the commemoration of Israel's deliverance
is proved by the Scripture which says:
And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,
saying:
"Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God the Almighty;
Righteous and true are thy ways, Thou King of the ages.
Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name?
For thou only art holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee;
For thy righteous acts have been made manifest."
- Revelation 15:3-4.
Thus, there is affirmed the typical nature of that great Red Sea deliverance. And,
when, at last, the saints of God gather in that eternal kingdom, they shall sing both
the Song of Moses, and the Song of the Lamb. There are therefore foreshadowings
of the final and eternal deliverance from sin in the marvelous words of this glorious
chapter.
The Song of Moses and Miriam
1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to
the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.

BAR ES, "With the deliverance of Israel is associated the development of the
national poetry, which finds its first and perfect expression in this magnificent hymn. It
was sung by Moses and the people, an expression which evidently points to him as the
author. That it was written at the time is an assertion expressly made in the text, and it is
supported by the strongest internal evidence. In every age this song gave the tone to the
poetry of Israel; especially at great critical epochs of deliverance: and in the book of
Revelation Exo_15:3 it is associated with the final triumph of the Church.
The division of the song into three parts is distinctly marked: Exo_15:1-5; Exo_15:6-
10; Exo_15:11-18 : each begins with an ascription of praise to God; each increases in
length and varied imagery unto the triumphant close.
Exo_15:1
He hath triumphed gloriously - Literally, He is gloriously glorious.
The horse and his rider - The word “rider” may include horseman, but applies
properly to the charioteer.
CLARKE, "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song - Poetry
has been cultivated in all ages and among all people, from the most refined to the most
barbarous; and to it principally, under the kind providence of God, we are indebted for
most of the original accounts we have of the ancient nations of the universe. Equally
measured lines, with a harmonious collocation of expressive, sonorous, and sometimes
highly metaphorical terms, the alternate lines either answering to each other in sense, or
ending with similar sounds, were easily committed to memory, and easily retained. As
these were often accompanied with a pleasing air or tune, the subject being a
concatenation of striking and interesting events, histories formed thus became the
amusement of youth, the softeners of the tedium of labor, and even the solace of age. In
such a way the histories of most nations have been preserved. The interesting events
celebrated, the rhythm or metre, and the accompanying tune or recitativo air, rendered
them easily transmissible to posterity; and by means of tradition they passed safely from
father to son through the times of comparative darkness, till they arrived at those ages in
which the pen and the press have given them a sort of deathless duration and permanent
stability, by multiplying the copies. Many of the ancient historic and heroic British tales
are continued by tradition among the aboriginal inhabitants of Ireland to the present
day; and the repetition of them constitutes the chief amusement of the winter evenings.
Even the prose histories, which were written on the ground of the poetic, copied closely
their exemplars, and the historians themselves were obliged to study all the beauties and
ornaments of style, that their works might become popular; and to this circumstance we
owe not a small measure of what is termed refinement of language. How observable is
this in the history of Herodotus, who appears to have closely copied the ancient poetic
records in his inimitable and harmonious prose; and, that his books might bear as near a
resemblance as possible to the ancient and popular originals, he divided them into nine,
and dedicated each to one of the muses! His work therefore seems to occupy the same
place between the ancient poetic compositions and mere prosaic histories, as the polype
does between plants and animals. Much even of our sacred records is written in poetry,
which God has thus consecrated to be the faithful transmitter of remote and important
events; and of this the song before the reader is a proof in point. Though this is not the
first specimen of poetry we have met with in the Pentateuch, (see Lamech’s speech to his

wives, Gen_4:23, Gen_4:24; Noah’s prophecy concerning his sons, Gen_9:25-27; and
Jacob’s blessing to the twelve patriarchs, Genesis 49:2-27 (note)), yet it is the first
regular ode of any considerable length, having but one subject; and it is all written in
hemistichs, or half lines, the usual form in Hebrew poetry; and though this form
frequently occurs, it is not attended to in our common printed Hebrew Bibles, except in
this and three other places, (Deuteronomy 32, Judges 5, and 2 Samuel 22)., all of which
shall be noticed as they occur. But in Dr. Kennicott’s edition of the Hebrew Bible, all the
poetry, wheresoever it occurs, is printed in its own hemistich form.
After what has been said it is perhaps scarcely necessary to observe, that as such
ancient poetic histories commemorated great and extraordinary displays of providence,
courage, strength, fidelity, heroism, and piety; hence the origin of Epic poems, of which
the song in this chapter is the earliest specimen. And on the principle of preserving the
memory of such events, most nations have had their epic poets, who have generally
taken for their subject the most splendid or most remote events of their country’s
history, which either referred to the formation or extension of their empire, the exploits
of their ancestors, or the establishment of their religion. Hence the ancient Hebrews had
their Shir Mosheh, the piece in question: the Greeks, their Ilias; the Hindoos, their
Mahabarat; the Romans, their Aeneid; the Norwegians, their Edda; the Irish and Scotch,
their Fingal and Chronological poems; the Welsh, their Taliessin and his Triads; the
Arabs, their Nebiun-Nameh (exploits of Mohammed) and Hamleh Heedry, (exploits of
Aly); the Persians, their Shah Nameh, (book of kings); the Italians, their Gerusalemme
Liberata; the Portuguese, their Lusiad; the English, their Paradise Lost; and, in humble
imitation of all the rest, (etsi non passibus aequis), the French, their Henriade.
The song of Moses has been in the highest repute in the Church of God from the
beginning; the author of the Book of The Wisdom of Solomon attributes it in a particular
manner to the wisdom of God, and says that on this occasion God opened the mouth of
the dumb, and made the tongues of infants eloquent; The Wisdom of Solomon 10:21. As
if he had said, Every person felt an interest in the great events which had taken place,
and all labored to give Jehovah that praise which was due to his name. “With this song
of victory over Pharaoh,” says Mr. Ainsworth, “the Holy Ghost compares the song of
those who have gotten the victory over the spiritual Pharaoh, the beast, (Antichrist),
when they stand by the sea of glass mingled with fire, (as Israel stood here by the Red
Sea), having the harps of God, (as the women here had timbrels, Exo_15:20), and they
sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, the Son of God,”
Rev_15:2-4.
I will sing unto the Lord - Moses begins the song, and in the two first hemistichs
states the subject of it; and these two first lines became the grand chorus of the piece, as
we may learn from Exo_15:21. See Dr. Kennicott’s arrangement and translation of this
piece at the end of this chapter. See Clarke’s note on Exo_15:26.
Triumphed gloriously - ‫גאה‬ ‫גאה‬ ‫כי‬ ki gaoh gaah, he is exceedingly exalted, rendered
by the Septuagint, Ενδοξως γαρ δεδοξασται, He is gloriously glorified; and surely this was
one of the most signal displays of the glorious majesty of God ever exhibited since the
creation of the world. And when it is considered that the whole of this transaction
shadowed out the redemption of the human race from the thraldom and power of sin
and iniquity by the Lord Jesus, and the final triumph of the Church of God over all its
enemies, we may also join in the song, and celebrate Him who has triumphed so
gloriously, having conquered death, and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

GILL, "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the
Lord,.... Which is the first song recorded in Scripture, though no doubt before this time
songs of praise were sung to the Lord; the people of God having occasion in all ages
more or less to sing his praises. The Jews (n) speak of ten songs, the first of which was
sung by Adam, when his sins were forgiven him, and this song of Moses is the second;
though sometimes they say (o), from the creation of the world to the standing of Israel
by the Red sea, we do not find that ever any man sung a song but Israel; God created the
first man, but he sang no song: however, this is the first on record, and is a typical one;
Moses the composer of it, and who bore a principal part in it, and was the deliverer of
the people of Israel, was a type of Christ, the Redeemer of his church: and Israel that
joined with him in it, and were the persons delivered, were typical of the spiritual Israel
of God redeemed by Christ; and the deliverance here celebrated bore a great
resemblance to the redemption wrought out by him; and Christ, the Angel of the Lord,
that went before the Israelites through the Red sea, and fought for them, is the principal
person concerned in it, and who is meant by the Lord throughout the whole of it, and to
whom it is sung; and a song upon a similar occasion to this will be sung in the latter day,
upon the destruction of spiritual Egypt, or antichrist, and is called the song of Moses and
the Lamb in allusion to it, Rev_15:3 The Jews (p) say, this shall be sung at the time,
when the wicked shall perish out of the world, and observe that it is not written ‫,שר‬ "then
sung", but ‫,ישיר‬ "then shall sing", &c. Moses had reason to sing, since God had heard his
prayer, and had done him honour before the people, and he was both an instrument of
and a sharer in the salvation wrought; and the children of Israel had reason to sing,
inasmuch as they were a people chosen of God, and distinguished by him; were
redeemed from bondage, called out of Egypt, and now saved out of the hands of their
enemies, who were all destroyed, and they brought safely through the Red sea, and
landed on firm ground. And the time when they sung this song was then, when they had
passed through the sea on dry land; and when they had seen the Egyptians their enemies
dead on the sea shore; and when they were in a proper frame of spirit to sing, when they
had taken notice of and considered what great and wonderful things the Lord had done
for them, and their minds were suitably impressed with a sense of them; when they were
in the exercise of the graces of the fear of God, and faith in him, and which is necessary
to the performance of all religious duties, and particularly this of singing the praises of
God:
and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord: that went before them in a pillar of
cloud and fire; who had led them safely through the Red sea, and troubled and destroyed
the host of the Egyptians; even the same Jehovah, who has undertook the salvation of
his people, is become the author of it, and to whom the song of redeeming grace is due:
for he hath triumphed gloriously; over Pharaoh and all the Egyptians, the enemies
of Israel, as Christ has over sin, in the destruction of it by his sacrifice, and over Satan,
and his principalities and powers, when he spoiled them on the cross, and over death the
last enemy, and all others; over whom he has made his people more than conquerors,
through himself: or, "in excelling he excels" (q); all the angels of heaven, in his name,
and nature, relation, and office; and all the sons of men, even the greatest among them,
being King of kings, and Lord of lords; in the wonderful things done by him, no such
achievements having ever been wrought by any of them: or, "in magnifying, he is
magnified" (r); appears to be what he is, great in his nature, perfections, and works; and

