Exodus 15 recounts the celebration of Israel's deliverance from Pharaoh at the Red Sea, emphasizing the unity and antiquity of the hymn as a spontaneous reaction from the witnesses of this divine act. The chapter serves as a foundational moment, marking the birth of Israel as a nation while establishing its enduring poetic tradition that influences Hebrew poetry throughout history. It connects the historical event to a broader redemptive narrative, foreshadowing the ultimate triumph over sin and evil as celebrated in the eschatological visions of Revelation.

1. 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:

2. "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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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]

12. "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.]

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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)

26. “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,

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. it is in its manifestation. With consummate ease, but with no less consummate
justice, the dread penalty is enacted; to show how “He is glorious in holiness and
fearful in praises” while “doing wonders.” For it is intimated that Egypt, in what it
was doing, was not only “the enemy” of Israel, but it was “of them that rose up
against Thee”; fighting against the Almighty and violating the first principles of
Divine justice, truth, and mercy. The victims of the catastrophe were the fit subjects
of a retributive and self-vindicating economy. Moreover, it was so well-timed. They
were taken, as it were, red-handed, in the very act; at the very moment they were
anticipating their revenge and gloating in its gratification. While they were
intoxicated with insolence and pride: while they were breathing out threatening and
cruelty, the Lord speaks to them in wrath; the Lord holds them in derision.
3. Yet, finally, He is in mercy plenteous. We have to note the goodness, no less than
the severity, of God here. The reiteration in verse 12 of what has been said before,
seems designedly made to enhance the sublime and suggestive contrast.
III. The threefold issues (verses 14-18). In this third and last wave of the anthem, the
Divine mercy in the redemption of Israel is illustrated. The song becomes prophetic; and
three grand issues are described and anticipated, an immediate, an intermediate, and a
final one.
1. The immediate influence of the Exodus and passage of the Red Sea, on the tribes
and peoples around, verses 14-16. A striking gradation is observed in describing the
various effects: there is first a widespread panic and commotion in general, then the
chiefs or “phylarchs” of Edom are paralyzed with terror; the mighty men of Moab
tremble with uncontrollable fear; and finally the Canaanites melt away in despair.
2. There is an intermediate or remoter influence on the ultimate settlement and final
destiny of Israel. So great an initial triumph was a happy augury and a sure
prognostication of coming success. It was to be accepted as a Divine pledge of all
needful aid and succour, until at length they should be firmly established in the
promised land, as a nation, a race or family, and a Church. For in verse 17 we have a
climax with three particulars, in which Israel is presented in three aspects, and their
land is set forth in the triple character of an inheritance, a home, and a sanctuary,
awakening the chords of patriotism, ancestry, and worship.
3. There is the last great issue of all, “The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.” The
prophecy of this song reaches thus onward to the end of all things; for the
deliverance of Israel was not merely typical of, but actually a part and instalment of,
the final redemption. And therefore, this song of Moses is not only the key-note and
inspiration of the songs of the Old Testament Church, but a song of the Church in
every age, celebrating as it does an event and deliverance not only pledging but
vitally contributing to the last great acts in the onward triumph of Christ’s complete
redemption. (A. H. Drysdale, M. A.)
The Song of Moses
I. The history which the song celebrates.
II. The reflections which the history thus celebrated suggests.
1. The history affords an awful instance of persevering rebellion against God,
notwithstanding the infliction of repeated and awakening chastisements.

31. 2. The tendency of the human mind to forget past mercies, when we are involved in
present afflictions.
3. The duty of yielding obedience to God, even when His commands seem to be
opposed to our interests and our happiness.
4. The certainty that God will appear on behalf of His people, however long His
interposition may be delayed.
5. The history reminds us of a nobler deliverance which God has effected for His
people by Jesus Christ.
6. We may learn from the history with what grateful joy the disciples of Christ will
celebrate His power and grace, when they have crossed the river of death. (J.
Alexander.)
Jubilate
I. It will be instructive to notice the time of the singing of this song. To everything there
is a season: there is a time of the singing of birds, and there is a time for the singing of
saints. “Then sang Moses.”
1. It was first of all at the moment of realized salvation. When we doubt our salvation
we suspend our singing; but when we realize it, when we see clearly the great work
that God has done for us, then we sing unto the Lord who hath for us also triumphed
gloriously. How can our joy of heart any longer be pent up?
2. So is it also in times of distinct consecration. I would remind you that the apostle
assures us that all Israel were “baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” That
passage through the Red Sea was the type of their death, their burial, and their
resurrection to a new life; it was their national baptism unto God: and therefore they
sang as it were a new song. It is the happiest thing that can ever happen to a mortal
man, to be dedicated to God.
3. It was also a day of the manifest display of God’s power.
4. But this song may be sung at all times throughout the life of faith. Let your hearts
begin to ring all their bells, and let not their sweet chimes cease for evermore.
II. The tone of this song.
1. Note, first, that the tone is enthusiastic.
2. The tone is also congregational, being intended for every Israelite to join in it.
Though Moses began by saying, “I will sing unto the Lord,” yet Miriam concluded
with, “Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously.” This is a hymn for
every child of God, for all that have come out of Egypt. Let the song be enthusiastic
and unanimous.
3. Yet please to notice how very distinctly personal it is. “I will sing unto the Lord,
for He hath triumphed gloriously. The Lord is my strength and song, and He is
become my salvation; He is my God, and I will prepare Him an habitation; my
father’s God, and I will exalt Him.” Do not lose yourself in the throng.
4. Note, again, the tone of this song is exceeding confident. There is not a shadow of
doubt in it: it is all the way through most positive in its ascriptions of praise.

32. 5. And this song is exceeding comprehensive. It sings of what God has done, and
then of what God will do in bringing His people into the Promised Land; nor does it
finish till it rises to that loftiest strain of all: “The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.”
6. Note, too, all through, that this song is immeasurably joyous. The Israelites were
slaves enjoying new liberty; children let out to play. They did not know how to be
glad enough. Let us give to God our unlimited joy.
7. Yet I must say, however enthusiastic that song was, and however full of joy it was,
it was only such a song as was due unto the Lord.
III. The first clauses of this song. “The Lord is my strength and my song,” etc.
1. Notice, the song is all of God: there is not a word about Moses. Let us forget men,
forget earth, forget time, forget self, forget this mortal life, and only think of our God.
2. Observe, the song dwells upon what God has done: “The horse and his rider hath
He thrown into the sea.” Let us trace all the mercies we get to our God, for He hath
wrought all our works in us; He hath chosen us, He hath redeemed us, He hath
called us, He hath quickened us, He hath preserved us, He hath sanctified us, and He
will perfect us in Christ Jesus. The glory is all His.
3. The song also declares what the Lord will yet do. We shall conquer yet in the great
name of Jehovah. Take up the first note: “The Lord is my strength.” What a noble
utterance! Poor Israel had no strength! She had cried out by reason of her sore
bondage, making bricks without straw: The Lord is my strength when I have no
strength of my own. It is well to say, “The Lord is my strength” when we are weak
and the enemy is strong; but we must mind that we say the same when we are strong
and our enemies are routed. The next is, “The Lord is my song,” that is to say, the
Lord is the giver of our songs; He breathes the music into the hearts of His people;
He is the Creator of their joy. The Lord is also the subject of their songs: they sing of
Him and of all that He does on their behalf. The Lord is, moreover, the object of their
song: they sing unto the Lord. Their praise is meant for Him alone. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Song of triumph
The Song of Moses has never been surpassed for the poetical beauty of its imagery and
its expressions. It is, besides, so full of holiness and adoration, as to render it
incomparable.
I. Let us recount all the causes for gratitude which are enumerated in it.
1. The Israelites had been delivered from a terrible danger. The enemy had said, “I
will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; I will draw my sword, my hand
shall destroy them.”
2. They had been delivered from inevitable danger. None could save them but God
only. Before them was the sea; behind them were Pharaoh and his host.
3. They had been delivered from universal danger. Not the lives of a thousand only,
or even of ten thousand, among them had been threatened; all, old and young
together, were to have been slain.
4. They had been delivered by most glorious miracles; the strong east wind, the
pillar of light, the sea changed, as it were, into walls of ice.

33. 5. They bad been delivered notwithstanding their sins. Oh, what an example of the
free grace of God! They had scorned His words, had murmured; it was, so to speak,
in spite of themselves that God had saved them.
6. They had been delivered altogether, not one was missing, not one had perished,
not even the youngest child. No mourning marred their triumph, as often happens to
the nations of the earth when they are celebrating a great victory.
7. They had been saved by the power of God alone. It was not their work, it was that
of the Lord, who had said to them, “Stand still, and ye shall see the salvation of the
Lord; the Lord shall fight for you.”
8. Lastly, their deliverance was accompanied by promises for the future. God had
brought them out of Egypt, but it was to lead them to Canaan.
II. If we are true believers, and if Jesus is our Saviour, we have the same reasons that the
Israelites had for singing the song of praise.
1. Like them, we have been delivered from a terrible danger. It was the danger of
death,—not of the body, for that is comparatively nothing, as our Lord has said, but
of the soul; that is to say, condemnation, alienation from God, a whole eternity
passed “in outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
2. Like the Israelites, we have been delivered from inevitable danger. There is no way
of escape—no salvation in any other than in the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. We have been delivered from a universal danger. Indeed, we are all by nature
under condemnation. “There is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of
the glory of God.”
4. We have been delivered by most glorious marvels. “Behold what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God,”
exclaims the apostle John. These things are so sublime, that the angels desire to look
into them.
5. We have been delivered notwithstanding our sins; for “God commendeth His love
towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
6. Like Israel, we have been delivered altogether. Not one of the chosen people of
God will be missing; the youngest child, the most despised, the most forgotten of
men, if he has put his trust in the Lord, will not perish.
7. God has saved us without any strength of our own, for we were incapable of doing
anything. “I have trodden the winepress alone,” saith the Saviour by the mouth of
Isaiah. He obeyed for us, He has borne our sins, He has accomplished all the work of
our salvation.
8. Lastly, our deliverance has been accompanied, like that of the Israelites, with
glorious promises. The Lord will guide us with His counsel, and afterwards He will
receive us to glory. He will be our strength, because He has been our Saviour. (Prof.
Gaussen.)
Manly gratitude
Among the mass of men how little there is of that frank, manly gratitude, that openly,
and in the sight of a scoffing world, acknowledges the delivering, saving hand of God.

34. Amid such wide-spread forgetfulness of the hand of an overruling Providence, it is a
satisfaction to record the case of a thankful British seaman, a fine young man in the
naval service on board Her Majesty’s ship, Queen. They were cruising off Cape
Finisterre. The hands had been turned up to reef top sails for the night; the work was
just finished, when the young captain of the mizzen top overbalanced himself and fell.
He came down a distance of a hundred feet or more, and would have fallen on the deck,
where no doubt he would have been instantly killed or seriously injured; but as he fell he
clutched the foot-brail of the mizzen—this threw him against the sail, which broke his
fall, and he was saved! And as he touched the deck he knelt down in the sight of the
throng of officers and men who composed the crew, and offered up his thanks to
Almighty God for his safe deliverance, during which time the silence and discipline was
such one might have heard a pin drop on the deck.
After deliverance there should come a song
Gratitude is an imperative duty; and one of its first and finest forms is a hymn of
thanksgiving and praise. It is true that it will not be worth much if it expends itself only
in song; but wherever the psalm is sincere, it will communicate its melody also to the
life. Too often, however, it does not even give a song. You remember how only one of the
ten lepers returned to thank the Lord for His cleansing; and, perhaps, we should not be
far wrong if we were to affirm that a similar proportion prevails to-day between the
thankful and the ungrateful. Yet it would be wrong if we were to leave the impression
that such gratitude as this of Moses is almost unknown. On the contrary, the pages of
our hymn-books are covered with songs which have been born, like this one, out of
deliverance. Many of the finest of David’s psalms are the utterances of his heart in
thanksgiving for mercies similar to those which Moses celebrated; and some of the
noblest lyrics of Watts and Wesley, of Montgomery and Lyre, have had a similar origin.
Nor is this all; we can see that in all times of great national revival there has been an
outburst of song. At the Reformation, no result of Luther’s work was more remarkable
than the stimulus it gave to the hymnology of the Fatherland. In fact, that may be said to
have been as good as created by the Reformation; and in our own country each
successive revival of religion has had its own special hymn. But we have not all the
genius of Wesley, or the inspiration of Moses, or of David; and what shall we do then?
We can at least appropriate the lyrics of those who have gone before us, and use them in
so far as they meet our case; and I can conceive no more pleasant or profitable
occupation for the household than the singing of those hymns which have become dear
to us because of the personal experiences which we can read between the lines. But we
can do better still than that; for we can set our daily deeds to the music of a grateful
heart, and seek to round our lives into a hymn—the melody of which will be recognized
by all who come into contact with us, and the power of which shall not be evanescent,
like the voice of the singer, but perennial, like the music of the spheres. To this
hymnology of life let me incite you; for only they who carry this music in their hearts
shall sing at last on the shore of the heavenly land, that song of “pure concert” for which
John could find no better description than that it was” the song of Moses, the servant of
God, and the song of the Lamb.” But to sing of deliverance, you must accept deliverance.
Open your hearts, therefore, for the reception of salvation. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
The Lord is my strength and my song.—
The citadel and the temple

35. I. What the Lord is to his people.
1. “The Lord is my strength,” sang the enraptured host, when they saw how He had
“triumphed gloriously” for them—and this has ever been the song of God’s people as
they have passed through dangers and tribulations in their way to the heavenly
Canaan (Isa_26:4).
2. But if the Lord be the strength of His people, it must imply that they themselves
are weak.
3. But the Lord is our strength; and if the Church be likened unto things which are
weak, the figurative language of the Bible is equally strong in setting forth the Lord
as her strength (Pro_28:10; Psa_18:2). The Lord Jesus is called the Captain of her
salvation, her Deliverer, Governor, Guide.
4. But the Lord is not only the strength of His people, but also their song. He is a
very present help in trouble, and He sometimes raises the head, and cheers the heart,
even in the midst of sorrows and trials (Hab_3:17-19).
5. The Lord is also the salvation of His people. He sometimes saves them, in a
miraculous manner, from temporal evils.
6. He is their God: and this is everything. Infinite power, wisdom, mercy, goodness,
love, pity, truth, justice, are all exerted in their behalf; for, in one delightful word, He
is their God—yea, and He will be their God for ever and ever, and their Guide even
unto death.
II. The resolutions which a sense of His goodness leads them to make.
1. “I will prepare Him an habitation,” alluding, probably, to the Temple which the
Jews afterwards built. But it is in the humble, contrite heart that the Lord delights to
dwell; and we prepare Him a habitation when we open our hearts to receive Him,
when we devote them entirely to Him, and when we make Him the principal object
of our desires.
2. “My father’s God”—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of all our pious
ancestors—“and I will exalt Him.” With my tongue will I praise His name, and my
soul shall exalt in Him. (B. Bailey.)
My father’s God.—
The pathos of theology
A song is the proper conclusion of a victory. Fasting is the worship of sorrow; singing is
the worship of joy. The words specially chosen for meditation show that the victory did
not end in itself; it touched the holy past; it consummated the promises and hopes of
ages.
I. “My father’s God.” Then religion was no new thing to them. They were not surprised
when they heard the name of God associated with their victory. Religion should not be
an originality to us; it should not be a novel sensation; it should be the common breath
of our daily life, and the mention of the name of God in the relation of our experience
sought to excite no mere amazement.
II. “My father’s God.” Then their father’s religion was not concealed from them. They
knew that their father had a God. It is possible not to suspect that a man has any regard

36. for God until we see his name announced in connection with some religions event. We
cannot read this holy book without being impressed with the fact that the men who
made the history of the world were men who lived in continual communion with the
spiritual and unseen.
III. “My father’s God.” Yet it does not follow that the father and the child must have the
same God. You have power deliberately to serve the connection between yourself and the
God of your fathers. It is a terrible power!
IV. “My father’s God.” Then we are debtors to the religious past. There are some results
of goodness we inherit independently of our own will. This age inherits the civilization of
the past. The child is the better for his father’s temperance. Mephibosheth received
honours for Jonathan’s sake. The processes of God are not always consummated in the
age with which they begin. Generations may pass away, and then the full blessing may
come. Practical questions:
1. Your father was a Christian,—are you so much wiser than your father that you can
afford to set aside his example? There are some things in which you are bound to
improve upon the actions of your father; but are you quite sure that the worship of
the God of heaven is one of them?
2. Your father was a holy man—will you undertake to break the line of a holy
succession? Ought not the fame of his holiness to awaken your own religious
concern?
3. Your father was deeply religious,—will you inherit all he has given you in name, in
reputation, in social position, and throw away all the religious elements which made
him what he was?
4. Your father could not live without God,—can you? (J. Parker, D. D.)
A noble ancestry and a glorious resolution
I. A noble ancestry. “My father’s God.” Who are the men who have the most illustrious
ancestry? The men who honoured, served, and trusted the one true and living God. The
same God does for all ages; His character commends itself to the adoration of all souls. It
is natural to value anything our loving fathers love. We value their favourite books, but
how much more their God, the totality of goodness, the fountain of all blessedness?
II. A glorious resolution. “I will exalt Him.” How can we “exalt Him?” Enthrone Him in
our affections as Lord of lords, and King of kings, ruling all thoughts, animating and
directing all activities. (Homilist.)
The living God
I. Who was the God of our fathers?
1. A pure Being, not the “chance” of the atheist.
2. A conscious Being, not the “mere law” of the deist.
3. A personal Being, not “the all” of the pantheist.
4. A perfect Being, as revealed in the Bible.

37. 5. An emotional Being, as manifested in Christ.
6. A communicative Being, as imparted by the Holy Spirit.
II. What is it to exalt Him?
1. Not by tall spires.
2. Not by gorgeous ritual.
3. To adore Him as the object of our worship.
4. To give Him the chief place in our affections. (W. W. Wythe.)
My mother’s God
At a fashionable party a young physician present spoke of one of his patients, whose case
he considered a very critical one. He said he was “very sorry to lose him, for be was a
noble young man, but very unnecessarily concerned about his soul, and Christians
increased his agitation by talking with him and praying for him. He wished Christians
would let his patients alone. Death was but an endless sleep, the religion of Christ a
delusion, and its followers were not persons of the highest culture or intelligence.” A
young lady sitting near, and one of the gayest of that company, said, “Pardon me, doctor,
but I cannot hear you talk thus and remain silent. I am not a professor of religion; I
never knew anything about it experimentally, but my mother was a Christian. Times
without number she has taken me with her to her room, and with her hand upon my
head, she has prayed that God would give her grace to train me for the skies. Two years
ago my precious mother died, and the religion she loved through life sustained her in her
dying hour. She called us to her bedside, and with her face shining with glory, asked us
to meet her in heaven, and I promised to do so. And now,” said the young lady,
displaying deep emotion, “can I believe that this is all a delusion? that my mother sleeps
an eternal sleep? that she will never waken again in the morning of the resurrection, and
that I shall see her no more? No, I cannot, I will not believe it.” Her brother tried to quiet
her, for by this time she had the attention of all present. “No!” said she. “Brother, let me
alone; I must defend my mother’s God, my religion.” The physician made no reply, and
soon left the room. He was found shortly afterwards pacing the floor of an adjoining
room, in great agitation and distress of spirit. “What is the matter?” a friend inquired.
“Oh,” said he, “that young lady is right. Her words have pierced my soul like an arrow. I
too must have the religion I have despised, or I am lost for ever.” And the result of the
convictions thus awakened was that both the young lady and the physician were
converted to Christ, and are useful and influential members of the Church of God.
2 “The Lord is my strength and my defense[a];
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,

38. my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
BAR ES, "Exo_15:2
The Lord is my strength and song - My strength and song is Jah. See Psa_68:4.
The name was chosen here by Moses to draw attention to the promise ratified by the
name “I am.”
I will prepare Him an habitation - I will glorify Him. Our Authorized Version is
open to serious objection, as suggesting a thought (namely, of erecting a temple) which
could hardly have been in the mind of Moses at that time, and unsuited to the occasion.
CLARKE, "The Lord is my strength and song - How judiciously are the
members of this sentence arranged! He who has God for his strength, will have him for
his song; and he to whom Jehovah is become salvation, will exalt his name. Miserably
and untunably, in the ears of God, does that man sing praises, who is not saved by the
grace of Christ, nor strengthened by the power of his might.
It is worthy of observation that the word which we translate Lord here, is not ‫יהוה‬
JEHOVAH in the original, but ‫יה‬ Jah; “as if by abbreviation,” says Mr. Parkhurst, “for
‫יהיה‬ yeheieh or ‫יהי‬ yehi. It signifies the Essence ᆍ Ν, He who Is, simply, absolutely, and
independently. The relation between ‫יה‬ Jah and the verb ‫היה‬ to subsist, exist, be, is
intimated to us the first time ‫יה‬ Jah is used in Scripture, (Exo_15:2): ‘My strength and
my song is ‫יה‬ Jah, and he is become (‫ויהי‬ vajehi) to me salvation.’” See Psa_68:5; Psa_
89:6; Psa_94:7; Psa_115:17, Psa_115:18; Psa_118:17.
Jah ‫יה‬ is several times joined with the name Jehovah ‫יהוה‬ so that we may be sure that it
is not, as some have supposed, a mere abbreviation of that word. See Isa_12:2; Isa_26:4.
Our blessed Lord solemnly claims to himself what is intended in this Divine name ‫יה‬
Jah, Joh_8:58 : “Before Abraham was, (γενεσθαι, was born), εγω ειµι, I Am,” not I was,
but I am, plainly intimating his Divine eternal existence. Compare Isa_43:13. And the
Jews appear to have well understood him, for then took they up stones to cast at him as
a blasphemer. Compare Col_1:16, Col_1:17, where the Apostle Paul, after asserting that
all things that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, were created,
εκτισται, by and for Christ, adds And He Is (αυτος εστι, not ην, was) before all things, and
by him all things συνεστηκε, have subsisted, and still subsist. See Parkhurst.
From this Divine name ‫יה‬ Jah the ancient Greeks had their Ιη, Ιη, in their invocations
of the gods, particularly of Apollo (the uncompounded One) the light; and hence ei,
written after the oriental manner from right to left, afterwards ie, was inscribed over the
great door of the temple at Delphi! See Clarke’s note on Exo_3:14, and the concluding

39. observations there.
I will prepare him a habitation - ‫ואנוהו‬ veanvehu. It has been supposed that
Moses, by this expression, intended the building of the tabernacle; but it seems to come
in very strangely in this place. Most of the ancient versions understood the original in a
very different sense. The Vulgate has et glorificabo eum; the Septuagint δοξασω αυτον, I
will Glorify him; with which the Syriac, Coptic, the Targum of Jonathan, and the
Jerusalem Targum, agree. From the Targum of Onkelos the present translation seems to
have been originally derived; he has translated the place ‫מקדש‬ ‫לה‬ ‫ואבני‬ veebnei leh
makdash, “And I will build him a sanctuary,” which not one of the other versions, the
Persian excepted, acknowledges. Our own old translations are generally different from
the present: Coverdale, “This my God, I will magnify him;” Matthew’s, Cranmer’s, and
the Bishops’ Bible, render it glorify, and the sense of the place seems to require it.
Calmet, Houbigant, Kennicott, and other critics, contend for this translation.
My father’s God - I believe Houbigant to be right, who translates the original, ‫אלהי‬
‫אבי‬ Elohey abi, Deus meus, pater meus est, “My God is my Father.” Every man may call
the Divine Being his God; but only those who are his children by adoption through grace
can call him their Father. This is a privilege which God has given to none but his
children. See Gal_4:6.
GILL, "The Lord is my strength and song,..... The strength of Moses and the
children of Israel against the fears of the Egyptians, and of entrance into the Red sea;
who inspired them with courage, and strengthened their faith, neither to fear being
destroyed by the one, or drowned in the other; and so in the glory of his nature, and of
his divine perfections, of his justice, holiness, faithfulness, truth, and goodness, he was
the subject matter of their song. As Christ is the strength of his spiritual Israel, the
author and giver of strength unto them, the strength of their lives, their hearts, and
graces; and who strengthens them to do his will and work, to exercise every grace,
withstand corruptions, resist temptations, bear afflictions, and overcome every enemy;
and who on the account of the glory of his person, the beauty, fitness, and fulness of it,
and because of his offices of Mediator, Saviour, prophet, priest, and King, as well as by
reason of what he has done for them, the righteousness he has brought in, and the
salvation he has wrought out, is the sum and substance of their song of praise:
and he is become my salvation; the salvation of Israel in a temporal sense, having
saved them out of the hands of the Egyptians their enemies; and the salvation or Saviour
of his spiritual Israel, who are saved by him with an everlasting salvation; he is not only
their Saviour, but salvation itself; being not only the author of it, and that being in him
for them, but made that itself unto them, even their all in all; their righteousness,
atonement, peace, light, life, food, health, comfort, and joy; all their grace being in him,
and from him, as well as their eternal glory and happiness: and this he is to them now,
he is their salvation by impetration having obtained it by his obedience, sufferings, and
death; and by application, they being convinced of their need of salvation by him, and
the suitableness of it to them, seek to him for it, desire that and no other, which is
brought nigh unto them by the Spirit of God, and witnessed to by him as theirs; so that
they are already saved by grace, through faith and hope in Christ; and of their particular
interest in it, they have knowledge by the same Spirit, which fills them with joy

40. unspeakable and full of glory. This and the preceding clause are words so very
expressive, and contain such fulness of matter, and such interesting things, that both the
psalmist David, and the church, in the times of the evangelic prophet Isaiah, have
borrowed them to express their sense of the great things the Lord was to them, and had
done for them, Psa_118:14.
he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; Christ is God, truly God, as
appears from the names given him, particularly Jehovah; from the perfections ascribed
to him, from the works done by him, and from the worship of him both by angels and
men; and he is his people's God, their Immanuel, God in their nature, the God in whom
they believe, and in whom they have an interest; he is the God of their salvation, the
Lord their righteousness; their Lord, head, and King; their husband, beloved, Father,
brother, friend; their God and guide, even unto death; their portion and exceeding great
reward, now and hereafter: wherefore Moses, or the people of Israel, or both, determine
to "prepare" him an "habitation", being concerned that he had no better dwelling place
among them than he had; and seem to have some respect unto, and knowledge of an
habitation hereafter to be built, the tabernacle and temple; which were typical of the
human nature of Christ, and of his church; but then they were both of God's preparing,
and not men's; wherefore an habitation in the hearts of, his people may be chiefly
designed; the preparation of which, though it is principally and efficaciously of the Spirit
of God, yet in some sense may be said to be prepared by the saints, when they show a
concern for grace to be in exercise; to have duty regularly and constantly performed in a
manner acceptable to him, and that no disturbance be given to occasion his departure
from them. The Septuagint version is, "I will glorify him"; with soul and body, which are
both his; and so much to the same purpose other versions, "I will decorate or beautify"
(t) him; declare his beauty and glory, and speak in praise of it: "my father's God, and I
will exalt him"; Christ was not only the God of Amram, the father of Moses, who was a
good man; but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as he declared himself to be, Exo_
3:6, the ancestors not only of Moses, but of all the children of Israel. This shows the
antiquity of Christ, that he was their fathers' God, and that he is to be trusted and
depended on, as he was by their fathers, and to be regarded, and highly valued and
esteemed, having been their fathers' friend, and is a reason why he should be exalted by
them; for though he cannot be raised higher than he is, being the Son of the Highest,
God over all, blessed for ever, whose kingdom ruleth over all, and is now as man
ascended on high, and is highly exalted by his Father, and at his right hand, and glorified
by him with himself; yet he may be said to be exalted and lifted up by us, when we
celebrate and set forth the height of his glory and excellency, by asserting his proper
deity, ascribing the same perfections, worlds, and worship to him, as to his Father, by
attributing distinct divine personality to him, confessing his eternal sonship, owning
him in all his offices, and giving him the glory due unto him on account of them, and for
salvation wrought out by him; the whole honour and praise of it belong to him: he may
and should be exalted in the hearts of his people, in their thoughts and affections, and
with their lips in songs of praise; and in the house of God, and the ordinances of it,
where everyone should speak of his glory; the reasons are, because he is above all in his
person and perfections, is the only Mediator, Saviour, and Redeemer, and to exalt him is
the way to be exalted, Pro_4:8.
CALVI , "2.The Lord is my strength. In this expression they acknowledge that
they have a sufficient defense in God; and afterwards they add, that His grace
furnishes them with just ground for praise. The sum is, that they were strong in

41. God, and had not conquered their enemies by their own bravery; and that,
therefore, it is not lawful to glory save in God alone. But we must observe that the
help of God is conjoined with His praise, because this is the end of all His benefits,
that we should hold our salvation as received from Him, which is here mentioned in
the third place, for to say that God had “become their salvation,” was as much as to
say that the people were saved by His grace. In the second clause there is an
antithesis between the true God and all false ones; for there is much emphasis in the
declaration, “he is my God,” as by it Moses excludes all that multitude of gods
which then were everywhere worshipped in the world. To the same effect he adds,
“my father’s God,” thus distinguishing the faith of Abraham from all the
superstitions of the Gentiles. The faithful then declare that it is safe for them to
repose in this One God, and that His praises are worthy of celebration. Isaiah
imitates this figure. Isaiah 25:9,
“Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord;
we have waited for him.”
What follows in the next verse — “The Lord is a man of war,” is to the same
purpose, for although at first sight the phrase may seem a harsh one, still it is not
without beauty: that God is armed in military attire, to contend with all the forces of
His foes. Therefore, says Moses, the name of the Lord belongs to Him alone, because
His hand awaits to destroy whatever lifts itself up against Him.
ELLICOTT,"(2) The Lord is my strength and song.—Heb., My strength and song is
Jah. The contracted form of Jehovah, Jah, is here used for the first time; but its
existence in the current speech has already been indicated by the name Moriah,
which occurs in Genesis 22:1. It is here used on account of the rhythm.
He is become my salvation.—Heb,, he has been to me for salvation: i.e., “he has
saved me out of the hand of Pharaoh.” The beauty and force of the passage causes
Isaiah to adopt it into one of his most glorious poems, the “joyful thanksgiving of the
faithful for the mercies of God,” contained in his twelfth chapter. (See Exodus 15:2.)
I will prepare him an habitation.—So Onkelos and Aben-Ezra; but Jarchi, the
Targums of Jerusalem and Jonathan, the LXX., and Vulg., with most moderns,
translate, “I will glorify him.” It is a strong objection to the rendering of the
Authorised Version that Moses is not likely to have had the idea of preparing God a
habitation until the revelation of God’s will on the subject was made to him on Sinai
(Exodus 25-27). The law of parallelism also requires such a meaning as “glorify” to
correspond with the “exalt” of the next clause.
My father’s God.—“Father” here, by a common Hebrew idiom, stands for
“forefathers” generally. (Comp. ote on Exodus 3:6.)
BE SO , "Exodus 15:2. Israel rejoiceth in God, as their strength, song, and
salvation — Happy, therefore, the people whose God is the Lord: they are weak in
themselves, but he strengthens them; his grace is their strength: they are oft in

42. sorrow, but in him they have comfort; he is their song: sin and death threaten them,
but he is, and will be their salvation. He is their fathers’ God — This they take
notice of, because, being conscious of their own unworthiness, they had reason to
think that what God had now done for them was for their fathers’ sake,
Deuteronomy 4:37. I will prepare him a habitation — This version is countenanced
by the Chaldee, Extruam ei sanctuarium, I will build him a sanctuary, referring
probably to the tabernacles soon to be built, to which there seems also to be an
allusion in Exodus 15:13. Rab. Salom., however, considers the Hebrew word here
used as being derived from ‫נוי‬,‫נוה‬ and ‫,נאה‬ and translates it, I will declare his beauty
and his praise. To the same purpose the Seventy, ‫,הןמבףש‬ and the Vulgate,
glorificabo, I will glorify him.
COKE,"Exodus 15:2. The Lord is my strength and song; And he is become my
salvation: He is my God; and I will prepare him an habitation: My father's God;
and I will exalt him.
This holds throughout, as the attentive reader may observe; except that, in one or
two verses, it seems as if the two choirs sung their parts, and then united together in
one strain; as, Exodus 15:15.
1st Choir. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed: 2nd Choir. The mighty men of
Moab, Trembling shall take hold upon them: All. All the inhabitants of Canaan
shall melt away.
Of this alternate method of singing among the Hebrews, we shall have occasion to
speak often, especially in the Psalms, and in the Prophets: and an attention to it will
serve to explain many passages.
Exodus 15:2. I will prepare him an habitation— If the remark we have made on the
former verse be just, that the latter clause throughout this song is exegetical of the
preceding; then they are right in their version, who render this, and I will honour or
praise him. The LXX have it ‫,הןמבףש‬ and the Vulgate, glorificabo, I will glorify:
agreeably with whom, Houbigant renders it laudabo, I will praise. Those who
conceive our version to be right suppose that reference is here made to the
tabernacle speedily to be built by Moses in the wilderness, an opinion which they
support by the words of the 13th verse. Houbigant would render my father's God,—
my God is my father; for the ancient Hebrews, says he, never say the God of my
father, in the singular, but the God of my fathers.
The Lord is a man of war— It is unquestionable, that, throughout this chapter,
Jehovah should have been uniformly preserved in the version. Houbigant renders it
bellator fortis, Jehovah is a strong warrior. The next verse expresses the conquest
gained by this Almighty Warrior. See 1 Samuel 16:18; 1 Samuel 17:33. The word ‫ירה‬
iarah, rendered cast in the 4th verse, is explanatory of ‫רמה‬ ramah, which we render
thrown in the 1st verse; and seems to give us the image of an arrow shot from the
bow; as if Jehovah had launched them forth into the deep, as easily as an archer
shoots an arrow from his bow.

43. EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "Exodus 15:2
Happy the heart that has learned to say my God! All religion is contained in that
short expression, and all the blessedness that man or angel is capable of.
—Thomas Erskine.
"He is my God... my father"s God." Compare the early reflection of Dr. John G.
Paton, the ew Hebrides missionary, as he watched the piety of his old father in the
home: "He walked with God; why may not I?"
Lord, I find my Saviour"s genealogy strangely chequered with four remarkable
changes in four immediate generations:—
1. Rehoboam begat Abijam: i.e. a bad father begat a bad son.
2. Abijam begat Asa: i.e. a bad father begat a good son.
3. Asa begat Jehoshaphat: i.e. a good father begat a good son.
4. Jehoshaphat begat Joram: i.e. a good father begat a bad son.
I see, Lord, from this that my father"s piety cannot be entailed: that is bad news for
me. But I see also that actual impiety is not always hereditary: that is good news for
my son.
—Thomas Fuller.
PARKER, ""My father"s God."— Exodus 15:2.
These words are taken from the song which Moses and the children of Israel sang
when they saw Pharaoh and his hosts overthrown in the Red Sea.—It was surely an
era in their history to see the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.—Such epochs in
human life should have some moral meaning.—They should not be allowed to pass
without celebration.—There is a time to sing,—surely it is the hour of deliverance
from the terrible foe.—Music is the natural expression of joy. A song is the proper
conclusion of a victory.—Fasting is the worship of sorrow; singing is the worship of
joy.—The words specially chosen for meditation show that the victory did not end in
itself; it touched the holy past; it consummated the promises and hopes of ages;—in
this Song of Solomon , therefore, the voices of the sainted dead are heard as well as
the voices of the triumphant and joyous living.
What are the ideas with which this expression is charged?—1. "My father"s
God."—Then religion was no new thing to them.—They were not surprised when
they heard the name of God associated with their victory.—Religion should not be
an originality to us; it should not be a novel sensation; it should be the common

44. breath of our daily life, and the mention of the name of God in the relation of our
experiences ought to excite no mere amazement.—2. "My father"s God."—Then
their father"s religion was not concealed from them.—They knew that their father
had a God.—There are some men amongst us of whose religion we know nothing
until we are informed of the same by public advertisement.—It is possible not to
suspect that a man has any regard for God until we see his name announced in
connection with some religious event.—We cannot read this holy book without
being impressed with the fact that the men who made the history of the world were
men who lived in continual communion with the spiritual and unseen. Religion is
the exception in some of our lives,—it was the great and beneficent rule of theirs.—
Is it possible that your child is unaware that you have a God? Is it possible that your
servants may be ignorant of the existence of your religion?—3. "My father"s
God."—Yet it does not follow that the father and the child must have the same
God.—Religion is not hereditary.—You have power deliberately to sever the
connection between yourself and the God of your fathers.—It is a terrible power!
Let that be clearly understood, lest a man should torment himself with the thought
that he must inherit his father"s God as he inherits his father"s gold.—You may
turn your face towards the heavens, and say with lingering and bitter emphasis,
"Thou wast my father"s God, but I shut thee out of my heart and home!"—4. "My
father"s God."—Then we are debtors to the religious past.—There are some results
of goodness we inherit independently of our own will.—This age inherits the
civilisation of the past.—The child is the better for his father"s temperance.—
Mephibosheth received honours for Jonathan"s sake.—The processes of God are
not always consummated in the age with which they begin.—Generations may pass
away, and then the full blessing may come.—We are told that some light which may
be reaching the earth to-day, started from its source a thousand years ago.—What is
true in astronomy is also true in moral processes and events; to-day we are
inheriting the results of martyrdoms, sacrifices, testimonies, and pledges which
stretch far back into the grey past of human history.
The text should convey a powerful appeal to many hearts.—It is a pathetic text.—
Say "My God," and you have solemnity, grandeur, majesty, and every element that
can touch the reverence and wonder of man; but say "My father"s God," and you
instantly touch the tenderest chord in the human heart: God is brought to your
fireside, to your cradle, to the bed of your affliction, and to the core of your whole
home-life.—The text impels us to ask a few practical questions.—1. Your father was
a Christian,—are you so much wiser than your father that you can afford to set
aside his example?—There are some things in which you are bound to improve
upon the actions of your father; but are you quite sure that the worship of the God
of heaven is one of them?—2. Your father was a holy Prayer of Manasseh , will you
undertake to break the line of a holy succession?—Ought not the fame of his
holiness to awaken your own religious concern?—Are you prepared to make
yourself the turning-point in the line of a pious ancestry?—Beware lest you say in
effect, "For generations my fathers have trusted in God and looked to him for the
light of their lives, but now I deliberately disown their worship and turn away from
the God they loved."—This you can say if you be so minded!—God does not force
himself upon you.—You may start a pagan posterity if you please.—3. Your father

45. was deeply religious,—will you inherit all he has given you in name, in reputation,
in social position, and throw away all the religious elements which made him what
he was?—Many a battle has been fought, even on the funeral day, for the perishable
property which belonged to the dead man; what if there should be some emulation
respecting the worship he offered to the God of heaven?—You would not willingly
forego one handful of his material possessions; are you willing to thrust out his
Saviour?—4. Your father could not live without God,—can you?—Your father
encountered death in the name of the Living One. How do you propose to encounter
the same dread antagonist?—When your father was dying, he said that God was the
strength of his heart and would be his portion for ever.—He declared that but for
the presence of his Saviour he would greatly fear the last cold river which rolled
between him and eternity, but that in the presence of Christ that chilling stream had
no terror for him.—When the battle approached the decisive hour, your father said
"Thanks be unto God which giveth to us the victory,"—how do you propose to wind
up the story of your pilgrimage?
A word must be spoken for the encouragement of a class which cannot but have its
representatives in any ordinary congregation.—Some of you have had no family
religion.—Your hearts ache as you turn to the past and remember the atheism of
your household and the atheism of your training- ot a single Christian tradition
has come through your family.—To-day you are asking whether it be possible for
you to be saved.—I return an instant, emphatic, and impassioned YES to your
heart"s inquiry.—Seek ye the Lord while he may be found!—Our relation to God is
strictly personal. —Every heart must make its own decision in this grave matter.—
See to it that, though you cannot speak of your father"s God, yet your children shall
be able to associate your name with the God and Saviour of mankind.
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:2
The Lord is my strength and song. Literally, "My strength and song is Jah." The
name Jah had not previously been used. It is commonly regarded as an abbreviated
form of Jehovah, and was the form generally used in the termination of names, as
Abijah, Ahaziah, Hezekiah, Zedekiah, Mount Moriah, etc. It takes the place of
"Jehovah" here, probably on account of the rhythm. He is become my salvation.
Literally, "He has been to me for salvation," i.e; "He has delivered me out of the
hand of Pharaoh and his host, and so saved me from destruction." I will prepare
him a habitation. This translation seems to have come originally from the Targum
of Onkelos, who paraphrases the single word of the text by the phrase "I will build
him a sanctuary." The meaning is a possible one: but most modern commentators
prefer to connect the verb used with a root meaning "beautiful," and translate "I
will glorify him." (So Gesenius. Rosenmuller, Knobel, Kalisch, Cook. The LXX have
‫́ףש‬‫ב‬‫.הןמ‬ The Vulgate has glorificabo. The Syrian and Coptic versions agree, as do
also the Targums of Jonathan and of Jerusalem.) The God of my father. See the
comment on Exodus 3:6.