to be magnified, or declared to be great, and extolled as such by all that know and fear
him:
the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea; the horses and horsemen of
Pharaoh; and which is not amiss allegorically applied, by Tertullian (s), to the world and
the devil; the world is the horse, and the rider the devil; that being under his power and
direction, he being the god of it, and working effectually in it; spurring and exciting the
men of it to every sinful lust and pleasure; and may be put for all the spiritual enemies of
God's people, especially their sins; which are cast by the Lord into the midst of the sea,
never to be seen and remembered any more, and which is to them matter of a song of
praise and thanksgiving.
HE RY 1-7, "Having read how that complete victory of Israel over the Egyptians was
obtained, here we are told how it was celebrated; those that were to hold their peace
while the deliverance was in working (Exo_14:14) must not hold their peace now that it
was wrought; the less they had to do then the more they had to do now. If God
accomplishes deliverance by his own immediate power, it redounds so much the more to
his glory. Moses, no doubt by divine inspiration, indited this song, and delivered it to the
children of Israel, to be sung before they stirred from the place where they saw the
Egyptians dead upon the shore. Observe, 1. They expressed their joy in God, and
thankfulness to him, by singing; it is almost natural to us thus to give vent to our joy and
the exultations of our spirit. By this instance it appears that the singing of psalms, as an
act of religious worship, was used in the church of Christ before the giving of the
ceremonial law, and therefore was no part of it, nor abolished with it. Singing is as much
the language of holy joy as praying is of holy desire. 2. Moses, who had gone before them
through the sea, goes before them in the song, and composes it for them. Note, Those
that are active in public services should not be neuters in public praises. 3. When the
mercy was fresh, and they were much affected with it, then they sang this song. Note,
When we have received special mercy from God, we ought to be quick and speedy in our
returns of praise to him, before time and the deceitfulness of our own hearts efface the
good impressions that have been made. David sang his triumphant song in the day that
the Lord delivered him, 2Sa_22:1. Bis dat qui cito dat - He gives twice who gives
quickly. 4. When they believed the Lord (Exo_14:31) then they sang this song: it was a
song of faith; this connection is observed (Psa_106:12): Then believed they his words,
they sang his praise. If with the heart man believes, thus confession must be made. Here
is,
I. The song itself; and,
1. We may observe respecting this song, that it is, (1.) An ancient song, the most
ancient that we know of. (2.) A most admirable composition, the style lofty and
magnificent, the images lively and proper, and the whole very moving. (3.) It is a holy
song, consecrated to the honour of God, and intended to exalt his name and celebrate his
praise, and his only, not in the least to magnify any man: holiness to the Lord is
engraven in it, and to him they made melody in the singing of it. (4.) It is a typical song.
The triumphs of the gospel church, in the downfall of its enemies, are expressed in the
song of Moses and the song of the Lamb put together, which are said to be sung upon a
sea of glass, as this was upon the Red Sea, Rev_15:2, Rev_15:3.
2. Let us observe what Moses chiefly aims at in this song.
(1.) He gives glory to God, and triumphs in him; this is first in his intention (Exo_
15:1): I will sing unto the Lord. Note, All our joy must terminate in God, and all our
praises be offered up to him, the Father of lights and Father of mercies, for he hath

triumphed. Note, All that love God triumph in his triumphs; what is his honour should
be our joy. Israel rejoiced in God, [1.] As their own God, and therefore their strength,
song, and salvation, Exo_15:2. Happy therefore the people whose God is the Lord; they
need no more to make them happy. They have work to do, temptations to grapple with,
and afflictions to bear, and are weak in themselves; but he strengthens them: his grace is
their strength. They are often in sorrow, upon many accounts, but in him they have
comfort, he is their song; sin, and death, and hell, threaten them, but he is, and will be,
their salvation: See Isa_12:2. [2.] As their fathers' God. This they take notice of,
because, being conscious to themselves of their own unworthiness and provocations,
they had reason to think that what God had now done for them was for their fathers'
sake, Deu_4:37. Note, The children of the covenant ought to improve their fathers'
relation to God as their God for comfort, for caution, and for quickening. [3.] As a God of
infinite power (Exo_15:3): The Lord is a man of war, that is, well able to deal with all
those that strive with their Maker, and will certainly be too hard for them. [4.] As a God
of matchless and incomparable perfection, Exo_15:11. This is expressed, First, More
generally: Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods! This is pure praise, and a high
expression of humble adoration. - It is a challenge to all other gods to compare with him:
“Let them stand forth, and pretend their utmost; none of them dare make the
comparison.” Egypt was notorious for the multitude of its gods, but the God of the
Hebrews was too hard for them and baffled them all, Num_33:4; Deu. 32:23-39. The
princes and potentates of the world are called gods, but they are feeble and mortal, none
of them all comparable to Jehovah, the almighty and eternal God. - It is confession of his
infinite perfection, as transcendent and unparalleled. Note, God is to be worshipped and
adored as a being of such infinite perfection that there is none like him, nor any to be
compared with him, as one that in all things has and must have the pre-eminence, Psa_
89:6. Secondly, More particularly, 1. He is glorious in holiness; his holiness is his glory.
It is that attribute which angels adore, Isa_6:3. His holiness appeared in the destruction
of Pharaoh, his hatred of sin, and his wrath against obstinate sinners. It appeared in the
deliverance of Israel, his delight in the holy seed, and his faithfulness to his own
promise. God is rich in mercy - this is his treasure, glorious in holiness - this is his
honour. Let us always give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 2. He is fearful in
praises. That which is the matter of our praise, though it is joyful to the servants of God,
is dreadful and very terrible to his enemies, Psa_66:1-3. Or it directs us in the manner of
our praising God; we should praise him with a humble holy awe, and serve the Lord
with fear. Even our spiritual joy and triumph must be balanced with a religious fear. 3.
He is doing wonders, wondrous to all, being above the power and out of the common
course of nature; especially wondrous to us, in whose favour they are wrought, who are
so unworthy that we had little reason to expect them. They were wonders of power and
wonders of grace; in both God was to be humbly adored.
JAMISO , "Exo_15:1-27. Song of Moses.
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel — The scene of this thanksgiving
song is supposed to have been at the landing place on the eastern shore of the Red Sea,
at Ayoun Musa, “the fountains of Moses.” They are situated somewhat farther northward
along the shore than the opposite point from which the Israelites set out. But the line of
the people would be extended during the passage, and one extremity of it would reach as
far north as these fountains, which would supply them with water on landing. The time
when it was sung is supposed to have been the morning after the passage. This song is,
by some hundred years, the oldest poem in the world. There is a sublimity and beauty in
the language that is unexampled. But its unrivalled superiority arises not solely from the

splendor of the diction. Its poetical excellencies have often drawn forth the admiration of
the best judges, while the character of the event commemorated, and its being prompted
by divine inspiration, contribute to give it an interest and sublimity peculiar to itself.
I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously — Considering the
state of servitude in which they had been born and bred, and the rude features of
character which their subsequent history often displays, it cannot be supposed that the
children of Israel generally were qualified to commit to memory or to appreciate the
beauties of this inimitable song. But they might perfectly understand its pervading strain
of sentiment; and, with the view of suitably improving the occasion, it was thought
necessary that all, old and young, should join their united voices in the rehearsal of its
words. As every individual had cause, so every individual gave utterance to his feelings of
gratitude.
K&D, "In the song of praise which Moses and the children of Israel sang at the Red
Sea, in celebration of the wonderful works of Jehovah, the congregation of Israel
commemorated the fact of its deliverance and its exaltation into the nation of God. By
their glorious deliverance from the slave-house of Egypt, Jehovah had practically exalted
the seed of Abraham into His own nation; and in the destruction of Pharaoh and his
host, He had glorified Himself as God of the gods and King of the heathen, whom no
power on earth could defy with impunity. As the fact of Israel's deliverance from the
power of its oppressors is of everlasting importance to the Church of the Lord in its
conflict with the ungodly powers of the world, in which the Lord continually overthrows
the enemies of His kingdom, as He overthrew Pharaoh and his horsemen in the depths
of the sea: so Moses' song at the Red Sea furnishes the Church of the Lord with the
materials for its songs of praise in all the great conflicts which it has to sustain, during
its onward course, with the powers of the world. Hence not only does the key-note of this
song resound through all Israel's songs, in praise of the glorious works of Jehovah for
the good of His people (see especially Isa_12:1-6), but the song of Moses the servant of
God will also be sung, along with the song of the Lamb, by the conquerors who stand
upon the “sea of glass,” and have gained the victory over the beast and his image (Rev_
15:3).
The substance of this song, which is entirely devoted to the praise and adoration of
Jehovah, is the judgment inflicted upon the heathen power of the world in the fall of
Pharaoh, and the salvation which flowed from this judgment to Israel. Although Moses
is not expressly mentioned as the author of the song, its authenticity, or Mosaic
authorship, is placed beyond all doubt by both the contents and the form. The song is
composed of three gradually increasing strophes, each of which commences with the
praise of Jehovah, and ends with a description of the overthrow of the Egyptian host
(Exo_15:2-5, Exo_15:6-10, Exo_15:11-18). The theme announced in the introduction in
Exo_15:1 is thus treated in three different ways; and whilst the omnipotence of God,
displayed in the destruction of the enemy, is the prominent topic in the first two
strophes, the third depicts with prophetic confidence the fruit of this glorious event in
the establishment of Israel, as a kingdom of Jehovah, in the promised inheritance.
Modern criticism, it is true, has taken offence at this prophetic insight into the future,
and rejected the song of Moses, just because the wonders of God are carried forward in
Exo_15:16, Exo_15:17, beyond the Mosaic times. But it was so natural a thing that, after
the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, they should turn their eyes to
Canaan, and, looking forward with certainty to the possession of the promised land,
should anticipate with believing confidence the foundation of a sanctuary there, in which