46. 3 The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
BAR ES, "Exo_15:3
A man of war - Compare Psa_24:8. The name has on this occasion a special fitness:
man had no part in the victory; the battle was the Lord’s.
The Lord is his name - “Jah is His name.” See Exo_15:2.
CLARKE, "The Lord is a man of war - Perhaps it would be better to translate the
words, Jehovah is the man or hero of the battle. As we scarcely ever apply the term to
any thing but first-rate armed vessels, the change of the translation seems indispensable,
though the common rendering is literal enough. Besides, the object of Moses was to
show that man had no part in this victory, but that the whole was wrought by the
miraculous power of God, and that therefore he alone should have all the glory.
The Lord is his name - That is, Jehovah. He has now, as the name implies, given
complete existence to all his promises. See Clarke on Gen_2:4 (note), and Exo_6:3
(note).
GILL, "The Lord is a man of war,.... A "man", which has respect to the future
incarnation of Christ, for as yet he was not really man; though it was purposed,
covenanted, agreed to, and prophesied of, that he should, as he after was; not a mere
man, as appears by the following clause: "a man of war"; or a warrior; being engaged in
war, and inured to it; having to do with very powerful enemies, Satan and his
principalities and powers, the world, and the great men of it, antichrist, and all the
antichristian states. A warrior well versed in all the arts of war, and abundantly qualified
for it, having consummate wisdom, strength, and courage, and thoroughly furnished and
accoutred for it; having on the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the
garment of vengeance, and cloak of zeal, and a vesture dipped in blood; and with a sword
girt on his thigh, or drawn, or coming out of his mouth; and with a bow and arrows,
going forth conquering, and to conquer; for he is a victorious one, who has conquered
sin, Satan, and the world, and will subdue all others, and make his people more than
conquerors, through him. He is not a common man of war or warrior; he is the Captain
of the Lord's host, the Leader and Commander of the people, the Generalissimo of the
armies in heaven and earth, and is a Prince and King at the head of them:
the Lord is his name; or Jehovah, which proves him to be more than a man; and

47. being so, it is no wonder that he is so mighty, powerful, and victorious.
K&D, "Exo_15:3-4
“Jehovah is a man of war:” one who knows how to make war, and possesses the
power to destroy His foes. “Jehovah is His name:” i.e., He has just proved Himself to be
the God who rules with unlimited might. For (Exo_15:4) “Pharaoh's chariots and his
might (his military force) He cast into the sea, and the choice (the chosen ones) of his
knights (shelishim, see Exo_14:7) were drowned in the Red Sea.”
BI, "The Lord is a man of war.
The triumphs of Jehovah
I. The thought of God’s triumphs as a man of war seems to be valuable as giving in its
degree a proof of the truth of Holy Writ. The moral expectations raised by our Lord’s
first sermon on the Mount are being actually realized in many separate souls now. The
prayer for strength to triumph against the devil, the world, and the flesh is becoming
daily more visibly proved in the triumph of the Spirit, in the individual lives of the
redeemed.
II. The triumphs of the Lord in the individual hearts among us give an increasing hope
for unity throughout Christendom. We cannot deny the debt we owe to the labours of
Nonconformists in the days of the Church’s lethargy and neglect. We cannot join them
now, but we are preparing for a more close and lasting union, in God’s own time, by the
individual progress in spiritual things.
III. We must do our part to set our seal to the triumphant power of Divine grace. It is
the half-lives of Christians which are such a poor proof of the truth of our Lord’s words.
They do not begin early enough; they do not work thoroughly enough. We have the
promise that this song shall be at last on the lips of all who prevail, for St. John tells us
in the Revelation that he saw those who had overcome standing on the sea of glass,
having the harps of God, singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. (Bp. King.)
ELLICOTT, "(3) The Lord is a man of war.—The directness and boldness of the
anthropomorphism is markedly archaic, and is wisely retained by our translators.
How turgid and yet weak are the Samaritan, “mighty in battle,” and the LXX.,
“crusher of wars,” in comparison!
The Lord is his name.—In the very name, Jehovah, is implied all might, all power,
and so necessarily the strength to prevail in battle. The name, meaning “the
Existent,” implies that nothing else has any real existence independently of Him;
and if no existence, then necessarily no strength.
BE SO , "Exodus 15:3. The Lord is a man of war — Able to deal with all those
that strive with their Maker. Houbigant renders the words bellator fortis, Jehovah
is a strong warrior, or, mighty in war, a translation countenanced by the Samaritan
Hebrew copy, and by the Septuagint, the Chaldee of Onkelos, the Syriac, and the

48. Arabic versions. Jehovah, instead of Lord, should have been retained throughout
this song, and especially in the last clause of this verse, Jehovah is his name.
COFFMA , ""Jehovah is a man of war: Jehovah is his name."
This verse concludes the first stanza of the hymn which may be divided thus: (1)
God's Identity (Exodus 15:1-3); (2) God's Mighty Act in the Red Sea (Exodus 15:4-
16a); and (3) A Prophecy of what God will do Later (Exodus 15:16b-18). For Israel,
this great song was somewhat like that which the "Star Spangled Banner" is to
Americans. The sabbath upon which the Jews read it was called the Sabbath of the
Song. and a very great deal of the subsequent Scriptures either used it as a theme or
made definite and frequent references to the Red Sea triumph. ehemiah 9:9ff;
Psalms 77:16ff; 78:11ff; Psalms 105; Psalms 106:7ff; and Habakkuk 3:8ff are
examples.
"Jehovah is a man of war ..." This is profoundly true, and yet there is a partial and
limited understanding of it which is profoundly wrong. Israel failed to understand
that the war in which Jehovah was and is eternally engaged is by no means an
exclusively carnal and military operation. "This is not a war against people; it is the
continuing battle against evil."[17] The weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2
Corinthians 10:4); we do not struggle against fleshly armies, but "against the world
rulers of this darkness, and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness" (Ephesians
6:12), and our armor is not that of the policeman or the soldier, but "the whole
armor of God," which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:10-17). The great tragedy of
historic Israel was their misunderstanding of this. The mighty Leader, God,
promised the Messiah was not to be (as they thought) a great soldier who would rid
the nation of the Romans, slay all their enemies, and reincarnate the abominable
Solomonic Empire, but the glorious Sufferer, the Servant of God, who would die on
Calvary for the sins of humanity! Some of the more perceptive among the Rabbis
attempted to teach Israel the true understanding of this, but the circumstances made
it most difficult. Erkhin captured the note of sorrow in the glorious hymn
celebrating God's victory:
"The ministering angels wanted to sing a hymn. But the holy One, blessed is He,
said to them, `Do you wish to sing a hymn when the work of my hands has been
drowned in the sea?'"[18]
The delay of the hymn of praise until after the victory was explained as follows by
another Jewish writer:
"In this vein, God said to the ministering angels, ` ow, when the work of my hands
is drowned in the sea, there is no cause for rejoicing. It had to be done, for evil
cannot go unpunished, but it is painful for Me and it would be wrong to sing praise
now. Only after the operation is complete and the wicked have been destroyed, may
you rejoice at the victory won for justice and righteousness"[19]
Inadequate and fanciful as these observations are, they do speak of the tragedy of
that awful scene in the Red Sea. The very fact of Israel's being indeed God's Chosen
Race, seemed to blind the whole nation eventually to any understanding of the epic

49. truth that it was the intention of God from the very first that the blessing of ALL
the families of the earth should be accomplished through Israel, and that it was not
their salvation alone that fulfilled the purpose of God. (See Genesis 12:3).
EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "Exodus 15:3
It may help us to understand the scrupulous regard for the rights of the God of War
entertained by the Gauls, the Hebrews , and other nations of antiquity, if we look
for a moment at the traces of this feeling which manifest themselves among the
civilized nations of modern times: I need only allude to the singing of solemn Te
Deums after victory, or to our praying in this country that our Queen "may be
strengthened to vanquish and overcome all her enemies," and to our adorning our
cathedrals with the tattered flags of the foreigner. That "the Lord is a Man of war"
is a sentiment by no means confined to the song of Moses; it is found to be still a
natural one; and I need only remind you of the poet Wordsworth"s ode for the
English thanksgiving on the morning of the18th day of January, 1816 , and more
especially the following lines:—
The fierce tornado sleeps within thy courts—
He hears the word—he flies—
And navies perish in their ports;
For thou art angry with thine enemies.
Rhys, Celtic Heathenism, p52.
ISBET, "THE DIVI E WARRIOR
‘The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name’
Exodus 15:3
These words are part of an outburst of national song, the triumphant song of God’s
chosen people when they, by God’s strength, escaped from the tyranny of Egypt,
and found themselves a redeemed, free, delivered people. The Lord has continued to
exercise His triumphant power in the Christian Church. The standard of spiritual
life in individual Christians at the present day warrants the expectations which have
been awakened by the first promises of the Gospel. It is possible to look at this in
two or three aspects.
I. The thought of God’s triumphs as a man of war seems to be valuable as giving in
its degree a proof of the truth of Holy Writ. The moral expectations raised by our
Lord’s first Sermon on the Mount are being actually realised in many separate souls
now. The prayer for strength to triumph against the devil, the world, and the flesh is
becoming daily more visibly proved in the triumph of the Spirit, in the individual
lives of the redeemed.
II. The triumphs of the Lord in the individual hearts among us give an increasing

50. hope for unity throughout Christendom. We cannot deny the debt we owe to the
labours of onconformists in the days of the Church’s lethargy and neglect. We
cannot join them now, but we are preparing for a more close and lasting union, in
God’s own time, by the individual progress in spiritual things.
III. We must do our part to set our seal to the triumphant power of Divine grace.—
It is the half-lives of Christians which are such a poor proof of the truth of our
Lord’s words. They do not begin early enough; they do not work thoroughly
enough. We have the promise that this song shall be at last on the lips of all who
prevail, for St. John tells us in the Revelation that he saw those who had overcome
standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God, singing the song of Moses and
the Lamb.
Bishop King.
Illustration
(1) ‘While the Lord was leading His own people in the light, helping them on, He
was making it hard for their enemies. It makes a world of difference with us on
which side of God we are. From one side love flows; from the other wrath bursts. A
great fortress in war times is a protection to some, but only to those who are inside
its walls. Those outside find no such protection from it.’
(2) ‘A German officer, after the Franco-German war, heard a certain air. “Ah!” he
exclaimed, “We were commanded to cross the bridge. It was swept by the enemies’
fire. The men were baffled. Suddenly the band began that air, and the men plucked
up heart in a moment, rushed across and carried all before them.” A fearless spirit
is already half-way to victory. othing makes the heart so strong as confidence in a
strong leader. Moses bids them remember “Jehovah is a man of war.” All the
following verses describe His puissance. It was that thought which made Israel
strong. When he remembered it, he conquered. When he forgot it, he was chased by
his foes.’
(3) ‘When Augustine of Hippo began to use the Psalms after his spiritual
awakening, he says, “Oh, what accents did I utter unto Thee in those Psalms, and
how was I by them kindled towards Thee, and on fire did rehearse them!”
(“Confessions,” Bk. IX, 8.) Have you ever felt anything like that? Besides offering
praise to God in the congregation, we should never be shamed to own to friends and
companions “what God has done for us.”’
PETT, "Exodus 15:3-7
“Yahweh is a man of war,
Yahweh is his name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he has cast into the sea.
And his chosen captains are sunk in the sea of reeds.
The deeps cover them,
They went down into the depths like a stone.

51. Your right hand, Oh Yahweh, is glorious in power,
Your right hand, Oh Yahweh, dashes the enemy in pieces.
And in the greatness of your excellency you overthrow those who rise up against
you,
You send out your wrath, it consumes them as stubble.”
The song declares Yahweh to be a competent soldier, revealed by nature as ‘The
One Who is there to act’. ow they know indeed that His name is Yahweh. His
excellency is revealed in what He has done to Pharaoh’s chariots, (the ‘host’
probably refers to the six hundred strong force), and to his commanders by
drowning them in the sea. So has He demonstrated the victorious power of His right
hand, and shown that He is able to deal with all Who rise against Him. When His
anger is roused they are consumed like stubble burnt in the fields.
“Yahweh is a man of war.” Compare Psalms 24:8; Isaiah 42:13. The man of war
was needed for protection from one’s enemies.
“Yahweh is His name.” This is what He is and has revealed Himself to be, ‘the One
Who is there to act.’ They have seen the fullness of His name in what He has done.
“His chosen captains.” The same word for ‘captains’ is as in Exodus 14:7 (stressing
the unity of the narrative). They are more than just captains, they are his champions
and commanders.
“They went down into the depths like a stone.” Poetic licence. While the sea was
deep enough to drown them it would probably not have been all that deep. But in
their chariot armour, bronze plates sewn on a linen base, they would certainly sink
like a stone. The vivid description suggests an eyewitness.
“Your right hand.” The main fighting hand.
“You send out Your wrath.” Having passed His judgment on sin and wrongdoing
He exacts the penalty.
“It consumes them as stubble.” A vivid picture taken from agriculture of the
burning of stubble in the fields once its usefulness was over.
PULPIT, "A man of war. A strong anthropomorphism, but one that could scarcely
be misunderstood—"a man of war," meaning commonly "a warrior," or "one
mighty in battle" (Psalms 24:8). God's might had just been proved, in that he alone
had discomfited and destroyed the most potent armed force in the whole world. The
Lord is his name. Jehovah—the alone-existing One "truly describes him," before
whom all other existence fades and falls into nothingness. On the full meaning of the
name, see the comment on Exodus 3:14.

52. 4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
are drowned in the Red Sea.[b]
BAR ES, "Exo_15:4
Hath He cast - “Hurled,” as from a sling. See Exo_14:27.
His chosen captains - See Exo_14:7 note.
CLARKE, "Pharaoh’s chariots - his host - his chosen captains - On such an
expedition it is likely that the principal Egyptian nobility accompanied their king, and
that the overthrow they met with here had reduced Egypt to the lowest extremity. Had
the Israelites been intent on plunder, or had Moses been influenced by a spirit of
ambition, how easily might both have gratified themselves, as, had they returned, they
might have soon overrun and subjugated the whole land.
GILL, "Pharaoh's chariots and his hosts hath he cast into the sea,.... Which
was done by the Angel of the Lord, who was Jehovah himself, our Immanuel, and man of
war, as appears from Exo_14:17, an emblem of the destruction of antichrist, and all the
antichristian states, of which Pharaoh and his host were types:
his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea: who were appointed over
his chosen chariots, which all perished in the sea together. In the carnage that will be
made by Christ, the warrior and conqueror, among the followers of antichrist, the man
of "sin", the antitypical Pharaoh, the flesh of captains is mentioned for the fowls of
heaven to feed upon, Rev_19:18.
CALVI , "4.Pharaoh’s chariots. Moses in these words only meant to assert, that the
drowning of Pharaoh was manifestly God’s work. Therefore, he now illustrates in
more glowing terms the transaction which he had before simply narrated; as also
when he compares the Egyptians to stones and lead, as if he had said that they were
hurled by God’s mighty hand into the deep, so that they had no power to swim out.
On this score, he repeats twice the mention of God’s “right hand;” as much as to say
that such a miracle could not be ascribed either to fortune or to the efforts of man.
We must take notice of what he soon after says, that the Egyptians “rose up against”
God; because they had treated His people with injustice and cruelty. Thence we
gather, that God’s majesty is violated by the wicked, whenever His Church, whose
safety He has undertaken to preserve by His faithful patronage, is assailed by them.

53. “Thou sentest forth thy wrath,” and “with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were
gathered together,” are to be read in conjunction; for their meaning is that God,
without any instrumentality, but by His simple volition, and in manifestation of His
wrath, had brought the enemy to. destruction.
BE SO , "Exodus 15:4-5. He hath cast — With great force and velocity, as an
arrow out of a bow, as the Hebrew word ‫,ירה‬ here used, signifies. The Egyptian
cavalry was numerous, formidable, and covered whole plains. It would have
required several days to have defeated and cut them to pieces: but God defeated
them in an instant, with a single effort, at a blow. He overthrew, drowned,
overwhelmed them all, as though they had been but one horse and one rider: The
horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea — Observe the pompous display of
what is contained in these two words, horse and rider. 1st, Pharaoh’s chariots. 2d,
His host. 3d, His chosen captains. A beautiful gradation! Observe again the
amplification. He cast into the sea: They are drowned in the sea: The depths have
covered them: They sank into the bottom as a stone! Moses seems here to be
desirous of extolling the greatness of the power which God exhibited in a sea which
formed part of the Egyptian empire, and was under the protection of the gods of
Egypt.
COFFMA , "Verses 4-6
"Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea; And his chosen captains
are sunk in the Red Sea. The deeps cover them: They went down into the depths like
a stone. Thy right hand, O Jehovah, is glorious in power, Thy right hand, O
Jehovah, dasheth in pieces the enemy."
"Chosen captains are sunk ..." This is also rendered submerged, the waters being
called "the deeps" in the next verse. Dobson says that the word here "is the same
word used in the Canaanite language to refer to the deep sea."[20] The ew English
Bible renders it "abyss," but we believe that is incorrect. The fact that abyss,
Scripturally, usually refers to the abode of Satan and evil spirits makes its use here
inappropriate. Some of the EB translators very likely favored that rendition for
the sake of supporting the notion of a mythological basis for this account. Fields
very adequately refuted that false interpretation.[21]
Adam Clarke pointed out that if Moses and the Israelites had been motivated by the
same lust for power and loot that moved Pharaoh's host into the Red Sea, they
might very easily have, "gratified themselves by returning and over-running and
subjugating all of Egypt,"[22] due to the destruction of the whole military power of
Egypt in the Red Sea.
"Down into the depths like a stone ..."; Exodus 15:10 has, "They sank as lead in the
mighty waters." The Hebrew word here means, "Literally, went gurgling
down!"[23] There is utterly no way to harmonize such statements with the notion
that this destruction was nothing more than the bogging down of Pharaoh's chariots
in some swampy land. Of course, the heavy armor which men of that era wore into

54. battle would make their sinking in such waters a certainty.
PULPIT, "Pharaoh's chariots and his host. The "host" of this passage is not the
"army" of Exodus 14:9, though in the original the same word is used, but the whole
multitude of those who rode in the chariots, and were drowned in the sea. Hath he
cast. Or "hurled." The verb commonly expresses the hurling of a javelin or the
shooting of an arrow. His chosen captains. Compare Exodus 14:7. Are drowned.
Literally, "were submerged." The word describes the act of drowning, not the state
of lying drowned in the depths of the sea.
5 The deep waters have covered them;
they sank to the depths like a stone.
BAR ES, "Exo_15:5
As a stone - The warriors in chariots are always represented on the monuments with
heavy coats of mail; the corslets of “chosen captains” consisted of plates of highly
tempered bronze, with sleeves reaching nearly to the elbow, covering the whole body and
the thighs nearly to the knee. The wearers must have sunk at once like a stone, or as we
read in Exo_5:10, like lumps of lead.
GILL, "The depths have covered them,.... The depths of the sea covered Pharaoh
and his host, so as to be seen no more; and in like manner will mystical Babylon, or
antichrist, be destroyed, and be no more found and seen; as likewise the sins of God's
people, being cast into the depths of the sea, and covered with the blood of Christ, will be
seen no more; when they are sought for, they shall not be found:
they sunk into the bottom as a stone; into the bottom of the sea, as a stone thrown
into anybody of water sinks and rises not up again; this circumstance is observed by
Neh_9:11.
their persecutors thou threwest into the deep, as a stone into the mighty
waters; and thus a stone like a millstone being taken by an angel and cast into the sea,
is made an emblem of the irrecoverable ruin and destruction of Babylon, or antichrist,
Rev_18:21.

55. K&D, "Exo_15:5
“Floods cover them (‫מוּ‬ֻ‫י‬ ְ‫ס‬ ַ‫כ‬ְ‫,י‬ defectively written for ‫יוּ‬ ְ‫ס‬ ַ‫כ‬ְ‫י‬ = ‫וּ‬ ַ‫כ‬ְ‫,י‬ and the suffix ‫מוּ‬ for ‫ּו‬‫מ‬,
only used here); they go down into the deep like stone,” which never appears again.
ELLICOTT, "(5) The depths have covered them.—Rather, covered them. The first
stanza, or strophe, here terminates—the first historical review is completed. In it
attention is concentrated on the one great fact of the deliverance by the destruction
of the Egyptians in the Red Sea. At the close it is probable that Miriam, with her
chorus of women, took up the refrain of Exodus 15:1, and slightly modifying it,
sang, as recorded in Exodus 15:21, “Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath glorified
himself gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”
PULPIT, "The depths have covered them. Rather "covered them." Into the bottom.
Literally, "into the abyss." Like a stone. The warriors who fought in chariots
commonly wore coats of mail, composed of bronze plates sewn on to a linen base,
and overlapping one another. The coats covered the arms to the elbow, and
descended nearly to the knee. They must have been exceedingly heavy: and the
warrior who wore one must have sunk at once, without a struggle, like a stone or a
lump of lead (Exodus 15:10).
6 Your right hand, Lord,
was majestic in power.
Your right hand, Lord,
shattered the enemy.
CLARKE, "Thy right hand - Thy omnipotence, manifested in a most extraordinary
way.
GILL, "Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power,.... In bringing the
children of Israel out of Egypt, and through the Red sea, and in the destruction of
Pharaoh and the Egyptians; and so the right hand of Christ, expressive of his power, he
has in and of himself, and is the same with his Father's, and is mighty, yea, almighty, is
become glorious, famous, and illustrious, in the redemption and salvation of his people,
by bearing their sins, and working out a righteousness for them; and in the destruction
of their enemies, sin, Satan, the world, and death, as is more fully expressed in the next

56. clause:
thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy; in a literal sense,
Pharaoh and his host, the avowed enemies of Israel; and, in a spiritual sense, those
before named, together with all the antichristian party, those enemies of Christ, and his
people, whom he wilt break to shivers as a potter's vessel, Rev_2:27.
K&D, "Exo_15:6-10
Jehovah had not only proved Himself to be a true man of war in destroying the
Egyptians, but also as the glorious and strong one, who overthrows His enemies at the
very moment when they think they are able to destroy His people.
Exo_15:6-7
“Thy right hand, Jehovah, glorified in power (gloriously equipped with power: on the
Yod in ‫י‬ ִ‫ר‬ ָ ְ‫א‬ֶ‫,נ‬ see Gen_31:39; the form is masc., and ‫ין‬ ִ‫מ‬ָ‫,י‬ which is of common gender, is
first of all construed as a masculine, as in Pro_27:16, and then as a feminine), “Thy right
hand dashes in pieces the enemy.” ‫ץ‬ ַ‫ע‬ ָ‫ר‬ = ‫ץ‬ ַ‫צ‬ ָ‫:ר‬ only used here, and in Jdg_10:8. The
thought it quite a general one: the right hand of Jehovah smites every foe. This thought
is deduced from the proof just seen of the power of God, and is still further expanded in
Exo_15:7, “In the fulness of Thy majesty Thou pullest down Thine opponents.” ‫ס‬ ַ‫ר‬ ָ‫ה‬
generally applied to the pulling down of buildings; then used figuratively for the
destruction of foes, who seek to destroy the building (the work) of God; in this sense
here and Psa_28:5. ‫ים‬ ִ‫מ‬ ָ‫:ק‬ those that rise up in hostility against a man (Deu_33:11; Psa_
18:40, etc.). “Thou lettest out Thy burning heat, it devours them like stubble.” ‫ּן‬‫ר‬ ָ‫,ח‬ the
burning breath of the wrath of God, which Jehovah causes to stream out like fire (Eze_
7:3), was probably a play upon the fiery look cast upon the Egyptians from the pillar of
cloud (cf. Isa_9:18; Isa_10:17; and on the last words, Isa_5:24; Nah_1:10).
ELLICOTT, "(6) Thy right hand.—Here is a second anthropomorphism, following
naturally on the first, and occuring in the later Scriptures frequently, though now
used for the first time.
Hath dashed in pieces.—Rather, dashes in pieces. The verb is in the future, but is a
future of continuance.
Thou hast overthrown . . . —Heb., thou overthrowest them that rise up against thee;
thou sendest forth thy wrath: it consumeth them like stubble.
The blast of thy nostrils.—The “east wind” of Exodus 14:21. (Comp. Psalms 18:15.)
As a physical effect, the gathering together of the waters, is ascribed to the “blast,”
we must understand a physical cause. Otherwise, God’s wrath might be meant, as in
Job 4:9.
The floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed.—The

57. literalism which, taking its stand on these phrases, maintains that the water “gave
up its nature (Kalisch) indicates an inability to distinguish poetry from prose, and
fact from imagery. As well might it be held that the east wind was actually the
breath of God’s nostrils. (See the ote on Exodus 14:22.)
ELLICOTT, "Verses 6-10
(6-10) The second stanza, or strophe, expands the subject-matter of the first. It
begins, like the first, with some general expressions, setting forth the glory and
power of Jehovah (Exodus 15:6-7), as shown in the recent catastrophe. From this it
proceeds to the catastrophe itself, which it describes in considerable detail, noting
(1) the sudden rise of the wind (Exodus 15:8); (2) the gathering together of the
waters into separate masses (ibid.); (3) the boastful and vindictive temper of the
Egyptians (ibid.); (4) the rise of a second wind (Exodus 15:9); (5) the consequent
return of the waters; and (6) the submerging of the host by them. The second stanza
is considerably longer than the first, consisting of twelve, whereas the first consists
of only seven, lines.
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:6-18
Between Exodus 15:5 and Exodus 15:6, Miriam's chorus was probably interposed
"Sing ye unto the Lord," etc. Then began the second strophe or stanza of the ode. It
is, in the main, expansive and exegetical of the preceding stanza, going into greater
detail, and drawing a contrast between the antecedent pride and arrogance of the
Egyptians and their subsequent miserable fall.
Exodus 15:6
Thy right hand, O Lord. Another anthropomorphism, here used for the first time.
Compare Exodus 15:12; Deuteronomy 33:2; and the Psalms, passim. Is become
glorious Or "is glorious. Kalisch rightly regards verses 6 and 7 as containing "a
general description of God's omnipotence and justice," and notes that the poet only
returns to the subject of the Egyptians in verse 8. So also Knobel. Hath dashed in
pieces. Rather, "Will dash in pieces," or "dashes in pieces"—a general statement.
7 “In the greatness of your majesty
you threw down those who opposed you.
You unleashed your burning anger;
it consumed them like stubble.

58. BAR ES, "Exo_15:7
Thy wrath - Literally, Thy burning, i. e. the fire of Thy wrath, a word chosen
expressly with reference to the effect.
CLARKE, "In the greatness of thine excellency - To this wonderful deliverance
the Prophet Isaiah refers, Isa_63:11-14 : “Then he remembered the days of old, Moses
and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the
shepherd of his flock? Where is he that put his Holy Spirit within him? That led them by
the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make
himself an everlasting name? That led them through the deep, as a horse in the
wilderness, that they should not stumble? As a beast goeth down into the valley, the
Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest; so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a
glorious name.”
GILL, "And in the greatness of thine excellency,.... Christ has an excellency in
him, a greatness of excellency, a superlative one; he has a more excellent name and
nature than the angels, being a divine Person; and a more excellent ministry, as man and
Mediator, than any of the sons of men, as prophet, priest, and King; and is superlatively
excellent in his operations, has wrought out a most excellent righteousness, offered up a
more excellent sacrifice than ever was offered, and obtained a great, glorious, and
excellent salvation for his people; in consequence of which is what is next asserted:
thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee; against his person and his
people, who are in such strict union with him as to be reckoned as himself; and those
that rise up against them, he reckons as rising up against him, or as his enemies; and
both the one and the other are overthrown by him, as were those that rose up against
him in person when on earth, as Herod, Pontius Pilate, the people of the Jews, with the
Gentiles, and as will be antichrist and his followers, and all the spiritual enemies of the
people of God:
thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble; the wrath of
the Lord God Almighty is like fire, and wicked men are as chaff and stubble; and as those
cannot stand before fire, but are suddenly and quickly consumed with it; so neither can
the wicked, the enemies of Christ and his people, stand before the wrath of the Lamb,
when the great day of it is come, but must be presently destroyed by it; see Isa_51:20.
BE SO , "Exodus 15:7. In the greatness of thine excellency — Thy great and
excellent power. Excellency, or highness, (as the word ‫,גאון‬ here used, properly
means,) belongs in the most eminent and unqualified sense to Jehovah, who is
superlatively high and excellent in all his attributes.
COFFMA , "Verses 7-10
"And in the greatness of thine excellency thou overthrowest them that rise up
against thee: Thou sendest forth thy wrath, it consumeth them as stubble. And with

59. the blast of thy nostrils the waters piled up, The floods stood upright as a heap; The
deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will
overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw
my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea
covered them. They sank as lead in the mighty waters."
This is a deeply impassioned and emotionally charged passage. ote the mingling of
present and past tenses and the short, staccato sentences:
"I will pursue;
I will overtake;
I will divide the spoil;
My desire shall be satisfied upon them;
I will draw my sword;
I will destroy them!"
This whole passage is a classic of animated and powerful expression. There are
powerful figures such as the anthropomorphic representation of the mighty winds
as the breath of God's nostrils. Then there is the mention of the waters as being like
"a heap," or "a wall," or "congealed." These are all bold figures of speech and
should not be distorted to mean that the waters stood up vertically like a brick wall.
"Heap" implies a contour for the waters which, by definition, forbids the idea of a
vertical wall, and yet the effect was the same as that of a wall. Some commentators
struggle valiantly to get a myth out of all this, leading to such views as that of
Clements: "The great deep congealed: a reference to the drying up of the sea bed,
which is couched in semi-mythological language, suggesting that the deep was like a
dragon curling itself up."[24] Can you see a dragon curling itself up here? If so, may
we suggest that you would also be able to see the king's invisible britches in the
fable!
COKE,"Exodus 15:7. In the greatness of thine excellency— In the brightness of thy
glory, Calmet: referring to ch. Exodus 14:24 when the light from the pillar of fire
burst forth upon the Egyptians. Agreeably to this remark, thy wrath might be
rendered thy fiery heat, or burning indignation. The expletives in this song, which
our translation uses, often spoil its energy, as is the case with the which in this place:
it should be rendered, thou sentest forth thy wrath: it consumed them as stubble.
8 By the blast of your nostrils
the waters piled up.

60. The surging waters stood up like a wall;
the deep waters congealed in the heart of the
sea.
BAR ES, "Exo_15:8
The blast of God’s nostrils corresponds to the natural agency, the east wind Exo_
14:21, which drove the waters back: on the north the waters rose high, overhanging the
sands, but kept back by the strongwind: on the south they laid in massive rollers, kept
down by the same agency in the deep bed of the Red Sea.
CLARKE, "The depths were congealed - The strong east wind (Exo_14:21)
employed to dry the bottom of the sea, is here represented as the blast of God’s nostrils
that had congealed or frozen the waters, so that they stood in heaps like a wall on the
right hand and on the left.
GILL, "And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered
together,.... From the bottom of the sea, and divided and laid on heaps; and this by a
strong east wind, called the blast of the nostrils of the Lord, because as easily brought by
him as a man's breath or wind is drawn through his nostrils; and thus Christ with the
breath of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming, will destroy antichrist, 2Th_2:8.
the floods stood upright as an heap; though a fluid body, yet by the power of Christ
were raised up and continued upright, firm and consistent; as things dry and solid may
be laid and heaped up on one another, and remain firm and stable; and so did the waters
of the sea, they stood like a wall, and were as firm as a rock; while the Israelites passed
between them, they stood upright, and lift up their hands, as if they blessed them; or
blessed God for the deliverance of them, or in admiration of it; see Exo_14:22,
HE RY 8-12, " The destruction of the enemy; the waters were divided, Exo_15:8.
The floods stood upright as a heap. Pharaoh and all his hosts were buried in the waters.
The horse and his rider could not escape (Exo_15:1), the chariots, and the chosen
captains (Exo_15:4); they themselves went into the sea, and they were overwhelmed,
Exo_15:19. The depths, the sea, covered them, and the proud waters went over the
proud sinners; they sank like a stone, like lead (Exo_15:5, Exo_15:10), under the weight
of their own guilt and God's wrath. Their sin had made them hard like a stone, and now
they justly sink like a stone. Nay, the earth itself swallowed them (Exo_15:12); their
dead bodies sank into the sands upon which they were thrown up, which sucked them
in. Those whom the Creator fights against the whole creation is at war with. All this was
the Lord's doing, and his only. It was an act of his power: Thy right hand, O Lord, not
ours, has dashed in pieces the enemy, Exo_15:6. It was with the blast of thy nostrils
(Exo_15:8), and thy wind (Exo_15:10), and the stretching out of thy right hand, Exo_

61. 15:12. It was an instance of his transcendent power - in the greatness of thy excellency;
and it was the execution of his justice: Thou sentest forth thy wrath, Exo_15:7. This
destruction of the Egyptians was made the more remarkable by their pride and
insolence, and their strange assurance of success: The enemy said, I will pursue, Exo_
15:9. Here is, First, Great confidence. When they pursue, they do not question but they
shall overtake; and, when they overtake, they do not question but they shall overcome,
and obtain so decisive a victory as to divide the spoil. Note, It is common for men to be
most elevated with the hope of success when they are upon the brink of ruin, which
makes their ruin so much the sorer. See Isa_37:24, Isa_37:25. Secondly, Great cruelty -
nothing but killing, and slaying, and destroying, and this will satisfy his lust; and a
barbarous lust that is which so much blood must be the satisfaction of. Note, It is a cruel
hatred with which the church is hated; its enemies are bloody men. This is taken notice
of here to show, 1. That God resists the proud, and delights to humble those who lift up
themselves; he that says, “I will, and I will, whether God will or no,” shall be made to
know that wherein he deals proudly God is above him. 2. That those who thirst for blood
shall have enough of it. Those who love to be destroying shall be destroyed; for we know
who has said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay.
K&D, "Exo_15:8-10
Thus had Jehovah annihilated the Egyptians. “And by the breath of Thy nostrils (i.e.,
the strong east wind sent by God, which is described as the blast of the breath of His
nostrils; cf. Psa_18:16) the waters heaped themselves up (piled themselves up, so that it
was possible to go between them like walls); the flowing ones stood like a heap” (‫ד‬ֵ‫נ‬
cumulus; it occurs in Jos_3:13, Jos_3:16, and Psa_33:7; Psa_78:13, where it is
borrowed from this passage. ‫לים‬ְ‫ּז‬‫מ‬: the running, flowing ones; a poetic epithet applied to
waves, rivers, or brooks, Psa_78:16, Psa_78:44; Isa_44:3). “The waves congealed in the
heart of the sea:” a poetical description of the piling up of the waves like solid masses.
BE SO , "Exodus 15:8. With the blast of thy nostrils — Or, of thine anger, as the
Hebrew word is often rendered. He means that vehement east wind, (Exodus 15:10,
and Exodus 14:21,) which was raised by God’s anger in order to the ruin of his
enemies. The floods — Hebrew, the streams, or the flowing waters, whose nature it
is to be constantly in motion; stood upright as a heap — This is wonderfully
beautiful and majestic, as indeed the whole song is. The inspired writer ennobles the
wind by making God himself the principle of it; and animates the waters by making
them susceptible of fear. The frighted waters withdrew with impetuosity from their
wonted bed, and crowded suddenly one upon another. The depths were congealed
— Hardened, stood still as if they had been frozen in the heart, the midst, of the sea.
So that here the imagination figures to itself mountains of solid waters in the very
centre of the liquid element.
COKE, "Exodus 15:8. And with the blast of thy nostrils— This is commonly
supposed to refer to the wind mentioned in the 21st verse of the preceding chapter,
which was the instrument of gathering the waters together. But, as the heat of the
nostrils, all through the Scripture, is used to express wrath, one would rather
conceive, that the expression refers to that fiery indignation of the Lord, mentioned
in the foregoing verse. See, in particular, Job 4:9. The expletive and, again, in this

62. verse, destroys much of its sublimity. othing can be conceived more grand and
expressive, than this clause, the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
Depths,—congealed, or condensed, and heart, are all peculiarly expressive.
PETT, "Exodus 15:8-11
“And with the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up,
The floods stood upright as a heap, the deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, ‘I will pursue,
I will overtake, I will divide the spoil,
My bloodlust will be satisfied on them,
I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’
You blew with your wind, the sea covered them,
They sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Who is like you, Oh Yahweh, among the gods?
Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”
Yahweh had blown with His east wind, ‘the blast of His nostrils’, on the waters and
prepared a pathway for the children of Israel. Then the enemy, filled with bloodlust,
boasted about what they would do to them (their nostrils were blasting too). So
Yahweh blew again and they were destroyed in the waters. Thus was He revealed as
superior to all ‘elohim’ (here the poetic form ‘elim’), to all that is supernatural.
“With the blast of your nostrils.” A vivid connecting of the strong east wind (Exodus
14:21) with Yahweh.
“The floods stood upright as a heap.” Poetic licence demonstrating Yahweh’s
power. The waters obeyed His will. It is not necessarily a literal description but
taking up the metaphor of the seas as a wall (Exodus 14:29).
“The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.” Again poetic licence. The idea
would seem to be that they became solid so that the children of Israel could walk on
them, or alternately that they became thickened and stopped flowing.
“The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my bloodlust
will be satisfied on them, I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.” This
is a vivid picture of soldiers fired up with bloodlust and greed for spoil as they
career towards the enemy. The people who were before them were an easy target.
“You blew with your wind, the sea covered them. They sank as lead in the mighty
waters.” Here was the magnificent anticlimax. Even while they yelled their war-cries
the bloodthirsty warriors were blown away by Yahweh’s wind and waves, by His
mighty breath, and sank like lead into the waters.
“Who is like you among the gods.” Yahweh is superior to all supernatural beings.
He is unique and incomparable. In a vague way they recognised that in men’s eyes
there was a world of gods (they were not philosophers) but those gods were helpless
and powerless and as nothing before Yahweh. Yahweh was far above all. He stood

63. alone and none compared with Him.
“Glorious in holiness.” Holiness is that which sets God off as apart from man, and
from any other ‘gods’, His purity and ‘otherness’ (unlikeness to anything earthly).
He is unique and different in nature. Thus when anything on earth is made holy it
shares that uniqueness and is untouchable except by what is holy.
“Fearful in praises, doing wonders.” What Yahweh has done in the face of the gods
of Egypt is clearly in mind. By His wonders He has demonstrated that they are
helpless and powerless. Here He is seen as praised for His fearsome acts.
PULPIT, "With the blast of thy nostril the waters were gathered together.
Poetically, Moses describes the east wind which God set in motion as "the blast" or
"breath of his nostrils." By means of it, he says, the waters were "gathered
together," or "piled up;" then, growing bolder in his imagery, he represents the
floods as "standing in a heap" on either side, and the depths as "congealed. o
doubt, if these terms are meant to be taken literally, the miracle must have been one
in which "the sea" (as Kalisch says) "giving up its nature, formed with its waves a
firm wall, and instead of streaming like a fluid, congealed into a hard substance."
But the question is, are we justified in taking literally the strong expressions of a
highly wrought poetical description?
9 The enemy boasted,
‘I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
and my hand will destroy them.’
BAR ES, "Exo_15:9
The enemy said - The abrupt, gasping utterances; the haste, cupidity and ferocity of
the Egyptians; the confusion and disorder of their thoughts, belong to the highest order
of poetry. They enable us to realize the feelings which induced Pharaoh and his host to
pursue the Israelites over the treacherous sandbanks.

64. CLARKE, "The enemy said - As this song was composed by Divine inspiration, we
may rest assured that these words were spoken by Pharaoh and his captains, and the
passions they describe felt, in their utmost sway, in their hearts; but how soon was their
boasting confounded? “Thou didst blow with thy wind, and the sea covered them: they
sank as lead in the mighty waters!”
GILL, "The enemy said,.... That is, Pharaoh, who repented that he had let Israel go;
an emblem of Satan, who when the people of God are taken out of his hands is uneasy at
it, and seeks to recover them again into his possession; or of antichrist breathing out
threatening and slaughter to the saints, the reformers departed from him, and delivered
out of his captivity:
I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; which words being
expressed without the copulative "and", show the passion he was in, the hastiness of his
expressions, and the eagerness of his mind; and being delivered in such an absolute
manner, "I will", "I will", &c. denote not only the fixed resolution and determination he
had made to pursue, but the assurance he had of carrying his point; he thought as surely,
as he pursued he should overtake, and overtaking should conquer, and get into his hands
all the riches the people of Israel went out of Egypt with:
my lust shall be satified upon them; both his lust of covetousness to possess
himself of the wealth the people had of their own, and which they had spoiled the
Egyptians of, by borrowing of them; and also his lust of revenge and cruelty upon them;
as appears from what follows:
I will draw my sword; out of its scabbard, and sheathe it in them:
my hand shall destroy them; which he made no doubt of, they being an unarmed
people; and therefore, though numerous, were unable to engage with him, and defend
themselves; see Rev_6:14 and with it compare Isa_10:11.
K&D, "Exo_15:9
“The enemy said: I pursue, overtake, divide spoil, my soul becomes full of them; I
draw my sword, my hand will root them out.” By these short clauses following one
another without any copula, the confidence of the Egyptian as he pursued them
breathing vengeance is very strikingly depicted. ‫שׁ‬ ֶ‫פ‬ֶ‫:נ‬ the soul as the seat of desire, i.e., of
fury, which sought to take vengeance on the enemy, “to cool itself on them.” ‫ישׁ‬ ִ‫:הור‬ to
drive from their possession, to exterminate (cf. Num_14:12).
CALVI , "9.The enemy said. He relates the boast of Pharaoh not merely in
exultation over him, but to magnify the miracle, whereby God gives over to
destruction this wolf intent upon his prey. But there is more force in the language
when he introduces the Egyptians as speakers, than as if he had described their
plans; for thus does the marvelous catastrophe more strikingly affect our minds,
when the Egyptians, brought as it were on the stage, not only trumpet forth their
victory, but insolently give vent to their arrogance and cruelty. But, presently, the

65. Lord is introduced on the other side, dissipating by a single blast their terrible
audacity. For whence came this great confidence to the Egyptians, promising
themselves that they should be satisfied with the spoils, and that they should have
nothing more to do in order to put the people to death than to draw their swords,
but from the fact of their being very well armed against this unwarlike multitude?
Hence, then, God’s power shone forth more brightly, when He put them out of the
way by “blowing with His wind.”
ELLICOTT, "(9) The enemy said.—Pharaoh’s soldiers were as anxious as their
master to come to blows. (See above, Exodus 15:7.) They hoped to acquire the rich
spoil which the Israelites had carried off from Egypt in the shape of gold and silver
ornaments and goodly apparel (Exodus 12:35-36), as well as their flocks and herds
(Exodus 12:38).
My lust.—Heb., my soul. The particular passion to be gratified was cupidity, or
desire of riches.
Destroy them.—So the Vulg., Onkelos, RosenmSller, Knobel, Kalisch, and others.
The meaning “re-possess,” given in the margin, rests upon the rendering of the
LXX., which is ‫ךץסיו‬ύ‫,ףוי‬ but is otherwise unsupported.
BE SO , "Exodus 15:9. The enemy said, I will pursue — This verse is
inexpressibly beautiful. Instead of barely saying, “The Egyptians, by pursuing the
Israelites, went into the sea,” Moses himself, as it were, enters into the hearts of
these barbarians, assumes their passions, and makes them speak the language which
their thirst of vengeance and strong desire of overtaking the Israelites had put into
their hearts. I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil — We perceive a
palpable vengeance in these words as we read them. The inspired penman has not
suffered one conjunction to intervene between the distinct members of the sentence,
that it might have the greater spirit, and might express more naturally and forcibly
the disposition of a man whose soul is fired, who discourses with himself, and does
not mind connecting his words together. Moses goes further, he represents them as
rioting on spoils, and swimming in joy: My lust shall be satisfied upon them.
COKE, "Exodus 15:9-10. The enemy said, &c.— o reader can be insensible to the
striking beauty in these verses: the exultation of the enemy is so finely expressed in
the one, and their sudden destruction so emphatically in the other: thou didst blow
with thy wind, &c. There is a similar beauty in the song of Deborah: see Judges
5:29-31.
PULPIT, "The enemy said. This verse is important as giving the animus of the
pursuit, showing what was in the thoughts of the soldiers who flocked to Pharaoh's
standard at his call—a point which had not been previously touched. It is
remarkable as a departure from the general stately order of Hebrew poesy, and for
what has been called its "abrupt, gasping" style. The broken speech imitates the

66. utterance of one at once eager and out of breath. I will divide the spoil. The
Israelites, it must be remembered, had gone out of Egypt laden with ornaments of
silver and of gold, and accompanied by flocks and herds of great value. Pharaoh's
soldiers regarded this wealth as legitimate plunder, and intended to appropriate it.
My lust. Literally, "my soul." Rage and hate were the passions to be satiated, rather
than lust. My hand shall destroy them. So the Vulgate, Onkelos, Rosenmuller,
Knobel, Kalisch, and others. The LXX. have ‫́ףוי‬‫ץ‬‫,ךץסיו‬ "acquire the lordship over
them" But the drawn sword points to death rather than recapture.
BI 9-10, "The enemy said.
The enemy’s spirit
Observe the spirit of the enemy of Israel. It was characterized—
1. By great ambition. It was the love of power and dominion. To hold human beings
as property is the vilest display of ambition.
2. Great arrogance and pride. I will pursue (rather “repossess”), overtake, divide, etc.
What self-confidence! What boasting! What assumption! Pride goeth before
destruction.
3. Insatiable avarice. Divide the spoil. Had not Pharaoh enough? An avaricious spirit
unceasingly cries, Give! give! What a cursed spirit it is! Well has it been said that
nature is content with little, grace with less, but the lust of avarice not even with all
things.
4. Reckless malevolence and cruelty. “My lust shall be satisfied, I will draw my
sword,” etc. What thirsting for blood! Ambition and avarice render the mind cold
and the heart callous. Tears, wailings, groans, mangled bodies and the flowing blood
of mankind allay not the fires of human malevolence and lust.
5. Presumptuous confidence and security. I will do, not endeavour, no peradventure.
Contingency and doubt have no place. How foolish for the man who puts on the
armour to boast. (A. Nevin, D. D.)
God’s Church and her enemies
Israel was a type of the Church, Pharaoh a type of the Church’s enemies in all ages of the
world, both of the spiritual enemy Satan, and of the temporal, his instruments. The
deliverance was a type of the deliverance that Christ wrought upon the cross by His
blood; also of that Christ works upon His throne, the one from the reign of sin, the other
from the empire of antichrist. The text is a part of Moses’ song; a song after victory, a
panegyric; the praise of God, attended with dancing, at the sight of the Egyptian wrecks
(Exo_15:20).
1. It was then real; the Israelites then sang it.
2. It is typical; the conquerors of antichrist shall again triumph in the same manner
(Rev_15:3).
3. It was an earnest of future deliverance to the Israelites.
General observations.

67. 1. The greatest idolaters are the fiercest enemies against the Church of God. It is the
Egyptian is the enemy. No nation had more and more sordid idols.
2. The Church’s enemies are not for her correction, but her destruction: “I will
pursue; my hand shall destroy them.”
3. How desperate are sometimes the straits of God’s Israel in the eye of man! How
low their spirits before deliverance.
4. God orders the lusts of men for His own praise.
5. The nearer the deliverance of the Church is, the fiercer are God’s judgments on the
enemies of it, and the higher the enemies’ rage.
6. All creatures are absolutely under the sovereignty of God, and are acted by His
power in all their services.
7. By the same means God saves His people, whereby He destroys His enemies: the
one sank, the other passed through. That which makes one balance sink makes the
other rise the higher.
8. The strength and glory of a people is more wasted by opposing the interests of the
Church than in conflicts with any other enemy.
9. We may take notice of the folly of the Church’s enemies. Former plagues might
have warned them of the power of God, they had but burned their own fingers by
pinching her, yet they would set their force against almighty power, that so often had
worsted them; it is as if men would pull down a steeple with a string.
But the observations I shall treat of are—
1. When the enemies of the Church are in the highest fury and resolution, and the
Church in the greatest extremity and dejection, then is the fittest time for God to
work her deliverance fully and perfectly. When the enemy said, “I will pursue, I will
overtake, I will divide the spoil,” etc., then “God blowed with His wind,” then “they
sank.”
2. God is the author of all the deliverances of the Church, whosoever are the
instruments. “Thou didst blow with Thy wind; who is like unto the Lord among the
gods.” Uses: How dear is the Church to God!
2. Remember former deliverances in time of straits.
3. Thankfully remember former deliverances. (S. Charnock, B. D.)
Vanity of boasting
When Bonaparte was about to invade Russia, a person who had endeavoured to dissuade
him from his purpose, finding he could not prevail, quoted to him the proverb, “Man
proposes, but God disposes”; to which he indignantly replied, “I dispose as well as
propose.” A Christian lady, on hearing the impious boast, remarked, “I set that down as
the turning-point of Bonaparte’s fortunes. God will not suffer a creature with impunity
thus to usurp His prerogative.” It happened to Bonaparte just as the lady predicted. His
invasion of Russia was the commencement of his fall.
Triumphing before the battle
Nothing can be got, but much may be lost, by triumphing before a battle. When Charles

68. V. invaded France, he lost his generals and a great part of his army by famine and
disease; and returned baffled and thoroughly mortified from an enterprize which he
began with such confidence of its happy issue, that he desired Paul Jovius, the historian,
to make a large provision of paper sufficient to record the victories which he was going
to acquire!
Providentially destroyed
During the last summer, at Coblentz, we saw a monument erected to commemorate the
French campaign against the Russians in 1812. It was a gigantic failure; 400,000 men
set forth for Moscow; 25,000, battered and worn and weary, tattered and half famished,
returned. Do you ask how it was done? Not by the timid Alexander’s guns and swords.
We read in one place that “the stars in their courses fought against Sisera”; in another,
how God has sent an army of locusts to overthrow an army of men; but here the very
elements combine to drive the invader back in disgrace. Yes. “He gave snow like wool,
He scattered His hoar-frost like ashes, He cast forth His ice like morsels—who can stand
before His cold?” Who? Not Napoleon who, with self-sufficient heart, boasted in his own
right hand, and sacrificed to his insatiable ambition the blood of myriads of murdered
men. No! God blows upon him with His wind out of the north, and, shivering and half-
starved, he slinks back in defeat. What a picture! But Alexander had not forgotten to
prepare his ways before the Lord and seek the God of Jacob’s aid. And in recognition of
the Divine interposition and help, he struck a medal with a legend: “Not to me, not to us,
but unto Thy Name.” Thus the lesson taught by ancient and modern history is, that the
race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to the man who prepares his
ways before the Lord his God. (Enoch Hall.)
10 But you blew with your breath,
and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
in the mighty waters.
BAR ES, "Exo_15:10
Thou didst blow with thy wind - Notice the solemn majesty of these few words, in
immediate contrast with the tumult and confusion of the preceding verse. In Exo_14:28,
we read only, “the waters returned,” here we are told that it was because the wind blew.
A sudden change in the direction of the wind would bring back at once the masses of
water heaped up on the north.
They sank as lead - See the note at Exo_15:5.

69. GILL, "Thou didst blow with thy wind,.... A strong east wind, Exo_14:22 which is
the Lord Christ's, who has it in his treasury, holds it in his fists, sends it out as he
pleases, and it fulfils his word and will:
the sea covered them; which stood up in an heap as a wall to let Israel pass through,
and fell down with all its waves and billows with great force upon the Egyptians, and
covered and drowned them:
they sunk as lead in the mighty waters; which is a very heavy metal, and, being
cast into the water, sinks to the bottom at once, as did the Egypt
K&D, "Exo_15:10
“Thou didst blow with Thy breath: the sea covered them, they sank as lead in the
mighty waters.” One breath of God was sufficient to sink the proud foe in the waves of
the sea. The waters are called ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ ִ ፍ, because of the mighty proof of the Creator's glory
which is furnished by the waves as they rush majestically along.
ELLICOTT,"(10) Thou didst blow with thy wind.—A new fact, additional to the
narrative in Exodus 14, but in complete harmony with it. As a strong east
(southeast) wind had driven the waters of the Bitter Lakes to the north-westward, so
(it would seem) their return was aided and hastened by a wind from the opposite
direction, which caused the sea to “cover” the Egyptians.
They sank as lead.—Compare Exodus 15:5. To an eye-witness, it would seem, the
sudden submersion and disappearance of each warrior, as the waters closed around
him, was peculiarly impressive. Each seemed to be swallowed up at once, without a
struggle. This would be a natural result of the heavy armour worn by the picked
warriors.
In the mighty waters.—With these words the second stanza, or strophe, closes.
Miriam and her maidens, it is probable, again interposed with the magnificent
refrain, “Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath glorified himself gloriously; the horse and
his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”
BE SO ,"Exodus 15:10. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them —
What an idea does this give us of the power of God! He only blows, and he at once
overwhelms a numberless multitude of forces! This is the true sublime. It is like, Let
there be light, and there was light. Can any thing be greater? The sea covered them
— How many ideas are included in these four words! Any other writer than one
divinely inspired would have set his fancy to work, and have given us a long detail;
would have exhausted the subject, or empoverished it, and tired the reader by a
train of insipid and useless descriptions, and an empty pomp of words. But here
God blows, the sea obeys, and the Egyptians are swallowed up! Was ever
description so full, so lively, so strong, as this? There is no interval between God’s
blowing and the dreadful miracle of vengeance on his enemies, and mercy to his
people!

70. PULPIT, "Thou didst blow with thy wind. Here we have another fact not mentioned
in the direct narrative, but entirely harmonising with it. The immediate cause of the
return of the waters, as of their retirement, was a wind. This wind must have come
from a new quarter, or its effects would not have been to bring the water back. We
may reasonasbly suppose a wind to have arisen contrary to the former one, blowing
from the north-west or the north, which would have driven the water of the Bitter
LaMes southward, and thus produced the effect spoken of. The effect may, or may
not, have been increased by the flow of the tide in the Red Sea They sank as lead.
See the comment on Exodus 15:5.
11 Who among the gods
is like you, Lord?
Who is like you—
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders?
BAR ES, "Exo_15:11
Among the gods - Compare Psa_86:8; Deu_32:16-17. A Hebrew just leaving the
land in which polytheism attained its highest development, with gigantic statues and
temples of incomparable grandeur, might well on such an occasion dwell upon this
consummation of the long series of triumphs by which the “greatness beyond compare”
of Yahweh was once for all established.
CLARKE, "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? - We have already
seen that all the Egyptian gods, or the objects of the Egyptians’ idolatry, were
confounded, and rendered completely despicable, by the ten plagues, which appear to
have been directed principally against them. Here the people of God exult over them
afresh: Who among these gods is like unto Thee? They can neither save nor destroy;
Thou dost both in the most signal manner.
As the original words ‫יהוה‬ ‫באלם‬ ‫כמכה‬ ‫מי‬ mi chamochah baelim Yehovah are supposed to
have constituted the motto on the ensign of the Asmoneans, and to have furnished the
name of Maccabeus to Judas, their grand captain, from whom they were afterwards

71. called Maccabeans, it may be necessary to say a few words on this subject It is possible
that Judas Maccabeus might have had this motto on his ensign, or at least the initial
letters of it, for such a practice was not uncommon. For instance, on the Roman
standard the letters S. P. Q. R. stood for Senatus Populus Que Romanus, i.e. the Senate
and Roman People, and ‫י‬ ‫ב‬ ‫כ‬ ‫מ‬ M. C. B. I. might have stood for Mi Chamochah Baelim
Jehovah, “Who among the gods (or strong ones) is like unto thee, O Jehovah!” But it
appears from the Greek Μακκαβαιος, and also the Syriac makabi, that the name was
written originally with ‫ק‬ koph, not ‫כ‬ caph. It is most likely, as Michaelis has observed,
that the name must have been derived from ‫מקב‬ makkab, a hammer or mallet; hence
Judas, because of his bravery and success, might have been denominated the hammer or
mallet by which the enemies of God had been beaten, pounded, and broken to pieces.
Judas, the hammer of the Lord.
Glorious in holiness - Infinitely resplendent in this attribute, essential to the
perfection of the Divine nature.
Fearful in praises - Such glorious holiness cannot be approached without the
deepest reverence and fear, even by angels, who veil their faces before the majesty of
God. How then should man, who is only sin and dust, approach the presence of his
Maker!
Doing wonders? - Every part of the work of God is wonderful; not only miracles,
which imply an inversion or suspension of the laws of nature, but every part of nature
itself. Who can conceive how a single blade of grass is formed; or how earth, air, and
water become consolidated in the body of the oak? And who can comprehend how the
different tribes of plants and animals are preserved, in all the distinctive characteristics
of their respective natures? And who can conceive how the human being is formed,
nourished, and its different parts developed? What is the true cause of the circulation of
the blood? or, how different ailments produce the solids and fluids of the animal
machine? What is life, sleep, death? And how an impure and unholy soul is regenerated,
purified, refined, and made like unto its great Creator? These are wonders which God
alone works, and to himself only are they fully known.
GILL, "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?.... For the perfections of
his nature, for the blessings of his goodness, and for the works of his hands; and
especially for the greatness and excellency of his power, seen in the salvation of his
people, and the ruin of their enemies: there is none like him "among the mighty ones", as
it may be rendered; among the mighty angels, who excel in strength, and are sometimes
called gods; or among the mighty ones on earth; or the sons of the mighty, kings,
princes, judges, and civil magistrates of every rank and order; especially for the following
things:
who is like thee, glorious in holiness? some understand this of the holy place,
either heaven, where Christ is glorious above all created beings; or the church, where he
shows himself glorious to his people: others, of holy persons, either holy angels, among
whom he was at Sinai, and when he ascended on high, and will be when he comes again,
in his own and his Father's glory; or the saints, when he will bring them with him, and
be glorified in them; but rather it is to be understood of the attribute of his holiness,
which is eminently and perfectly in him; in his person, with respect to both his natures,

72. divine and human; the glory of which is displayed in all the works he has wrought,
especially in the great work of redemption, which was undertook both for the honour of
the holiness and righteousness of God, and to redeem his people from sin, and make
them righteous and holy: it appears in the holy doctrines he taught, and in the holy
commandments and ordinances he enjoined his people, and in his judgments on his
enemies; in all which it is plainly seen that he loves righteousness and hates iniquity, and
there is none like him for it; there is none holy as the Lord among angels or men, 1Sa_
2:2.
fearful in praises; or, in the things for which he is to be praised; as the glories and
excellencies of his person, the blessings received from him, and through him, both
temporal and spiritual; grace, and all the blessings of it here, now communicated, and
glory and happiness promised and expected: and many things, for which he is to be
praised, he is "fearful", awful, and tremendous in them; there are some things his right
hand teaches him, and it does, deserving of praise, which yet are terrible, and such were
they which are here literally, referred to; the plagues upon the Egyptians, and the
destruction of Pharaoh and his host, called the wondrous works done in the land of
Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea, Psa_106:22 and yet these were matter of praise
to Israel, and gave occasion for this song; and such are they, in a spiritual sense, which
he has done to his and our enemies: when the year of his redeemed was come, it was a
day of vengeance in his heart, and he exercised it; he made an end of sin, abolished
death, destroyed him which had the power of it, and spoiled principalities and powers;
and a dreadful slaughter will be made of antichrist and his followers, when the song of
Moses and the Lamb will be sung on account of it; and such dispensations of Providence,
and judgments on men, as on Pharaoh and antichrist, as they are terrible to wicked men,
they strike an awe on the people of God, at the same time they furnish out a song of
praise to them: moreover, this may respect not only the matter of praise, but the
reverend manner in which it is performed by good men; who, as they have a concern that
they cannot sufficiently praise the Lord, and fear they shall not perform it aright, and
sensible of their weakness and imperfection, like the seraphim, cover their faces while
they applaud his perfections, particularly that of his holiness, and declare the earth is
full of his glory; so they desire to perform this, as all their other services, with a holy fear
and trembling, with reverence and godly fear since holy and reverend is his name: it
follows:
doing wonders; and for which there is none like him; wonders Christ did before his
incarnate state, both in eternity, in the goings forth of his heart, in acts of love to his
people, in asking for them, and betrothing them, in becoming the surety of them, in
proposing to be a sacrifice in their stead, in entering into a covenant with his Father on
their account, in taking the care and charge of their persons, and in being the treasury of
all grace and glory for them; and likewise in time, being concerned in the wondrous
works of creation, which are a wonderful display of divine wisdom, power, and
goodness, and in all the affairs of Providence; for there was not any remarkable
occurrence, from the beginning of the world to the time of his coming in the flesh, but he
was concerned therein; as the drowning of the old world, to whom previously he
preached by his Spirit in Noah; the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, the plagues of
Egypt, and the destruction of Pharaoh and his host, the deliverance of the children of
Israel, both out of Egypt and Babylon, and many others: and when he became incarnate,
how many wonders were wrought by him? the incarnation itself was a wonderful
instance of his grace and condescension, to take upon him the nature of man, be made
flesh, and dwell among them; and during his incarnate state on earth many wonders

73. were done by him; the doctrines he taught, the miracles he wrought, and especially the
great work of our redemption and salvation, which will be for ever the wonder of men
and angels; his raising himself from the dead, his ascension to heaven, and his
appearance there for his people, as well as his second coming to judgment, are all
marvellous things; and on account of all this, and more, he may well be called
"wonderful"; for working wonders there is none like him.
K&D, "Exo_15:11-18
Third strophe. On the ground of this glorious act of God, the song rises in the third
strophe into firm assurance, that in His incomparable exaltation above all gods Jehovah
will finish the word of salvation, already begun, fill all the enemies of Israel with terror at
the greatness of His arm, bring His people to His holy dwelling-place, and plant them on
the mountain of His inheritance. What the Lord had done thus far, the singer regarded
as a pledge of the future.
CALVI , "11.Who is like unto thee? Moses concludes this song of praise with an
ejaculation, because the grandeur of the subject transcends the power of words. The
interrogation expresses more than as if he had simply asserted that none can be
compared with God; because it marks both admiration and assured confidence in
the truth of what he says; for he exclaims, as if overwhelmed with astonishment,
“Who is like unto thee, O Lord?” The notion of some that by the word “gods” he
means the angels, is more suitable to other passages; for instance, (Psalms 89:6,)
“Who in heaven can be compared unto the Lord; who among the sons (162) of the
mighty can be likened unto the Lord?” for it immediately follows, “God is greatly to
be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that
are round about him.” (Exodus 15:7, etc.) The meaning then is, (163) that, although
there be excellence in the angels, still God is exalted far above them all; but here it
may be more properly referred to idols, for Moses (as has been said) is professedly
contrasting’ the one true God, whose religion and worship existed among the
children of Abraham, with the delusions of the Gentiles. The word “sanctitas,”
holiness, expresses that glory which separates God from all His creatures; and
therefore, in a manner, it degrades all the other deities which the world has invented
for itself; since the majesty of the one only God is thus eminent and honorable. He
adds, “fearful in praises;” because He cannot be duly praised, without ravishing us
with astonishment. Moses afterwards explains himself, by saying that God’s works
are wonderful. In my opinion, their explanation is a poor one, who think that He is
said to be “fearful in praises,” because He is to be praised with fear; and theirs is
farfetched, who say that he is terrible, even when he is praised.
ELLICOTT, "(11) Who is like unto thee . . . Among the gods ?—This is
undoubtedly the true meaning. It had been a main object of the entire series of
miraculous visitations to show that Jehovah was “exalted far above all other gods.”
(See Exodus 7:5; Exodus 14:4; Exodus 14:18.) Moses now emphasises the contrast
by adducing three points on which Jehovah is unapproachable—holiness,
awefulness, and miraculous power. God is (1) “glorious in holiness,” exalted in this
respect far, far above all other beings; (2) “fearful in praises”—the proper object of
the profoundest awe, even to those who approach Him with praise and

74. thanksgiving; and (3) one who “doeth wonders,” who both through nature, and on
occasions overruling nature, accomplishes the most astonishing results, causing all
men to marvel at His Almighty power. The gods of the heathen were, in fact, either
nonentities or evil spirits. So far as they were the former, they could come into no
comparison at all with Jehovah; so far as they were the latter, they fell infinitely
short of Him in every respect. Of holiness they possessed no remnant; in awfulness
they were immeasurably inferior; in the ability to work wonders they did not
deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. “Among the gods,” as the Psalmist says,
“there is none like unto thee, O Lord; there is none that can do as thou doest”
(Psalms 86:8).
Verse 11-12
(11, 12) Stanza 3 is a short one, entering into no details—simply summing up the
entire result in two sentences: one, parallel to Exodus 15:2-3; Exodus 15:6-7, setting
forth the glory of God, as shown in the occurrences; the other emphasising the great
fact of the occasion, and stating it in the briefest possible terms: “Thou stretchedst
out thy right hand; the earth swallowed them.” This second clause is parallel to
Exodus 15:4-5; Exodus 15:8-10. It concentrates into four words the gist of those two
passages.
BE SO , "Exodus 15:11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? — So
called; the idols or princes. To the wonderful relation above mentioned, succeeds a
wonderful expression of praise. And how, indeed, could the writer possibly avoid
being transported, and carried, as it were, out of himself at the sight of such a
wonder? Well might he describe Jehovah, that performed it, as glorious in holiness
— In justice, mercy, and truth; fearful in praises — A Being that ought to be
praised with the deepest reverence, and most exalted adoration.
COFFMA , "Verses 11-15
"Who is like unto thee, O Jehovah, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in
holiness? Fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchest out thy right hand, the
earth swallowed them. Thou in thy lovingkindness hast led the people that thou hast
redeemed. Thou has guided them in thy strength to thy holy habitation. The people
have heard, they tremble: Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.
Then were the chiefs of Edom dismayed; The mighty men of Moab, trembling
taketh hold upon them. All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away."
"O Jehovah ..." Scholars have pointed out that a substitute for this name was used
in Exodus 15:2, where the short form, Yah, is used (an abbreviation for Jehovah),
perhaps for the sake of maintaining the rhythm, that being the first occurrence of it.
Later, it was also used extensively in proper names, as in Abijah, Ahaziah,
Hezekiah, Zedekiah, Mount Moriah, etc.[25]"
"Who is like unto thee ... among the gods?" It is a gross error to suppose that this
recognizes the heathen gods as actually existing. One of the great purposes of the
plagues was to demonstrate that they did OT exist. We might paraphrase the
passage as asking, "Where, among the heathen idols, is there anything like the true

75. God Jehovah? ... The so-called gods of the heathen were non-entities."[26] The new
translation of the Torah does not use the term "gods" here at all, rendering it
"celestials."[27] That this passage indicates "a belief in many gods with whom the
Lord could be compared,"[28] is true only in the sense that some of Moses'
contemporaries held that view. Certainly, that was not the belief of Moses, or any
other of the prophets of God. Gods, as used here, refers neither to potentates nor
great men, but to the heathen gods, and the Hebrew idiom here (a negative stated as
a question) is not an invitation to compare Almighty God with heathen idols, but a
mighty negative declaring that such is impossible? Fields summed it up thus:
"Whether the word `gods' refers to mighty men, as in Ezekiel 32:21, or to mighty
angels, as in Psalms 29:1, or to idols, as in Isaiah 43:10, or to other supposedly-
existing mighty gods, O O E is like THE LORD.[30]
"Who is like thee, glorious in holiness ...?" Again from Fields:
"The idea set forth in the Broadman Commentary (Vol. 1,1969), that moral
perfection and righteousness were applications of the term `holiness' used only in
centuries later than Moses is contradicted by Leviticus 19:15, from a book written
by Moses. Of course, the skeptical critics affirm without proof that Leviticus was
written during or after the Babylonian exile![31]
Furthermore, in this same connection, much of the balance of Exodus, with its strict
injunctions against all kinds of wicked behavior is related absolutely to the intrinsic
and perfect HOLI ESS of Almighty God.
"The earth swallowed them ..." How strange that men should quibble about this, on
the basis that it was not the earth but the sea that swallowed Pharaoh's army! Have
they not read what Jonah said when he went down into depths? "The earth with its
bars closed upon me forever "(Jonah 2:6). As Dummelow put it, "The earth is a
general term including the sea."[32]
"Thou hast guided them ... to thy holy habitation ..." The word guided here is used
in the sense of "bearing or carrying." "All guidance involves patience and
forbearance."[33]
"To thy holy habitation ..." This is not a reference to the Jewish temple, nor to the
city of Jerusalem, nor to any sanctuary, and not even to Mount Moriah. "The holy
habitation of God was the land of Canaan (Psalms 78:54), and it had been
consecrated by God as a sacred abode for Jehovah among His people in the land
promised to the patriarchs."[34]
Furthermore, this passage is not proof that Exodus was written long afterward
when the Jews were settled in Canaan, it is a prophecy of what God will do, spoken
of here in the past perfect, or prophetic tense, the passage of the Red Sea and the
overthrow of the Egyptians having made it clear that what God had promised
relative to settling Israel in Canaan was considered as good as done already. Jones
discerned this and said, "The evidence of God's irresistible and gracious power just

76. given was sufficient warrant for praising him in anticipation for what remained to
be done."[35] There is no understanding of the O.T. whatever, apart from the
recognition of prophetic tense when it appears. There is no doubt whatever of its
occurrence here. "The shifting of tenses here shows that the time of the events
mentioned was partly in the past, partly in the present, and partly in the
future."[36]
The branding of the mention of the land of the Philistines (Philistia) here as an
anachronism, as many have done, was pointed out by Fields as, "an error. There is
some archeological evidence of the Philistines in that area at the time of the exodus;
and, besides, here is the Biblical testimony!"[37] I recently observed a bumper
sticker that said: "The Bible says it; I believe it; and that settles it!" Keil's comment
on this alleged problem was as follows:
"The fact that the inhabitants of Philistia and Canaan are here described in the
same terms as Edom and Moab, is an unquestionable proof that this song was
composed at a time when the command to exterminate the Canaanites had OT
YET been given, and before the boundary of the territory to be captured by the
Israelites had been fixed. In other words, this proves that it was sung by Moses and
the children of Israel AFTER their passage through the Red Sea.[38]
COKE, "Exodus 15:11. Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?— The
sacred Writer here refers to those gods of Egypt, over whom Jehovah had now so
gloriously triumphed; and one of the great ends of whose miracles in Egypt was,
doubtless, to assert his Supremacy, and to shew his superiority over all local and
false deities. See Bishop Sherlock's Discourses, vol. 1: dis. 10: p. 280, &c.
Fearful in praises— That is, (say some,) "who cannot, and who ought not, to be
praised without religious awe:" or, (as others,) "fearful in, or by, the most excellent
and praise-worthy actions;" the abstract bring used for the concrete. So, Philippians
4:8 if there be any praise; i.e. any thing praise-worthy.
SIMEO , "THE CHARACTER OF GOD
Exodus 15:11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee,
glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
EXALTED favours may well be repaid in devout acknowledgments: they are the
least returns that we can make to our heavenly Benefactor: and so reasonable is this
tribute, that persons who are far enough removed from solid piety, will, under a
sense of recent obligations, often cordially unite in paying it to the God of their
salvation. The hymn before us was composed by Moses, on occasion of the
deliverance vouchsafed to Israel at the Red Sea: and it was sung by all the Israelites,
probably by the men and women in an alternate and responsive manner, Miriam
leading the women, and, together with them, accompanying the song with timbrels
and dances [ ote: 0, 21.]. It is the most ancient composition of the kind, that is
extant in the world. The two first verses are a kind of preface, declaring the