their God would dwell with them, that none but those who altogether reject the divine
mission of Moses, and set down the mighty works of God in Egypt as myths, could ever
deny to Moses this anticipation and prospect. Even Ewald admits that this grand song of
praise “was probably the immediate effect of first enthusiasm in the Mosaic age,” though
he also ignores the prophetic character of the song, and denies the reality of any of the
supernatural wonders of the Old Testament. There is nothing to prevent our
understanding words, “then sang Moses,” as meaning that Moses not only sang this song
with the Israelites, but composed it for the congregation to the praise of Jehovah.
Exo_15:1-5
Introduction and first strophe. - The introduction, which contains the theme of the
song, “Sing will I to the Lord, for highly exalted is He, horse and his rider He hath
thrown into the sea,” was repeated, when sung, as an anti-strophe by a chorus of
women, with Miriam at their head (cf. Exo_15:20, Exo_15:21); whether after every
verse, or only at the close of the longer strophes, cannot be determined. ‫ה‬ፎָ to arise, to
grow up, trop. to show oneself exalted; connected with an inf. abs. to give still further
emphasis. Jehovah had displayed His superiority to all earthly power by casting horses
and riders, the proud army of the haughty Pharaoh, into the sea. This had filled His
people with rejoicing: (Exo_15:2), “My strength and song is Jah, He became my
salvation; He is my God, whom I extol, my father's God, whom I exalt.” ‫ּז‬‫ע‬ strength,
might, not praise or glory, even in Psa_8:2. ‫ת‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫מ‬ִ‫,ז‬ an old poetic form for ‫ה‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫מ‬ִ‫,ז‬ from ‫ר‬ ַ‫מ‬ָ‫,ז‬
primarily to hum; thence ‫ר‬ ֵ ִ‫ז‬‫́ככוים‬‫ב‬‫ר‬ , to play music, or sing with a musical
accompaniment. Jah, the concentration of Jehovah, the God of salvation ruling the
course of history with absolute freedom, has passed from this song into the Psalms, but
is restricted to the higher style of poetry. “For He became salvation to me, granted me
deliverance and salvation:” on the use of vav consec. in explanatory clauses, see Gen_
26:12. This clause is taken from our song, and introduced in Isa_12:2; Psa_118:14. ‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ ‫ה‬ֶ‫:ז‬
this Jah, such an one is my God. ‫הוּ‬ֵ‫ו‬ְ‫נ‬ፍ: Hiphil of ‫ה‬ָ‫ו‬ָ‫,נ‬ related to ‫,נאה‬ ‫,נאוה‬ to be lovely,
delightful, Hiph. to extol, to praise, δοξάσω, glorificabo (lxx, Vulg.). “The God of my
father:” i.e., of Abraham as the ancestor of Israel, or, as in Exo_3:6, of the three
patriarchs combined. What He promised them (Gen_15:14; Gen_46:3-4) He had now
fulfilled.
CALVI , "1.Then sang Moses. Moses introduced this song not only in testimony of
his gratitude, but also in confirmation of the history; for the song which he dictated
to the Israelites was not concerning an unknown event, but he brought them
forward as eye-witnesses, that all ages might know that nothing thus far had been
written which had not openly been declared by 600,000 men, besides their wives and
children. Moses, therefore, set the example in accordance with his office, whilst the
people, by singing with him, testified their approbation in a manner which admits of
no contradiction. For’ to whom could they have lied, since they were each other’s
witnesses, and the song was listened to by no strangers? Moses seems to mark their
confidence by the repetition in the Hebrew, they “spoke, saying.” On this account,
too, their confession, pronounced by all their mouths, deserves more credit, because
the greater part of them soon after yielded to ingratitude: from whence we gather
that it was only on compulsion that they gave God glory. But, although Moses was

the author of the song, yet he does not say “I will sing” in his own person, but
prescribes to all what each individual ought heartily to do.
ELLICOTT, "(1) Then sang Moses and the children of Israel.—With his usual
modesty, Moses does not say that he composed the magnificent ode which follows;
but it is scarcely conceivable that it can have had any other author. It bears a close
resemblance to the Egyptian religious poetry, with which Moses—and probably no
other Israelite of the time—would have been familiar from his early training; and it
breathes the elevated tone of religious sentiment that was scarcely shared with
Moses by any contemporary. The prophetic statements in the latter verses of the
hymn have led some to assign to it a date later than Joshua; but the vagueness of
these statements stands in a remarkable contrast with the definiteness and graphic
power of the descriptive portion, and points to the time of Moses for the
composition. The poetic genius shown in the composition is, no doubt, very
considerable; but the statement that it transcends all later Hebrew poesy would not
have been made by any critic whose judgment was not biased by his theories. The
ode is distinguished from later similar compositions by greater simplicity in the
language, and greater freedom in the rhythmical arrangement. There is the usual
“parallelism of clauses,” with its three varieties of “antithetic, synthetic, and
synonymous;” but the regular cadence is interrupted with unusual frequency by
triplet stanzas, and the parallelism is less exact than that of later times.
The ode divides itself into two portions (Exodus 15:1-12 and Exodus 15:13-18): the
first retrospective, the second prospective. Part II. has no sub-divisions; but Part I.
Consists of three, or perhaps we should say of four, portions. First comes the
burden, or refrain (Exodus 15:1), which was repeated at the close of each sub-
division by Miriam and her choir of women (Exodus 15:21). Then we have the first
stanza, or strophe, reaching from Exodus 15:2 to Exodus 15:5. ext we have stanza
or strophe 2, extending from Exodus 15:6 to Exodus 15:10. After this, stanza or
strophe 3, comprising Exodus 15:11-12. These shorter, and as it were tentative,
efforts are followed by the grand burst of prophetic song which constitutes Part II.,
and extends from Exodus 15:13 to Exodus 15:18, terminating with the sublime
utterance, beyond which no thought of man can go, “The Lord shall reign for ever
and ever.”
I will sing.—It may convey to the ordinary reader some idea of the rhythm of the
ode to transcribe into Roman characters and accentuate this opening passage, which
is as follows :—
Ashirah layhováh ki gaóh gaáh,
Sus v’rokebo ramáh bayyám.
He hath triumphed gloriously.—Heb., he hath glorified himself gloriously ( ἐνδόξως
δεδόξασται, LXX.). The main idea implied in the verb gââh is exaltation.
BE SO , "Exodus 15:1. Then sang Moses — this song — The first song recorded

in Scripture, and, excepting perhaps the book of Job, the most ancient piece of
genuine poetry extant in the world. And it cannot be too much admired. It abounds
with noble and sublime sentiments, expressed in strong and lofty language. Its
figures are bold, its images striking, and every part of it calculated to affect the
mind and possess the imagination. There is nothing comparable to it in all the works
of profane writers. It is termed the Song of Moses, Revelation 15:2-3, and is
represented as sung, together with the song of the Lamb, by those who had gotten
the victory over the beast, all standing on a sea of glass with the harps of God in
their hands. Doubtless Moses wrote this song by inspiration, and, with the children
of Israel, sang it on the spot then, while a grateful sense of their deliverance out of
Egypt, their safe passage through the Red sea, and their triumph over Pharaoh and
his host, were fresh upon their minds. By this instance it appears that the singing of
psalms or hymns, as an act of religions worship, was used in the church of Christ
before the giving of the ceremonial law, and that therefore it is no part of it, nor
abolished with it: singing is as much the language of holy joy, as praying is of holy
desire. I will sing unto the Lord — All our joy must terminate in God, and all our
praises be offered up to him; for he hath triumphed — All that love God triumph in
his triumphs.
COFFMA ,"Verse 1-2
"Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto Jehovah, and spake
saying, I will sing unto Jehovah for he hath triumphed gloriously: The horse and his
rider hath he thrown into the sea. Jehovah is my strength and song, And he is
become my salvation: This is my God, and I will praise him; My father's God, and I
will exalt him."
"Then sang Moses ..." The proper meaning of this is that Moses not only led the
congregation of Israel in singing this praise unto Jehovah, but that he also composed
the song.[9] The allegation that this hymn was composed at a time long after Moses
and that it was merely an expansion of the very brief chorus ascribed to Miriam is
merely a critical bias unsupported by any evidence whatever. "The narrative makes
it quite clear that Miriam simply took the opening sentences of Moses' song and
made them into a chant or response for the women to sing."[10] The dictum that
Miriam's chorus was an earlier and original version of this song "is based solely on
the dubious principle that `shorter is earlier,"'[11] another of the false rules of
criticism.
"The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea ..." On the incomplete and
uncertain determination by archeologists that the Egyptians had no cavalry, and
that soldiers did not ride horseback, this is alleged by some to be an anachronism,
despite the fact of its being vigorously disputed by eminent Egyptologists.[12]
Rawlinson and other able scholars avoid such a conclusion by affirming that the
true translation of the place is, "all the chariot horses."[13] Even as the text is given
here, it has no mention of men RIDI G horses. "It says no more than that the
warrior mounted on the chariot, was, along with his vehicle, submerged in the
depths."[14]