77. occasion, and the inspired penman’s determination to celebrate it [ ote: Somewhat
like that in Psalms 45:1.]. The mercy then is stated in a most animated manner; and
afterwards, its effects, both immediate and remote, are circumstantially predicted.
But, between the statement of the mercy and its effects, is introduced an apostrophe,
addressed to the Deity himself, and ascribing to him the glory due unto his name. To
this portion of the hymn we would now direct your more particular attention. It
declares that God is,
I. To be admired for his holiness—
God is essentially and supremely holy—
[He is not only called, by way of eminence, “The Holy One,” but this attribute is said
exclusively to belong to him; “Thou only art holy.” As for the gods of the heathen,
many of them were no other than deified monsters, patrons of lewdness, of theft, of
drunkenness, and every kind of iniquity: and among the rest there was not found
even the smallest semblance of real universal holiness. Well therefore might the
challenge be made in reference to this, “Who among the gods is like unto thee, O
Lord?” This attribute is, in fact, the crown of all the other attributes of the Deity;
for, without it, no other perfection could be either amiable in itself or worthy of the
Supreme Being. But, without entering into the general view of this subject, we need
only look at the “wonders done” on this occasion; and there we shall see a display of
this attribute in its most striking colours. Behold his indignation against sin, how it
burned against the oppressors of his people, and the contemners of his authority!
The very elements themselves were made to rise against the proud associates in
iniquity, and to execute upon them the vengeance they deserved — — —]
For this he is greatly to be admired and glorified—
[ o other perfection more attracts the attention of all the glorified saints and angels
in heaven, than this [ ote: Compare Isaiah 6:3 with Revelation 4:8.]. And,
notwithstanding it is hateful and terrific to impenitent sinners, it is an object of the
highest admiration amongst those who have learned to appreciate it aright. David
was altogether enraptured with it [ ote: Psalms 99:3; Psalms 99:5; Psalms 99:9.] ;
and every real saint will “give thanks at the remembrance of it [ ote: Psalms 30:4.
See an animated description of their imbecility, Jeremiah 10:3-7.] ” — — —]
Whilst he is thus admired for his unspotted holiness, he is also,
II. To be feared for his power—
God is a God of unrivalled power—
[The gods of the heathen cannot hear, or see, or move: but the power of Jehovah is
infinite. What less than omnipotence could have performed the “wonders” which
are here celebrated? See how easily the expectations of his enemies were
disappointed, and their bloody purposes were frustrated, by one blast of his

78. displeasure [ ote:, 10. The picture here is highly finished. The amplification in the
former verse, and the conciseness of the latter, form a beautiful contract; whilst the
image that closes the description, strongly marks the completeness of the judgment
executed.] ! — — —]
For this he is greatly to be feared—
[For this exercise of his power indeed he was praised; as well he might be for such a
merciful and complete deliverance. But it may truly be said, that he is “fearful in
praises [ ote: The last clause of the text may be understood as limiting and
illustrating the two that precede it. Compare Luke 1:49.]:” for this display of his
power clearly shews, that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God.” Accordingly we find, that the inspired writers generally make this
improvement of God’s omnipotence, and suggest it as a motive to reverence his
majesty, to regard his will, and to tremble at his displeasure [ ote: Psalms 89:6-8;
Hebrews 12:28-29; Deuteronomy 28:58-59.] — — —]
We may learn from hence,
1. How the mercies of God are to be improved—
[All of us have experienced mercies in abundance: and from them we may obtain
the brightest discoveries of our God. O what displays of power, of goodness, and of
truth, might all of us behold, if we called to mind the various deliverances which
God has wrought out for us, and especially that redemption which was prefigured
by the history before us! The connexion between the two is expressly marked by
God himself; and we are told, what a mixture of admiration and reverence, of love
and fear, a just view of these miracles of mercy will assuredly create [ ote:
Revelation 15:3-4.]. Let them then produce these effects on us; and let us now begin,
what we hope to continue to all eternity, “the song of Moses and the Lamb.”]
2. How every attempt against him or his people shall surely issue—
[Here we see a lively representation of the final issue of every contest which man
shall enter into with his Maker. The forbearance of God may be long exercised; and
his enemies may appear for a time to have gained their point: but in due time, hell
shall open wide its jaws to swallow them up, and they shall become the wretched
victims of their own impiety. Against God and his Church, there is no device, no
counsel that shall stand.
His Church is founded on a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it
The enemies of our souls may follow us even to the last moment of our lives; but
when the appointed moment is arrived for the completion of all God’s promises to
us, our souls shall be freed from every assault, and “death and hell, with all their
adherents, be cast into the lake of fire [ ote: Revelation 20:14.].”]
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:11, Exodus 15:12

79. Contain the third stanza of the first division of the ode. It is short compared to the
other two, containing merely a fresh ascription of praise to God, cast in anew form;
and a repetition of the great fact which the poem commemorates—the Egyptian
overthrow. We conceive that Miriam's chorus (Exodus 15:21) was again interposed
between Exodus 15:10 and Exodus 15:11.
Exodus 15:11
Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? It was one great object of the whole
series of miraculous visitations whereof Egypt had been the scene, that the true God,
Jehovah, should be exalted far above all the gods of the heathen. (See Exodus 7:5;
Exodus 14:4, Exodus 14:18.) Moses therefore makes this one of his topics of praise;
and at the same time notes three points in which God has no rival—
1. Holiness;
2. Awfulness; and
3. Miraculous power.
Compare Psalms 86:8; "Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord;
neither are there any works like thy works." Fearful in praises—i.e; "to be viewed
with awe even when we praise Him."
BI, "Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods?
The incomparable God
I. Who is like unto thee, o lord, among the gods?
1. King of kings and Lord of lords! Who among the gods is like unto Thee in majesty
and power? Well might Israel exultingly make this inquiry.
2. Who is like unto Thee in the ineffable purity of Thy nature? “Glorious in holiness!”
3. Who is like unto Thee in the solemnity and sanctity of Thy worship?—“fearful in
praises!” The gloriously holy God is alone worthy to be praised, but that praise ought
to be offered with “reverence and godly fear.”
II. Who does like Thee?—“doing wonders.”
1. The wonders alluded in the text were undoubtedly the miracles recently wrought
by Jehovah for the salvation of His people. “Thou art the God that doest wonders,”
etc. (Psa_77:14-20).
2. But not only miracles, which imply an inversion or suspension of the laws of
nature, but nature and her laws—every part of the work of God in the heavens and in
the earth is wonderful, and amply shows forth the power and wisdom of the Creator
(Job_37:14-23; Psa_8:3-4; Psa_19:1-7). If we only study our own frame, we shall be
led to exclaim with the Psalmist, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made!”
3. The Lord sometimes does wonders in judgment, flood, etc.

80. 4. The Lord does wonders in mercy. Redemption. (B. Bailey.)
Glorious in holiness.—
The holiness of God
Plutarch said not amiss, that he should count himself less injured by that man that
should deny that there was such a man as Plutarch, than by him that should affirm that
there was such a one indeed, but he was a debauched fellow, a loose and vicious person.
He that saith, God is not holy, speaks much worse than he that saith, There is no God at
all. Let these two things be considered:
1. If any, this attribute hath an excellency above His other perfections.
(1) None is sounded out with such solemnity, and so frequently by angels that
stand before His throne, as this.
(2) He singles it out to swear by (Psa_89:35; Amo_4:2).
(3) It is His glory and beauty. Holiness is the honour of the creature—
sanctification and honour are linked together (1Th_4:4)—much more is it the
honour of God; it is the image of God in the creature (Eph_4:24).
(4) It is His very life; so it is called (Eph_4:18).
2. As it seems to challenge an excellency above all His other perfections, so it is the
glory of all the rest; as it is the glory of the Godhead, so it is the glory of every
perfection in the Godhead; as His power is the strength of them, so His holiness is
the beauty of them; as all would be weak without almightiness to back them, so all
would be uncomely without holiness to adorn them. Should this be sullied, all the
rest would lose their honour and their comfortable efficacy; as at the same instant
that the sun should lose its light, it would lose its heat, its strength, its generative and
quickening virtue.
I. The nature of Divine holiness. The holiness of God negatively is a perfect freedom
from all evil. As we call gold pure that is not imbased by any dross, and that garment
clean that is free from any spot, so the nature of God is estranged from all shadow of evil,
all imaginable contagion. Positively, it is the rectitude of the Divine nature, or that
conformity of it in affection and action to the Divine will as to His eternal law, whereby
He works with a becomingness to His own excellency, and whereby He hath a
complacency in everything agreeable to His will, and an abhorrency of everything
contrary thereunto. In particular. This property of the Divine nature is—
1. An essential and necessary perfection. He is essentially and necessarily holy. His
holiness is as necessary as His being, as necessary as His omniscience.
2. God is absolutely holy (1Sa_2:2).
3. God is so holy, that He cannot possibly approve of any evil done by another, but
doth perfectly abhor it; it would not else be a glorious holiness (Psa_5:3), “He hath
no pleasure in wickedness.” He doth not only love that which is just, but abhor with a
perfect hatred all things contrary to the rule of righteousness. Holiness can no more
approve of sin than it can commit it.
4. God is so holy, that He cannot but love holiness in others. Not that He owes
anything to His creature, but from the unspeakable holiness of His nature, whence

81. affections to all things that bear a resemblance of Him do flow; as light shoots out
from the sun, or any glittering body. It is essential to the infinite righteousness of His
nature, to love righteousness wherever He beholds it (Psa_11:7).
5. God is so holy, that He cannot positively will or encourage sin in any.
6. God cannot act any evil in or by Himself.
II. The proof that God is holy.
1. His holiness appears as He is Creator, in framing man in a perfect uprightness.
2. His holiness appears in His laws, as He is a Lawgiver and a Judge. This purity is
evident—
(1) In the moral law, or law of nature;
(2) In the ceremonial law;
(3) In the allurements annexed to it for keeping it, and the affrightments to
restrain from the breaking of it;
(4) In the judgments inflicted for the violation of it.
3. The holiness of God appears in our restoration. It is in the glass of the gospel we
“behold the glory of the Lord” (2Co_3:18); that is, the glory of the Lord, into whose
image we are changed; but we are changed into nothing as the image of God but into
holiness. We bore not upon us by creation, nor by regeneration, the image of any
other perfection. We cannot be changed into His omnipotence, omniscience, etc., but
into the image of His righteousness. This is the pleasing and glorious sight the gospel
mirror darts in our eyes. The whole scene of redemption is nothing else but a
discovery of judgment and righteousness. “Zion shall be redeemed with judgment,
and her converts with righteousness (Isa_1:27).
(1) This holiness of God appears in the manner of our restoration, viz., by the
death of Christ.
(2) The holiness of God in His hatred of sin appears in our justification, and the
conditions He requires of all that would enjoy the benefit of redemption.
(3) It appears in the actual regeneration of the redeemed soul, and a carrying it
on to a full perfection. As election is the effect of God’s sovereignty, our pardon
the fruit of His mercy, our knowledge a stream from His wisdom, our strength an
impression of His power, so our purity is a beam from His holiness. The whole
work of sanctification, and the preservation of it, our Saviour begs for His
disciples of His Father under this title (Joh_17:11; Joh_17:17).
III. The third thing I am to do, is to lay down some propositions in the defence of God’s
holiness in all His acts about or concerning sin.
1. God’s holiness is not chargeable with any blemish, for His creating man in a
mutable slate. It was suitable to the wisdom of God to give the rational creature,
whom He had furnished with a power of acting righteously, the liberty of choice, and
not fix him in an unchangeable state, without a trial of him in his natural. And if he
did obey, his obedience might be the more valuable; and if he did freely offend, his
offence might be more inexcusable.
(1) No creature can be capable of immutability by nature. Mutability is so
essential to a creature, that a creature cannot be supposed without it.

82. (2) Though God made the creature mutable, yet He made Him not evil. There
could be nothing of evil in him that God created after His own image, and
pronounced good (Gen_1:27; Gen_1:31).
(3) Therefore it follows, that though God created man changeable, yet He was
not the cause of his change by his fall.
2. God’s holiness is not blemished by enjoining man a law which He knew he would
not observe.
(1) The law was not above his strength.
(2) Though the law now be above the strength of man, yet is not the holiness of
God blemished by keeping it up. It is true, God hath been graciously pleased t,,
mitigate the severity of the law by the entrance of the gospel; yet, where men
refuse the terms of the gospel they continue themselves under the condemnation
of the law, and are justly guilty of the breach of it, though they have no strength
to observe it.
(3) God’s foreknowledge that His law would not be observed lays no blame upon
Him. Though the foreknowledge of God be infallible, yet it doth not necessitate
the creature in acting.
3. The holiness of God is not blemished by decreeing the eternal rejection of some
men.
4. The holiness of God is not blemished by His secret will to suffer sin to enter into
the world. God never willed sin by His preceptive will. It was never founded upon, or
produced by any word of His, as the creation was. Nor doth He will it by His
approving will; it is detestable to Him, nor ever can be otherwise. He cannot approve
it either before commission or after.
IV. The point was, that holiness is a glorious perfection of the nature of God. We have
showed the nature of this holiness in God, what it is, and we have demonstrated it, and
proved that God is holy, and must needs be so, and also the purity of His nature in all
His acts about sin. Let us now improve it by way of use.
1. Is holiness a transcendent perfection belonging to the nature of God? The first use
shall be of instruction and information.
(1) How great and how frequent is the contempt of this eminent perfection in the
Deity!
(2) It may inform us how great is our fall from God, and how distant we are from
Him.
(3) All unholiness is vile and opposite to the nature of God.
(4) Sin cannot escape a due punishment. A hatred of unrighteousness, and
consequently a will to punish it, is as essential to God as a love of righteousness.
(5) There is therefore a necessity of the satisfaction of the holiness of God by
some sufficient mediator. The Divine purity could not meet with any
acquiescence in all mankind after the Fall.
(6) Hence it will follow, there is no justification of a sinner by anything in
himself.
2. The second use is for comfort. This attribute frowns upon lapsed nature, but

83. smiles in the restorations made by the gospel.
3. Is holiness an eminent perfection of the Divine nature? Then—
(1) Let us get and preserve right and strong apprehensions of this Divine
perfection.
(2) Is holiness a perfection of the Divine nature? Is it the glory of the Deity?
Then let us glorify this holiness of God.
(3) Since holiness is an eminent perfection of the Divine nature, let us labour
after a conformity to God in this perfection.
(4) If holiness be a perfection belonging to the nature of God, then, where there
is some weak conformity to the holiness of God, let us labour to grow up in it,
and breathe after fuller measures of it.
(5) Let us carry ourselves holily in a spiritual manner in all our religious
approaches to God (Psa_93:5).
(6) Let us address for holiness to God the fountain of it. As He is the author of
bodily life in the creature, so He is the author of His own life, the life of God in
the soul. (S. Charnock, B. D.)
God the pattern of holiness
No creature can be essentially holy but by participation from the chief fountain of
holiness, but we must have the same kind of holiness, the same truth of holiness; as a
short line may be as straight as another, though it parallel it not in the immense length
of it; a copy may have the likeness of the original, though not the same perfection. We
cannot be good without eyeing some exemplar of goodness as the pattern. No pattern, is
so suitable as that which is the highest goodness and purity. That limner that would
draw the most excellent piece fixes his eye upon the most excellent pattern. He that
would be a good orator, or poet, or artificer, considers some person most excellent in
each kind as the object of his imitation. Who so fit as God to be viewed as the pattern of
holiness in our intendment of, and endeavours after, holiness? The Stoics, one of the
best sects of philosophers, advised their disciples to pitch upon some eminent example
of virtue, according to which to form their lives, as Socrates, etc. But true holiness doth
not only endeavour to live the life of a good man, but chooses to live a Divine life. As
before the man was “alienated from the life of God,” so upon his return he aspires after
the life of God. To endeavour to be like a good man is to make one image like another, to
set our clocks by other clocks without regarding the sun; but true holiness consists in a
likeness to the most exact sampler. God being the first purity, is the rule as well as the
spring of all purity in the creature, the chief and first object of imitation. (S. Charnock,
B. D.)
The holiness of God and that of His best saints
There is as little proportion between the holiness of the Divine majesty and that of the
most righteous creature, as there is between the nearness of a person that stands upon a
mountain to the sun, and of him that beholds him in a vale; one is nearer than the other,
but it is an advantage not to be boasted, in regard of the vast distance that is between the
sun and the elevated spectator. (S. Charnock, B. D.)

84. God loves holiness
God is essentially, originally, and efficiently holy: all the holiness in men and angels is
but a crystal stream that runs from this glorious ocean. God loves holiness, because it is
His own image. A king cannot but love to see his own effigies stamped on coin. God
counts holiness His own glory, and the most sparkling jewel of His crown. “Glorious in
holiness.” (T. Watson.)
12 “You stretch out your right hand,
and the earth swallows your enemies.
CLARKE, "The earth swallowed them - It is very likely there was also an
earthquake on this occasion, and that chasms were made in the bottom of the sea, by
which many of them were swallowed up, though multitudes were overwhelmed by the
waters, whose dead bodies were afterward thrown ashore. The psalmist strongly
intimates that there was an earthquake on this occasion: The voice of thy thunder was in
the heaven; the lightnings lightened the world; the Earth Trembled and Shook; Psa_
77:18.
GILL, "Thou stretchedst out thy right hand,.... That is, exerted his power, and
gave a display and proof of it; of which the right hand is an emblem:
the earth swallowed them; meaning Pharaoh and his host; for though they were
drowned in the sea, that being a part of the terraqueous globe, they may be said to be
swallowed in the earth; as Jonah, when in the depth of the sea, the earth and its bars are
said to be about him, Jon_2:6 and besides, many of Pharaoh's army might be swallowed
up in the mud at the bottom of the sea: nor is it improbable that those that were cast
upon the banks and sand, whom the Israelites stripped, might be afterwards swallowed
up therein.
HE RY, "He describes the deliverance they were now triumphing in, because the
song was intended, not only to express and excite their thankfulness for the present, but
to preserve and perpetuate the remembrance of this work of wonder to after-ages. Two
things were to be taken notice of: -
[1.] The destruction of the enemy; the waters were divided, Exo_15:8. The floods stood

85. upright as a heap. Pharaoh and all his hosts were buried in the waters. The horse and
his rider could not escape (Exo_15:1), the chariots, and the chosen captains (Exo_15:4);
they themselves went into the sea, and they were overwhelmed, Exo_15:19. The depths,
the sea, covered them, and the proud waters went over the proud sinners; they sank like
a stone, like lead (Exo_15:5, Exo_15:10), under the weight of their own guilt and God's
wrath. Their sin had made them hard like a stone, and now they justly sink like a stone.
Nay, the earth itself swallowed them (Exo_15:12); their dead bodies sank into the sands
upon which they were thrown up, which sucked them in. Those whom the Creator fights
against the whole creation is at war with. All this was the Lord's doing, and his only. It
was an act of his power: Thy right hand, O Lord, not ours, has dashed in pieces the
enemy, Exo_15:6. It was with the blast of thy nostrils (Exo_15:8), and thy wind (Exo_
15:10), and the stretching out of thy right hand, Exo_15:12. It was an instance of his
transcendent power - in the greatness of thy excellency; and it was the execution of his
justice: Thou sentest forth thy wrath, Exo_15:7. This destruction of the Egyptians was
made the more remarkable by their pride and insolence, and their strange assurance of
success: The enemy said, I will pursue, Exo_15:9. Here is, First, Great confidence. When
they pursue, they do not question but they shall overtake; and, when they overtake, they
do not question but they shall overcome, and obtain so decisive a victory as to divide the
spoil. Note, It is common for men to be most elevated with the hope of success when
they are upon the brink of ruin, which makes their ruin so much the sorer. See Isa_
37:24, Isa_37:25. Secondly, Great cruelty - nothing but killing, and slaying, and
destroying, and this will satisfy his lust; and a barbarous lust that is which so much
blood must be the satisfaction of. Note, It is a cruel hatred with which the church is
hated; its enemies are bloody men. This is taken notice of here to show, 1. That God
resists the proud, and delights to humble those who lift up themselves; he that says, “I
will, and I will, whether God will or no,” shall be made to know that wherein he deals
proudly God is above him. 2. That those who thirst for blood shall have enough of it.
Those who love to be destroying shall be destroyed; for we know who has said,
Vengeance is mine, I will repay.
K&D, "Exo_15:11-12
“Who is like unto Thee among the gods, O Jehovah (‫ים‬ ִ‫ל‬ ֵ‫:א‬ not strong ones, but gods,
Elohim, Psa_86:8, because none of the many so-called gods could perform such deeds),
who is like unto Thee, glorified in holiness?” God had glorified Himself in holiness
through the redemption of His people and the destruction of His foes; so that Asaph
could sing, “Thy way, O God, is in holiness” (Psa_78:13). ‫שׁ‬ ֶ‫ּד‬‫ק‬, holiness, is the sublime
and incomparable majesty of God, exalted above all the imperfections and blemishes of
the finite creature (vid., Exo_19:6). “Fearful for praises, doing wonders.” The bold
expression ‫ּת‬ ִ‫ה‬ ְ‫ת‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫ּור‬‫נ‬ conveys more than summe venerandus, s. colendus laudibus, and
signifies terrible to praise, terribilis laudibus. As His rule among men is fearful (Psa_
66:5), because He performs fearful miracles, so it is only with fear and trembling that
man can sing songs of praise worthy of His wondrous works. Omnium enim laudantium
vires, linguas et mentes superant ideoque magno cum timore et tremore eum laudant
omnes angeli et sancti (C. a Lap.). “Thou stretchest out Thy hand, the earth swallows
them.” With these words the singer passes in survey all the mighty acts of the Lord,
which were wrapt up in this miraculous overthrow of the Egyptians. The words no
longer refer to the destruction of Pharaoh and his host. What Egypt had experienced
would come upon all the enemies of the Lord and His people. Neither the idea of the
earth swallowing them, nor the use of the imperfect, is applicable to the destruction of

86. the Egyptians (see Exo_15:1, Exo_15:4, Exo_15:5, Exo_15:10, Exo_15:19, where the
perfect is applied to it as already accomplished).
ELLICOTT, "(12) The earth swallowed them.—The sea, which actually “swallowed
them,” was a part of the earth. Literalism might argue that the statement
contravened former ones (Exodus 15:4-5; Exodus 15:10); but the fact is otherwise. If
we only allow our common sense fair play, and permit sacred writers the same
latitude as profane ones, we shall find wonderfully few discrepancies, or even
difficulties, in the Biblical narrative.
COKE,"Exodus 15:12. The earth swallowed them— That is, says Ainsworth, the
bottom of the sea, the abyss which the sea covers; as in Jonah 2:6.— ‫ארצ‬ aretz,
rendered earth, sometimes signifies, the lowest part of the earth: pars infima
cujuscunque rei, the lowest part of any thing, says Calasio: the lowest part of the
earth devoured them.
13 In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.
BAR ES, "Exo_15:13
Thy holy habitation - Either Palestine, regarded as the land of promise, sanctified
by manifestations of God to the Patriarchs, and destined to be both the home of God’s
people, and the place where His glory and purposes were to be perfectly revealed: or
Mount Moriah.
CLARKE, "Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation
- As this ode was dictated by the Spirit of God, It is most natural to understand this and
the following verses, to the end of the 18th, as containing a prediction of what God
would do for this people which he had so miraculously redeemed. On this mode of
interpretation it would be better to read several of the verbs in the future tense.

87. GILL, "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast
redeemed,.... From their servitude and bondage in Egypt; and so they were the Lord's
people, peculiar to him, and distinct from all others: those he led forth, as out of Egypt,
so through the Red sea onward towards Canaan's land; which was owing to his mercy,
pity, and compassion to them in their affliction and distress: thus the spiritual Israel are
a people redeemed by Christ from the bondage of sin, Satan, and the law, and are his
property, special and peculiar to him, and distinguished from all others: those he leads
forth out of the state of nature in which they are, which is a very uncomfortable one,
dark, bewildered, and forlorn, and out of their own ways, both of sin and self-
righteousness; he leads them in himself the true way to eternal life, and in the paths of
faith, truth, and holiness; and he leads to himself, his blood, righteousness, and fulness,
and into his Father's presence, into his house and ordinances, and at last to heaven, the
city of their habitation: and though it is sometimes in a rough way he leads them thither,
yet always in a right one; and this must be ascribed to his grace and mercy, and not to
the merits of his people: it was owing to his mercy he engaged for them as a surety, and
came into this world to be their Saviour, in his love and pity he redeemed them; and it is
according to abundant mercy they are regenerated, and called, and saved:
thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation; or rather, "art
guiding them" (w); for as yet they were not brought to their rest, the land of Canaan,
where God had chosen a place for his people and himself to dwell in; nor was the
tabernacle as yet made, much less the temple, where Jehovah took up his residence; but
as he had brought out his people Israel from Egypt with a strong hand, and mighty arm,
he was guiding and directing them onward in their journey, in the same greatness of his
strength, which he would and did continue, until he brought them to the place he had
chosen for his habitation; which was typical, both tabernacle and temple, of the human
nature of Christ, in which the fulness of the Godhead dwells, and which is holy, being
perfectly free from sin, and to which the people of God are guided as the new and living
way to the Father, and whereby they have communion with him: likewise they were an
emblem of the church of God, where Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, dwell, and which
consists of holy persons, and where holy services are performed; and hither the Lord
guides and directs his people, and where he gives them a nature and a place better than
that of sons and daughters; and also of heaven, where the Lord dwells, and which is the
habitation of his holiness, where are holy angels, and the spirits of just men made
perfect, and into which none shall enter but those that are holy; and hither the Lord
guides all his people, with his counsel, and by his Spirit and word, and by his almighty
power brings them thither;
HENRY 13-18, " The protection and guidance of Israel (Exo_15:13): Thou in thy
mercy hast led forth the people, led them forth out of the bondage Egypt, led them forth
out of the perils of the Red Sea, Exo_15:19. But the children of Israel went on dry land.
Note, The destruction of the wicked serves for a foil to set off the salvation of Israel, and
to make it the more illustrious, Isa_45:13-15.
(3.) He sets himself to improve this wonderful appearance of God for them. [1.] In order
to quicken them to serve God: in consideration of this, I will prepare him habitation,
Exo_15:2. God having preserved them, and prepared a covert for them under which they
had been safe and easy, they resolve to spare no cost nor pains for the erecting of a
tabernacle to his honour, and there they will exalt him, and mention, to his praise, the
honour he had got upon Pharaoh. God had now exalted them, making them great and
high, and therefore they will exalt him, by speaking of his infinite height and grandeur.
Note, Our constant endeavour should be, by praising his name and serving his interests,

88. to exalt God; and it is an advancement to us to be so employed. [2.] In order to
encourage them to trust in God. So confident is this Psalmist of the happy issue of the
salvation which was so gloriously begun that he looks upon it as in effect finished
already: “Thou hast guided them to thy holy habitation, Exo_15:13. Thou hast thus put
them into the way to it, and wilt in due time bring them to the end of that way,” for God's
work is perfect; or, “Thou hast guided them to attend thy holy habitation in heaven with
their praises.” Note, Those whom God takes under his direction he will guide to his holy
habitation in faith now, and in fruition shortly. Two ways this great deliverance was
encouraging: - First, It was such an instance of God's power as would terrify their
enemies, and quite dishearten them, Exo_15:14-16. The very report of the overthrow of
the Egyptians would be more than half the over throw of all their other enemies; it would
sink their spirits, which would go far towards the sinking of their powers and interests;
he Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, and Canaanites (with each of which nations Israel
was to grapple), would be alarmed by it, would be quite dispirited, and would conclude it
was in vain to fight against Israel, when a God of such power fought for them. It had this
effect; the Edomites were afraid of them (Deu_2:4), so were the Moabites (Num_22:3),
and the Canaanites, Jos_2:9, Jos_2:10; Jos_5:1. Thus God sent his fear before them
(Exo_23:27), and cut off the spirit of princes. Secondly, It was such a beginning of God's
favour to them as gave them an earnest of he perfection of his kindness. This was but in
order to something further: Thou shalt bring them in, Exo_15:17. If he thus bring them
out of Egypt, notwithstanding their unworthiness, and the difficulties that lay in the way
of their escape, doubtless he will bring them into Canaan; for has he begun (so begun),
and will he not make an end? Note, Our experiences of God's power and favour should
be improved for the support of our expectations. “Thou hast, therefore, not only thou
canst, but we trust thou wilt,” is good arguing. Thou wilt plant them in the place which
thou has made for thee to dwell in. Note, It is good dwelling where God dwells, in his
church on earth (Psa_27:4), in his church in heaven, Joh_17:24. Where he says, “This is
my rest for ever,” we should say, “Let it be ours.” Lastly, The great ground of the
encouragement which they draw from this work of wonder is, The Lord shall reign for
ever and ever, Exo_15:18. They had now seen an end of Pharaoh's reign; but time itself
shall not put a period to Jehovah's reign, which, like himself, is eternal, and not subject
to change. Note, It is the unspeakable comfort of all God's faithful subjects, not only that
he does reign universally and with an incontestable sovereignty, but that he will reign
eternally, and there shall be no end of his dominion.
K&D, "Exo_15:13
“Thou leadest through Thy mercy the people whom Thou redeemest; Thou guidest
them through Thy might to Thy holy habitation.” The deliverance from Egypt and
guidance through the Red Sea were a pledge to the redeemed people of their entrance
into the promised land. The holy habitation of God was Canaan (Psa_78:54), which had
been consecrated as a sacred abode for Jehovah in the midst of His people by the
revelations made to the patriarchs there, and especially by the appearance of God at
Bethel (Gen_28:16., Exo_31:13; Exo_35:7).
CALVI , "13.Thou in thy mercy hast led them forth. (164) The verb in Hebrew is
indeed in the past tense; but, since it is plain from the context that their hope for
what was to come was founded on God’s former mercies, I have preferred making
the meaning clearer by translating it in the future. (165) Moses, therefore, exhorts
the people to proceed to their promised land boldly and joyfully; because God will

89. not forsake His work in the midst of it. And on this account he expressly mentions
their redemption; as though he had said, that the people were not in vain delivered
from impending death, but that God, as He had begun, would be their constant
guide. David uses the same argument, (Psalms 31:5,)
“Into thine hand I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me,
O Lord God of truth.”
For, as the beginning of their redemption has proceeded from God’s mere mercy, so
he says that for this same reason He will lead them even to their promised
inheritance. But, since the many obstacles might impress them with alarm, he at the
same time sets before them the “strength” of God; for the whole praise is given to
God, who had both been freely gracious to His people, and, asking assistance from
no other source, but contented with His own power, had supplied what would have
been otherwise incredible.
ELLICOTT, "(13) Hast led forth . . . hast guided.—Or, leadest forth . . . guidest.
The guidance was not over; rather, it was just begun. The want of a present tense in
Hebrew causes the preterite and future to have, both of them, under certain
circumstances, the force of the present.
Thy holy habitation.—It might be supposed that Canaan was the “habitation”
intended; but the words of Exodus 15:17 imply something more. Moses certainly
knew that when Canaan was reached God would select a place to “put His name
there” (Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 12:11; Deuteronomy 12:14; Deuteronomy
14:23-24; Deuteronomy 16:6; Deuteronomy 16:11, &c.), and possibly knew by
revelation what place would be ultimately selected.
ELLICOTT, "Verses 13-18
(13-18) The concluding stanza of the ode involves a change of attitude, and deals
with new matters. The poet’s eye fixes itself upon the future. First, he speaks of the
guidance of God, lately begun, and about to continue until Canaan is reached
(Exodus 15:13). Then his glance turns to the enemies of Israel, and he considers. The
effect which the miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt will have upon them
(Exodus 15:14-16). Finally, he sees the people brought into the “land of their
inheritance,” and securely established there under the ordering of Divine
Providence. Then, with an ascription of glory which may be compared with the
Doxology attached to the Lord’s Prayer in St. Matthew (Exodus 6:13), and to that
attached in the Liturgies of the Church to the Psalms and Canticles, he terminates
his composition.
BE SO ,"Exodus 15:13. Thou in thy mercy, &c. — This and the four following
verses contain a prophetic declaration of the glorious protection which God would
grant his people after having brought them out of Egypt. And the reader does not
know which to admire most, God’s tenderness for his people, whose guide and
conductor he himself will be; or his formidable power, which, by causing terror and

90. dread to walk before it, freezes with fear all such nations as should presume to
oppose the passage of the Israelites through the Red sea, and strikes those nations,
so that they become motionless as a stone; or, lastly, God’s wonderful care to settle
them in a fixed and permanent manner in the promised land, or rather to plant
them in it, an emphatic expression, and which alone recalls to mind all that the
Scriptures observe, in so many places, concerning the care which God has taken to
plant his beloved vine, to water it, to enclose it with fences, and to multiply and
extend its fruitful branches to a great distance.
COKE, "Exodus 15:13. Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy
habitation— There is in this song so great a variety in the tenses, as they are at
present fixed by grammarians, that there can be no impropriety in giving to this
passage such a version as makes it conformable with the fact. In agreement with
Houbigant, therefore, we would render this verse, Thou, in thy mercy, leadest forth
the people, whom thou hast redeemed: thou, in thy strength, leadest them forth to
thy holy habitation: which holy habitation may either signify the land of Canaan, or
the tabernacle of holiness, which God inhabited among them in the wilderness. The
Hebrew word, which we render to lead, presents to us the idea of God peaceably
conducting his flock like a shepherd.
EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "Anticipations of Faith
Exodus 15:13-18
"Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed." He had
only led them forth a single night"s journey, but in that single night"s journey they
saw the completion of the whole long journey they were to take. In the anticipation
of faith victory is already obtained before the war has commenced.
I. When we come to ask ourselves the secret of this triumphant anticipation we shall
find that it is all expressed in one single sentence—"Thou hast redeemed". The
joyful confidence of the Israelites sprang not merely from the abstract consideration
that the God Who had shown Himself so strong to save already, was capable of any
further exhibition of strength that might be demanded of Him. Beyond all that there
was the consideration that the deliverance of the present was a part of one grand
purpose completed already in the mind of God; a purpose which had been indicated
to them in the mission of Moses.
II. We too have been the subjects of a great deliverance, a deliverance as
supernatural in its character and as astonishing in its conditions as ever was the
deliverance of Israel from Egypt. This deliverance is also the product of redemption.
We are saved in order that we may rise to the prize of our high calling, and become
inheritors of our true Land of Promise; and the first great deliverance is with us
also surely an earnest and a pledge of all that is to follow.
III. Instead of joyous anticipation, how common a thing it is to meet with gloomy
forebodings on the part of the newborn children of God, fresh from the cross of

91. Christ, just rising, as we may say, spiritually out of the waters of the Red Sea.
How common a thing it is to meet with young Christians who seem indeed to be on
the right side of the Red Sea, but who appear to be more inclined to wring their
hands in terror than to "sound the loud timbrel" in exultation!
And thus our anticipations of coming disaster take all the bloom off our early joy,
and mar our triumph before it has well begun. And thus we pave the way for
failure; for if we begin by doubting the God who has redeemed us, at the very outset
of our Christian life, when the great fact of deliverance lies fresh before our view,
how can we expect to trust Him better when the actual struggle has begun? and not
to trust Him is to ensure necessary defeat and failure.
ow all this dismal apprehension, this cowardly misgiving, comes of our not
sufficiently realizing what it is that is contained in redemption. We do not see that
our justification is not only a fact of the present, but a pledge for the future.
We forget that we have passed from nature into grace, and now we have to count
upon Divine resources. We forget that Christ is the First and the Last; that as He is
the Alpha, so He is also the Omega, and that He is all the alphabet between the
Alpha and Omega.
—W. Hay M. H. Aitken, The Highway of Holiness, p63.
MACLARE , "THE SHEPHERD A D THE FOLD
Exodus 15:13.
What a grand triumphal ode! The picture of Moses and the children of Israel
singing, and Miriam and the women answering: a gush of national pride and of
worship! We belong to a better time, but still we can feel its grandeur. The
deliverance has made the singer look forward to the end, and his confidence in the
issue is confirmed.
I. The guiding God: or the picture of the leading. The original is ‘lead gently.’ Cf.
Isaiah 40:11, Psalms 23:2. The emblem of a flock underlies the word. There is not
only guidance, but gentle guidance. The guidance was gentle, though accompanied
with so tremendous and heart-curdling a judgment. The drowned Egyptians were
strange examples of gentle leading. But God’s redemptive acts are like the guiding
pillar of fire, in that they have a side that reveals wrath and evokes terror, and a
side that radiates lambent love and kindles happy trust.
‘In Thy strength.’ Cf. Isaiah 40:10, ‘with strong hand.’ ‘He shall gently lead.’ ote
the combination with gentleness. That divine strength is the only power which is
able to guide. We are so weak that it takes all His might to hold us up. It is His
strength, not ours. ‘My strength is made perfect in {thy} weakness.’
‘To the resting-place of Thy holiness.’ The word is used for pasture, or resting-
places for cattle. Here it meant Canaan; for us it means Heaven-’the green pastures’
of real participation in His holiness.
II. The triumphant confidence as to the future based upon the deliverance of the

92. past. ‘Hast,’ a past tense. It is as good as done. The believing use of God’s great past,
and initial mercy, to make us sure of His future.
III. The warning against confidence in self. These people who sang thus perished in
the wilderness! They let go hold of God’s hand, so they ‘sank like lead.’ So He will
fulfil begun work [Philippians 1:6]. Let us cleave to Him. In Hebrews 3:1 - Hebrews
3:19 and Hebrews 4:1 - Hebrews 4:16 lessons are drawn from the Israelites not
‘entering in.’ See also Psalms 95:1 - Psalms 95:11.
PETT, "Exodus 15:13
“You in your mercy have led your people whom you have redeemed.
You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.”
The idea here may well be that having passed through the waters on the border of
Egypt they have reached the wilderness where they were to serve Yahweh. This in
itself was to them a major achievement. They have crossed the sea and are, as it
were, in Yahweh’s domain, where they are to worship Him at His mountain, His
holy habitation, away from Egypt. Reaching the wilderness to worship Yahweh had
constantly been their aim.
“Whom you have redeemed.” Deliverance by the payment of a price. The
deliverance is not seen as without cost to Yahweh. He has expended His power in
bringing it about.
“Your holy habitation.” Initially the wilderness where Moses met Him, and where
they were to serve Him. Then it could apply to Mount Sinai where He would reveal
Himself in fire and make His covenant with them. Then it applied to the land. And
finally it would apply to the Tabernacle wherever it was set up, and the Temple.
Each generation would interpret it differently according to their conditions and
their experience of God.
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:13
Thou in thy mercy hast led forth. Or "leadest forth." See the Introduction to the
chapter. Which thou hast redeemed. See the comment on Exodus 6:6. Then hast
guided. Or "thou guidest." Thy holy habitation. By "God's holy habitation" some
understand Mount Sinai, others Canaan, others Mount Moriah, or even tile temple
there to be built ultimately. That Sinai is not intended seems clear from Exodus
6:14, Exodus 6:15, where the nations mentioned are such as were untouched by the
occupation of that mountain. Canaan might sufficiently answer the requirements of
the present verse, but scarcely comes up to those of Exodus 6:17. Altogether, it is
clear that Moses knew there would be a place in the land of Canaan where God
would "put his name" (Deuteronomy 12:5, Deuteronomy 12:11,Deuteronomy 12:14;
Deuteronomy 14:23,Deuteronomy 14:24; Deuteronomy 16:6, Deuteronomy 16:11;
Deuteronomy 26:2; etc.); and it would seem to be not unlikely that he may have
known where the place would be by special revelation.