"He hath triumphed gloriously ..." An alternate rendition of this is, "He is
gloriously glorified."[15]
"My father's God ..." The singular here for "father" makes this a reference to the
patriarch Abraham, or as Keil suggested, "a reference to all three of the great
patriarch's Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as in Exodus 3:6."[16]
COKE, "Exodus 15:1. Then sang Moses— This is supposed to be the most ancient
piece of genuine poetry extant in the world, if, perhaps, we except the Book of Job.
The words of Lamech to his wives; the prophecy of oah concerning his sons; the
blessing of Jacob upon the twelve patriarchs, are all, as some learned writers have
shewn, composed in regular metre; and therefore may so far be called more ancient
pieces of poetry than the present. But this song of Moses has many other
characteristics of poetry than mere metre: it abounds with sublime sentiments, lofty
and nervous expressions; and, no doubt, was adapted to that sacred music which
Miriam and the women sung to it. It is also applied to the true and original end of
poetry; the praise of God, and this marvellous doings. There have been various
conjectures concerning the metre of this song, but this is not a place to enter into the
discussion of that subject. Adopting the ingenious opinions of Bishop Lowth, we
refer the reader to his learned Prelections, p. 269, and elsewhere: a work which does
honour to our nation, and in which will be found some fine and just criticisms on
this song of Moses. We may observe, that, as an allusion is made, in the Book of
Revelation, to the plagues of Egypt, in describing the prophetic plagues on the
church; so those, who have gotten the victory over the beast, are represented as
standing on a sea of glass, with harps in their hands, and singing the song of Moses,
the servant of God, and of the lamb. Revelation 15:2-3.
I will sing unto the Lord— This was the grand chorus of the song, which was sung
by the men and women, (see Exodus 15:21.) and is, as it were, the great theme and
subject of it. The song, I apprehend, like many other pieces of sacred poetry, was
sung alternately: and it is observable throughout, that the latter clause is exegetical
of the former. As, for instance, in this chorus:
I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; The horse and his rider
hath he thrown into the sea.
CO STABLE, "Verses 1-21
3. Israel"s song of deliverance15:1-21
"The song is composed of three gradually increasing strophes, each of which
commences with the praise of Jehovah, and ends with a description of the overthrow
of the Egyptian host ( Exodus 15:2-18). The theme announced in the introduction in
Exodus 15:1 is thus treated in three different ways; and whilst the omnipotence of
God, displayed in the destruction of the enemy, is the prominent topic in the first
two strophes, the third depicts with prophetic confidence the fruit of this glorious
event in the establishment of Israel, as a kingdom of Jehovah, in the promised
inheritance." [ ote: Keil and Delitzsch, 2:50.]

Cassuto divided the strophes better, I believe, as Exodus 15:1-6, Exodus 15:7-11,
and Exodus 15:12-16, with an epilogue in Exodus 15:17-18. [ ote: Cassuto, 173. See
also Jasper J. Burden, "A Stylistic Analysis of Exodus 15:1-21 : Theory and
Practice," OTWSA29 (1986):34-70.] Kaiser proposed a similar division: Exodus
15:1-5, Exodus 15:6-10, Exodus 15:11-16 a, and Exodus 15:16-18. [ ote: Kaiser, "
Exodus ," p393-96.]
"It is not comparable to any one Psalm , or song or hymn, or liturgy known to us
anywhere else in the OT or in A E [ancient ear Eastern] literature." [ ote:
Durham, p203.]
"Yahweh is both the subject and the object of this psalm; the hymn is about him
and to him, both here and in the similar usage of Judges 5:3 ..." [ ote: Ibid, p205.]
It is interesting that Moses described the Egyptian pursuers as being thrown into
the sea ( Exodus 15:4) and sinking like a stone ( Exodus 15:5) and lead ( Exodus
15:10). The same image describes Pharaoh"s earlier order to throw the Hebrew
babies into the ile River ( Exodus 1:22). God did to the Egyptians what they had
done to the Israelites. [ ote: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p271.]
This hymn is a fitting climax to all God"s miracles on behalf of the Israelites in
leading them out of Egypt. [ ote: See Richard D. Patterson, "Victory at Sea: Prose
and Poetry in Exodus 14-15 ," Bibliotheca Sacra161:641 (January-March2004):42-
54.] It is a song of praise that focuses on God Himself and attributes to Him the
superiority over all other gods that He had demonstrated (cf. Exodus 15:11).
Undoubtedly the Israelites sang this inspired song many times during their
wilderness wanderings and for generations from then on. [ ote: See Jeffrey E.
MacLurg, "An Ode to Joy: The Song of the Sea ( Exodus 15:1-21)," Exegesis and
Exposition1:1 (Fall1986):43-54.] The first part of the song ( Exodus 15:1-12) looks
back on God"s destruction of the Egyptian soldiers, and the second part ( Exodus
15:13-18) predicts Israel"s entrance into the Promised Land. The divine name
appears ten times.
"The event at the Red Sea, when the Egyptian army was drowned, was celebrated
as a great military victory achieved by God ( Exodus 15:1-12). It was that event,
wherein a new dimension of the nature of God was discovered by the Hebrews (the
new understanding is expressed forcefully by the explanation "the Lord is a man in
battle" [ Exodus 15:3]), that opened to their understanding the real possibility, if not
necessity, of taking possession of the promised land by means of military conquest (
Exodus 15:13-18)." [ ote: Peter Craigie, The Problem of War in the Old Testament,
p67.]
"The Exodus was one of the foundational events of Israel"s religion. It marked the
liberation from Egyptian slavery, which in turn made possible the formation of a
relationship of covenant between Israel and God. And nowhere is the Exodus given
more powerful expression than in the Song of the Sea ( Exodus 15:1-18), a great

victory hymn celebrating God"s triumph over Egypt at the sea. To this day, the
ancient hymn continues to be employed in the synagogue worship of Judaism. Its
continued use reflects the centrality of its theme, that of God"s control over the
forces of both nature and history in the redemption of his people.
"When one reads the Song of the Sea, one immediately gains an impression of the
joy and exhilaration expressed by those who first used its words in worship. But
what is not immediately evident to the modern reader is the subtle manner in which
the poet has given force to his themes by the adaptation of Canaanite mythology.
Underlying the words and structure of the Hebrew hymn are the motifs of the
central mythology of Baal; only when one understands the fashion in which that
mythology has been transformed can one go on to perceive the extraordinary
significance which the poet attributed to the Exodus from Egypt.
"The poet has applied some of the most central motifs of the myth of Baal. These
motifs may be summarized in certain key terms: conflict, order, kingship, and
palace-construction. Taking the cycle of Baal texts as a whole (see further Chapter
IV), the narrative begins with conflict between Baal and Yamm ("Sea"); Baal,
representing order, is threatened by the chaotic Yamm. Baal"s conquest of Yamm
marks one of the steps in the process of creation; order is established, and chaos is
subdued. Baal"s victory over Yamm is also the key to his kingship, and to symbolize
the order and consolidate the kingship, Baal initiates the construction of his palace.
And then, in the course of the myth, conflict breaks out again, this time between
Baal and Mot. Baal is eventually victorious in this conflict, establishing once again
his kingship and the rule of order. It is important to note not only the centrality of
these motifs in the Baal myth, but also their significance; the motifs as a whole
establish a cosmological framework within which to interpret the Baal myth. It
Isaiah , above all, a cosmology, developing the origins and permanent establishment
of order in the world, as understood and believed by the Canaanites. Its central
celebration is that of creation.
"In the Song of the Sea, the poet has developed the same central motifs in the
structure of his song. The song begins with conflict between God and Egypt (
Exodus 15:1-12), but the way in which the poet has transformed the ancient motifs
is instructive. "Sea" is no longer the adversary of order, but God uses the sea
(Hebrew yam) as an instrument in the conquest of chaos. After the conquest, God is
victorious and establishes order; his kingship is proclaimed in a statement of his
incomparability ( Exodus 15:11). But then the theme of conflict is resumed again, as
future enemies are anticipated ( Exodus 15:14-16). They, too, would be conquered,
and eventually God"s palace and throne would be established as a symbol of the
order achieved in his victory ( Exodus 15:17). Finally, God"s kingship would be
openly declared, as a consequence of his victories: "the Lord shall reign for ever and
ever" ( Exodus 15:18). The Hebrew expression for this statement of kingship is
yhwh ymlk, directly analogous to the celebration of Baal"s kingship in the Ugaritic
texts: b"l ymlk.
"It is one thing to trace the motifs of the Baal myth in the Song of the Sea; it is

another to grasp their significance. The primary significance lies in the cosmological
meaning of the motifs; the Hebrew poet has taken the symbolic language of creation
and adapted it to give expression to his understanding of the meaning of the Exodus.
At one level, the Exodus was simply the escape of Hebrews from Egyptian slavery;
at another level, it marked a new act of divine creation. Just as Genesis 1celebrates
the creation of the world, so too Exodus 15 celebrates the creation of a new people,
Israel. And when one perceives this underlying significance of the poetic language
employed in the Song of the Sea, one is then in a position to understand better
another portion of the biblical text, namely, the reasons given for the observation of
the sabbath day." [ ote: Idem, Ugarit and the Old Testament, pp88-89. See also
Frank M. Cross Jeremiah , "The Song of the Sea and Canaanite Myth," in God and
Christ: Existence and Province, pp1-25.]
"Throughout the poem, however, the picture of God"s great deeds foreshadows
most closely that of David, who defeated the chiefs of Edom, Philistia, and Canaan
and made Mount Zion the eternal home for the Lord"s sanctuary ( Exodus 15:17)."
[ ote: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p272.]
"The poem of Exodus 15 celebrates Yahweh present with his people and doing for
them as no other god anywhere and at any time can be present to do. As such, it is a
kind of summary of the theological base of the whole of the Book of Exodus." [ ote:
Durham, p210.]
Worship was the result of redemption. The people looked back at their deliverance
and forward to God"s Promised Land. At this point their joy was due to their
freedom from slavery. However the desert lay ahead. The family of Abraham had
become a nation, and God was dwelling among them in the cloud. God"s presence
with the nation introduced the need for holiness in Israel. The emphasis on holiness
begins with God"s dwelling among His people in the cloud. It increased when God
descended on the tabernacle and ark of the covenant.
The parallel that exists between Abraham"s experiences and Israel"s is also
significant. God first called Abram out of pagan Ur. Then He blessed him with a
covenant after the patriarch obeyed God and went where Yahweh led him. God did
the same thing with Israel. This similarity suggests that God"s dealings with both
Abram and Israel may be programmatic and indicative of His method of dealing
with His elect generally.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY, "THE SO G OF MOSES.
Exodus 15:1-22.
During this halt they prepared that great song of triumph which St. John heard
sung by them who had been victorious over the beast, standing by the sea of glass,
having the harps of God. For by that calmer sea, triumphant over a deadlier
persecution, they still found their adoration and joy expressed in this earliest chant
of sacred victory. Because all holy hearts give like thanks to Him Who sitteth upon

the throne, therefore "deep answers unto deep," and every great crisis in the history
of the Church has legacies for all time and for eternity; and therefore the
triumphant song of Moses the servant of God enriches the worship of heaven, as the
penitence and hope and joy of David enrich the worship of the Church on earth
(Revelation 15:3).
Like all great poetry, this song is best enjoyed when it is neither commented upon
nor paraphrased, but carefully read and warmly felt. There are circumstances and
lines of thought which it is desirable to point out, but only as a preparation, not a
substitute, for the submission of a docile mind to the influence of the inspired poem
itself. It is unquestionably archaic. The parallelism of Hebrew verse is already here,
but the structure is more free and unartificial than that of later poetry; and many
ancient words, and words of Egyptian derivation, authenticate its origin. So does the
description of Miriam, in the fifteenth verse, as "the prophetess, the sister of
Aaron." In what later time would she not rather have been called the sister of
Moses? But from the lonely youth who found Aaron and Miriam together as often
as he stole from the palace to his real home--the lonely man who regained both
together when he returned from forty years of exile, and who sometimes found them
united in opposition to his authority ( umbers 12:1-2)--from Moses alone the
epithet is entirely natural.
It is also noteworthy that Philistia is mentioned first among the foes who shall be
terrified (Exodus 15:14, R.V.), because Moses still expected the invasion to break
first on them. But the unbelieving fears of Israel changed the route, so that no later
poet would have set them in the forefront of his song. Thus also the terror of the
Edomites is anticipated, although in fact they sturdily refused a passage to Israel
through their land ( umbers 20:20). All this authenticates the song, which
thereupon establishes the miraculous deliverance that inspired it.
The song is divided into two parts. Up to the end of the twelfth verse it is historical:
the remainder expresses the high hopes inspired by this great experience. othing
now seems impossible: the fiercest tribes of Palestine and the desert may be
despised, for their own terror will suffice to "melt" them; and Israel may already
reckon itself to be guided into the holy habitation (Exodus 15:13).
The former part is again subdivided, by a noble and instinctive art, into two very
unequal sections. With amplitude of triumphant adoration, the first ten verses tell
the same story which the eleventh and twelfth compress into epigrammatical vigour
and terseness. To appreciate the power of the composition, one should read the
fourth, fifth, and sixth verses, and turn immediately to the twelfth.
Each of these three divisions closes in praise, and as in the "Israel in Egypt," it was
probably at these points that the voices of Miriam and the women broke in,
repeating the first verse of the ode as a refrain (Exodus 15:1 and Exodus 15:21). It is
the earliest recognition of the place of women in public worship. And it leads us to
remark that the whole service was responsive. Moses and the men are answered by
Miriam and the women, bearing timbrels in their hands; for although instrumental

music had been sorely misused in Egypt, that was no reason why it should be
excluded now. Those who condemn the use of instruments in Christian worship
virtually contend that Jesus has, in this respect, narrowed the liberty of the Church,
and that a potent method of expression, known to man, must not be consecrated to
the honour of God. And they make the present time unlike the past, and also unlike
what is revealed of the future state.
Moreover there was movement, as in very many ancient religious services, within
and without the pale of revelation.(28) Such dances were generally slow and
graceful; yet the motion and the clang of metal, and the vast multitudes
congregated, must be taken into account, if we would realise the strange enthusiasm
of the emancipated host, looking over the blue sea to Egypt, defeated and twice
bereaved, and forward to the desert wilds of freedom.
The poem is steeped in a sense of gratitude. In the great deliverance man has borne
no part. It is Jehovah Who has triumphed gloriously, and cast the horse and
charioteer--there was no "rider"--into the sea. And this is repeated again and again
by the women as their response, in the deepening passion of the ode. "With the
breath of His nostrils the waters were piled up.... He blew with His wind and the sea
covered them." And such is indeed the only possible explanation of the Exodus, so
that whoever rejects the miracle is beset with countless difficulties. One of these is
the fact that Moses, their immortal leader, has no martial renown whatever. Hebrew
poetry is well able to combine gratitude to God with honour to the men of Zebulun
who jeopardised their lives unto the death, to Jael who put her hand to the nail, to
Saul and Jonathan who were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions. Joshua
and David can win fame without dishonour to God. Why is it that here alone no
mention is made of human agency, except that, in fact, at the outset of their national
existence, they were shown, once for all, the direct interposition of their God?
From gratitude springs trust: the great lesson is learned that man has an interest in
the Divine power. "My strength and song is Jah," says the second verse, using that
abbreviated form of the covenant name Jehovah, which David also frequently
associated with his victories. "And He is become my salvation." It is the same word
as when, a little while ago, the trembling people were bidden to stand still and see
the salvation of God. They have seen it now. ow they give the word Salvation for
the first time to the Lord as an appellation, and as such it is destined to endure. The
Psalmist learns to call Him so, not only when he reproduces this verse word for
word (Psalms 118:14), but also when he says, "He only is my rock and my
salvation" (Psalms 62:2), and prays, "Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
come for salvation to us" (Psalms 80:2).
And the same title is known also to Isaiah, who says, "Behold God is my salvation,"
and "Be Thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble"
(Isaiah 12:2, Isaiah 33:2).
The progress is natural from experience of goodness to appropriation: He has
helped me: He gives Himself to me; and from that again to love and trust, for He has

always been the same: "my father," not my ancestors in general, but he whom I
knew best and remember most tenderly, found Him the same Helper. And then love
prompts to some return. My goodness extendeth not to Him, yet my voice can
honour Him; I will praise Him, I will exalt His name. ow, this is the very spirit of
evangelical obedience, the life-blood of the new dispensation racing in the veins of
the old.
Where praise and exaltation are a spontaneous instinct, there is loyal service and
every good work, not rendered by a hireling but a child. Had He not said, "Israel is
My son"?
From exultant gratitude and trust, what is next to spring? That which is
reproachfully called anthropomorphism, something which indeed easily degenerates
into unworthy notions of a God limited by such restraints or warped by such
passions as our own, yet which is after all a great advance towards true and holy
thoughts of Him Who made man after His image and in His likeness.
Human affection cannot go forth to God without believing that like affection meets
and responds to it. If He is indeed the best and purest, we must think of Him as
sharing all that is best and purest in our souls, all that we owe to His inspiring
Spirit.
"So through the thunder comes a human voice, Saying 'O heart I made, a heart
beats here.'"
If ever any religion was sternly jealous of the Divine prerogatives, profoundly
conscious of the incommunicable dignity of the Lord our God Who is one Lord, it
was the Jewish religion. Yet when Jesus was charged with making Himself God, He
could appeal to the doctrine of their own Scripture--that the judges of the people
exercised so divine a function, and could claim such divine support, that God
Himself spoke through them, and found representatives in them. "Is it not written
in your law, I said Ye are gods?" (John 10:34). ot in vain did He appeal to such
scriptures--and there are many such--to vindicate His doctrine. For man is never
lifted above himself, but God in the same degree stoops towards us, and identifies
Himself with us and our concerns. Who then shall limit His condescension? What
ground in reason or revelation can be taken up for denying that it may be perfect,
that it may develop into a permanent union of God with the creature whom He
inspired with His own breath? It is by such steps that the Old Testament prepared
Israel for the Incarnation. Since the Incarnation we have actually needed help from
the other side, to prevent us from humanising our conceptions over-much. And this
has been provided in the ever-expanding views of His creation given to us by
science, which tell us that if He draws nigh to us it is from heights formerly
undreamed of. ow, such a step as we have been considering is taken unawares in
the bold phrase "Jehovah is a man of war." For in the original, as in the English,
this includes the assertion "Jehovah is a man." Of course it is only a bold figure. But
such a figure prepares the mind for new light, suggesting more than it logically
asserts.