93. 14 The nations will hear and tremble;
anguish will grip the people of Philistia.
BAR ES, "Exo_15:14
The inhabitants of Palestina - i. e. the country of the Philistines. They were the
first who would expect an invasion, and the first whose district would have been invaded
but for the faintheartedness of the Israelites.
GILL, "And the people shall hear, and be afraid,.... What follows from hence to
the end of the song is plainly prophetic, a prediction of future events; and this clause
respects the case of all the nations of the earth, who should hear the report of the
plagues, brought upon the Egyptians for the sake of Israel, and of their being brought
out of Egypt, and of their being led through the Red sea as on dry land, and of the
destruction of Pharaoh and his host in it, which report would strike a panic in all that
heard it, throughout the whole world; as well as of what the Lord would after this do for
them in the wilderness, see Deu_2:25.
sorrow shall take hold of the inhabitants of Palestina; which was adjoining to
the land of Canaan, and through which in the common way their road lay to it.
K&D, "Exo_15:14
“People hear, they are afraid; trembling seizes the inhabitants of Philistia.”
CALVI , "14.The people shall hear. Again in this place I have not scrupled to
change the tenses; for it is plain that Moses is speaking of things future; although I
do not deny, that by verbs of the past tense he confirms the certainty of the matter;
which is a common figure with the Prophets. This boast depends on the mention of
God’s “strength;” for it was impossible for the Israelites to make their way through
so many adverse nations into the land of Canaan, unless God had, as it were, put
forth His hand from heaven and fought for them. Lest, then, their numerous
difficulties should dishearten them, Moses declares that, although many powerful
enemies should endeavor to oppose them, terror shall possess them all from heaven,
so that, in their confusion and astonishment, they shall have no power of resistance.
ELLICOTT, "(14) The people.—Heb., The peoples: i.e., all the various tribes and
nations of the desert and of Palestine—the Amalekites, Edomites, Philistines,

94. Moabites, Amorites, &c.
Shall hear, and be afraid.—On the fear which was actually felt, see umbers 22:3;
Joshua 2:11; Joshua 5:1; Joshua 9:3-15, &c.
The inhabitants of Palestina are the Philistines, from whom the Holy Land derived
the name which it still retains in most of the languages of modern Europe. The
Hebrew word is Phĕl‫ג‬sheth, of which the nearest English equivalent would be
“Philistia.”
COKE, "Verses 14-16
Exodus 15:14-16. The people shall hear, &c.— The sublimity of this passage would
appear much more striking if it were rendered, agreeably to the Hebrew, The people
hear, they tremble: sorrow takes hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. Straight ( ‫אז‬ *
az) the dukes of Edom are amazed: the mighty men of Moab, trembling takes hold
upon them: all the inhabitants of Canaan melt away. Terror falls upon them: and
fear, from the greatness of thine arm. They shall be dumb as a stone; till thy people
pass over, O Lord, &c. Every reader of taste must discern the sublimity and energy
which is given to this passage, by reading the verbs throughout in the present tense.
See this prophetical passage verified, Joshua 2:10; Joshua 5:1; Joshua 9:9.
*See oldius on this particle, 4.
PETT, "Exodus 15:14-16 a
“The peoples have heard, they tremble,
Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants of Philistia,
Then were the chiefs of Edom amazed,
Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab,
All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.
Terror and dread falls on them,
By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone.”
The song now looks forward to what lies ahead and depicts the future foes as
waiting in terror. The children of Israel know now that they need not fear, for what
God has done in Egypt will have petrified them and they will be still as a stone. This
is again poetic licence.
The possible prominent foes are mentioned. ote that the inhabitants of Philistia
come before Edom, Moab and the Canaanites. This may suggest that they are seen
as the nearest, the first to be tackled, which would confirm that a smallish grouping
in the South are in mind rather than the later Philistia. The name Philistia may be
an updating, but archaeology may one day prove otherwise. If they were a smallish
trading group in the South as in Genesis 21:32-34; Genesis 26:1; Genesis 26:8;
Genesis 26:14-15, but still fierce, they would not tend to come to the notice of the
great nations, but would be among the first to be reached by a traveller from Egypt.
We must recognise that the writer has no maps of what lies to the orth. He speaks

95. of the peoples he has heard about, starting with the nearest. Little was he to know
how they would affect the progress of the children of Israel. (That they were not
later quite so terrified when approached is evidence of the early date of the song).
“The mighty men of Moab.” Literally ‘the rams of Moab’. The men of Moab are
seen in terms of powerful rams. Compare Isaiah 14:9 where the chief ones are
described as ‘he-goats’.
“By the greatness of your arm they are still as stone.” As they consider the powerful
arm of Yahweh these people freeze and become, as it were, literally petrified.
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:14
The people shall hear.—Rather, "the peoples"—i.e; the tribes, or nations, of these
parts—Philistines, Amalekites, Edomites, Moabites, etc.—will hear of the wonders
done in Egypt, especially of the crowning wonder of all—Israel's passage through
the Red Sea and Egypt's destruction in it—and will in consequence tremble with
fear when the Israelites approach them, and offer them no effectual opposition.
Palestine. This is a Greek form. The Hebrew is Phelasheth, which would perhaps be
best translated "Philistia." (Compare Psalms 60:8; Psalms 87:4; Psalms 108:9.) The
Philistine country was a strip of territory extending along the coast of the
Mediterranean from a little below Gaze on the south, nearly to Mount Carmel on
the north. It is curious that the philistines are not mentioned under that name on
any of the early Egyptian monuments. They may perhaps be the Purusaia of the
time of Rameses III; whom some however identify with the Pelasgi.
BI 14-16, "The people shall hear, and be afraid.
The world afraid of God’s people
What shall make these mighty men melt away? Seeing two or three millions of unwarlike
folks marching towards them—an unarmed rabble, without military discipline, and
without the appliances of war? Is it before such that the mighty men of Moab are to fall
back, that the chivalrous sons of Edom are to be put to flight; that all the inhabitants of
Palestine are to melt away? Nothing of the kind. Those Israelites were not going to
terrify all these nations with any display of their own power or prowess. It was the story
of the Exodus, the story of a divided sea, the story of a certain mysterious pillar of fire,
the story of the wonderful overthrow of Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea; it was this
that was to fill them with despair. Many of us are at the outset terribly afraid of these
hostile forces; is it not a comfort to know that on account of redemption they are actually
afraid of us? In a very memorable period in “our island story,” when Admiral Howard
and Drake had defeated the Spanish Armada after the first great battle, they continued
to pursue them for a fortnight without having a single shot or a single charge of powder
left in their ships. They had nothing left but air to fill their guns with. Yet thus without
any ammunition our fleet went sailing on and sailing on, while the terrified strangers
fled before them, until they were driven right into the Northern Sea. Then the Admiral
thought they could not do much harm there, and so he left them and came back to get
powder and shot for his own ships. Our fleet, with empty guns, chased their enemies
because that enemy was afraid of them. They had had one terrible defeat, and that was
enough. And even so may we deal with the forces of this world. Count upon your

96. enemies being afraid of you. If instead of being afraid of them you will only carry the war
into the enemy’s camp, and seek to win them for Christ, instead of allowing them to
draw you away from Him, you will find that redemption has already stripped them of
their courage and paralyzed their power to do you any injury. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)
15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,
the leaders of Moab will be seized with
trembling,
the people[c] of Canaan will melt away;
BAR ES, "Exo_15:15
The dukes of Edom - See Gen_36:15. It denotes the chieftains, not the kings of
Edom.
The mighty men of Moab - The physical strength and great stature of the Moabites
are noted in other passages: see Jer_48:29, Jer_48:41.
Canaan - The name in this, as in many passages of Genesis, designates the whole of
Palestine: and is used of course with reference to the promise to Abraham. It was known
to the Egyptians, and occurs frequently on the monuments as Pa-kanana, which applies,
if not to the whole of Palestine, yet to the northern district under Lebanon, which the
Phoenicians occupied and called “Canaan.”
CLARKE, "The dukes of Edom - Idumea was governed at this time by those called
‫אלפים‬ alluphim, heads, chiefs, or captains. See Clarke’s note on Gen_36:15.
GILL, "Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed, Of which there were many, see
Gen_36:15 the land being first governed by dukes, as perhaps it was at this time, though
in some few years after it had a king, Num_20:14 now these, when they heard of the
wonderful things that were done for Israel in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the
wilderness, were astonished and surprised, and filled with fear and dread, see Deu_2:4,
the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them: as did on Balak
the king of Moab, and his people, Num_22:2, where may be observed a literal
accomplishment of this prophecy:
all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away; as their hearts did, through fear,
when they heard what God did for Israel against the Egyptians and the Amorites, and

97. understood that they were upon the march to their land to invade it and dispossess them
of it: see the fulfilment of this prediction in Jos_2:9 thus when Babylon shall be
destroyed, as Pharaoh and his host were, and the people of God saved out of the midst of
her, as Israel was, the kings of the earth will stand afar off for fear of her torment, and
bewail and lament for her, Rev_18:9.
K&D, "Exo_15:15
“Then are the princes (alluphim, see Gen_36:15) of Edom confounded; the mighty
men of Moab, trembling seizes them; all the inhabitants of Canaan despair.” ‫ים‬ ִ‫ל‬ ֵ‫,א‬ like
‫ים‬ ִ‫אוּל‬ in 2Ki_24:15, scriptio plena for ‫ים‬ ִ‫ל‬ ֵ‫,א‬ strong, powerful ones. As soon as these
nations should hear of the miraculous guidance of Israel through the Red Sea, and
Pharaoh's destruction, they would be thrown into despair from anxiety and alarm, and
would not oppose the march of Israel through their land.
ELLICOTT, "(15) The dukes of Edom.—Comp. Genesis 36:15, where the same title
is found. Apparently in the course of the thirty-eight years between the Exodus and
the approach to. Canaan, the oligarchy of “dukes” had been replaced by a
monarchy. (See umbers 20:14.) The fear of Israel had also passed away; and the
Edomites “came out against Moses with much people, and with a strong hand,”
laying a foundation for that prolonged hatred of which we have traces in 2 Samuel
8:14; 1 Kings 11:14-22; 2 Kings 8:20-22; 2 Chronicles 20:16; Psalms 137:7, &c.
The mighty men of Moab.—On the terror of the Moabites, when Israel approached
their borders, see umbers 22:3-4. The efforts made by Balak to procure Balaam’s
curse upon them were indications of the alarm felt.
All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.—Compare Joshua 2:11 : “As soon as
we had heard these things, our hearts did melt;” and Exodus 5:1 : “It came to pass .
. . when all the kings of the Canaanites heard that the Lord had dried up the waters
of Jordan, that their hearts melted, neither was there any spirit in them any more.”
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:15
The Dukes of Edom. Compare Genesis 36:15. By the time that the
Israelitesapproached the borders of Edom, the dukes had given place to kings
( umbers 20:14), and everything like abject fear of Israel had passed sway. The
Edomites "came out against Moses with much people and with a strong hand," and
refused to allow the Israelites passage through their borders ( umbers 20:20,
umbers 20:21). The mighty men of Moab. The alarm of the Moabites was
indicated by Balak's efforts to induce Balaam to curse the Israelites ( umbers 22-
24.). By their "mighty men" some understood men of unusual strength and stature
(Cook); but the expression, which is very frequent both in the prophetical and the
historical books, seems to be a mere periphrasis for "warriors." All the inhabitants
of Canaan shall melt away. This prophecy received a remarkable accomplishment
when "it came to pass that all the kings of the Cannanites heard that the Lord had

98. dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, and their heart
melted, neither was their spirit in them any more" (Joshua 5:1).
16 terror and dread will fall on them.
By the power of your arm
they will be as still as a stone—
until your people pass by, Lord,
until the people you bought[d] pass by.
CLARKE, "Till thy people pass over - Not over the Red Sea, for that event had
been already celebrated; but over the desert and Jordan, in order to be brought into the
promised land.
GILL, "Fear and dread shall fall upon them.... On the several nations and people
before mentioned, especially the Canaanites, which the Targums of Jonathan and
Jerusalem interpret of the fear of death, lest the Israelites should fall upon them and
destroy them, or God should fight for them, against them, and bring ruin and
destruction on them:
by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; awed by the
power of God, visible in what he had done for the Israelites, and upon their enemies;
they should be like stocks and stones, immovable, have no power to act, nor stir a foot in
their own defence, and against Israel, come to invade and possess their land; nor in the
least molest them, or stop them in their passage over Jordan, or dispute it with them,
but stand like persons thunderstruck, and as stupid as stones, not having any spirit or
courage left in them:
till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast
purchased; pass over the brook of Arnon, and the ford of Jabbok, according to the
Targum of Jonathan; or the ford of Jabbok, and the ford of Jordan, according to the
Jerusalem Targum; the river of Jordan is doubtless literally meant, at least chiefly; and
the accomplishment of this prediction may be seen in Jos_3:15 which was an emblem of
the quiet passage of Christ's purchased people, through the ford or river of death, to the
Canaan of everlasting rest and happiness: Christ's people are purchased by him, who is
able to make the purchase, and had a right to do it, and has actually made it, by giving

99. his flesh, shedding his blood, laying down his life, and giving himself a ransom price for
them: these do, and must pass over Jordan, or go through the cold stream of death; it is
the way of all the earth, of good men as well as others; it is a passage from one world to
another; and there is no getting to the heavenly Canaan without going this way, or
through this ford; and all the Lord's purchased people, like Israel, clean pass over
through it, not one are left in it; their bodies are raised again, their souls are reunited to
them, and both come safe to heaven and happiness: and, for the most part, they have a
quiet and easy passage, the enemy is not suffered to disturb them, neither the sins and
corruptions of their nature, nor an evil heart of unbelief, nor Satan with his temptations;
and the terrors of death are taken away from them; so that they can sit and sing on the
shores of eternity, in the view of death and another world, saying, death, where is thy
sting? grave, where is thy victory? &c. and this is to be ascribed to the greatness of
Jehovah's arm, to his almighty power, on which they lean, and go on comfortably in the
wilderness; and by this they are carried safely through death to glory, and it is owing to
this that the enemy and the avenger are stilled.
K&D, "Exo_15:16
“Fear and dread fall upon them; for the greatness of Thine arm (the adjective ‫ּול‬‫ד‬ָ
placed as a substantive before the noun) they are dumb (‫מוּ‬ ְ ִ‫י‬ from ‫ם‬ ַ‫מ‬ ָ ) as stones, till Thy
people pass through, Jehovah, till the people which Thou hast purchased pass
through.” Israel was still on its march to Canaan, an evident proof that Exo_15:13-15 do
not describe what was past, but that future events were foreseen in spirit, and are
represented by the use of perfects as being quite as certain as if they had already
happened. The singer mentions not only Edom and Moab, but Philistia also, and the
inhabitants of Canaan, as enemies who are so paralyzed with terror, as to offer no
resistance to the passage of Israel through their territory; whereas the history shows that
Edom did oppose their passing through its land, and they were obliged to go round in
consequence (Num_20:18.; Deu_2:3, Deu_2:8), whilst Moab attempted to destroy them
through the power of Balaam's curse (Num_22:2.); and what the inhabitants of Philistia
and Canaan had to fear, was not their passing through, but their conquest of the land.
(Note: The fact that the inhabitants of Philistia and Canaan are described in the
same terms as Edom and Moab, is an unquestionable proof that this song was
composed at a time when the command to exterminate the Canaanites had not yet
been given, and the boundary of the territory to be captured by the Israelites was not
yet fixed; in other words, that it was sung by Moses and the Israelites after the
passage through the Red Sea. In the words ‫ּר‬‫ב‬ ֲ‫ע‬ַ‫י‬ ‫ד‬ ַ‫ע‬ in Exo_15:16, there is by no means
the allusion to, or play upon, the passage through the Jordan, which Knobel introduces.)
We learn, however, from Jos_2:9-10 and Jos_9:9, that the report of Israel's miraculous
passage through the Red Sea had reached to Canaan, and filled its inhabitants with
terror.
CALVI , "16.Fear and dread shall fall upon them. Some read this in the optative
mood, but with little probability, as it seems to me; for Moses is not so much
expressing wishes or prayers, as animating the Israelites to have a good hope, and to
be firmly convinced that God would not make an end until He had finished the
course of His grace. And this we may fairly apply to ourselves at this time, viz., that
God will continue His calling in the elect, until they are brought on to the goal. For

100. the heavenly inheritance, (to which we are called,) answers to “the mountain” of His
holiness. (166) The same reason, which was just before advanced, is again repeated,
viz., that God would not fail His people until the end, because He had “purchased”
them to Himself. For the translation “which thou hast possessed” is not so suitable;
because although Moses signifies that they are God’s peculiar people, yet is their
deliverance undoubtedly alleged as the cause of their full redemption; as if he had
said, that the people whom God had once undertaken to protect would always be
dear to Him.
ELLICOTT, "(16) Fear and dread shall fall upon them.—A portion of the Edomites
felt so much fear of Israel that they allowed them to pass through their coasts
(Deuteronomy 2:4). The Moabites of Aracted similarly (Deuteronomy 2:29).
Till thy people pass over—i.e., cross the frontier of the Canaanites, and enter their
country. There is no need to suppose that Moses had as yet any distinct idea of the
place where the frontier would be crossed.
COFFMA , "Verses 16-18
"Terror and dread falleth upon them; By the greatness of thine arm they are as still
as a stone. Till thy people pass over, O Jehovah, Till the people pass over that thou
hast purchased. Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine
inheritance, The place, O Jehovah, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, The
sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. Jehovah shall reign forever
and ever."
The use of mingled present and future tenses here confirms the understanding of the
past tense in Exodus 15:13 as prophetic, because that which was spoken of there as
past, appears here in Exodus 15:17 as future. The several references here to "the
place" into which God would bring His people should be understood as referring to
"the land of Canaan," and not to Mount Sinai, or the Jewish Temple, etc. A
hindrance to this understanding is the rendition of "sanctuary" in Exodus 15:17.
Some highly-respected expositors take that view (as did Keil), but we believe Huey
was correct: "It should be understood as the entire Promised Land, That is the
sanctuary, literally, `a separated place.'"[39] "The whole people of Israel could not
be brought into a single mountain."[40] "We are not to understand the word
`sanctuary' as a single place, but we are to see the whole land."[41]
PETT, "Exodus 15:16-18 (16b-18)
“Until your people pass through, Oh Yahweh,
Until the people pass through whom you have obtained.
You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,
The place, Oh Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell in,
The sanctuary, Oh Lord, which your hands have established.
Yahweh shall reign for ever and ever.”
The other peoples will be terror-stricken and petrified until the children of Israel

101. have passed through, something still in the future. And then they, the people whom
God had ‘obtained’, will arrive at and be planted in ‘the mountain of your
inheritance’. A similar phrase is used of Baal’s dwelling-place in Ugaritic literature
(16th century BC). Thus this refers to Yahweh’s dwelling place. But as it is the place
where the people are to ‘be planted’ this probably refers to the whole promised
land, along with its mountains, seen as ‘the mountain of God’, the dwelling place of
God, a special land prepared for His people through whom the whole world will be
blessed. It is a visionary picture of a hoped for ideal, the new Eden, where God will
dwell with His people.
It is in other words God’s inheritance to His people (see Exodus 6:6-8), the place
which God has made for Himself to dwell in and the sanctuary which He has
established, seen as the whole promised land (Psalms 114:2). It is the prospective
kingdom of God.
“You have obtained.” That is, obtained by redemption.
“Plant them.” The word is usually used of planting vegetation and trees. But
compare 2 Samuel 7:10 : ‘I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant
them that they may dwell in their own place’ (see also 1 Chronicles 17:9; Psalms
80:8; Psalms 80:15; Jeremiah 24:6). So the idea is of the people being permanently
established in their own land.
“The mountain of your inheritance.” This probably refers to the whole of the
mountain ranges together with the rest of the promised land seen as one. They are
all seen as ‘God’s mountain’. This is His dwelling-place, given as an inheritance to
His people (compare Exodus 6:6-8 - although a different word for inheritance is
used). For Yahweh dwells among His people and ‘His mountain’ is where they are
planted.
Alternately it has been seen as meaning ‘the mountain that is Yours’, with the
emphasis on the place where God dwells and God’s central sanctuary. Certainly
mountains and hills were seen as symbols of eternal continuance and stability
(Deuteronomy 33:15; Habakkuk 3:6; Isaiah 54:10), so that worship was regularly
offered on mountains (Genesis 22:2; Exodus 18:20; 1 Kings 18:19; Mark 9:2). And it
is true that the gods were often connected with mountains.
But if this be so the thought is not of any particular mountain. It is whichever
particular hill or mountain God chooses to set His name on (Deuteronomy 12:5) at
any particular time. It would be assumed that the sanctuary of God would be on
such a raised place (contrast Deuteronomy 12:2). Thus it could be applied to any of
the places where the worship of Yahweh would be centralised (e.g. Shechem (Joshua
24:1 with 15:26), Shiloh (Joshua 18:1 and often), and later Jerusalem), and around
which His people would live (be planted). But note that if this be so the central
emphasis is not on the hill or mountain as such, but on the setting up of the dwelling
place of God among His people (compare Genesis 28:16-17 with Genesis 35:7).
There His altar would be erected, and around it His people would be united (see

102. Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26; Deuteronomy 12:5).
However, as the hope of the people is set at this stage on a future land where
Yahweh will rule, given as a heritage to His people (Exodus 6:6-8; Exodus 3:8;
Exodus 13:5), rather than on the specific establishing of a sanctuary for God, and
they are to be ‘planted’ there, it is probably the wider view that should be taken.
The whole land where He has ‘planted’ His people is seen as ‘God’s mountain’ and
God’s dwelling-place. It is His sanctuary.
“The sanctuary, Oh Lord, which your hands have established.” Psalms 114:2
understands this of the land of Judah, and by inference (through parallelism) Israel.
There it reads, “When Israel went forth out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a
people of strange language, Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion.”
Compare also Isaiah 8:14. Furthermore Zechariah also looks forward to when the
whole land will be a sanctuary (Zechariah 14:20-21). This would seem to confirm
that ‘the sanctuary’ and ‘the mountain’ and ‘the place’ all refer to the whole land.
“Yahweh will reign for ever and ever.” This is a declaration of the everlasting rule
of Yahweh. The gods of Egypt have been shown to be as nothing. Yahweh is over all.
The world lies at His feet. In the context the thought may well be that from His land,
through His people, all the nations of the world will be blessed (compare ‘Yahweh
reigns’ (Psalms 97:1; Psalms 99:1)). Here already is the idea of the everlasting
kingdom.
PULPIT, "Fear and dread shall fall upon them. Compare Deuteronomy 2:25;
Deuteronomy 11:25. The Edomites of Mount Seir and the Moabites gave Israel a
free passage through their borders (Deuteronomy 2:4-8, Deuteronomy 2:18,
Deuteronomy 2:29), being afraid to oppose them. Till thy people pass over, O Lord.
Some see in this an anticipation of the crossing of Jordan; but perhaps Moses meant
no more than the crossing of the Canaanite frontier, in some place or other, which
must take place if the urea was to be occupied. The event made the expression used
peculiarly appropriate. When thou hast purchased. By bringing his people out of
Egypt, their ownership had passed to him from the Egyptians, just as if he had
bought them. (See Exodus 6:6, Exodus 6:7; Exodus 19:5.)
17 You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling,
the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.

103. BAR ES, "Exo_15:17
In the mountain of thine inheritance - See Exo_15:13.
CLARKE, "Thou shalt bring them in - By thy strength and mercy alone shall they
get the promised inheritance.
And plant them - Give them a fixed habitation in Canaan, after their unsettled
wandering life in the wilderness.
In the mountain - Meaning Canaan, which was a very mountainous country, Deu_
11:11; or probably Mount Zion, on which the temple was built. Where the pure worship
of God was established, there the people might expect both rest and safety. Wherever the
purity of religion is established and preserved, and the high and the low endeavor to
regulate their lives according to its precepts, the government of that country is likely to
be permanent.
GILL, "Thou shalt bring them in,.... Into the land of Canaan, which is often
ascribed to the Lord, as well as his bringing them out of the land of Egypt, see Deu_8:8,
and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance; in the country which he
chose for the inheritance of his people and himself; one part of which was very
mountainous, called the hill country of Judea, and especially Jerusalem, round about
which mountains were; and particular respect may be had to Mount Moriah and Zion,
on which the temple afterwards stood, and which was called the mountain of the Lord's
house, and seems to be pointed at in the following account: here Israel is compared to a
vine as elsewhere, which the Lord took out of Egypt and planted in the land of Canaan,
where it took root and was settled, see Psa_80:8.
in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in; that is, which
he had appointed for his habitation; for as yet neither the tabernacle nor temple were
built, in which he afterwards dwelt: in this sense the word "made" is used in Pro_16:4.
in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established; that is, which he
intended to establish, and would, and did establish; meaning, more especially, the
temple, and the holy of holies in it, which he directed Solomon to build, and was a
settled dwelling place for him, 1Ki_8:13, now all this may be considered as typical of the
church of Christ, and of his bringing and planting his people there, which is a
"mountain", and often signified by Mount Zion; is visible and immovable, the true
members of it being interested in the love of God, on the sure foundation of electing
grace, secured in the everlasting covenant, and built on the rock Christ Jesus; and is the
Lord's "inheritance", chosen by him to be so, given to Christ, and possessed by him as
such, and as dear to him, and more so, than a man's inheritance is to him: this is a
"place" he has appointed, prepared, and made for himself to dwell in, and is the
habitation of Father, Son, and Spirit; and is a "sanctuary" or holy place, consisting of
holy persons established in Christ, as particular believers are, and the church in general

104. is; and though now sometimes in an unsettled state as to outward things, yet ere long
will be established on the top of the mountains: and hither the Lord brings his
purchased people, as sheep into his fold, as children to his house, fitted up for them, as
guests to partake of his entertainments; and this is an act of his powerful grace upon
them, and of his distinguished goodness to them: and here he also plants them, for the
church is a plantation, a garden, an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; and
such as are planted here are transplanted out of the world, and are first planted in
Christ, and receive the ingrafted word; and though ministers may be instruments in
planting, the Lord is the efficient; and those that are planted by him are choice pleasant
plants, fruitful ones, and shall never be plucked up: but as this follows the passage of the
Lord's people over Jordan into Canaan land, it may rather be considered as an emblem
of the heavenly state, and of the Lord's bringing and planting his people there; which,
like a mountain, is an immovable and unalterable state, an inheritance incorruptible and
eternal, the dwellingplace of Jehovah, a sanctuary or holy place, which his hand
prepared from the foundation of the world; and which he has established as everlasting
habitations for his people, where he brings their souls at death, and both souls and
bodies in the resurrection morn to dwell with him for ever; and which is a paradise, an
Eden of pleasure, where he plants them as trees of righteousness, next to Christ the tree
of life, and where they are always green, fruitful, flourishing, and shall never be hurt by
any scorching heat or blasting wind, or be trodden under foot or plucked up.
K&D, "Exo_15:17-18
“Thou wilt bring and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, the place
which Thou hast made for Thy dwelling-place, Jehovah, for the sanctuary, Lord, which
Thy hands prepared.” On the dagesh dirim. in ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫ד‬ ְ ִ‫,מ‬ see Exo_2:3. The futures are not to
be taken as expressive of wishes, but as simple predictions, and are not to be twisted into
preterites, as they have been by Knobel. The “mountain of Jehovah's inheritance” was
not the hill country of Canaan (Deu_3:25), but the mountain which Jehovah had
prepared for a sanctuary (Psa_78:54), and chosen as a dwelling-place through the
sacrifice of Isaac. The planting of Israel upon this mountain does not signify the
introduction of the Israelites into the promised land, but the planting of the people of
God in the house of the Lord (Psa_92:14), in the future sanctuary, where Jehovah would
perfect His fellowship with His people, and where the people would show themselves by
their sacrifices to be the “people of possession,” and would serve Him for ever as their
King. This was the goal, to which the redemption from Egypt pointed, and to which the
prophetic foresight of Moses raised both himself and his people in this song, as he
beholds in spirit and ardently desires the kingdom of Jehovah in its ultimate completion.
(Note: Auberlen's remarks in the Jahrb.f. d. Theol. iii. p. 793, are quite to the
point: “In spirit Moses already saw the people brought to Canaan, which Jehovah
had described, in the promise given to the fathers and repeated to him, as His own
dwelling-place where He would abide in the midst of His people in holy separation
from the nations of the world. When the first stage had been so gloriously finished,
he could already see the termination of the journey.”...“The nation was so entirely
devoted to Jehovah, that its own dwelling-place fell into the shade beside that of its
God, and assumed the appearance of a sojourning around the sanctuary of Jehovah,
for God went up before the people in the pillar of cloud and fire. The fact that a
mountain is mentioned in Exo_15:17 as the dwelling-place of Jehovah is no proof of
a vaticinium post eventum, but is a true prophecy, having its natural side, however, in the

105. fact that mountains were generally the sites chosen for divine worship and for temples; a fact
with which Moses was already acquainted (Gen_22:2; Exo_3:1, Exo_3:12; compare such
passages as Num_22:41; Num_33:52; Mic_4:1-2). In the actual fulfilment its was Mount Zion
upon which Jehovah was enthroned as King in the midst of his People.)
The song closes in Exo_15:18 with an inspiring prospect of the time, when “Jehovah will
be King (of His people) for ever and ever;” and in Exo_15:19, it is dovetailed into the
historical narrative by the repetition of the fact to which it owed its origin, and by the
explanatory “for,” which points back to the opening verse.
CALVI , "17.Thou shalt bring them in. The metaphor of planting denotes a firm
habitation; as also in Psalms 44:2, “Thou didst drive out the heathen with thine
hand, and plantedst” our fathers, and causedst them to take root. Moreover, by his
commendatory allusion to the temple, Moses excites in the people’s hearts a desire
for the land, which was to be God’s “Sanctuary;” and by this secret thought attracts
them, indifferent as they were, to seek the enjoyment of this great blessing. He also
prophesies of Mount Sion many ages before the temple was erected there; from
whence we gather that it was not chosen by man’s will, but consecrated by the
eternal counsel and predestination of God. For it behooved that the gratuitous favor
of God should manifest itself as to this place, as well as to men’s persons. Thus, in
Psalms 78:67, it is said,
“He refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim; but chose
the of Judah,” etc.
Elsewhere also, (Psalms 132:13,)
“For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation: this is my rest
for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.”
But the stability of the temple is also foretold; as in another passage, (167) “Thy
hand hath founded Zion.” (Psalms 87:1.) And God himself declares by Isaiah that
He will not suffer Jerusalem to be laid waste, (Isaiah 37:26,) because of ancient
times He had formed it. But although the whole land of Canaan is elsewhere called
God’s rest, and the people was never collected into one city, yet, because God
blessed the whole nation and land out c f His sanctuary, therefore is special mention
made of His holy mountain. But this prophecy was very needful for the support of
their minds, because Jerusalem only came into their power at a late period; and
doubtless their posterity would have been still more slow to take possession of it had
not their hearts been stimulated by this promise. A short sentence follows
concerning God’s eternal reign, on which the perpetuity of the Church is founded.
Thus David, (Psalms 102:27,) after having said that God would always be the, same,
and His years would have no end, thus concludes, “The children of thy servants
shall continue, and their deed shall be established before thee.” (Psalms 102:28.)
Moses, then, would extend the hope of the people to all ages, because of God’s
kingdom there is no end.

106. ELLICOTT, "(17) In the mountain of thine inheritance.—Some suppose Mount
Moriah to be especially intended; but it is better to understand Canaan generally,
which is a country consisting almost entirely of mountains, with only two plains of
any extent—those of Sharon and Esdraelon.
The Sanctuary can only mean the place where God was “to put his name.” (See the
comment on Exodus 15:13.) This is spoken of as already “made” and “established,”
because it was so in the Divine counsels, as Moses very well knew. (See Deuteronomy
12:5; Deuteronomy 12:11; Deuteronomy 12:14; Deuteronomy 14:23-24, &c.)
BE SO , "Exodus 15:17. Thou shalt bring them in — If he thus bring them out of
Egypt, he will bring them into Canaan; for he has begun, and will he not make an
end? Thou wilt plant them in the place made for thee to dwell in — It is good
dwelling where God dwells, in his church on earth, and in his church in heaven. In
the mountains — The mountainous country of Canaan. The sanctuary which thy
hands have established — Will as surely establish as if it were done already
COKE, "Exodus 15:17. And plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, &c.—
As this verse undoubtedly refers to Jerusalem and Mount Sion, it is reasonable to
think, that the holy habitation, Exodus 15:13 refers to the same. The phrase of
planting, expresses their fixed establishment: and the same idea is used in Psalms
44:2. This verse might be tendered, Thou bringest them in, and plantest them in the
mountain of thine inheritance: in the place, O JEHOVAH! prepared for thee to
dwell in; in the sanctuary, O GOD! which thy hands prepare.
PULPIT, "Thou shalt bring them in—i.e; give them possession of the laud. And
plant them—i.e; fix them firmly in it—enable them to take root there. The mountain
of thine inheritance. The land of Canaan, which is almost wholly mountainous, and
which God had given as an inheritance to his people (Genesis 15:7; Hebrews 11:8).
The sanctuary. See the comment on Exodus 15:13. Which thy hands have
established. Moses sees in idea the sanctuary already set up, and God dwelling in it;
and emphasises his conviction by using the past tense.
BI 17-18, "Thou shalt bring them in.
Anticipations of faith
We are, perhaps, hardly surprised at the tone of jubilant confidence which pervades this
glorious psalm of thanksgiving. Very strong indeed is the language used; but perhaps not
stronger than might naturally have been expected to spring from such circumstances; for
what a wonderful event had just transpired! Here they were then, on the other side of the
Red Sea, the vast wilderness stretching before them, their long weary march not yet
commenced, and wholly destitute of any adequate supplies, and without either arms, or
discipline, or any capacity for warfare. Surely the prospect might have seemed most
discouraging. They must have known perfectly well—what they soon found out to be a
fact—that the wilderness swarmed with wandering nomad hordes, Bedouins of the

107. desert, men of war, who might at any moment come down upon them, cut off their
stragglers, or even put the whole undisciplined rabble to rout and make a prey of them.
And even supposing they should overcome these difficulties of the journey, what then?
There lay Canaan before them, but how were they, who could hardly hold their own
against the tribes of the desert, to undertake aggressive warfare against nations dwelling
in cities with walls great and high, and equipped with all the appliances of ancient
warfare? How chimerical their enterprise would seem on reflection! how improbable
that they would ever succeed in taking possession of the land which God had promised
to them! But faith looked on beyond all difficulties. Faith never stops for commissariat
supplies! Faith does not ask, Where is my daily bread to come from? Faith does not wait
to be clothed with armour, save such armour as the power of God supplies. Faith does
not stop to weigh the adequacy of the means within our reach to induce the end.
Children of God, it is time we endeavoured to apply the lessons suggested by all this to
ourselves. We too have been the subjects of a great deliverance, a deliverance as
supernatural in its character and as astonishing in its conditions as ever was the
deliverance of Israel from Egypt. This deliverance is also the product of redemption. We
are saved in order that we may rise to the prize of our high calling, and become
inheritors of our true Land of Promise; and the first great deliverance is with us also
surely an earnest and a pledge of all that is to follow. I suppose it is because we so
imperfectly apprehend the miracle of our deliverance and its completeness, and the new
relations which it establishes between ourselves and God, and between ourselves and
sin, that our feelings at the outset of our new life are so often just the opposite of those
depicted in this triumphant song. Instead of joyous anticipation, how common a thing it
is to meet with gloomy forebodings on the part of the newborn children of God, fresh
from the Cross of Christ, just rising, as we may say, spiritually out of the waters of the
Red Sea. And many of us have scarcely been saved from our condition of condemnation
and spiritual bondage before we begin to consider the difficulties that lie before us, the
enemies that we shall have to encounter, the sacrifices that we may have to make, the
trials that we may have to undergo. The wilderness seems so vast, the enemies so
mighty, the supplies so inadequate or precarious; and while our eyes of unbelief are
resting upon all these adverse considerations, our heart seems to sink within us until we
are ready to turn back again into Egypt. How common a thing it is to meet with young
Christians who seem indeed to be on the right side of the Red Sea, but who appear to be
more inclined to wring their hands in terror than to “sound the loud timbrel” in
exultation! (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)
An encouraging deliverance
Two ways this great deliverance was encouraging.
1. It was such an instance of God’s power as would terrify their enemies and quite
dishearten them (Exo_15:14-16). It had this effect (see Deu_2:4; Num_22:3; Jos_
2:9-10).
2. It was such a beginning of God’s favour to them as gave them an earnest of the
perfection of His kindness. This was but in order to something further (Exo_15:17).
(M. Henry, D. D.)
Christ for ever

108. When Luther went to his trial at Augsburg from Wittemberg he walked all the distance.
Clad in his monk’s brown frock, with all his wardrobe on his back, the citizens, high and
low, attended him in enthusiastic admiration. As they went they cried, “Luther for ever!”
“Nay! nay!” he answered, “Christ for ever!”
18 “The Lord reigns
for ever and ever.”
CLARKE, "The Lord shall reign for ever and ever - This is properly the grand
chorus in which all the people joined. The words are expressive of God’s everlasting
dominion, not only in the world, but in the Church; not only under the law, but also
under the Gospel; not only in time, but through eternity. The original ‫ועד‬ ‫לעלם‬ leolam
vaed may be translated, for ever and onward; or, by our very expressive compound term,
for Evermore, i.e. for ever and more - not only through time, but also through all
duration. His dominion shall be ever the same, active and infinitely extending. With this
verse the song seems to end, as with it the hemistichs or poetic lines terminate. The 20th
and beginning of the 21st are in plain prose, but the latter part of the 21st is in hemistichs,
as it contains the response made by Miriam and the Israelitish women at different
intervals during the song. See Dr. Kennicott’s arrangement of the parts at the end of this
chapter.
GILL, "The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. Even that same Lord that is
spoken of throughout this song, and to whom everything in it is ascribed, and who is no
other than the Lord Jesus Christ; his reign began in eternity, when he was set up and
anointed as King over God's holy hill of Zion, his church, the elect, who were a kingdom
put under his care and charge, and which he will deliver up again one day, complete and
perfect: he reigned throughout the whole Old Testament dispensation, and was
acknowledged as well as prophesied of as a King; in his state of humiliation he had a
kingdom, though not of this world, and upon his ascension to heaven he was made and
declared Lord and Christ; and thenceforward his kingdom became very visible in the
Gentile world, through the ministration of his word, accompanied by his almighty
power; and ever since, more or less, he has ruled by his Spirit and grace in the hearts of
many of the children of men, and, ere long, will take upon him his great power, and
reign, in a more visible, spiritual, and glorious manner, in the midst of his churches, in
the present state of things; and then he will reign with all his saints raised from the dead,
for the space of a thousand years on earth, and after that will reign with them for ever in

109. heaven, in the ultimate state of glory and happiness: the reigns of all others are but
short, or, however, but for a time, but the reign of Christ is for ever and ever; the reigns
of sin, and of Satan, and of death, have an end, but of the government of Christ, and the
peace thereof, there will be no end; the reigns of the greatest potentates, emperors, and
kings, of cruel and tyrannical princes, such as Pharaoh, are limited to a certain time, as is
the reign of antichrist, which when ended, and the saints will have got the victory over
him, the song of Moses and the Lamb will be sung; but Christ's kingdom is an
everlasting kingdoms, and his dominion is evermore: the Targum of Jonathan is,"let us
set a crown on the head of our Redeemer, whose is the royal crown, and he is King of
kings in this world, and whose is the kingdom in the world to come, and whose it is and
will be for ever and
BE SO , "Exodus 15:18-19. The Lord shall reign, &c. — This concludes the whole
song, by which Moses not only expresses his own faith and that of the people in
God’s everlasting kingdom, but promises, in the name of them all, to bear eternally
in mind the signal deliverance God had wrought out for them. For ever and ever —
They had now seen an end of Pharaoh’s reign, but time itself shall not put a period
to Jehovah’s reign, which, like himself, is eternal.
COKE, "Exodus 15:18. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever— An exulting strain;
expressing the absolute sovereignty of Jehovah, which he had demonstrated by this
signal overthrow of the Egyptians, as the next verse declares; where the reason is
given for this triumphant assertion; for the horse of Pharaoh, &c. This 19th verse
contains what the Greeks call the epiphonema of the song, which includes the whole
subject of it, like the first chorus; as we have remarked upon the place. The
conclusion being simple, and less figurative than the former part of the song, has led
some writers to suppose, that the poetical part ends at the 18th verse: but this is a
mistake; as the 19th verse is, in the Hebrew, no less metrical than the others.
PULPIT, "In terms most simple yet most grand, often imitated (Psalms 10:16;
Psalms 29:10; Psalms 146:10, etc.), but never surpassed, the poet gives the final
result of all God's providential and temporary arrangements, to wit, the eternal
establishment of his most glorious kingdom. And here reaching the final
consummation of all things (1 Corinthians 15:28), he will not weaken the impression
made by adding another word, but ends his ode.
19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and
horsemen[e] went into the sea, the Lord brought
the waters of the sea back over them, but the

110. Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.
BAR ES, "For the horse ... - This verse does not belong to the hymn, but marks
the transition from it to the narrative.
GILL, "For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his
horsemen into the sea,.... Meaning not that particular and single horse on which
Pharaoh was carried, but all the horses of his that drew in his chariots, and all on which
his cavalry was mounted; these all went into the Red sea, following the Israelites thither:
these words are either the concluding part of the song, recapitulating and reducing into a
compendium the subject matter of it; or are a reason why Moses and the children of
Israel sung it; or else they are to be connected more strictly with the preceding verse, and
give a reason why the Lord reigns over his people for ever; because he has destroyed
their enemies, and delivered them out of their hands:
and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; after he had
divided them, for the Israelites to pass through them, he caused them to close again, and
to fall upon the Egyptians and cover and drown them:
but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea; which was a
very wonderful thing, and was a just and sufficient reason for singing the above song to
the Lord, see Exo_14:29.
K&D, "Exo_15:19-21
In the words “Pharaoh's horse, with his chariots and horsemen,” Pharaoh, riding
upon his horse as the leader of the army, is placed at the head of the enemies destroyed
by Jehovah. In Exo_15:20, Miriam is called “the prophetess,” not ob poeticam et
musicam facultatem (Ros.), but because of her prophetic gift, which may serve to
explain her subsequent opposition to Moses (Num_11:1, Num_11:6); and “the sister of
Aaron,” though she was Moses' sister as well, and had been his deliverer in his infancy,
not “because Aaron had his own independent spiritual standing by the side of Moses”
(Baumg.), but to point out the position which she was afterwards to occupy in the
congregation of Israel, namely, as ranking, not with Moses, but with Aaron, and like him
subordinate to Moses, who had been placed at the head of Israel as the mediator of the
Old Covenant, and as such was Aaron's god (Exo_4:16, Kurtz). As prophetess and sister
of Aaron she led the chorus of women, who replied to the male chorus with timbrels and
dancing, and by taking up the first strophe of the song, and in this way took part in the
festival; a custom that was kept up in after times in the celebration of victories (Jdg_
11:34; 1Sa_18:6-7; 1Sa_21:12; 1Sa_29:5), possibly in imitation of an Egyptian model (see
my Archäologie, §137, note 8).
CALVI , "19.For the horse of Pharaoh went in. This verse does not; seem to be

111. suited to the song, and therefore I am rather of opinion that Moses returns here to
the history, and assigns the reason why the Israelites so magnificently celebrated the
praises of God. For the sake of avoiding ambiguity, it would perhaps be better thus
to render it, — “For the horse of Pharaoh had gone in, and the Lord had brought
again the waters of the sea upon them, but; the children of Israel had gone on dry
land.” (168)
ELLICOTT, "(19) This verse is parenthetic. It forms no part of the “Song of
Moses.” Originally, perhaps, when that song was a separate document, it was
appended as an historical comment, showing the occasion on which the poem was
composed. When the records of Moses were collected—either by himself, towards
the close of his life, or by Joshua—the addition was kept, although it had become
unnecessary for the original purpose. As it stands, it emphasises the great fact of
Israel’s final deliverance—the nucleus around which Exodus gathers itself.
COFFMA , "Verse 19
"For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the
sea, and Jehovah brought back the waters upon them; but the children of Israel
walked on dry land in the midst of the sea."
This single verse of prose sums up the occasion for the hymn of praise, identifying
the Red Sea Deliverance as both the REASO for the song and the OCCASIO of
its being sung.
PETT, "Exodus 15:19
“For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots,
And with his horsemen (drivers) into the sea,
And Yahweh brought again the waters of the sea on them,
But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.”
This is a summary note added to confirm the application of the song. This is why
they sang, because of what God had done for the children of Israel in destroying the
elite of the Egyptian army and providing a passage for the children of Israel
through the sea. ( otice again how the suggestion that Pharaoh himself went in is
avoided).
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:19-21
Sequel to the Song. The "sequel" treats of two quite separate masters.
1. It asserts, in verse 19, the historic groundwork of the song, reiterating in a
condensed form the three principal facts of the presage—already recorded in ch.
14.—
(a) Israel's safe transit across the sea-bed;
(b) the pursuit attempted by the Egyptian chariot-force; end

112. (c) the return of the waters upon the pursuers by God's providential action.
2. It relates, in verses 20 and 21, the part taken by Miriam in the recitation of the
ode, which has been noticed in the "introduction" to the chapter.
Exodus 15:19
The horse of Pharaoh, with his chariots, and with his horsemen. Rather, "with his
chariots, and with his chariot men." Compare Exodus 14:23. The Lord brought
again the waters of the sea upon them. See Exodus 14:26, Exodus 14:27; and Exodus
15:10. The waters did not merely return to their natural place when the east wind
ceased to blow, but were "brought back" by miraculous power, and with abnormal
rapidity.
BI 19-21, "With timbrels and with dances.
Song, timbrel, and dance
The monuments reproduce this scene in all its parts. Separate choirs of men and women
are represented on them, singing in alternate responses; the timbrel, or tambourine, is
represented as the instrument of the women, as the flute is that of the men; and the
playing of the tambourine, unaccompanied, as here, by other instruments, is represented
in connection with singing and the dance. Further, it appears from the monuments that
music had eminently a religious destination in Egypt, that the timbrel was specially
devoted to sacred uses, and that religious dances were performed in the worship of
Osiris. (E. C. Wines, D. D.)
In the tombs at Thebes timbrels, like Miriam’s, round and square, are seen in the bands
of the women; while pipes, trumpets, sistrums, drums, and guitars are there in great
abundance and variety; and harps, not much unlike the modern instrument, with
varying numbers of strings up to twenty-two. (S. C. Bartlett, D. D.)
Cheering effect of music
Whilst the Federal army lay before the city of Richmond, the regimental bands were
silent. When they began to retreat to Malvern, the troops marched through the acres of
ripe grain, cutting off the tops and gathering them into their haversacks, being out of
rations, as well as lame and stiff from marching. Orders were here given for the bands to
strike up playing, and the effect on the dispirited men was almost magical as the
patriotic airs were played. They seemed to catch new hope and enthusiasm, and a cheer
went up from each regiment.
Serving God with a cheerful spirit
When the poet Carpani inquired of his friend Haydn how it happened that his church
music was always so cheerful, the great composer made a most beautiful reply. “I
cannot,” said he, “make it otherwise; I write according to the thoughts I feel. When I
think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from

113. my pen; and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve
Him with a cheerful spirit.”
20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took
a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed
her, with timbrels and dancing.
BAR ES, "And Miriam the prophetess - The part here assigned to Miriam and
the women of Israel is in accordance both with Egyptian and Hebrew customs. The men
are represented as singing the hymn in chorus, under the guidance of Moses; at each
interval Miriam and the women sang the refrain, marking the time with the timbrel, and
with the measured rhythmical movements always associated with solemn festivities.
Compare Jdg_11:34; 2Sa_6:5, and marginal references. The word used in this passage
for the timbrel is Egyptian, and judging from its etymology and the figures which are
joined with it in the inscriptions, it was probably the round instrument.
Miriam is called a prophetess, evidently Num_12:2 because she and Aaron had
received divine communications. The word is used here in its proper sense of uttering
words suggested by the Spirit of God. See Gen_20:7. She is called the sister of Aaron,
most probably to indicate her special position as coordinate, not with Moses the leader
of the nation, but with his chief aid and instrument.
CLARKE, "And Miriam the prophetess - We have already seen that Miriam was
older than either Moses or Aaron: for when Moses was exposed on the Nile, she was a
young girl capable of managing the stratagem used for the preservation of his life; and
then Aaron was only three years and three months old, for he was fourscore and three
years old when Moses was but fourscore, (see Exo_7:7); so that Aaron was older than
Moses, and Miriam considerably older than either, not less probably than nine or ten
years of age. See Clarke’s notes on Exo_2:2. There is great diversity of opinion on the
origin of the name of Miriam, which is the same with the Greek Μαριαµ, the Latin
Maria, and the English Mary. Some suppose it to be compounded of ‫מר‬ mar, a drop,
(Isa_40:15), and ‫ים‬ yam, the sea, and that from this etymology the heathens formed
their Venus, whom they feign to have sprung from the sea. St. Jerome gives several
etymologies for the name, which at once show how difficult it is to ascertain it: she who
enlightens me, or she who enlightens them, or the star of the sea. Others, the lady of the
sea, the bitterness of the sea, etc. It is probable that the first or the last is the true one,

114. but it is a matter of little importance, as we have not the circumstance marked, as in the
case of Moses and many others, that gave rise to the name.
The prophetess - ‫הנביאה‬ hannebiah. For the meaning of the word prophet, ‫נביא‬ nabi,
see the note on Gen_20:7. It is very likely that Miriam was inspired by the Spirit of God
to instruct the Hebrew women, as Moses and Aaron were to instruct the men; and when
she and her brother Aaron sought to share in the government of the people with Moses,
we find her laying claim to the prophetic influence, Num_12:2 : Hath the Lord indeed
spoken only by Moses? Hath he not Spoken Also By Us? And that she was constituted
joint leader of the people with her two brothers, we have the express word of God by the
Prophet Micah, Mic_6:4 : For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt - and I sent
before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Hence it is very likely that she was the
instructress of the women, and regulated the times, places, etc., of their devotional acts;
for it appears that from the beginning to the present day the Jewish women all
worshipped apart.
A timbrel - ‫תף‬ toph, the same word which is translated tabret, Gen_31:27, on which
the reader is desired to consult the note. See Clarke’s note on Gen_31:27.
And with dances - ‫מחלת‬ mecholoth. Many learned men suppose that this word
means some instruments of wind music, because the word comes from the root ‫חלל‬
chalal, the ideal meaning of which is to perforate, penetrate, pierce, stab, and hence to
wound. Pipes or hollow tubes, such as flutes, hautboys, and the like, may be intended.
Both the Arabic and Persian understand it as meaning instruments of music of the pipe,
drum, or sistrum kind; and this seems to comport better with the scope and design of
the place than the term dances. It must however be allowed that religious dances have
been in use from the remotest times; and yet in most of the places where the term occurs
in our translation, an instrument of music bids as fair to be its meaning as a dance of any
kind. Miriam is the first prophetess on record, and by this we find that God not only
poured out his Spirit upon men, but upon women also; and we learn also that Miriam
was not only a prophetess, but a poetess also, and must have had considerable skill in
music to have been able to conduct her part of these solemnities. It may appear strange
that during so long an oppression in Egypt, the Israelites were able to cultivate the fine
arts; but that they did so there is the utmost evidence from the Pentateuch. Not only
architecture, weaving, and such necessary arts, were well known among them, but also
the arts that are called ornamental, such as those of the goldsmith, lapidary,
embroiderer, furrier, etc., of which we have ample proof in the construction of the
tabernacle and its utensils. However ungrateful, rebellious, etc., the Jews may have been,
the praise of industry and economy can never be denied them. In former ages, and in all
places even of their dispersions, they appear to have been frugal and industrious, and
capable of great proficiency in the most elegant and curious arts; but they are now
greatly degenerated.
GILL, "And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron,.... The same, it is highly
probable, that is called the sister of Moses, Exo_2:3, her name Miriam is the same as
Mary with us, and signifies bitterness; and, as the Hebrews (x) observe, had it from the
bitterness of the times, and the afflictions the Israelites endured and groaned under
when she was born; which is a much more probable signification and reason of her name
than what is given by others, that it is the same with Marjam, which signifies a drop of

115. the sea; from whence, they fancy, came the story of Venus, and her name of Aphrodite,
the froth of the sea: Miriam was a prophetess, and so called, not from this action of
singing, here recorded of her, for so all the women that sung with her might be called
prophetesses, though sometimes in Scripture prophesying intends singing; but rather
from her having a gift of teaching and instructing, and even of foretelling things to come;
for the Lord spoke by her as well as by Moses and Aaron, and she, with them, were the
leaders of the people of Israel, sent to them of the Lord, see Num_12:2, she is
particularly called the sister of Aaron, though she was likewise the sister of Moses; the
reason is, that being older than Moses, she was Aaron's sister before his, and having
lived all her days with Aaron almost, and very little with Moses, was best known by being
the sister of Aaron; and it is possible she might be his own sister by father and mother's
side, when Moses was by another woman; however, it is said of her, she
took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with
timbrels and with dances; timbrels were a sort of drums or tabrets, which being beat
upon gave a musical sound, somewhat perhaps like our kettledrums; and though dances
were sometimes used in religious exercises, yet the word may signify another kind of
musical instruments, as "pipes" or "flutes" (y), as it is by some rendered; and by the
Syriac and Arabic versions, "sistrums"; which were musical instruments much used by
the Egyptians, and from whom the Israelitish women had these; and as they were going
to keep a feast in the wilderness, they lent them to them, it is very probable, on that
account; otherwise it is not easy to conceive what use the Israelites could have for them,
and put them to during their hard bondage and sore affliction in Egypt: now with these
they went out of the camp or tents into the open fields, or to the shore of the Red sea,
and sung as Moses and the men of Israel did: to this the psalmist seems to refer in Psa_
68:25.
HE RY, "The solemn singing of this song, Exo_15:20, Exo_15:21. Miriam (or Mary,
it is the same name) presided in an assembly of the women, who (according to the
softness of their sex, and the common usage of those times for expressing joy, with
timbrels and dances) sang this song. Moses led the psalm, and gave it out for the men,
and then Miriam for the women. Famous victories were wont to be applauded by the
daughters of Israel (1Sa_18:6, 1Sa_18:7); so was this. When God brought Israel out of
Egypt, it is said (Mic_6:4), He sent before them Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, though we
read not of any thing memorable that Miriam did but this. But those are to be reckoned
great blessings to a people who assist them, and go before them, in praising God.
JAMISO , "Miriam the prophetess — so called from her receiving divine
revelations (Num_12:1; Mic_6:4), but in this instance principally from her being
eminently skilled in music, and in this sense the word “prophecy” is sometimes used in
Scripture (1Ch_25:1; 1Co_11:5).
took a timbrel — or “tabret” - a musical instrument in the form of a hoop, edged
round with rings or pieces of brass to make a jingling noise and covered over with
tightened parchment like a drum. It was beat with the fingers, and corresponds to our
tambourine.
all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances — We shall
understand this by attending to the modern customs of the East, where the dance - a
slow, grave, and solemn gesture, generally accompanied with singing and the sound of
the timbrel, is still led by the principal female of the company, the rest imitating her

116. movements and repeating the words of the song as they drop from her lips.
CALVI , "20.And Miriam the prophetess. Moses here introduces in his song the ἀ
‫םפיףפסןצ‬ὴ, such as were constantly used by the lyric poets. For God would have not
only men to be the proclaimers of this great miracle, but associated the women with
them. When, therefore, the men had finished their song, the women followed in
order. Although it is not certain whether the first verse was intercalary, (as the
sacred history testifies the following sentence to have been in a solemn hymn: —
“For his mercy endureth for ever,” 1 Chronicles 16:34, which is also intercalated in
Psalms 136:0), or whether the women repeated alternately what the men had sung.
It little matters which opinion you prefer, except that the former is more probable.
But although Moses honors his sister by the title of “prophetess,” he does not say
that she assumed to herself the office of public teaching, but only that she was the
leader and directress of the others in praising God. The beating of timbrels may
indeed appear absurd to some, but the custom of the nation excuses it, which David
witnesses to have existed also in his time, where he enumerates, together with the
singers, “the damsels playing with timbrels,” ( Psalms 68:25,) evidently in
accordance with common and received custom. Yet must it be observed, at the same
time, that musical instruments were among the legal ceremonies which Christ at His
coming abolished; and therefore we, under the Gospel, must maintain a greater
simplicity. (169)
ELLICOTT,"(20) Miriam the prophetess.—In Miriam we have the first of that long
series of religious women presented to us in Holy Scripture who are not merely
pious and God-fearing, but exercise a quasi-ministerial office. Examples of other
“prophetesses” will be found in Judges 4:4; 2 Kings 22:14; Isaiah 8:3; Luke 2:36. In
the early Christian Church there was an order of “deaconesses (Romans 16:1;
Apost. Const., vi. 17). The office of “prophetess” seems to have been permitted to
women in Egypt, though that of “priestess” was, until Ptolemaic times, forbidden
them.
The sister of Aaron.—She is called “sister of Aaron,” rather than of Moses, because
Aaron was the head of the family (Exodus 6:20; Exodus 7:7). There is no reasonable
doubt that she was the sister who kept watch on Moses when he was in the ark of
bulrushes (Exodus 2:3-8). On her later history, see umbers 12:1-15. The prophet
Micah regarded her as having had a part in the work of Israel’s deliverance (Micah
6:4).
Timbrels and with dances.—By “timbrels” are meant tambours, or tambourines,
favourite instruments in Egypt, and usually played by women there (Wilkinson:
Ancient Egyptians, vol. i., p. 93). The combination of music with song in religious
worship, here for the first time brought before us, became the fixed rule of the
Tabernacle service from the time of David (2 Samuel 6:15; 1 Chronicles 23:5; 1
Chronicles 25:1-6), and was adopted into the Temple service from its first
establishment (2 Chronicles 5:12). Sanctioned under the new covenant by the
general praise of psalmody, and by the representations given in the Apocalypse of

117. the Church triumphant in heaven (Revelation 5:8; Revelation 14:2-3), it has always
maintained itself in the Christian Church, and still holds its ground firmly. Dancing,
on the contrary, though adopted into religious worship by many nations, sanctioned
by the present passage, by the example of David (2 Samuel 6:16), and by expressions
in the Psalms (Psalms 149:3; Psalms 150:4), has never found an entrance into
Christian ceremonial, unless among a few fanatic sects. The reason of this is to be
found in the abuses which, through human infirmity, became by degrees connected
with the practice, causing it to become unfit for a religious purpose. In the primitive
times, however, solemn and stately dances were deemed appropriate to festival
periods and religious rejoicings, and among the more moral tribes and nations had
nothing unseemly about them.
The arrangement of the choir on this occasion into two bands—one of males, the
other of females—and the combined employment of music, song, and dancing by the
female band, are in close accord with Egyptian customs.
BE SO , "Exodus 15:20-21. Miriam the prophetess — So called, either in a
general sense, because she was an instructer of other women in the praise and
service of God, or in a more special sense, because she had the spirit of prophecy,
umbers 12:2; Micah 6:4. Miriam (or Mary, for it is the same name) now presided
in an assembly of the women, who, according to the common usage of those times,
with timbrels and dances, sung this song. Moses led the sacred song, and gave it out
for the men, and then Miriam for the women. Famous victories were wont to be
applauded by the daughters of Israel, (1 Samuel 18:6-7,) so was this. When God
brought Israel out of Egypt, it is said, (Micah 6:4,) he sent before them Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam; though we read not of any thing remarkable that Miriam did
but this. But those are to be reckoned great blessings to a people, that go before
them in praising God. And Miriam answered them — The men: they sung by turns,
or in parts.
COFFMA , "Verse 20
"And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and
all the women went out with her with timbrels and with dances."
Miriam is the first woman mentioned in the Bible as a "prophetess," and this was
because she was endowed with the gift of prophecy. What a preposterous statement
on this is the affirmation that "she was endowed with the gift of ecstatic
utterance!"[42]; umbers 12:6-8 reveals that her inspiration was of a degree less
than that of Moses, which also may account for her being introduced here, not as
Moses' sister, which presumably she was, but as the sister of Aaron. The mention of
dances here is in keeping with the custom of religious dances prevalent also in the
times of David. We like the comment of Dobson on this to the effect that any such
acceptance of dancing into Christian worship was frustrated because, "dancing was
closely connected with the worship of other gods, or with drunkenness or sexual
immorality."[43] It should also be remembered in this connection that at no time or
place did any of the apostles of Jesus Christ sanction any such thing as a dance in
the worship of God. We must also add that the same applies to timbrels and other

118. instruments of music.
COKE, "Exodus 15:20. Miriam the prophetess— ´ ‫בסיבל‬in the Greek, in the Latin
Maria, from the Hebrew word ‫מרה‬ marah, bitterness. She was so called, say some,
from the times of affliction and bitterness, (Exodus 1:14.) in which she was born. In
the note on Genesis 20:7 we have given the true explanation of the word prophet;
which signifies a person who speaks something in an eminent and extraordinary
manner: and, in this view, the ancients called their poets by the name of prophets,
vates. St. Paul himself calls a heathen poet by the name of prophet, Titus 1:12 and,
indeed, there was good reason for this appellation, as poetry was at first dedicated
solely to sacred and religious subjects; the first poets, most probably, being priests,
who composed and sung hymns in honour of the Deity: and very respectable is the
character which Horace gives of this first order of poets; see Ars Poet. ver. 396, &c.
Happy would it have been, if this divine art had never been desecrated by improper
subjects.
Music, in general, was in so great esteem among the ancients, that they, in some
degree, confounded musicians, poets, and sages, as if they were the same order of
persons. (See Quintil. lib. i. c. 10.) Miriam, most probably, is called a prophetess in
this sense. In 1 Samuel 10:5-6 the name of prophets is given to those who sing the
praises of God, and compose hymns to his glory: and, in 1 Chronicles 25:1-3 the
name is applied to the musicians appointed by king David; who prophesied with a
harp, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord. And so, in the ew Testament, the
words prophets, prophecy, &c. are applied to those who preached the word of God,
without any respect to the prediction of future events. See 1 Corinthians 12:28; 1
Corinthians 3:23.
Ephesians 4:11. 1 Thessalonians 5:20. It is possible, however that Miriam might
merit this title in a more eminent sense, as having been peculiarly favoured with
Divine inspiration: see umbers 12:2 and Mich. Exodus 6:4 from which last passage
one would conclude, that Miriam was inspired for the instruction of the women, as
Moses and Aaron were for that of the men. She is called the sister of Aaron,
probably, because Moses, being the writer, chose rather, agreeable to his usual
modesty, to distinguish her thus, than to speak of himself.
A timbrel— The same original word is used, Genesis 31:27. ‫ףּת‬ top, and is there
translated tabret: it signifies a musical instrument played on by beating; the word
‫ףּתפ‬ tapap, signifying to smite repeatedly, to beat. The word, which we render
dances, some render flutes, or pipes: but ours seems the more true and proper
interpretation. The ancient heathen nations imitated this custom of singing and
dancing in the worship of their gods. Bishop Huet is of opinion, that the dances in
honour of Diana, mentioned in the hymn of Callimachus to her, alludes to this part
of the sacred history.
REFLECTIO S.—Prayer and praise usually go together: the mercies that we have
in faith desired, we shall in song acknowledge; and a noble and enlivening part is
this of Divine worship. othing is a surer proof of a dead heart, a dead

119. congregation, and a dead church, than negligence and carelessness in singing the
praises of God.
1. Moses opens with the triumphs of Jehovah, whose right hand had saved them. He
proclaims his honour, as the God of sovereign power, grace, and love; the Saviour of
his people, and the avenger of his enemies: he mentions with exultation the late
display of his mighty arm, and bursts into a question of expressive wonder, Who is
like unto thee? ote; (1.) We cannot, in our praises, enough exalt the great and
glorious name of our God. (2.) We should ever profess our dependence upon him;
and past experience should confirm our present confidence.
2. The victory is described with the most sublime expressions: the vain confidence of
the Egyptians in their pursuit, and their cruelty in the threatened destruction: but
how unequal in the contest, when all creation rises at God's command; and they
sink as lead in the mighty waters? ote; (1.) The surer the self-deceiver thinks
himself of heaven, the more terrible will be his disappointment when he sinks down
to hell. (2.) They who are most exposed for the Gospel's sake, will by and by
remember their difficulties with the greatest delight, as making their deliverance
more illustrious, and their obligations the greater to the God of their salvation.
3. Observe the encouragement that Moses draws from it. Their enemies would hear
and tremble: dispirited by their fears, they would fall an easy prey, as was the case:
and this beginning of mercy ensured the perfection of it, in the promised land. For
Jehovah their God for ever reigns, and reigns to protect and bless his favoured
people. Well may every humble believer rejoice in this consideration, His God is not
only a present Saviour, but will be the Author of his eternal salvation.
4. The solemn manner of performing this anthem of praise. Though the women
cannot wield the sword, they can rejoice in the song, and join in alternate responses.
Moses led the way, and Miriam answered. They who are the first in leading God's
people to victory, should be the first in exciting them to gratitude, and the leaders of
the song of thanksgiving.
EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "Exodus 15:20
In the seventh letter of Time and Tide Ruskin describes a monotonous, twitching,
girl"s dance which he once witnessed in the theatre. "While this was going on, there
was a Bible text repeating itself over and over again in my head, whether I would or
no," viz, this verse of Exodus. "The going forth of the women of Israel after Miriam
with timbrels and with dances was, as you doubtless remember, their expression of
passionate triumph and thankfulness, after the full accomplishment of their
deliverance from the Egyptians. That deliverance had been by the utter death of
their enemies, and accompanied by stupendous miracle; no human creature could,
in an hour of triumph, be surrounded by circumstances more solemn. Consider only
for yourself what that "seeing of the Egyptians dead upon the seashore" meant to
every soul that saw it. And then reflect that these intense emotions of mingled
horror, triumph and gratitude were expressed, in the visible presence of the Deity,

120. by music and dancing... both music and dancing being, among all ancient nations,
an appointed and very principal part of the worship of the gods, and that very
theatrical entertainment at which I sate thinking on these things for you—that
pantomime, which depended throughout for its success on our appeal to the vices of
the lower London populace, was, in itself, nothing but a corrupt remnant of the
religious ceremonies which guided the most serious faiths of the Greek mind."
PETT, "The Song of Miriam (Exodus 15:20-21).
Exodus 15:20
‘And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all
the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
“The prophetess.” There are few mentions of prophetesses in the Old Testament but
one or two made a significant contribution. Deborah was a tribal leader, ‘a judge’
(Judges 4:4), and she strengthened the hand of the war leader Barak. She too sang a
song of victory (5:1). Huldah was consulted by important men to find the word of
Yahweh (2 Kings 22:14). oadiah was unhelpful to ehemiah when, along with
some prophets, she tried to influence him wrongly ( ehemiah 6:14). A prophetess
was married to Isaiah (Isaiah 8:3). It is therefore clear that except when there were
exceptional women like Deborah and Huldah they played a minor role, possibly
mainly with women and in prophetic song.
“The sister of Aaron.” Aaron was the eldest son and probably head of the family.
Thus Miriam would be known as the sister of Aaron. The description also kept her
on the same level with Aaron and therefore inferior to Moses before God. It was
possibly, but not necessarily, Miriam who had watched over the baby in the ark,
and fetched his mother for the daughter of Pharaoh. If so she was very old.
“Timbrels.” These were kinds of tambourines held and struck with the hand. They
appear to be used for worship and for joyous occasions and often to be associated
with dancing (Psalms 149:3; Psalms 150:4).
“With dances.” Dancing was a common method of expressing joy, and praise and
thanks (compare 2 Samuel 6:14; Psalms 149:3; Psalms 150:4).
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:20
Miriam, the prophetess. Miriam is regarded by the prophet Micah 6:4, as having
had a share in the deliverance of Israel, and claims the prophetic gift in umbers
12:2. Her claim appears to be allowed both in the present passage, and in umbers
12:6-8. where the degree of her inspiration is placed below that of Moses. She is the
first woman whom the Bible honours with the title of "prophetess." Prophetesses
were common in Egypt at a much earlier date; and thus, that a woman should have
the gift would have seemed no strange thing to the Hebrews. For examples of other
prophetesses, see 4:4; 2 Kings 22:14; Isaiah 8:3; Luke 2:36. The sister of Aaron.
Compare umbers 26:59. Miriam is generally regarded as the sister of Moses

121. mentioned in Exodus 2:4-8, whose name is not there given. If so, she was
considerably older than either Moses or Aaron. Took a timbrel By "a timbrel" our
translators meant what is now called "a tambourine." Such instruments were
common in Egypt, and in the representations are generally played by women. The
separation of the men and women into distinct bands was an Egyptian custom; as
likewise was the execution of dances by performers who accompanied their steps
with music.
21 Miriam sang to them:
“Sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.”
The Waters of Marah and Elim
GILL, "And Miriam answered them,.... The men, for the word is masculine; that is,
repeated, and sung the same song word for word after them, as they had done, of which
a specimen is given by reciting the first clause of the song:
sing ye to the Lord; which is by way of exhortation to the women to sing with her, as
Moses begins the song thus: "I will sing unto the Lord":
for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown
into the sea; See Gill on Exo_15:1, the manner of their singing, according to the Jews
(z), was, Moses first said, "I will sing", and they said it after him.
ELLICOTT, "(21) Miriam answered them.—Miriam and her maidens at the close
of each portion of the “Song”—i.e., at the end of Exodus 15:5; Exodus 15:10;
Exodus 15:12; Exodus 15:18—sang the refrain which is here given—a refrain very
slightly altered from the opening verse of the “Song” itself, marking, no doubt, the
time with their timbrels, and moving gracefully through a stately and solemn dance.

122. COFFMA , "Verse 21
"And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously;
The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea."
"And Miriam answered them ..." This appears to indicate that Miriam and the
women accompanying her repeated these opening lines of Moses song as a chant at
appropriate places in the hymn, which was evidently sung by all the people, or even,
possibly, after every line of it. We can know nothing, really, of exactly how all this
was done. See another comment on thus under Exodus 15:2, above. However, the
significant mention of Miriam here is appropriate, for it shows the important place
of women in God's deliverance of his people. It should be recalled here that Miriam
saved Moses' life in the events surrounding his birth. Other women in the Bible
called prophetesses are: Deborah, Judges 4:4; Huldah, 2 Kings 22:14; odiah, a
false prophetess, ehemiah 6:16; Isaiah's wife, Isaiah 8:3; and Jezebel who called
herself a prophetess, Revelation 2:20.
These verses actually conclude the mighty event of the Red Sea Passage and Israel's
immediate and magnificent celebration of it, and many commentators find a major
division in Exodus right here, all of the rest of the book being the account of Israel's
journey from the Red Sea to Sinai and their attendant maneuvers in the wilderness.
PETT, "Exodus 15:21
‘And Miriam answered them, “Sing you to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously
(or ‘is highly exalted’). The horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea.’
This is expressed as a reply to the song sung by Moses and the children of Israel. It
is like a chorus, repeating the first refrain. The two songs would be sung together,
the latter following the former.
This song is of great importance. Its early provenance is accepted by most scholars,
and it contains within it much of the theology of Israel. It acknowledges the
uniqueness of Yahweh (Exodus 15:11), it stresses that Israel are the people whom
He has redeemed (Exodus 15:13; Exodus 15:16), it declares that Yahweh is bringing
them to His land (‘the mountain of Your inheritance’) which He has set apart for
them as His Sanctuary (Exodus 15:17), it clearly recognises the Holy War ahead
(Exodus 15:14-16), and it proclaims that Yahweh will be King over them ‘for ever’
(Exodus 15:18). ote that here their father’s God is specifically said to be Yahweh
(Exodus 15:2) not El Shaddai.
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:21
Miriam answered them. Miriam, with her chorus of women, answered the chorus of
men, responding at the termination of each stanza or separate part of the ode with
the refrain, "Sing ye to the Lord," etc. (See the "Introduction" to this chapter.)
While responding, the female chorus both danced and struck their tambourines.
This use of dancing in a religious ceremonial, so contrary to Western ideas of
decorum, is quite consonant with Oriental practice, both ancient and modern. Other

123. examples of it in Scripture are David's dancing before the ark (2 Samuel 6:16), the
dancing of Jephthah's daughter ( 11:34), and that of the virgins of Shiloh ( 21:21). It
is also mentioned with approval in the Psalms (Psalms 149:3; el. 4). Dancing was
practised as a religious ceremony in Egypt, in Phrygia, in Thrace, by the
Phoenicians, by the Syrians, by the Romans, and others. In the nature of things
there is clearly nothing unfitting or indecorous in a dedication to religion of what
has been called "the poetry of gesture." But human infirmity has connected such
terrible abuses with the practice that the purer religions have either discarded it or
else denied it admission into their ceremonial. It still however lingers in
Mohammedanism among those who are called "dancing dervishes," whose
extraordinary performances are regarded as acts of devotion.
22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and
they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days
they traveled in the desert without finding water.
BAR ES, "So Moses - Literally, And Moses. The history of the journey from the
Red Sea to Sinai begins in fact with this verse, which would more conveniently have been
the commencement of another chapter.
From the Red sea - The station where Moses and his people halted to celebrate
their deliverance is generally admitted to be the Ayoun Musa, i. e. the fountains of
Moses. It is the only green spot near the passage over the Red Sea. There are several
wells there, which in the time of Moses were probably enclosed and kept with great care
by the Egyptians, for the use of the frequent convoys to and from their ancient
settlements at Sarbutel Khadem and the Wady Mughara.
The wilderness of Shur - This name belongs to the whole district between the
northeastern frontier of Egypt and Palestine. The word is undoubtedly Egyptian, and is
derived probably from the word Khar which designated all the country between Egypt
and Syria proper.
Three days - The distance between Ayoun Musa and Huwara, the first spot where
any water is found on the route, is 33 geographical miles. The whole district is a tract of
sand, or rough gravel.
CLARKE, "The wilderness of Shur - This was on the coast of the Red Sea on
their road to Mount Sinai. See the map.