The phrase is more striking when we remember that remarkable peculiarity of the
Exodus and its revelations which has been already pointed out. Elsewhere God
appears in human likeness. To Abraham it was so, just before, and to Manoah soon
afterwards. Ezekiel saw upon the likeness of the throne the likeness of the
appearance of a man (Ezekiel 1:26). But Israel saw no similitude, only he heard a
voice. This was obviously a safeguard against idolatry. And it makes the words more
noteworthy, "Jehovah is a man of war," marching with us, our champion, into the
battle. And we know Him as our fathers knew Him not,--"Jehovah is His name."
* * * * *
The poem next describes the overthrow of the enemy: the heavy plunge of men in
armour into the deeps, the arm of the Lord dashing them in pieces, His "fire"
consuming them, while the blast of His nostrils is the storm which "piles up" the
waters, solid as a wall of ice, "congealed in the heart of the sea." Then the singers
exultantly rehearse the short panting eager phrases, full of greedy expectation, of
the enemy breathless in pursuit--a passage well remembered by Deborah, when her
triumphant song closed by an insulting repetition of the vain calculations of the
mother of Sisera and "her wise ladies."
The eleventh verse is remarkable as being the first announcement of the holiness of
God. "Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness?" And what does holiness mean?
The Hebrew word is apparently suggestive of "brightness," and the two ideas are
coupled by Isaiah (Isaiah 10:17): "The Light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his
Holy One for a flame." There is indeed something in the purity of light, in its
absolute immunity from stain--no passive cleanness, as of the sand upon the shore,
but intense and vital--and in its remoteness from the conditions of common material
substances, that well expresses and typifies the lofty and awful quality which
separates holiness from mere virtue. "God is called the Holy One because He is
altogether pure, the clear and spotless Light; so that in the idea of the holiness of
God there are embodied the absolute moral purity and perfection of the Divine
nature, and His unclouded glory" (Keil, Pent., ii. 99). In this thought there is
already involved separation, a lofty remoteness.
And when holiness is attributed to man, it never means innocence, nor even virtue,
merely as such. It is always a derived attribute: it is reflected upon us, like light
upon our planet; and like consecration, it speaks not of man in himself, but in his
relation to God. It expresses a kind of separation to God, and thus it can reach to
lifeless things which bear a true relation to the Divine. The seventh day is thus
"hallowed." It is the very name of the "Holy Place," the "Sanctuary." And the
ground where Moses was to stand unshod beside the burning bush was pronounced
"holy," not by any concession to human weakness, but by the direct teaching of
God. Very inseparable from all true holiness is separation from what is common
and unclean. Holy men may be involved in the duties of active life; but only on
condition that in their bosom shall be some inner shrine, whither the din of
worldliness never penetrates, and where the lamp of God does not go out.

It is a solemn truth that a kind of inverted holiness is known to Scripture. Men
"sanctify themselves" (it is this very word), "and purify themselves to go into the
gardens, ... eating swine's flesh and the abomination and the mouse" (Isaiah 66:17).
The same word is also used to declare that the whole fruit of a vineyard sown with
two kinds of fruit shall be forfeited (Deuteronomy 22:9), although the notion there is
of something unnatural and therefore interdicted, which notion is carried to the
utmost extreme in another derivative from the same root, expressing the most
depraved of human beings.
Just so, the Greek word "anathema" means both "consecrated" and "marked out
for wrath" (Luke 21:5; 1 Corinthians 16:22 the difference in form is insignificant.)
And so again our own tongue calls the saints "devoted," and speaks of the
"devoted" head of the doomed sinner, being aware that there is a "separation" in
sin as really as in purity. The gods of the heathen, like Jehovah, claimed an
appropriate "holiness," sometimes unspeakably degraded. They too were separated,
and it was through long lines of sphinxes, and many successive chambers, that the
Egyptian worshipper attained the shrine of some contemptible or hateful deity. The
religion which does not elevate depresses. But the holiness of Jehovah is noble as
that of light, incapable of defilement. "Who among the gods is like Thee ... glorious
in holiness?" And Israel soon learned that the worshipper must become assimilated
to his Ideal: "Ye shall be holy men unto Me" (Exodus 22:31). It is so with us. Jesus
is separated from sinners. And we are to go forth unto Him out of the camp, bearing
His reproach (Hebrews 7:26, Hebrews 13:13).
The remainder of the song is remarkable chiefly for the confidence with which the
future is inferred from the past. And the same argument runs through all Scripture.
As Moses sang, "Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Thine
inheritance," because "Thou stretchedst out Thy right hand, the earth(29)
swallowed" their enemies, so David was sure that goodness and mercy should follow
him all the days of his life, because God was already leading him in green pastures
and beside still waters. And so St. Paul, knowing in Whom he had believed, was
persuaded that He was able to keep his deposit until that day (2 Timothy 1:12).
So should pardon and Scripture and the means of grace reassure every doubting
heart; for "if the Lord were pleased to kill us, He would not have ... showed us all
these things" ( 13:23). And in theory, and in good hours, we confess that this is so.
But after our song of triumph, if we come upon bitter waters we murmur; and if our
bread fail, we expect only to die in the wilderness.
PARKER, "The Song of Deliverance
Exodus 15:1-21
The spirit of this song is above verbal criticism. This is the first composition of the
sort which has come under our notice, and therefore it occasions the greater
surprise and delight We are not just to the song when we go back upon it from a

perusal of Isaiah. We put the song into a wrong time-setting, and therefore miss the
music of the occasion. Yet even to go back upon it from a perusal of "Paradise Lost"
no whit of its magnificence is surrendered. It is not, I assert, a fair treatment of the
Song of Solomon , to go back upon it from all the poetic experience and culture of
many generations and centuries. In the interpretation of Holy Scripture time is an
instrument, or a medium, or a standard, which ought never to be neglected. Who is
conscious of an intellectual fall from the perusal of Milton to the perusal of this song
of Moses? He sings well for the first time. It is a marvellous song to have been
startled out of his very soul, as it were, without notice. Verily, he must have been as
much surprised as we by its magnificence, by its height that knows no dizziness, and
by its audacity that loses nothing of the tenderest veneration. Milton staggers under
the stars of poetry which he has enkindled, but Moses treads the nobler orbs of a
sublimer fancy under his feet. Milton cringes under an effort; he is exhausted; when
he has done he sighs and pines for rest, and puts out a blind man"s hand for
something to lean upon. He must have time to recruit and Revelation -tempt the
muse into eloquence so high. Moses speaks his native tongue; the singing of Moses is
as the breathing of a man who is in his native air, and who is not conscious of
speaking more like a god than the creature of a day. But what is the poem or Song
of Solomon , when we do not go back upon it from Milton, but advance to it through
the strife and hatred, the sin and the danger, of the preceding pages? That is the
right line of approach. It is manifestly unfair to judge earlier poetry by later
standards. Who would think it just to judge the first mechanical contrivances by
present mechanical inventions? Would it be fair to the very first locomotive that was
ever made to compare it with the locomotives of to-day, that seem to challenge the
wind and the lightning? Every man would protest against such comparison and
criticism. The fair-minded man would protest that the right way to judge of any
contrivance or invention, would be to come up to it along the line of its development,
and to judge it by its own day and its own atmosphere. That is right. But when you
compare earlier poetry with later, and say the old is better, how do you account for
that? "There is a spirit in Prayer of Manasseh , and the inspiration of the Almighty
giveth him understanding." Moses could not amend the song. Is there a genius now
living who could paint this lily? Point out one weak line in all the mighty pan;
change one figure for a better. Where this is the case and considering the times and
circumstances, do we not feel as if approaching the beginning of an argument for
the profoundest view of Biblical inspiration? We have sometimes tried to amend one
of Christ"s parables, and nowhere could we replace one word by a better. Authors
wish to go back upon their works, to retouch them; they issue new editions, "revised
and corrected." Who can correct this Song? Who can enlarge its scope, ennoble its
courage, or refine its piety?
We feel ourselves under the influence of the highest ministry that has yet touched us
in all these ancient pages. Our critical faculty is rebuked. Religious feeling has
found sweet music to express its eloquence, and now we are carried away by the
sacred storm. The heart will not permit grammatical analysis. The people are
aflame with thankfulness, and their gratitude roars and swells like an infinite
tempest, or if for a moment it falls into a lull, it is only to allow the refrain of the
women with timbrels to be answered by the thrilling soprano of Miriam, for she

answered the women, saying, "Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed
gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." Then with the clang
of timbrels and the tumult of the solemn dance Israel expressed thankfulness to the
delivering God. The Church has now no great days of song—whole days spent in
praise, with a tumultuous harmony of trumpet and cornet, flute and clarionet,
bassoon and sharp fife: men and women pouring their hearts" emotions forth in
broad song shot through and through with the silver threads of children"s brighter
praise. The Church now objects to timbrels. To that objecting Church I do not
belong. That objecting Church I disavow. We are making atheists in multitudes. We
have turned the trumpet into an atheist, and the drum, and the flute, and the whole
organ. We have shut them up for wicked enjoyment. Every Sabbath morning the
city or town should vibrate with the crash of instruments religiously played. We
must rid ourselves of the bigots who are impoverishing Christ"s Church, who are
loading the Church with the burden of their cold respectability. We pay too heavy a
price for the keeping of such men amongst us. The Church is now adjusting
opinions, bandying controversial words, branding small heretics, and passing
impotent resolutions; the timbrel is silent, the trumpet is dumb, the drum throbs no
longer, the song is a paid trick in gymnastics, not a psalm bound for heaven. We
have killed music in the Church. Who would not have music all day? It would refine
us, it would ennoble us, it would show us the littleness and meanness of verbal
criticism and paltry opinion, and fill the soul with Divinest breath. Why this
atheistic silence? Are there no deliverances now? Is God no longer our God, and our
fathers" God? The great slave orator, Frederick Douglas, is reported to have said in
a mournful speech, on a dark day for his race: "The white man is against us,
governments are against us, the spirit of the times is against us; I see no hope for the
coloured race; I am full of sadness." Having concluded this melancholy utterance, a
poor, little, decrepit, coloured woman rose in the audience, and said, "Frederick, is
God dead?" In a moment the whole spirit of the man was changed. He had forgotten
the principal thing—speaking about white people, and governments, and spirit of
the times, and forgetting the only thing worth remembering. Why this atheistic
silence? Those who believe in God should not be afraid of his praise on a scale and
after a method which will make people wonder and tremble, and for a time flee
away. Music is better than argument. You can always answer a statement—it is
difficult to reply to a song.
We must be careful to distinguish between true praise and mere rhapsody. The song
of Moses is simply history set to music. Through the whole song there is a line of
what may be termed historical logic. Are these flowers? Underneath the soil in
which they grow are infinite rocks of solid, positive fact and experience. Those who
sang the song witnessed the events which they set to music. I protest against music
ever being set to frivolous and worthless words. That is profanation. Such music is
made into mere rhapsody; it is turned into sound without sense; it is a voice and
nothing more. The music should owe all its nobility to the thought which it
expresses. Persons who know not whereof they affirm have sometimes foolishly said
that the words are nothing—it is the music that is everything. As well say the tree is
nothing—the blossom is all. The words are the necessity of the music. The thought is
so ardent, tender, noble, celestial, that it asks for the vehicle of a universal language

for its exposition, and not for the loan of a dialect that is provincial or local. Even
where there are no words to express—where the music is purely instrumental—the
thought should be the majesty of the execution. We do not need words to tell us
what music is in certain relations. Without the use of a single word we can easily tell
the difference between the jingle meant for a clown"s dance, and the passion which
expresses the fury of war or the agony of grief. So you can have thought without
words—a noble expression without the use of syllables that can be criticised. But
whether you have words in the ordinary sense of the term, or thought without
words, the music is but the expression of the soul"s moods, purposes, vows, prayers,
and as such it can be distinguished even by those who have had no critical musical
culture. We know the cry of earnestness from the whimper of frivolity. We need not
hear a word, and yet we can say, "That is a cry of pain, and that is a song of folly."
Music is the eloquence which flies. If, then, our music is poor, it is because our piety
is poor. Where the heart is right it will insist upon having the Song of Solomon , the
dance, the festivity, the banner of gold written with God"s name in the centre of it.
Poor piety will mean poor singing; small religious conceptions will mean narrow
services scampered through with all possible haste, so much so that decency itself
may be violated. A glowing piety—a noble thought of God—then where will be the
dumb tongue, the vacant face, the eye without accent or fire? Realise the
deliverance, and you cannot keep back the song; exclude the providence, and silence
will be easy.
The spirit which would degrade poetry into prose is a more destructive spirit than is
sometimes imagined. Whoever would turn poetry into prose would destroy all
beauty. There are some who boast of being prosaic. Let us not interfere with the
fool"s feast! Those who would take out of life its poetry, colour, fire, enthusiasm,
would silence all bells, put out all light, extinguish all joy, cut down all flowers,
terminate the children"s party when the children are in the very agony of the
rapture. They are bad men. I know no crime that lies beyond their doing, if they
could perform it without detection. The spirit that would make prose in life, at the
expense of life"s too little poetry, is the enemy of love. It is an evil spirit. It values
the house more than the home. Its treasure is laid up where moth and dust doth
corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. It is a Pharisee who has no kiss
for the celestial guest. It is a destroyer who would take the lilywork from the top of
the pillar. It is an enemy that would take away the garden from the tomb. At first it
does not appear to be Song of Solomon , but by appearances we must not finally and
conclusively judge. Have faith in any man who stoops to pick a wayside flower for
the flower"s sake—because of the colour that is in it, the suggestions with which its
odour is charged, and the symbolism which writes its mystery in the heart of the
modest plant. The house is not wholly deserted of God that has its little sprig of
Christmas holly in it. The heart that thought of the holly may have a great deal of
badness in it, but there is one little point that ought to be watched, encouraged,
enlarged.
Music should not be occasional. Music should express the life. We cannot always be
singing great triumph-songs; but music will come down to minor keys, to whispered
confidences, to almost silent ministries. There are soft-toned little hymns that can be

sung even when there is a coffin in the house. Who would argue at the grave? yet
who would not try, though vainly because of the weakness of the flesh, to sing there
in memory of disease exchanged for health, time enlarged into eternity, corruption
clothed with immortality?
We, too, have a sea to cross. We are pursued; the enemy is not far behind any one of
us. The Lord has promised to bring us to a city of rest, and, lie between us and our
covennated land what may, it shall be passed. That is the speech of faith. We, too,
shall sing, "I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts
and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and
thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was
slain to receive power, and riches, and Wisdom of Solomon , and strength, and
honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the
earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them,
heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." We, too, shall sing; the
dumb shall break into praise, the cry will be, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory?" "All the angels stood round about the throne, saying, Amen:
Blessing, and glory, and Wisdom of Solomon , and thanksgiving, and honour, and
power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen."
It shall not always be grim silence with us. We shall learn the song of Moses and the
Lamb. Then all argument will have ceased; controversy will have fought out its little
wordy fight and have forgotten its bitterness and clamour, and all heaven shall be
full of song. They shall sing who enter that city the song of Moses and of the Lamb.
But we begin it upon earth. There is no magic in death; there is no evangelising
power in the grave, whither we haste. The song begins now, because it immediately
follows the deliverances and benedictions of Providence. It may be a hoarse Song of
Solomon , uttered very poorly, in the judgment of musical canons and according to
pedantic and scholastic standards; but it shows that the soul is alive, and would sing
if it could; and God knows what our poor throats and lips would do were we equal
to the passions of the soul, and therefore he accepts the broken hymn, the poorly-
uttered psalm of adoration, as if it were uttered with thunder, and held in it all the
majesty of heaven.
PETT, "Verses 1-21
Exodus 15 The Aftermath of the Battle Between Yahweh and Pharaoh’s Army.
As a result of Egypt’s defeat a song was composed. There is no good reason for
denying that it was written at the time. Songs of a similar genre were found at
Ugarit, where some of the ideas are also paralleled, although not with the same
significance. Such were no doubt familiar to the patriarchal tribes as they moved
around Canaan and in Aram. It may have been written by Moses (who wrote a song
(see Deuteronomy 31:22) in one day, the song being found in Deuteronomy 32), by
Miriam, or by some unknown songwriter.
While the second part looks with triumph towards the successful defeat of their

future enemies and their settlement in the land this simply expresses the confidence
and belief that has filled their hearts. It is in a sense seen as already accomplished
now that they have crossed out of Egypt into Yahweh’s territory. The singer can
now see that triumph is assured, and so speaks of it as already theirs.
The Worship of Moses and of the Children of Israel, and the Song of Miriam
(Exodus 15:1-21).
Exodus 15:1 a
‘Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song to Yahweh, and spoke saying.’
It was quite normal for a great victory to be celebrated in verse, and as happens
with poetry it is in picturesque language not always to be taken literally. We are not
told who wrote it (it is not described as ‘the Song of Moses, although he sang it), and
here it was put to music to enhance the people’s worship. This song must therefore
be seen as later sung at a great gathering of worship after it had been composed
shortly after the victory and as becoming part of the regular worship of the children
of Israel.
Its finalisation may have awaited Mount Sinai (Exodus 15:13) although it could well
be that the wilderness as a whole, which they have now reached, was seen as
‘Yahweh’s abode’. That is where He had met Moses and that is where they had
previously stated their intention of going to worship Him.
Reference to the inhabitants of Philistia, Edom, Moab and the inhabitants of
Canaan as future foes (Exodus 15:14-15) confirm its early date. He sees them as
quivering at the approach of people for whom Yahweh has done such great things,
for what has happened in Egypt would not have passed unnoticed. When the reality
occurred they were not quivering because too much time had passed due to Israel’s
disobedience. They certainly did not stand there petrified like stone. o later writer
would quite have written like this. It evidenced early faith.
Reference to Philistia may be an updating by a later scribe, but its inhabitants are
spoken of as separate from the inhabitants of Canaan. The name or its equivalent
was applied to and known in the area around Gerar in the time of Abraham,
Genesis claims (compare Genesis 21:32-34; Genesis 26:1; Genesis 26:8; Genesis
26:14-15). Thus it may be these trading cities that are in mind rather than there
being an updating to take into account the later Philistines. The song in fact suggests
that the inhabitants of Philistia are seen as separate from the inhabitants of Canaan
and are nearer to them.
ote the parallelism in the song, the second line of each sentence either carrying
forward the idea of the first, or repeating it in a slightly different way. This is a
characteristic of Hebrew poetry.
Exodus 15:1-2 (1b-2)

“I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously (or is highly exalted),
The horse and his rider (or ‘driver’) he has thrown into the sea.
Yah is my strength and song,
And he has become my deliverance.
This is my God and I will praise him,
My father’s God and I will exalt him.
The song is a celebration of Yahweh’s great victory at the sea of reeds. He has
gloriously defeated the Egyptians and destroyed their elite chariot force. Thus the
One Who has been, and still is, their strength, and the One they sing about, (how
differently they see Yahweh now), has also become their Deliverer, and the result is
their praise and worship. He is their God and their father’s God. ote the
suggestion of looking back to the promises made to ‘their father’.
“Yah.” A shortened form of Yahweh. (Compare ‘hallelu Yah’ - ‘praise Yah’ - the
opening to Psalms 146-150). Yah is also used in Exodus 17:16
“My father”s God.’ Probably looking back to Jacob. Each ‘child of Israel’ would see
Jacob as a father, and himself as within the covenant God made with Jacob.
PULPIT, "Verses 1-21
EXPOSITIO
THE SO G OF MOSES. Full of gratitude, joy, and happiness—burning with a
desire to vent in devotional utterance of the most fitting kind, his intense and almost
ecstatic feelings, Moses, who to his other extraordinary powers, added the sublime
gift of poesy, composed, shortly after the passage, a hymn of praise, and sang it with
a chorus of the people as a thanksgiving to the Almighty. The hymn itself is
generally allowed to be one of transcendent beauty. Deriving probably the general
outline of its form and character of its rhythm from the Egyptian poetry of the time,
with which Moses had been familiar from his youth, it embodies ideas purely
Hebrew, and remarkable for grandeur, simplicity, and depth. aturally, as being
the first outburst of the poetical genius of the nation, and also connected with the
very commencement of the national life, it exerted the most important formative
influence upon the later Hebrew poetic style, furnishing a pattern to the later lyric
poets, from which they but rarely deviated. The "parallelism of the members,"
which from the middle of the Last century has been acknowledged to be the only
real rhythmical law of Hebrew poetry, with its three forms of "synonymous,
antithetic, and synthetic (or verbal) parallelism" is here found almost us distinctly
marked as in any of the later compositions. At the same time, a greater lyrical
freedom is observable than was afterwards practised. The song divides itself
primarily into two parts:—the first (Exodus 15:1-12) retrospective, celebrating the
recent deliverance; the second (Exodus 15:13-18) prospective, describing the effects
that would flow from the deliverance in future time. The verbs indeed of the second
part are at first grammatical preterites; but (as Kalisch observes) they are
"according to the sense, futures"—their past form denoting only that the prophet
sees the events revealed to him as though they were already accomplished. Hence,