124. GILL, "So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea,.... Or "caused them to
journey" (a), which some think was done with difficulty, they being so eager and intent
upon the spoil and plunder of the Egyptians cast upon the sea shore, the harness of their
horses being, as Jarchi observes, ornamented with gold and silver, and precious stones;
or as others, they had some inclination to return to Egypt, and take possession of the
country for themselves; the inhabitants of it, at least its military force, being destroyed,
and their armour in their possession; but the truer meaning of the word is, that Moses,
as their general, gave them the word of command to march, and till they had it they
stayed at the Red sea refreshing themselves, taking the spoils of the enemy, and singing
the praises of God; but when Moses gave them orders to set forward, they proceeded on
their journey:
and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; the same with the wilderness of
Etham, as appears from Num_33:8 there might be, as Aben Ezra conjectures, two cities
in or near this wilderness, of those two names, from whence it might be called: for, as
Doctor Shaw says (b), Shur was a particular district of the wilderness of Etham, fronting
the valley (of Baideah), from which, he supposes, the children of Israel departed: and
Doctor Pocock says (c) that the wilderness of Shur might be the fourth part of the
wilderness of Etham, for about six hours from the springs of Moses (where, according to
the tradition of the country, the children of Israel landed, being directly over against
Clysma or Pihahiroth) is a winter torrent, called Sedur (or Sdur), and there is a hill
higher than the rest, called Kala Sedur (the fortress of Sedur), and from which this
wilderness might have its name: and by another traveller (d) this wilderness is called the
wilderness of Sedur: and now it was the wilderness of Etham they were in before they
went into the Red sea, which has induced some to believe that they came out on the
same shore again; for the solution of which difficulty See Gill on Exo_14:22,
and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water; which must
be very distressing to such a vast number of people and cattle, in a hot, sandy, desert:
this doubtless gave occasion to the stories told by Heathen authors, as Tacitus (e), and
others, that the people of the Jews, under the conduct of Moses, were near perishing for
want of water, when, following a flock of wild asses, which led them to a rock covered
with a grove of trees, they found large fountains of water: the three days they travelled
here were the twenty second, third and fourth, of Nisan, in the beginning of April.
JAMISO , "wilderness of Shur — comprehending all the western part of Arabia-
Petraea. The desert of Etham was a part of it, extending round the northern portion of
the Red Sea, and a considerable distance along its eastern shore; whereas the
“wilderness of Shur” (now Sudhr) was the designation of all the desert region of Arabia-
Petraea that lay next to Palestine.
HENRY, "It should seem, it was with some difficulty that Moses prevailed with Israel
to leave that triumphant shore on which they sang the foregoing song. They were so
taken up with the sight, or with the song, or with the spoiling of the dead bodies, that
they cared not to go forward, but Moses with much ado brought them from the Red Sea
into a wilderness. The pleasures of our way to Canaan must not retard our progress, but
quicken it, though we have a wilderness before us. Now here we are told,
I. That in the wilderness of Shur they had no water, Exo_15:22. This was a sore trial to

125. the young travellers, and a diminution to their joy; thus God would train them up to
difficulties. David, in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, reaches forth towards
God, Psa_63:1.
K&D 22-24, "Exo_15:22-24
Leaving the Red Sea, they went into the desert of Shur. This name is given to the tract
of desert which separates Egypt from Palestine, and also from the more elevated parts of
the desert of Arabia, and stretches from the Mediterranean to the head of the Arabian
Gulf or Red Sea, and thence along the eastern shore of the sea to the neighbourhood of
the Wady Gharandel. In Num_33:8 it is called the desert of Etham, from the town of
Etham, which stood upon the border (see Exo_13:20). The spot where the Israelites
encamped after crossing the sea, and sang praises to the Lord for their gracious
deliverance, is supposed to have been the present Ayun Musa (the springs of Moses), the
only green spot in the northern part of this desolate tract of desert, where water could be
obtained. At the present time there are several springs there, which yield a dark,
brackish, though drinkable water, and a few stunted palms; and even till a very recent
date country houses have been built and gardens laid out there by the richer inhabitants
of Suez. From this point the Israelites went three days without finding water, till they
came to Marah, where there was water, but so bitter that they could not drink it. The
first spot on the road from Ayun Musa to Sinai where water can be found, is in the well
of Howâra, 33 English miles from the former. It is now a basin of 6 or 8 feet in
diameter, with two feet of water in it, but so disagreeably bitter and salt, that the
Bedouins consider it the worst water in the whole neighbourhood (Robinson, i. 96). The
distance from Ayun Musa and the quality of the water both favour the identity of
Howâra and Marah. A whole people, travelling with children, cattle, and baggage, could
not accomplish the distance in less than three days, and there is no other water on the
road from Ayum Musa to Howâra. Hence, from the time of Burckhardt, who was the
first to rediscover the well, Howâra has been regarded as the Marah of the Israelites. In
the Wady Amara, a barren valley two hours to the north of Howâra, where Ewald
looked for it, there is not water to be found; and in the Wady Gharandel, two hours to
the south, to which Lepsius assigned it, the quality of the water does not agree with our
account.
(Note: The small quantity of water at Howâra, “which is hardly sufficient for a few
hundred men, to say nothing of so large an army as the Israelites formed” (Seetzen),
is no proof that Howâra and Marah are not identical. For the spring, which is now
sanded up, may have flowed more copiously at one time, when it was kept in better
order. Its present neglected state is the cause of the scarcity.)
It is true that no trace of the name has been preserved; but it seems to have been given to
the place by the Israelites simply on account of the bitterness of the water. This
furnished the people with an inducement to murmur against Moses (Exo_15:24). They
had probably taken a supply of water from Ayum Musa for the three days' march into the
desert. But this store was now exhausted; and, as Luther says, “when the supply fails,
our faith is soon gone.” Thus even Israel forgot the many proofs of the grace of God,
which it had received already.
CALVI , "22.So Moses brought. Moses now relates that, from the time, of their
passage through the sea, they had been suffering for three days from the want of

126. water, that the first they discovered was bitter, and that thence the name was given
to the place. This was indeed no light temptation, to suffer thirst for three days in a
dry land, and nowhere to meet with relief or remedy. o wonder, then, that they
should have groaned with anxiety; but grief, when it is full of contumacy, deserves
no pardon. In such an emergency, they should have directed their prayers to God;
whereas they not only neglected to pray, but violently assailed Moses, and
demanded of him the drink which they knew could only be given them by God. But
because they had not yet learnt to trust in Him, they fly not to Him for aid, except
by imperiously commanding Him, in the person of His servant, to obey their wishes;
for this interrogation, “What shall we drink?” is as much as to say, “Arrange with
God to supply us with drink.” But they do not directly address God, of whose
assistance they feel that they have need, because unbelief is ever proud.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 22
THE JOUR EY FROM THE RED SEA TO ELIM.
(22) So Moses brought Israel.—Rather, And Moses brought Israel. The regular
narrative is here resumed from Exodus 14:31, and the Israelites are brought two
stages upon their journey towards Sinai (Exodus 3:12)—first to Marah (Exodus
15:23), and next to Elim (Exodus 15:27). It is uncertain at what exact point of the
coast they emerged from the sea-bed, but it can scarcely have been at any great
distance from the modern Suez. The “springs of Moses,” Ayun Musa, which are
about seven miles from Suez, may well have been the halting-place where the
“Song” was composed and sung. At this spot there is considerable vegetation, and a
number of wells, variously reckoned at seven, seventeen, and nineteen.
The wilderness of Shur is the arid tract extending from Lake Serb‫פ‬nis on the north
to Ain Howarah towards the south. It seems to have been called also “the wilderness
of Etham” ( umbers 33:8). The Israelites traversed only the southern portion,
which is an actual desert, treeless, waterless, and, except in the early spring,
destitute of herbage.
They went three days.—From Ayun Musa to Ain Howarah is a distance of about
thirty-six miles, so that, if Howarah is Marah, the average of a march can have been
no more than twelve miles. This, however, is quite likely with so large a multitude,
and when there was no reason for haste.
BE SO ,"Exodus 15:22. They went three days and found no water — Here we see
that deliverances, however great, do not exempt from future difficulties and trials.
ever was a greater deliverance, of a temporal nature, wrought out for any people
than that of the Israelites from Pharaoh and from Egypt. It is the most wonderful
act of God’s almighty power, next to the creation of the world, and its destruction
by, and subsequent restoration from the flood, which we read of in the Old
Testament: or rather, it is a series of acts, each more wonderful than the other. And
yet the very people, thus delivered, find themselves, immediately on their
deliverance, with their numerous flocks, and herds, and little ones, in danger of

127. perishing with thirst! And when, after three days of distress on this account, they
found water, could not drink of it because it was bitter. But this was for the trial of
their faith and patience; and after the wonderful things God had done for them,
they were perfectly inexcusable in murmuring against Moses, which was, in effect,
murmuring against God. How marvellous was the patience of God with this people!
COFFMA , "Verses 22-26
THE BITTER WATERS OF MARAH
"And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the
wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the watars of Marah, for
they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people
murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto Jehovah,
and Jehovah showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were
made sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he
proved them; and he said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy
God, and wilt do that which is right in his eyes, and wilt give ear unto his
commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee,
which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am Jehovah that healeth thee."
Just as trials in the Christian life come early, this distressing episode followed very
quickly upon the triumphant rejoicing in the Song of Moses. Three days earlier they
were indeed flying high: delivered from slavery, their foes drowned in the sea, they
were already anticipating the entry into the land of Canaan; and then, they ran out
of water! When they found water, it was too bitter to drink. So what did Israel do?
What they did here must be hailed as an eloquent commentary on what not to do in
an emergency. Did they call a council, resort to prayer, appoint a committee to look
for water, or even attempt to dig a well, or call a prayer meeting to pray for rain?
Oh no, they MURMURED!
"The people murmured against Moses ..." The specific word for "murmur" is found
in seven chapters of the O.T.: "It occurs in Exodus 15; Exodus 16, and Exodus 17;
in umbers 14; umbers 16, and umbers 17; and in Joshua 9:18."[44] This
reaction to conditions which Israel did not like was to continue throughout the
period of their probation and would eventually be the reason why most of them
would never enter Canaan.
"Jehovah showed Moses a tree ..." The word here rendered "tree" actually means
"a piece of wood."[45] It is very similar to the word used for the Tree of Life, and
this, coupled with the fact of Jesus' both entering and leaving our world "in the
wood" (of the manger and of the cross), has led many to see in this a type of the
Christ who makes life's bitter waters sweet. Certainly, we may reject out of hand the
notion that, "Moses, a man of long experience in wilderness survival, had learned in
Midian the formula for sweetening bitter water, and applied it now!"[46] o! It was
the Lord who actually healed the waters, despite the fact of its having been

128. contingent upon Moses' casting that "tree" into the waters.
CO STABLE, "Verses 22-26
The wilderness of Shur was a section of semi-desert to the east of Egypt"s border. It
occupied the northwestern part of the Sinai Peninsula, and it separated Egypt from
Palestine ( Exodus 15:22).
". . . wilderness does not imply a waste of sand, but a broad open expanse, which
affords pasture enough for a nomad tribe wandering with their flocks. Waste and
desolate so far as human habitations are concerned, the traveller [sic] will only
encounter a few Bedouins. But everywhere the earth is clothed with a thin
vegetation, scorched in summer drought, but brightening up, as at the kiss of the
Creator, into fair and beautiful pastures, at the rainy season and in the
neighbourhood of a spring." [ ote: Meyer, p178.]
This area has not changed much over the years.
Moses had asked Pharaoh"s permission for the Israelites to go a three-day journey
into the wilderness ( Exodus 3:18; Exodus 5:3; Exodus 8:27), but now, having gone
three days, the people found no water suitable for drinking. The water at the oasis
later called Marah was brackish ( Exodus 15:23-24). This condition made the people
complain again (cf. Exodus 14:11-12). In three days they had forgotten God"s
miracles at the Red Sea, much less the plagues. This should prove that miracles do
not result in great faith. Rather great faith comes from a settled conviction that God
is trustworthy.
"When the supply fails, our faith is soon gone." [ ote: Martin Luther, quoted by
Keil and Delitzsch, 2:58.]
". . . we may in our journey have reached the pools that promised us satisfaction,
only to find them brackish. That marriage, that friendship, that new home, that
partnership, that fresh avenue of pleasure, which promised so well turns out to be
absolutely disappointing. Who has not muttered "Marah" over some desert well
which he strained every nerve to reach, but when reached, it disappointed him!"
[ ote: Meyer, p181.]
Some commentators have seen the tree cast into the water as a type of the cross of
Christ or Christ Himself that, applied to the bitter experiences of life, makes them
sweet. What is definitely clear is that by using God"s specified means and obeying
His word the Israelites learned that God would heal them ( Exodus 15:25).
Throwing the wood into the water did not magically change it. This was a symbolic
Acts , similar to Moses lifting his staff over the sea ( Exodus 14:16). God changed the
water. He is able to turn bitter water into sweet water for His people.
The "statute and regulation" that God made for Israel were that He would deliver
them from all their troubles. Therefore they could always count on His help. God"s
test involved seeing whether they would rely on Him or not (cf. James 1).

129. The words of God in Exodus 15:26 explain the statute and regulation just given. The
Israelites would not suffer the diseases God had sent on the Egyptians (i.e,
experience His discipline) if they obeyed His word as they had just done. They had
just cast the tree into the pool.
God was teaching His people that He was responsible for their physical as well as
their spiritual wellbeing. While doctors diagnose and prescribe, only God can heal.
[ ote: See Jay D. Fawver and R. Larry Overstreet, "Moses and Preventive
Medicine," Bibliotheca Sacra147:587 (July-September):285.]
"We do not find Him [God] giving Himself a new name at Elim, but at Marah. The
happy experiences of life fail to reveal all the new truth and blessing that await us in
God [cf. Genesis 15:1; Exodus 17:15]." [ ote: Meyer, pp183-84.]
This is one of the verses in Scripture that advocates of the "prosperity gospel" like.
They use it to prove their contention that it is never God"s will for anyone to be sick
(along with Exodus 23:25; Psalm 103:3; Proverbs 4:20-22; Isaiah 33:24; Jeremiah
30:17; Matthew 4:23; Matthew 10:1; Mark 16:16-18; Luke 6:17-19; Acts 5:16; Acts
10:38). One advocate of this position wrote as follows.
"Don"t ever tell anyone sickness is the will of God for us. It isn"t! Healing and
health are the will of God for mankind. If sickness were the will of God, heaven
would be filled with sickness and disease." [ ote: Kenneth Hagin, Redeemed from
Poverty, Sickness and Death, p16. For a critique of this view, see Ken L. Sarles, "A
Theological Evaluation of the Prosperity Gospel," Bibliotheca Sacra143:572
(October-December1986):329-52.]
Verses 22-27
A. God"s preparatory instruction of Israel15:22-18:27
The events in this section of the text record God"s preparation of His people for the
revelation of His gracious will for them at Mt. Sinai.
Verses 22-38
II. THE ADOPTIO OF ISRAEL15:22-40:38
The second major section of Exodus records the events associated with God"s
adoption of Israel as His chosen people. Having redeemed Israel out of slavery in
Egypt He now made the nation His privileged son. Redemption is the end of one
journey but the beginning of another.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY, "
SHUR.
Exodus 15:22-27.

130. From the Red Sea the Israelites marched into the wilderness of Shur--a general
name, of Egyptian origin, for the district between Egypt and Palestine, of which
Etham, given as their route in umbers ( umbers 33:8), is a subdivision. The
rugged way led over stone and sand, with little vegetation and no water. And the
"three days' journey" to Marah, a distance of thirty-three miles, was their first
experience of absolute hardship, for not even the curtain of miraculous cloud could
prevent them from suffering keenly by heat and thirst.
It was a period of disillusion. Fond dreams of ease and triumphant progress, with
every trouble miraculously smoothed away, had naturally been excited by their late
adventure. Their song had exulted in the prospect that their enemies should melt
away, and be as still as a stone. But their difficulties did not melt away. The road
was weary. They found no water. They were still too much impressed by the miracle
at the Red Sea, and by the mysterious Presence overhead, for open complaining to
be heard along the route; but we may be sure that reaction had set in, and there was
many a sinking heart, as the dreary route stretched on and on, and they realised
that, however romantic the main plan of their journey, the details might still be
prosaic and exacting. They sang praises unto Him. They soon forgat His works.
Aching with such disappointments, at last they reached the waters of Marah, and
they could not drink, for they were bitter.
And if Marah be indeed Huwara, as seems to be agreed, the waters are still the
worst in all the district. It was when the relief, so confidently expected, failed, and
the term of their sufferings appeared to be indefinitely prolonged, that their self-
control gave way, and they "murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we
drink?" And we may be sure that wherever discontent and unbelief are working
secret mischief to the soul, some event, some disappointment or temptation, will find
the weak point, and the favourable moment of attack, just as the seeds of disease
find out the morbid constitution, and assail it.
ow, all this is profoundly instructive, because it is true to the universal facts of
human nature. When a man is promoted to unexpected rank, or suddenly becomes
rich, or reaches any other unlooked-for elevation, he is apt to forget that life cannot,
in any position, be a romance throughout, a long thrill, a whole song at the top note
of the voice. Affection itself has a dangerous moment, when two united lives begin to
realise that even their union cannot banish aches and anxieties, weariness and
business cares. Well for them if they are content with the power of love to sweeten
what it cannot remove, as loyal soldiers gladly sacrifice all things for the cause, and
as Israel should have been proud to endure forced marches under the cloudy banner
of its emancipating God.
As neither rank nor affection exempts men from the dust and tedium of life, or from
its disappointments, so neither does religion. When one is "made happy" he expects
life to be only a triumphal procession towards Paradise, and he is startled when
"now for a season, if need be, he is in heaviness through manifold temptations." Yet
Christ prayed not that we should be taken out of the world. We are bidden to
endure hardness as good soldiers, and to run with patience the race which is set

131. before us; and these phrases indicate our need of the very qualities wherein Israel
failed. As yet the people murmured not ostensibly against God, but only against
Moses. But the estrangement of their hearts is plain, since they made no appeal to
God for relief, but assailed His agent and representative. Yet they had not because
they asked not, and relief was found when Moses cried unto the Lord. Their leader
was "faithful in all his house"; and instead of upbraiding his followers with their
ingratitude, or bewailing the hard lot of all leaders of the multitude, whose
popularity neither merit nor service can long preserve unclouded, he was content to
look for sympathy and help where we too may find it.
We read that the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters,
the waters were made sweet. In this we discern the same union of Divine grace with
human energy and use of means, as in all medicine, and indeed all uses of the
divinely enlightened intellect of man. It would have been easy to argue that the
waters could only be healed by miracle, and if God wrought a miracle what need
was there of human labour? There was need of obedience, and of the co-operation of
the human will with the divine. We shall see, in the case of the artificers of the
tabernacle, that God inspires even handicraftsmen as well as theologians--being
indeed the universal Light, the Giver of all good, not only of Bibles, but of rain and
fruitful seasons. But the artisan must labour, and the farmer improve the soil.
Shall we say with the fathers that the tree cast into the waters represents the cross of
Christ? At least it is a type of the sweetening and assuaging influences of religion--a
new element, entering life, and as well fitted to combine with it as medicinal bark
with water, making all wholesome and refreshing to the disappointed wayfarer, who
found it so bitter hitherto.
The Lord was not content with removing the grievance of the hour; He drew closer
the bonds between His people and Himself, to guard them against another
transgression of the kind: "there He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and
there He proved them." It is pure assumption to pretend that this refers to another
account of the giving of the Jewish law, inconsistent with that in the twentieth
chapter, and placed at Marah instead of Sinai.(30) It is a transaction which
resembles much rather the promises given (and at various times, although confusion
and repetition cannot be inferred) to Abraham and Jacob (Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis
15:1, Genesis 15:18-21, Genesis 17:1-14, Genesis 22:15-18, Genesis 28:13-15, Genesis
35:10-12). He said, "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God,
and wilt do that which is right in His eyes, and wilt give ear to His commandments,
and wilt keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee which I have
put upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord which healeth thee." It is a compact of
obedient trust on one side, and protection on the other. If they felt their own
sinfulness, it asserted that He who had just healed the waters could also heal their
hearts. From the connection between these is perhaps derived the comparison
between human hearts and a fountain of sweet water or bitter (James 3:11).
But certainly the promised protection takes an unexpected shape. What in their
circumstances leads to this specific offer of exemption from certain foul

132. diseases--"the boil of Egypt, and the emerods, and the scurvy, and the itch, whereof
thou canst not be healed" (Deuteronomy 28:27)? How does this meet the case?
Doubtless by reminding them that there are better exemptions than from hardship,
and worse evils than privations. If they do not realise this at the spiritual level, at
least they can appreciate the threat that "He will bring upon thee again all the
diseases of Egypt which thou wast afraid of" (Deuteronomy 28:60). To be even a
luxurious and imperial race, but infected by repulsive and hopeless ailments, is not a
desirable alternative. ow, such evils, though certainly not in each individual, yet in
a race, are the punishments of non-natural conditions of life, such as make the blood
run slowly and unhealthily, and charge it with impure deposits. It was God who put
them upon the Egyptians.
If Israel would follow His guidance, and accept a somewhat austere destiny, then the
desert air and exercise, and even its privations, would become the efficacious means
for their exemption from the scourges of indulgence. A time arrived when they
looked back with remorse upon crimes which forfeited their immunity, when the
Lord said, "I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt; your
young men have I slain with the sword" (Amos 4:10).
But it is a significant fact that at this day, after eighteen hundred years of
oppression, hardship, and persecution, of the ghetto and the old-clothes trade, the
Hebrew race is proverbially exempt from repulsive and contagious disease. They
also "certainly do enjoy immunity from the ravages of cholera, fever and smallpox
in a remarkable degree. Their blood seems to be in a different condition from that of
other people.... They seem less receptive of disease caused by blood poisoning than
others" (Journal of Victoria Institute, xxi. 307). Imperfect as was their obedience,
this covenant at least has been literally fulfilled to them.
It is by such means that God is wont to reward His children. Most commonly the
seal of blessing from the skies is not rich fare, but bread and fish by the lake side
with the blessing of Christ upon them; not removal from the desert, but a closer
sense of the protection and acceptance of Heaven, the nearness of a loving God, and
with this, an elevation and purification of the life, and of the body as well as of the
soul. ot in vain has St. Paul written "The Lord for the body." or was there ever
yet a race of men who accepted the covenant of God, and lived in soberness,
temperance and chastity, without a signal improvement of the national physique, no
longer unduly stimulated by passion, jaded by indulgence, or relaxed by the satiety
which resembles but is not repose.
From Marah and its agitations there was a journey of but a few hours to Elim, with
its twelve fountains and seventy palm trees--a fair oasis, by which they encamped
and rested, while their flocks spread far and wide over a grassy and luxuriant
valley.
The picture is still true to the Christian life, with the Palace Beautiful just beyond
the lions, and the Delectable Mountains next after Doubting Castle.

133. PETT, "Verses 22-27
The Beginning of the Long March: Water Shortage Followed By Provision (Exodus
15:22-27).
a Moses leads Israel forward into the wilderness of Shur (Exodus 15:22 a).
b They went three days in the wilderness and found no water (Exodus 15:22 b).
c Arriving in Marah they could not drink the waters of Marah because they
were bitter (Exodus 15:23).
d The people murmur as to what they are to drink (Exodus 15:24).
e Moses cries to Yahweh and He shows him a tree which will make the water
sweet (Exodus 15:25 a).
e There Yahweh made for them a statute and an ordinance (Exodus 15:25 b).
d And there He proved them (Exodus 15:25 c).
c They are promised that if they will fully obey Him they will not suffer any of
the diseases that come on the Egyptians because He is ‘Yahweh Who heals them’
(Exodus 15:26).
b They come to Elim where there is food and water aplenty (Exodus 15:27).
a They take their journey and come to the Wilderness of Sin (Exodus 16:1).
ote the interesting parallels. In ‘a’ they leave the wilderness of Shur and in the
parallel arrive at the Wilderness of Sin. In ‘b’ they find no water in the parallel they
find abundance of water. In ‘c’ the waters of Marah were bitter, and in the parallel
Yahweh promises that if they obey Him life will not be bitter through diseases. In
‘d’ the people murmur as to what they are to drink, and in the parallel Yahweh
‘proves them’. In ‘e’ Yahweh makes provision for them by making the water sweet
and in the parallel He makes provision for them by giving them statutes and
ordinances which will make life sweet
Exodus 15:22
‘And Moses led Israel onward from the sea of reeds and they went out into the
wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no
water.’
It was now that they begin to learn the hardships of the way. Taking a wilderness
route through the wilderness of Shur they travelled for three days through the hot
sun and found no water. They had their first lesson that things would not be easy
even though they were free.
“The wilderness.” The term wilderness can cover a number of types of ground from
desert, to scrub land, to reasonable pasturage, and in many parts of the Sinai
peninsula the water table is not far below the ground. Furthermore sheep and goats
that have been well pastured can provide milk for some considerable time. So the
children of Israel on their journey would pass over many types of ground and would
usually be able to feed their cattle and flocks and to find water, substituting it where
necessary with milk. But this area was clearly particularly difficult.
“The wilderness of Shur.” Passing through the wilderness of Shur, which stretched
eastward from the coast, was ‘the way of the land of the Philistines’, guarded by a

134. chain of Egyptian forts, which led northward along the coast, and the ‘way of the
wilderness of Shur’ which led northward to Kadesh. This wilderness was the
starting point as you leave Egypt. But ‘the way of the land of the Philistines’ was
forbidden to the children of Israel, and they were in any case concerned to keep
away from routes where they might be followed. They thus took another route
which would lead them into the wilderness of Sinai, probably the road used by the
Egyptians to the copper and turquoise mines of Sinai, which they worked mainly
during January to March when Egyptian troops would be there. But by this time
(early April) they would be absent. This led along by the Gulf of Suez. But one
problem with this route was the shortage of water for the cattle and flocks.
An interesting discovery at these turquoise mines were the "proto- Sinaitic"
inscriptions of the early 15th century B.C. which were just informal dedications,
worknotes and brief epitaphs (for offerings) by Semitic captives from the Egyptian
East Delta (or Memphis settlements) employed in the mines. They illustrate free use
of that script by Semites under Egyptian rule before the time of Moses.
“Three days.” Possibly meaning ‘a few days’. During this period all attempts to find
water failed.
PULPIT, "Verses 22-27
EXPOSITIO
THE JOUR EY FROM THE RED SEA TO ELIM. After a stay, which cannot be
exactly measured, but which was probably one of some days, near the point of the
Eastern coast of the Gulf of Suez, at which they had emerged from the sea-bed, the
Israelites, under the guidance of the pillar of the cloud, resumed their journey, and
were conducted southwards, or south-eastwards, through the arid tract, called
indifferently "the wilderness of Shut" (Exodus 15:22), and "the wilderness of
Etham" ( umbers 33:8), to a place called Marah. It is generally supposed that the
first halt must have been at Ayun Musa, or "the springs of Moses." This is "the only
green spot near the passage over the Red Sea" (Cook). It possesses at present
seventeen wells, and is an oasis of grass and tamarisk in the midst of a sandy desert.
When Wellsted visited it in 1836, there were abundant palm-trees. It does not lie on
the shore, but at the distance of about a mile and a half from the beach, with which
it was at one time connected by an aqueduct, built for the convenience of the ships,
which here took in their water. The water is regarded as good and wholesome,
though dark-coloured and somewhat brackish. From Ayun Musa the Israelites
pursued their way in a direction a little east of south through a barren plain where
sand-storms are frequent—part of the wilderness of Shur—for three days without
finding water. Here their flocks and herds must have suffered greatly, and many of
the animals probably died on the journey. On the last of the three days water was
found at a spot called thenceforth "Marah," "bitterness," because the liquid was
undrinkable. After the miracle related in Exodus 15:25, and an encampment by the
side of the sweetened spring ( umbers 33:8), they proceeded onward without much
change of direction to Elim, where was abundance of good water and a grove of

135. seventy palm-trees. Here "they encamped by the waters," and were allowed a rest,
which probably exceeded a fortnight (See the comment on Exodus 16:1.)
Exodus 15:22
So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea. There is no such connection between this
verse and the preceding narrative as the word "so" expresses. Translate "And
Moses brought." The wilderness of Shur, called also that of Etham ( umbers 33:1-
56.8) appears to have extended from Lake Serbonis on the north, across the isthmus,
to the Red Sea, and along its eastern shores as far as the Wady Ghurundel. It is
almost wholly waterless; and towards the south, such wells as exist yield a water
that is bitter in the extreme. Three days. The distance from Ayun Musa to Ain
Howarah, the supposed representative of Marah, is not more than about 36 miles;
but the day's march of so large a multitude through the desert may not have
averaged more than twelve miles. And found no water. o doubt the Israelites
carried with them upon the backs of their asses water in skins, sufficient for their
earn wants during such an interval; but they can scarcely have carried enough for
their cattle. These must have suffered greatly.
BI 22-27, "They came to Marah.
Marah
I. The water was deleterious, not distasteful only. Had the people drunk it, it would have
wrought disease; but it was healed by the obedience of Moses to God’s directions. So if
we are attentive and obedient to His voice He will find us remedies from all things that
might hurt us.
II. It was not possible, perhaps, that the children of Israel should, by persevering in the
unwholesome draught which is there typical of sin, have vitiated their taste till they
delighted in it. But it is too possible in the antitype.
III. Though we axe compelled by God’s providence to pass through difficulty and
temptation, we are not doomed to dwell there. If we are faithful, it is but in passing that
we shall be endangered. If we use the remedy of obedience to God’s Word to-day, to-
morrow we shall be beside the twelve ever-springing fountains, and under the shade of
the palm-trees of Elfin. (Archbishop Benson.)
The waters of Marah
We have here a parable of the deep things of Christ.
I. Israel was in those days fresh from the glorious deliverance out of Egypt; they had
sung their first national song of victory; they had breathed the air of liberty. This was
their first disappointment, and it was a very sharp one; from the height of exultation
they fell almost at once to the depths of despair. Such disappointments we have all
experienced, especially in the outset of our actual march, after the first conscious sense
of spiritual triumph and freedom.
II. Of us also it is true that God hath showed us a certain tree, and that tree is the once
accursed tree on which Christ died. This is the tree of life to us, though of death to Him.

136. III. It was God who showed this tree unto Moses. And it was God who showed it to us in
the gospel. Applied by our faith to the bitter waters of disappointment and distress, it
will surely heal them and make them sweet. Two things there are about the tree of scorn
which will never lose their healing power—the lesson of the Cross and the consolation of
the Cross; the example and the companionship of Christ crucified.
IV. The life which found its fitting close upon the cross was not a life of suffering only,
but emphatically a life of disappointment. Here there is comfort for us. Our dying Lord
must certainly have reflected that He, the Son of God, was leaving the world rather
worse than He found it in all human appearance.
V. Whatever our trials and disappointments, let us use this remedy; it will not fail us
even at the worst. (R. Winterbotham, M. A.)
Bitter-sweet
I. That great joy is often closely followed by a great trial. “Thou hast made my mountain
to stand strong” is the grateful word of many a rejoicing Christian; and lo! suddenly
touched by the finger of Providence, it reels and rocks as though heaved by an
earthquake, and falls into the depths of the sea. In the day of prosperity be wise! Rejoice
with trembling! Do not presume on the possession of present good. In the hour of peace
forget not the preparation for a possible storm. Trust in God with a firm hand, both in
sunshine and in shade.
II. Here is a great trial transformed into a great blessing. The bitter was not removed,
but converted into sweet. So God can make the grief a grace anti change the burden into
a blessing. The rod itself shall bud and blossom and bring forth almonds, so that the very
thing that chastens the trustful soul shall present beauty to the eye and fruit to the taste.
It was a Divine work. The Israelites, even with Moses at their head, had no skill to meet
the given necessities of the hour. “The Lord showed them a tree,” and so miraculously
healed the forbidding spring. Brothers! human wisdom, earth’s philosophies, the world’s
limited resources are all useless in the midst of our desperate needs.
III. Here is a great trial, so transformed, preparing for and leading to a still greater
blessing. (see Exo_15:27). Christian, be of good courage. Egypt’s chains were heavy; but
the Red Sea victory made thee glad. Marah’s waters were bitter; but the Lord distilled
sweet streams therefrom to strengthen and refresh thy soul. Then He led thee to
beautiful Elfin, with its springs and palm-trees, and its grateful rest, and in all and
through all thou art “nearer” Canaan than when first thou didst believe. Amid all thine
alternations of joy and sorrow there shall be, if thou art faithful to thy God, a clear
current, progressive gain, and it shall still be better further on.
IV. This gracious alternation and abundant deliverance was all experienced on the line
of march. Let the Christian never forget that these are the conditions necessary to secure
his gracious progression of conquest, transformation, and exceeding joy. (J. J. Wray.)
The sweetening tree in life’s bitter streams
Heaven has prepared a sweetening tree for the bitter waters.
I. Of our secular life. Wrecked plans, blasted hopes, etc. The “tree” to sweeten this is
Christ’s doctrine of a Fatherly providence.