after a time, he slides into the future (Exodus 15:16). The second part is continuous,
and has no marked break: the first sub-divides into three unequal portions, each
commencing with an address to Jehovah, and each terminating with a statement of
the great fact, that the Egyptians were swallowed up. These three portions are:
1. Exodus 15:2-5, "The Lord is my strength," to "They sank into the bottom as a
stone."
2. Exodus 15:6-10," Thy right hand, O Lord," to "They sank like lead in the mighty
waters."
3. Exodus 15:11-12, "Who is like unto Thee, O Lord," to "The earth swallowed
them." The first verse stands separate from the whole, as an introduction, and at the
same time as the refrain. Moses and a chorus of men commenced their chant with it,
and probably proceeded to the end of Exodus 15:5, when Miriam, with the Hebrew
women, interposed with a repetition of the refrain (see Exodus 15:21). The chant of
the males was resumed and carried to the close of Exodus 15:10, when again the
refrain came in. It was further repeated after Exodus 15:12; and once moral at the
close of the whole "song." Similar refrains, or burdens, are found in Egyptian
melodies
Part I.
Exodus 15:1
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel. It is in accordance with the general
modesty of Moses, that he says nothing of the composition of the "song." o serious
doubt of his authorship has ever been entertained; but the general belief rests on the
improbability of there having been among the Israelites a second literary genius of
the highest order, without any mention being made of him. The joint-singing by
Moses and "the children of Israel" implies the previous training of a choir, and
would seem to show that the Israelites remained for some days encamped at the
point which they had occupied on quitting the bed of the sea. He hath triumphed
gloriously. Literally. He is gloriously glorious." ( ἐνδόξως δεδόξασται, LXX.) The
horse and his rider. Rather, "The horse and his driver." Chariots, not cavalry, are
in the mind of the writer.
BI, "Then sang Moses and the Children of Israel.
The Song of Moses at the Red Sea
Unwonted interest attaches to this song—the earliest on record of all the sacred odes,
and the very foremost in the annals of Hebrew anthology. To the Jewish people
themselves, it is what they have long called it, “The Song”; a designation to which it is
entitled, alike from its inherent pre-eminence and its unrivalled associations.
1. It is Israel’s natal song. For, in crossing the Red Sea, they passed through the
birth-throes of their national existence, and from this epoch dates a new chronology
in Israel’s calendar. The oppressed tribes have become a commonwealth; and a

commonwealth of the free.
2. It is Israel’s emancipation song, or song of liberty. It signalises a triple
deliverance; marking the supreme moment of rescue from the threefold evils of
domestic slavery, political bondage, and religious thraldom.
3. It is Israel’s first National Anthem and Te Deum in one. The Exodus was not a
mere effort on the part of the Hebrew race to achieve their independence and realize
their aspirations after a separate nationality. The spirit of even this idea had yet to be
created within them; but everything depended on their being first delivered from the
corrupting influences of Egyptian fetichism and idolatry, no less than from the yoke
of Egyptian bondage. Not that the mass of them could at all appreciate the full
meaning of the grand event as a mighty religious movement, repeating on a larger
scale the migration of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, and breaking away from
idolatrous and debasing superstitions, to find a home for the free development of a
higher creed and worship. But the eye of their great leader descried this Divine
purpose; and he had gone with this first tentative proposal to Pharaoh from God “Let
My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness.” It is Israel’s Te Deum, or
song of thanks and praise to God. An overwhelming sense of the Divine interposition
is the predominant sentiment in the song from first to last. It is no mere secular ode;
no mere war-song or outburst of patriotic triumph; no exultant shriek of insult over
a fallen foe; but an anthem of blessing and gratitude for a great deliverance, a devout
and solemn psalm before God, to whom, of whom, and for whom it is sung. This high
and sacred intent keeps it from degenerating into a wild strain of vindictiveness or
vainglory.
4. It is Israel’s Church-song; the type of all songs of redemption and salvation. The
very words “redemption” and “salvation” are first introduced in connection with this
great deliverance. “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm”; and again, “Fear ye
not; stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” The people had become unified
into a worshipping assembly. It is Israel’s triumph-song of deliverance. The note is
that of joy and victory; and is prophetic of the success of every battle and struggle for
the Lord’s cause and kingdom, fought in the Lord’s name and in His strength. This
triumph is the precursor especially of that final and glorious one at the end of the
ages, when the spiritual Israel, which no man can number, from every people, and
tribe and language, “having gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and
over his mark, and over the number of his name,” shall take up a position like their
prototypes of old not, however, by the shore of the Red Sea, with the mere emblem of
God’s presence before them—but as John saw them in apocalyptic vision, standing
by the sea of glass mingled with fire; no longer led merely by Miriam and her chorus,
but all of them having the harp of God in their hand, singing, not only “the Song of
Moses, the servant of God,” but “the Song of the Lamb.”
I. Introduction: or the triple aim of the song (verses 1, 2). Thus the song is, first of all,
inscribed and offered to the Lord. He also is its great theme or subject; and it is His
exaltation that constitutes its one and expressly avowed aim. To God, of God, for God—
these are the three pivot-thoughts regulating and determining the movement of the
opening strophe, and, indeed, of the entire hymn. Here, as not infrequently with later
psalms, we have the whole song concentrated in the first verse. The occasion of the song,
its subject, its design, are all indicated. First, there is here a singing to the Lord. The
simplest idea we can attach to the opening words, “I will sing to the Lord,” is this—I will
bring myself into the immediate and felt presence of Jehovah, and will address and offer
my song to Him! How near has He been to us during the eventful and stupendous

transactions of the night! Under a realizing sense of that Dearness I will direct my song
to Him. To what a pitch of solemnity this conception raises the singer I But, while this
idea of singing to the Lord is expressive of the singer’s attitude as immediately before the
very face of the Supreme, it no less indicates that the song is an acceptable offering and
oblation to the Lord. It is no self-pleasing exercise of gift and faculty, but “a sacrifice to
the Lord, the fruit of the lips.” “Singing,” says one, “is as much the language of holy joy
as prayer is the language of holy desire.” How sublime a sight! The whole of a people
singing before the one invisible God, and consciously realizing more or less their direct
relation to the Eternal, under no outward form or image or material symbol! Secondly,
the Lord is the subject or theme of the song. Underlying all is the sense of the Divine
personality. Nothing but this could have kindled the soul to song. If God is to be the
subject of hymning praise, it must needs be the thought of a living, personal One, to
evoke the spirit of glorying in and praising His name. Thirdly, there is here a singing, not
only to the Lord and of the Lord, but for the Lord. To extol and exalt the Lord is declared
to be the ultimate end and aim of this song. And indeed this is the highest reach and the
final purpose of all praise—to manifest and express the Divine character, the Divine
working and ways, the Divine glory and honour. We are taught to pray for God as well as
to Him; and to put this ever in the foreground of our prayers, as of all things the first, the
best, the supremely desirable. “Hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come: Thy will be
done”—these petitions have the precedence over any for either ourselves or others. But
not only to do this, but also to express it and set forth our purpose to do it—this is the
special aim and function of praise, of which “Doxology,” or the ascription of power,
blessing, dominion, and every excellency, is the highest climax. It is the very anticipation
of heaven itself and of all its worship.
II. The body, or subject-matter of the song (verses 3-13). The third verse seems to be
designed for a great chorus—probably meant to be re-echoed by a body of deep-voiced
warriors. It marks a transition from the declarative style of the introduction, to the
alternation of recitative and ascriptive portions in the main body of the song. It forms
also a suitable link between the two, being a fit climax to what precedes, because it sets
forth why and in what character the Lord is to be exalted—“the Lord is a Man of War”—
and a fit index to what follows, because it suggests, so strikingly, the nature of His
triumph which is now about to be celebrated; a triumph involving struggle and conflict.
He is “a Man of War” in accordance always with His sublime and sacred name Jehovah.
The song proceeds to develop the three great qualities of the Jehovah-warrior, the
Warrior who is Divine.
1. He is in power resistless. This power is seen first in the magnitude of the scale on
which it operates—the sense of this being enhanced by the detail of particulars in
verse 4. Pharaoh’s chariots, and his host, and his chosen captains. Then, again, in the
ease with which it effects its object as He “casts” them into the sea—it is as if He had
caught up the whole host in His hand, and slung it like a stone into the deep; and
finally, in the completeness of the overthrow and the irreversible and irretrievable
nature of the result. Having thus signalized the catastrophe, the poet’s inspiration
seems to catch a new afflatus. The style suddenly changes in verses 6, 7, and 8; it
ceases to be merely descriptive, and becomes directly ascriptive. The tone is now
lofty and devout, God being addressed immediately in the second person, and the
whole event being attributed to the interposition and miraculous operation of His
power alone.
2. He is in equity and righteousness unchallengeable. The “equity and righteousness”
is as manifest as the power. We are taught in verse 7 to regard the whole situation as
intended for a display of “the Divine excellency”: so true, so timely, and so exemplary

Exodus 15 commentary

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Exodus 15 commentary