137. II. Of our moral life. The bitter waters of an accusing conscience. “Whom God hath set
forth,” etc.
III. Of an intellectual life. God’s revealed character in Christ—all-wise, all-loving, all-
powerful.
IV. Of our social life. “I am the Resurrection,” etc. “Them that sleep in Jesus will God
bring with Him.”
V. Of our dying life. (Homilist.)
The mysterious tree
I. That prayer will meet every painful crisis in human experience.
II. That all men, everywhere, are athirst.
III. That every man will at length come to his well; but the water thereof will be bitter to
his taste. Sensual indulgence. Fashionable amusement; inebriety; riches; worldly
renown; infidelity. All mere earthly pools are acrid and unsatisfying.
IV. That there is a tree which can sweeten all earth’s waters. “The tree of life”—the Cross
of Christ. “He, every one that thirsteth, come.” (S. D. Burchard, D. D.)
Life’s bitterness
The wilderness brings out what is within. It also discovers God’s goodness and our
unworthiness.
I. Earth’s rottenness.
1. We must expect bitter pools in a bitter world.
2. Many of us make our own Marahs.
II. Heaven’s remedy.
1. To the praying man the Lord reveals the remedy.
2. God uses instramentality.
3. God does not always take away the Marah, but drops an ingredient into it to
sweeten its bitterness. (Homilist.)
The waters of Marah
Had they been allowed to select their path, they would have taken the short cut by the
seaboard to their own promised land. But the cloud steered their pathway through
difficulty and into difficulty. Behind them was the blood of the lamb. They were
ransomed. Behind them the wonders of Egypt wrought on their behalf. Behind them the
passage of the Red Sea. And they might have expected that, the moment they had left
their foes behind, they had left all trouble and sorrow too. But instead of that, their
redemption from Egypt was their redemption from comparatively easy circumstances
into arduous and difficult straits. God led His redeemed in the very heart and teeth of
difficulty. I am often met by men who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, who

138. are truly His servants, behind whom there lies a wondrous story of deliverance, and they
have come to me with complaints, and they have said, “I thought when I had given up
my old sins that my life would be calm and placid, and that difficulty would be at an end;
but instead, I never did in all my life go through such a sea of difficulty as I have known
since I became a Christian.” Friend, that is always God’s way with His redeemed ones.
You must not think that difficulty is a proof that you are wrong. Difficulty is most likely
aa evidence that you are right. Never be daunted by it. Why? Those verses we read from
Deuteronomy answer the question. It is in order to humble us, to prove us, and to knew
what is in our heart. Difficulty is sent to humble you. If I offer my hand to a little maiden
on a cold and frosty day, and she thinks she can keep her feet by herself, she is net likely
to take my strong hand until she has been humbled by a tumble or two. God has been
compelled to break down your self-confidence. When you started the Christian life you
thought your arm was so strong it could beat down every barrier, or that you were so
elastic that you could leap over any wall, or that your brain was so keen that you could
see through any difficulty. God began by little difficulties, and you leapt over them; and
then He put greater ones, and you successfully overcame them; and God has been
compelled to pile difficulty upon difficulty until you are now face to face with a very
desert on the one hand, and an Alpine range upon the other; and now broken, cowed,
defeated, you are just at the very position in which to learn to appreciate, and to
appropriate, the infinite resources of God. And there is another thing that difficulty does
for a man. It proves him. “He made a statute and an ordinance, and proved them.” There
are so many counterfeits, you do not know that you have got the real thing till you have
tested it. You do not know the stability of a house till it has been tested by the storm.
And it is only when difficulty comes that we really know what we are. You say that you
have faith. How do you know? All your life has been sunny. Wait till God hides Himself
in a pavilion of cloud. You think that you obey God, but up till now the path that God has
led you hath been such an easy path, through a meadow where the flowers have been
bestrewn. You do not know how much you will obey until you are proved. You say you
have got patience; and there is nothing sweeter than patience—the patience and
gentleness of Christ. Yet you wait until you are put into the midst of trying and difficult
circumstances, and then you may talk about possessing patience. And then, once more,
God not only humbles and proves us, but He tries what is in our hearts; not that He
needs to know, but that He may give us the opportunity of equipping ourselves for larger
work. For God thus deals with us: He puts us into difficulty and watches us lovingly to
see how we act, for every day He stands before His judgment bar, and every hour is the
crisis of our life. If we stand the test, He says, “Come up higher,” and we step up to the
wider platform and plateau of usefulness. But if, on the other hand, we cannot stand the
test, we step down. Will you take heart from this? Will you mind the difficulties? Oh,
meet difficulty in God, and see if it be not a training-ground for great and noble work in
the hereafter. But there is disappointment too. It was hard enough to have difficulty, but
it was harder to be tantalized. They marched on three days; they exhausted the water
they had brought, or what was left was stinking, and they could not drink it. Ah, how
weary they were! Ah, you men and women, so disappointment comes to all of us. The
youth has disappointments. The lad at school thinks that he is a slave, that the drudgery
of Egypt was nothing compared to this. How he longs for the time when he will be his
own master! And off he starts. He buries his school books, and goes forth into the world.
Alas, poor lad! he finds there is no way to Canaan except by the hard plodding sultry
desert march. So it is with age—mature life! mean. So it is with the young convert. They
think Christian living is a great holiday, a march-past with banners and bands. But they
soon find that there is a stern warfare. They are disappointed in the Church they join,
they find all Christian people do not act as they thought; they are disappointed because

139. they do not at once find sin die within them, or the devil yield, or Christianity become
what they hoped, just wandering through a pleasant garden plucking flowers. (F. B.
Meyer, B. A.)
Moses at Marah
I. “They could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter”—so the greatest
triumphs of life may be succeeded by the most vexatious inconveniences. You may be
right, even when the heaviest trial is oppressing you. You may be losing your property,
your health may be sinking, your prospects may be clouded, and your friends may be
leaving you one by one, yet in the midst of such disasters your heart may be stedfast in
faithfulness to God.
II. “The people murmured against Moses”—so the greatest services of life are soon
forgotten.
III. “And Moses cried unto the Lord”!—So magnanimous prayer is better than official
resignation. All great leaderships should be intensely religious, or they will assuredly fail
in the patience without which no strength can be complete. Parents, instead of resigning
the oversight of your children, pray for them! Pastors, instead of resigning your official
positions, pray for those who despitefully use you! All who in anywise seek to defend the
weak, or lead the blind or teach the ignorant, instead of being driven off by every
unreasonable murmuring, renew your patience by waiting upon God!
IV. “And the Lord showed him a tree”—so where there is a bane in life there is always an
antidote. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The waters of Marah
I. A grievous need. Do we not see in mankind a weary marching host of pilgrims, looking
eagerly for the next well, and hoping there to find satisfaction? It is trite but true of the
greater part of them, “Man never is; but always to be blest.” There are deep yearnings
after unattained good; a burning desire for rest. Moreover, even to them who have found
“the living waters” there may be many a weary march.
II. A sore disappointment. Intense as are human desires for final good, they are
doomed, so long as fixed upon created objects, to perpetual and agonizing
disappointment. The apples that seemed ripe for the gathering and fit for “baskets of
silver” are found to contain only rottenness and dust. It is wisely ordered that no
creature should give satisfaction to the heart. Even those who have chosen “the Lord” as
their “portion” need to be perpetually quickened, lest they should cleave to the dust.
III. A rebellious and unreasonable treatment of afflictions. “The people murmured
against Moses.” So men complain still. They “charge God foolishly”; and governmental
measures, blights, panics, failure of success, etc., are suffered to engender their thoughts
and hard speeches.
IV. The true and sure refuge in time of affliction. There is no might of influence like that
which is wielded by those who are “hid in the pavilion” of “the blessed and only
Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”
V. The Divine sovereignty. When men are “willing” to see what God shows, how quickly
is the bitterness of life changed into “peace and joy through believing “ “Looking away

140. unto Jesus,” they hear Him saying, “I am the Lord that healeth thee!” The mystic tree is
“set forth” before the eye of faith, and its goodly boughs bend to the touch even of the
chief of sinners.
VI. Another and most significant passage occurs in connection with Israel’s sojourn by
the bitter well, and which shows the continual obligation of Divine ordinances even in
great exigencies. “There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He
proved them.” They were now tested as to their disposition to obey alike the stated and
occasional commandments of God; and it is possible that some further instructions were
conveyed on Divine authority. But “the statute and ordinance “ plainly refer to the
“solemn assembly” which was now to be observed.
VII. Once again, we learn beside the waters of Marah the compensatory law of Divine
proceedings. We are “pilgrims as all our fathers were,” and often reach a bitter well in
our march through the wilderness; but beside each there is a tree whose virtue makes
the nauseous waters sweeter than all the streams of Goshen. (J. D. Brocklehurst, D. D.)
Bitter things made sweet
But we have here also the means of sweetening all bitterness. The bitterness of
repentance is sweetened by this consideration, that, being a godly sorrow, it worketh a
repentance unto life, which no one repenteth of. The bitterness of denying the world and
self is sweetened by this, that he who renounces everything for His sake receives it again
a hundredfold. The bitterness of the spiritual combat is alleviated by this, that it is the
good fight of faith to which the victory and the crown of glory is held out. The bitterness
of the various sufferings we have to endure is sweetened by the consideration that they
are not worthy of the glory that shall be revealed; and also of the various temptations by
which we are assailed, of which it is said, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation;
for after he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which God has promised to them
that love Him.” In short, this wondrous tree can sweeten all the suffering that would be
otherwise intolerable. But still it is necessary that the remedy be shown and pointed out
to us by the Holy Spirit. (G. D. Krummacher.)
Marah; or, the bitter waters sweetened
I. The evils of the wilderness.
1. The perils and trials of the wilderness occur very early in the pilgrim life.
2. These evils assume varied shapes.
3. They touch very vital matters. God may touch you in the most beloved object of
your heart.
4. There is a reason why the earthly mercies which supply our necessities must be
more or less bitter. What can you hope for in a wilderness but productions
congruous to it? Canaan! Who looks for bitterness there?
II. The tendency of human nature.
1. They murmured, complained, found fault. A very easy thing. No sense in it, no wit
in it, no thought in it: it is the cry rather of a brute than of a man—murmur—just a
double groan. Easy is it for us to kick against the dispensations of God, to give

141. utterance to our griefs, and what is worse, to the inference we drew from them that
God has forgotten to be gracious. To murmur is our tendency; but do we mean to let
the tendencies of the old nature rule us?
2. Observe that the murmuring was not ostensibly against God. They murmured
against Moses. And have you ever noticed how the most of us, when we are in a
murmuring vein, are not honest enough to murmur distinctly against God. No; the
child is dead, and we form a conjecture that there was some wrong treatment on the
part of nurse, or surgeon, or ourselves. Or we have lost money, and have been
brought down from opulence to almost poverty; then some one person was
dishonest, a certain party betrayed us in a transaction by failing to fulfil his part; all
the murmuring is heaped on that person. We deny, perhaps indignantly, that we
murmur against God; and to prove it we double the zeal with which we murmur
against Moses. To complain of the second cause is about as sensible as the conduct of
the dog, which bites the sticks with which it is beaten.
3. Once more, while we speak of this tendency in human nature, I want you to
observe how they betrayed an utter unbelief in God. They said unto Moses, “What;
shall we drink?” They meant by it, “By what means can God supply our want of
water?” They were at the Red Sea, and God cleft the intervening gulf in twain,
through the depths thereof they marched dryshod; there is Marah’s water—shall it be
more difficult for God to purify than to divide? To sweeten a fountain—is that more
difficult than to cleanse a sea? Is anything too hard for the Lord?
III. The remedy of grace.
1. Take the case of prayer to God.
2. As soon as we have a prayer, God has a remedy. “The Lord showed him a tree.” I
am persuaded that for every lock in Doubting Castle there is a key, but the promises
are often in great confusion to our minds, so that we are perplexed. If a blacksmith
should bring you his great bundle of picklocks, you would have to turn them over,
and over, and over; and try half of them, perhaps two-thirds, before you would find
the right one; ay, and perhaps the right one would be left to the last. It is always a
blessing to remember that for every affliction there is a promise in the Word of God;
a promise which meets the case, and was made on purpose for it. But you may not be
always able to find it—no, you may go fumbling over the Scriptures long before you
get the true word; but when the Lord shows it to you, when it comes with power to
the soul, oh, what a bliss it is!
3. Now that remedy for the healing of Marah’s water was a very strange one. Why
should a tree sweeten the waters? This was no doubt a miraculous incident, and it
was also meant to teach us something. The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and
evil was eaten by our first parents and embittered all; there is a tree of life, the leaves
of which are for the healing of the nations.
4. That remedy was most effective. When they cut down the tree, and put it into the
water, it turned the water sweet—they could drink of it; and let me assure you, that in
the case of our trouble, the Cross is a most effective sweetener.
5. It is transcendent. The water was bitter, but it became absolutely sweet. The same
water that was bitter became sweet, and the grace of God, by leading us into
contemplations that spring out of the Cross of Christ, can make our trials themselves
to become pleasant to us. It is a triumph of grace in the heart when we not only
acquiesce in trouble, but even rejoice in it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

142. The well of bitterness
I. That the first day’s journey, in spite of the splendid scenery of the coasts of the gulf, is
probably the most wearisome and monotonous of the whole way. Sand-storms, white
limestone plains, the dust caked into a hard surface intensely hot and dazzling, no water,
no trees—it is as if the desert put on its dreariest dress to greet its pilgrims, and gave to
them at once a full taste of the foils and wants which they must endure in traversing its
wastes. And is it otherwise in life? Is not the same character impressed for us on earth
and life, when we enter on its sterner era, when we leave the home of our childhood, the
Egypt of our careless, half-developed youth, and go out into the wilderness, to wander
freely there under the law of duty, and before the face of God. Does it not seem to all of
us strange and dreary? Who ever found the first aspects of duty pleasant? Is it holiday
pastime, the first grappling with the realities of life? Who has not been choked and
parched by the hot dust of the great desert! though it be full of looms, and mill-wheels,
and manifold activity, it is a desert at first to us before we get accustomed to its
atmosphere and at home in its life. Well does the schoolboy know it, as he plods into the
wilderness of study, and faints under the first experience of its dryness and dust. Let him
but hold on awhile, and lie will find springs and palm-trees, where he may rest and play;
but it wants large faith and a goad of sharp necessity to get him through the weariness of
those first days. God does not conceal from any one of us the stern conditions of our
discipline.
II. It is a trite saying, that disappointment is the hardest of all things to bear. Hardest,
because it finds the soul unbraced to meet it—relaxed, at ease, and tuned to indulgence
and joy. Who has not muttered “Marah” over some well in the desert, which he strained
himself to reach and found to be bitterness? It strikes me that we have, in this miracle,
most important suggestions as to the philosophy of all miracles. I believe that the object
of all miracles is to maintain, and not to violate—to reveal, and not to confound—the
order of God’s world. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)
Marah and Elim
I. The thoughts suggested by the changes here described.
1. That the life of a God-led man is full of changes in outward circumstances.
2. That these changes are divinely ordained.
3. That each change brings its own temptations.
4. That these varied changes are intended to develop all our graces.
II. Thoughts suggested by the halting-places here mentioned.
1. Marah was a place of temptation.
2. Marah was a place of disappointment.
3. Marah was a place of trustfulness and prayer.
4. Elim has its suggestiveness. God’s bountiful goodness. (A. Rowland, LL. B.)

143. The moral lessons of Marah
I. We have an expressive type of human trial in the bitterness of the waters.
1. The bitterness of the waters disappointed their most eager expectations.
2. The bitterness of the waters left them apparently without a grand necessity of life.
3. The bitterness of the waters immediately succeeded a remarkable deliverance.
II. We have unreasoning mistrust of the Divine providence the murmuring of the
people.
1. Their mistrust was unreasoning, considering the person against whom they
murmured. Not Moses, but God, was their Guide, as they well knew.
2. Their mistrust was unreasoning, considering the Divine promises they had
received.
3. Their mistrust was unreasoning, considering the displays of Divine power which
they had witnessed.
III. We have an instructive appeal for Divine help in the prayer of Moses.
1. It indicates the importance of earnest supplication to God in all our trials.
2. It suggests the importance of a submissive spirit in supplicating deliverance from
our trials.
IV. We have a gracious display of Divine power in the sweetening of the waters. God
answers prayer in the hour of trouble.
1. By influencing the mind in the direction whence relief may be obtained.
2. By transmuting the temporal affliction into a rich spiritual blessing.
V. We have an intimation of the design of all affliction in the declared purpose of this
particular trial. “There He proved them”—tested their faith and obedience. Afflictions
prove us.
1. By discovering to us the unsatisfying nature of earthly things.
2. By disclosing the true measure of our piety. (W. Kirkman.)
Poisoned waters
What is all this, but a striking picture of human life, and of that which the grace of God
can and does effect? All the waters of human life have been poisoned by sin. There is not
one drop that has been left quite pure,—all has been made bitter. Much there is still
which at a distance looks beautiful and refreshing; and those who walk by sense and not
by faith, are often, may, always, deceived by appearances just as Israel was. It is not until
they taste for themselves that they find out the truth of Solomon’s words, that all is
“vanity and vexation of spirit.” Look at the attractions of the world, which cause so many
souls to wander. What are they all but a vain show, which can intoxicate or lull the soul
for a time, but which leave it, oh, how weary and restless afterwards! The waters of the
world are truly bitter waters. Or, look at the occupations of life. To some energetic spirits
the very difficulty and toil of labour are attractive; but, after a while, will not the
question thrust itself upon the busy mind—oh, what is the profit? what the end of all
this? Suppose that everything prospers. Suppose that I have enough to satisfy every

144. earthly want, to secure me every gratification, to encompass myself and children with
every luxury. What then? There is a voice, a penetrating voice, that says, “Prepare to
meet thy God!” that proclaims, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after that the
judgment.” And then, what will become of me? Or, look again at the relationships of life.
Instituted though they are by God, yet sin has embittered them also. Whence is it, that
some of the deepest and most certain trials of life come to us? It is through our
relationships and our friendships. Deep affection, sacred as it is, has always many
anxieties associated with it. How many a mother’s heart is gradually worn out by cares
about her children! How many a father, when surveying the disturbances of his family, is
impelled to adopt the words of the aged Jacob, “All these things are against me!” And
then, how many a heart is left widowed even early in life, with a void which nothing
earthly can ever fill! Is it too much to say that this world, viewed as it is in itself, is
“Marah”? Its waters are bitter. Have not numbers who have embraced it as their all,
gone down to the grave, restless, discontented and murmuring? It may seem to some as
if we had invested the world with its pleasures, its occupations, and its relationships, in
too thick a gloom. If so, we would remind you that we have been speaking of the world,
as such, as it is in itself—of pleasures which are far from God—of business and
occupation from which God is excluded—and of relationships which are put in the place
of God. (G. Wagner.)
Bitter waters
Such are often the consolations of this world. We ardently long for them, and when we
obtain them they are bitter. The things we have most wished for become new sorrows.
And this is to teach us to seek our true joys in God alone, to make the wilderness of this
world distasteful to us, and to cause us to long for eternal life. Suppose a man to be so
poor as to earn his bread with difficulty; he can scarcely provide for his family. “Ah!” he
may perhaps say to himself, “if I were only like so many people around me, who are not
obliged to work, and are so happy in this world!” Suppose this man to become rich; but
still a prey to care, surrounded by enemies, and unhappy in his children. How many
bitter sorrows are still his lot: he was once in the desert of Shur, now he is at the waters
of Marah! A woman finds herself solitary and lonely; she wishes for a friend and
protector; she marries. But she finds out too late that her husband is a man of bad
character or of bad habits. She was in the desert, she is now at Marah. (Professor
Gaussen.)
Sweetening the waters
I. Marahs of disappointment.
I. The young convert imagines that when he has got to the Cross he has got, so to speak,
next door to heaven; he imagines that, once he has got pardon, he will never have
another sigh; but oh! it is only a three days’ march from the City of Destruction to the
Slough of Despond, only a little way out to the darkness and the trouble; and then, when
it comes, the young convert is sometimes tempted to look back to the delights of the old
days, when he had not any fear of God before his eyes; for he has thus to learn in
bitterness and disappointment that it is through much tribulation he is to be perfected
for the kingdom.
2. So, too, with the mature believer; life is full of disappointments. It takes very little

145. to turn the waters of our best comforts into bitterness; and disappointment in any
case is hard to bear; but sometimes it is doubly hard when it comes upon the back of
other trials.
II. Marahs of mercy.
1. God sends no needless trims. He does not afflict for His own pleasure, but for our
good.
2. For every need God has provided the supply, for every bane the antidote. But you
will not discover it yourself. He must point it out.
3. Notice the method of the Divine mercy. God does not take away the burden; He
will give you more strength; and then you will have the strength, even after the
burden is removed. You will be permanently the better for it. (G. Davidson, B. Sc.)
The tree of healing
God’s plans of mercy to mankind are remedial. He allows sin and suffering to exist, but
He provides means for the cure of these evils. The religion of Jesus Christ is the great
healing and curative influence in the world.
1. Take, for example, the bitterness of temptation. A man has made noble
resolutions, formed high plans of life, and lo, he finds, to his utter mortification, that
his sinful nature still yields to any blast of temptation. He is like one who has built a
noble palace and finds that some foul infection renders it hateful. Before the solemn
aspect of the Crucified, the powers of evil lose their fascinating glow.
2. And then there is the bitterness of remorse, the sting of remembered guilt. A
German writer describes a youth who returned, after a long absence, to his home. All
welcomed him with joy. Everything was done to make him happy; but he still was
oppressed with a silent gloom. Some friend urged him to say what ailed him and kept
him so depressed amidst their happiness, and at length, with a groan, he explained,
“A sin lies heavy on my soul.” But the Cross of Christ removes this bitter sorrow, for
He who is our peace has nailed “the writing which was against us” to His Cross.
3. What shall we say about the bitter cup of suffering which God, in His inscrutable
dealings, places in the hands of so many to drink? Yet the sufferer finds succour in
remembering that his Saviour has also suffered, and for his salvation. A poor woman
in a ward of one of the great London hospitals had to undergo a fearful operation,
and, as a special favour, besought that it might be performed on Good Friday, which
was close at hand, that the reflection on her Redeemer’s agony might the better
enable her to endure her own sufferings. Is the bitterness of poverty, or of contempt,
our lot? So was it that of Jesus, our Lord; and turning to Him, with all confidence we
appeal to His sympathy. Are we called on to feel the terrible bitterness of
bereavement, to gaze on the empty cradle, or the unoccupied chair? Then think how
the Cross points upward! (W. Hardman, LL. D.)
Anticipated pleasure alloyed
We look with great expectancy for the arrival of some pleasure which we imagine will
afford us the most complete satisfaction, and no sooner does it arrive than we find in its
train a whole host of petty annoyances and unwelcome accompaniments. It is not only so

146. in social life, but also in the material world. Mr. Matthew Lewis, M.P., in his interesting
“Journal” of a residence among the negroes in the West Indies, relates how eagerly in
Jamaica, after three months of drought, the inhabitants long for rain; and when the
blessing at last descends, it is accompanied by terrific thunder and lightning, and has the
effect of bringing out all sorts of insects and reptiles in crowds, the ground being covered
with lizards, the air filled with mosquitoes, the rooms of the houses with centipedes and
legions of mosquitoes. And it will, on inquiry, be found that the enjoyment of nearly
every anticipated pleasure is in like manner more or less alloyed by reason of the
unpleasant things which seem inevitably to attend it. (Scientific Illustrations.)
We have not done with hardship when we have left Egypt
This may be regarded as a universal law so long as we are in the present life, and may be
illustrated as really in common and secular matters as in spiritual things. The schoolboy
is apt to imagine that he is a slave. He is under tutors and governors; and as he grinds
away at his studies, not seeing any relation between them and what he is to do in the
future, he is tempted to think that the drudgery of the Hebrews in the brickyard was
nothing to that which he has to undergo, and he longs for the day when he shall be a free
man and enter upon the active duties of life. His emancipation from the dry and
uninteresting labours at which he has so long been held marks an epoch in his history,
and he sings over it a song as sincere, if not as exalted, as that of Moses at the sea. The
burial of the books by our graduating classes may be in the main a foolish freak; but yet
it is the expression, in its own way, of relief from that which has hitherto been felt to be a
restraint, and each of those who take part in it is intensely jubilant. But after he has
entered on the active duties of the work to which he devotes himself, the youth has not
gone far before he comes to Marah, and his first experience is one of disappointment.
Ah! well for him then if he cries to God, and finds the healing tree which alone can
sweeten its waters of bitterness! So it is, also, with every new enterprise in which a man
engages. After his first victory comes something which empties it of half its glory. Pure
and unmingled success is unknown in the world, and would be, let me add, a great
calamity if it were to be enjoyed; for then the man would become proud and forget God,
and lose all remembrance of that precious influence by which the disappointments in
our experience are transmuted into means of grace. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
A valuable tree
The eucalyptus tree is efficacious in preventing malaria. The cause is supposed to be that
its thirsty roots drain the soil for many yards around, and that its large leaves exhale an
aromatic oil and intercept the malarious germs. An incident shows its efficacy: An officer
in India whose troops were often attacked by sickness removed their huts to a place
where several large trees grew between them and the swamp, and from that time until
the trees were cut down the troops enjoyed excellent health; afterwards sickness
reappeared. It appears to be only in the case of zymotic diseases that the trees operate as
a preventative, but that is of no slight value in many districts. (Youth’s Companion.)
A heaven-sent plant
It is impossible for us to win any victory over this terrible evil in our own strength. Even

147. heathen teachers acknowledge this. Many of you will remember the classic fable when
Ulysses was on his way from the ship to deliver from Circe those companions of his who
had been changed into swine by the power of the enchantress of sensuality, he was met
by the legendary god Mercury, who told him that he would never be able to overcome the
enchantress by his own sword. Mercury gave him a plant, the root of which was black
and the flower of which was white, and it was by the power of this plant that he was to
win his victory over the enchantress. There is a deep moral truth in that myth of the old
Greek poet. We have an enchantress to contend against; we have to contend against a
mighty power that is changing our fellow-men into swine every day, and we cannot
attain the victory over that power except by means of a heaven-sent plant, the Tree of
Life, the blessed Cross of Christ. (Dean Edwards.)
Difficulties of leaders through opposition among followers
What a hard place was this of Moses here! Every great reformer has had to go through a
wilderness to the promised land of his success; and always some of those who left Egypt
with him have turned against him before he had gone far. I think of the almost mutiny of
his men against Columbus, as, day after day, he steered westward and saw no land; I
think of the trouble which Luther and Calvin had so often with their own followers, and
of the banishment at one time of the latter from that Geneva, which, even to this day, is
the creation of his greatness; I think of the curs that yelped at the heels of the Father of
his country, when he was following that course which now the universal voice of
posterity has applauded; I think of the difficulties which have embarrassed many
meaner men in lower works of reformation, which have at length benefited and blessed
the world; and I blush for the selfishness of those who prefer their own interest to the
welfare of the community, while, at the same time, I honour the conscientious courage
which determines to go on, in spite of opposition in the front and dissatisfaction in the
rear. Oh! ye who are bravely battling for the right, the pure, the benevolent, whether it
be in the sweeping out of corruption from political offices, or in the closing of these
pestilential houses which are feeding the intemperance of our streets, or in the
maintenance in the churches of the faith once delivered to the saints—take heart of grace
from Moses here. Go with your causes to the Lord, and be sure that they who are on His
side are always in the end victorious. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
The sin of murmuring
Consider that murmuring is a mercy-embittering sin, a mercy-souring sin. As the
sweetest things put into a sour vessel are soured, or put into a bitter vessel are
embittered; so murmuring puts gall and wormwood into every cup of mercy that God
gives into our hands. The murmurer writes “Marah,” that is, bitterness, upon all his
mercies, and he reads and tastes bitterness in them all. As “to the hungry soul every
bitter thing is sweet,” so to the murmuring soul every sweet thing is bitter. (T. Brooks.)
The evil of murmuring
I have read of Caesar, that, having prepared a great feast for his nobles and friends, it so
fell out that the day appointed was so extremely foul, that nothing could be done to the
honour of the meeting; whereupon he was so displeased and enraged that he

148. commanded all them that had bows to shoot up their arrows at Jupiter, their chief god,
as in defiance of him for that rainy weather; which, when they did, their arrows fell short
of heaven and fell upon their own heads, so that many of them were very sorely
wounded. So all our murmurings, which are as so many arrows shot at God Himself,
they will return upon our own pates’ hearts; they reach not Him, but they will hit us;
they hurt not Him, but they will wound us; therefore it is better to be mute than to
murmur; it is dangerous to provoke a “consuming fire” (Heb_12:1-29.). (T. Brooks.)
Murmuring, the mother sin, to be fought against
As the king of Syria said to his captains, “Fight neither with small nor great, but with the
king of Israel,” so say I, Fight not so much against this sin or that, but fight against your
murmuring, which is a mother-sin; make use of all your Christian armour, make use of
all the ammunition of heaven, to destroy the mother, and in destroying of her, you will
destroy the daughters. When Goliath was slain, the Philistines fled; when a general in an
army is cut off, the common soldiers are easily and quickly routed and destroyed: so
destroy but murmuring, and you will quickly destroy disobedience, ingratitude,
impatience, distrust, etc. (T. Brooks.)
Misery of murmurers
Every murmurer is his own tormentor; murmuring is a fire within that will burn up all;
it is an earthquake within that will overturn all; it is a disease within that will infect all; it
is poison within that will prey upon all. (T. Brooks.)
Murmuring, the parent of other sins
As the river Nile bringeth forth many crocodiles, and the scorpion many serpents at one
birth, so murmuring is a sin that breeds and brings forth many sins at once. It is like the
monster Hydra—cut off one head, and many will rise up in its room. It is the mother of
harlots—the mother of all abominations—a sin that breeds many other sins (Num_16:41;
Num_17:10); viz., disobedience, contempt, ingratitude, impatience, distrust, rebellion,
cursing, carnality; yea, it charges God with folly, yea, with blasphemy. The language of a
murmuring soul is this: Surely God might have done this sooner, and that wiser, and the
other thing better. (T. Brooks.)
Murmuring, a time-destroying sin
The murmurer spends much precious time in musing—in musing how to get out of such
a trouble, how to get off such a yoke, how to be rid of such a burden, how to revenge
himself for such a wrong; how to supplant such a person, how to reproach those that are
above him, and how to affront those that are below him; and a thousand other ways
murmurers have to expend that precious time that some would redeem with a world.
Caesar, observing some ladies at Rome to spend much of their time in making much of
little dogs and monkeys, asked them whether the women in that country had no children
to make much of. Ah, murmurers, murmurers! you who by your murmuring trifle away
so many golden hours and seasons of mercy, have you no God to honour? Have you no

149. Christ to believe in? Have you no hearts to change, no sin to be pardoned, no souls to
save, no hell to escape, no heaven to seek after? Oh! if you have, why do you spend so
much of your precious time in murmuring against God, against men, against this or that
thing?, (T. Brooks.)
Murmuring at joys
I was tired of washing dishes; I was tired of drudgery. It had always been so, and I was
dissatisfied. I never sat down a moment to read that Jamie didn’t want a cake, or a piece
of paper to scribble on, or a bit of soap to make bubbles. “I’d rather be in prison,” I said
one day, “than to have my life teased out,” as Jamie knocked my elbow, when I was
writing to a friend. But a morning came when I had one plate less to wash, one chair less
to set away by the wall in the dining-room; when Jamie’s little crib was put away in the
garret, and it has never come down since. I had been unusually fretful and discontented
with him that damp May morning that he took the croup. Gloomy weather gave me the
headache, and I had less patience than at any other time. By and by he was singing in
another room, “I want to be an angel,” and presently rang out that metallic cough. I
never hear that hymn since that it don’t cut me to the heart; for the croup-cough rings
out with it. He grew worse towards night, and when my husband came home he went for
the doctor. At first he seemed to help him, but it merged into inflammatory croup, and
all was soon over. “I ought to have been called in sooner,” said the doctor. I have a
servant to wash the dishes now; and when a visitor comes, I can sit down and entertain
her without having to work all the time. There is no little boy worrying me to open his
jack-knife, and there are no shavings over the floor. The magazines are not soiled at
looking over the pictures, but stand prim and neat on the reading-table just as I leave
them. “Your carpet never looks dirty,” said a weary-worn mother to me. “Oh! no,” I
mutter to myself, “there are no little boots to dirty it now.” But my fate is as weary as
theirs—weary with sitting in my lonesome parlour at twilight, weary with watching for
the arms that used to twine around my neck, for the curls that brushed against my
cheek, for the young laugh that rang out with mine, as we watched the blazing fire, or
made rabbits with the shadow on the wall, waiting merrily together for papa coming
home. I have the wealth and ease I longed for, but at what a price! And when I see other
mothers with grown-up sons, driving to town or church, and my hair silvered over with
grey, I wish I had murmured less.
Murmuring foolish
Seneca hath his similitude to set out the great evil of murmuring under small afflictions.
Suppose, saith he, a man to have a very fair house to dwell in, with very fair orchards
and gardens, set about with brave tall trees for ornament; what a most unreasonable
thing were it in this man to murmur because the wind blows a few leaves off the trees,
though they hang full of fruit. If God take a little and give us much, shall we be
discontent? If He take our son and give us His own; if He cause the trees to bring forth
the fruit, shall we be angry if the wind blow away the leaves? (J. Venning.)
Murmuring injurious
It is not wise to fret under our trials: the high.mettled horse that is restive in the yoke
only galls his shoulder—the poor bird that dashes itself against the bars of the cage only
ruffles her feathers and aggravates the sufferings of captivity.

150. The Lord that healeth thee.—
Jehovah-Ropheka
No human experience is uniformly joyful or sorrowful. A great triumph is succeeded by a
great obstacle and sometimes by a great defeat. But there is another equally constant fact
to offset this. As we look at this alternation of Elims and Marahs in our life, and
recognize it as a law of our human experience, we find it supplemented by something
else which is equally a law; and that is the economy of God by which this alternation is
happily adjusted. In other words, I mean this: that if it is a law of our life that joy and
sorrow succeed each other, it is equally a law of our life that God interposes and keeps
the joy from corrupting and the sorrow from crushing us. If sorrow is a part of God’s
economy, healing is equally a part. You hear abundance of popular proverbs to the effect
that clouds have often silver linings; that calamity usually stops short of the very worst;
that time dulls grief; that nature reacts from its depression, and much more of the same
sort, all which may be more or less true, but which do not cover the same ground as this
blessed name, “Jehovah that healeth thee”: which throw man for his compensation for
sorrow merely upon nature and circumstances. Both are-lawless and accidental, the
alleviations no less than the sorrow itself. But there is a radical difference between a grief
which is accidental, and a grief which falls in with happier things into an order arranged
to make the man purer and more blessed. There is a radical difference between
accidental mitigations, and the firm, wise, tender touch of an omnipotent Healer upon a
sorrow: and there is a radical difference between that conception of sorrow which makes
it an intrusion and an interruption, and a conception which sees both sorrow and
healing as parts of one Divine plan, adjusted by that same Divine hand all along the line
of man’s life. With the alleviations of sorrow which come in what we call the natural
order of things, I have therefore nothing to do here. That nature has certain recuperative
powers is a familiar fact: that God often uses these or other natural means in His own
processes of healing, as a physician uses for medicine the herbs and flowers which he
gathers by the roadside, is an equally familiar fact. But we are not concerned with the
question of means. Our text leads us back of the means. That to which alone sorrow can
grapple securely is not means but God. God, on this occasion, though He uses a branch
to sweeten the water, also uses it to direct the attention of the people to Himself. When
He gives Himself a name by which they are to know and remember Him all through this
desert journey, it is not, “the God of the branch,” nor “the God of the rod,” nor “the God
of the strong east wind,” but simply, “I am Jehovah that healeth thee.” No matter what
means I use. If He had called Himself the God of the rod, the people would have
despaired of healing in any case where there was not a branch or a rod present. He
would have them know that healing was in Him, by any means or by no means as He
might choose. And thus it is well for us to bring every bitter experience of life at once to
God—directly. The fountain of healing is there, and there is no need of our taking the
smallest trouble in seeking any lower source of comfort. God is not like certain great
medical authorities who leave all minor maladies to subordinates and hold themselves in
reserve merely for consultation on cases of life and death. He wrought the great miracle
at Marah, not only to relieve the people’s thirst on that occasion, but to encourage them
to seek His help in smaller matters. God sometimes reduces a man to terrible straits so
that he may learn that lesson. The branch which he throws in is this: Rest in the Lord
and wait patiently for Him. When one is in such confusion and bewilderment, a great
deal of the distress is thrown off in the throwing off of all responsibility for the way out.
Many years ago, while in Rome, I went down into the Catacombs. I had not gone five feet
from the entrance when I saw that if I should try to find my way back, I should be
hopelessly lost. Passages opened out on every side, and crossed and interlaced, and my

151. life was literally in the hands of the cowled monk who led the way with his lighted taper.
But that was a relief. Having no responsibility for finding the way, and having faith in my
guide, I could give myself up to the impression of the place. There is a beautiful passage
in the one hundred and forty-second Psalm which brings out this truth. The Psalm is
ascribed to David when he was fleeing from Saul’s persecution and wandering in a
labyrinth of caves and secret paths. “When my spirit is overwhelmed within me, Thou
knowest my path.” Few things are more painful or humiliating than the sense of having
lost the way. The sweetening branch then is just this blessed consciousness that Divine
omniscience knows the path; that the knowledge is with one who knows just how to use
it, who knows the path through, the path out, knows what the trend of the trouble is and
what its meaning is. But let us not forget the other great truth of this story, a truth quite
as important as the first, and perhaps quite as hard to learn; and that is, that God’s
healing is a lesson no less than a comfort. The aim of a physician’s treatment is not
merely to relieve his patient from pain. It is, further, to get him on his feet for active
duty. God did not sweeten the waters of Marah in order that the people might stay there.
Marah was only a stage on the way to Canaan; and the draught at the sweetened spring
was but to give strength for a long march. And God never heals His people simply to
make them easy. If He takes off a load it is that they may walk the better in the way of
His commandments. Whatever God may say to us by sickness, when He comes to us as
the Lord of healing He says, “I will raise thee up that thou mayst do that which is right in
My sight; that thou mayst give ear to My commandments and keep My statutes.” Healing
means more toil and more burdens and more conflict, and these will continue to the end.
But let us remember that God never forgets to give rest along the road, and refreshment
at the right places to His faithful ones. Even on earth there will be intervals of sweet rest,
though the desert lie on beyond. (M. R. Vincent, D. D.)
The Lord that healeth
It is with healing power in the lowest form of its development, viz., the supplying of
bodily wants—the healing of physical diseases—that this precious name is first brought
to our notice. And even this is a blessing not to be lightly esteemed. But, if our powers of
perception were so adjusted that we could estimate spiritual diseases, as God estimates
them; then, we should see, in the walks of daily life, even in the case of those who are
said to possess sound minds in sound bodies, sights sadder far than any to be met with
in our hospitals and asylums for physical and mental diseases. And the power to heal
which the Lord claims when He is pleased to reveal Himself as Jehovah-Ropheka, is this
power in its higher form—the power to heal the diseases of the soul.
I. He is an efficient healer. He puts His own Omnipotence into the grace by which He
heals; and what can resist that grace? He has fathomed the lowest depths of human
depravity, and the chain of His grace has reached even unto that.
II. He is a practical healer. It sometimes happens with earthly physicians that the
medicine is mingled with our daily food, and that the food itself of which the patient
partakes is made the means of healing. But this is what our heavenly Healer does
continually. He connects the process of His healing with the food on which the souls of
His people live, and the daily experience of life through which they are passing.
III. He is a universal healer. In many of our hospitals there is a ward for incurables.
There are cases which every physician will decline to undertake because he knows that
nothing can be done with them. But Jehovah-Ropheka knows no such cases. In the
hospital of His grace there is no ward for incurables. There are no limits to the range and

152. operation of His wisdom and power. He has not made a specialty of any particular case.
There is no form of spiritual disease that can be incurable to Him.
IV. He is a permanent healer. No earthly physician will undertake both to restore his
patient to health, and at the same time to give him the assurance that the disease from
which he has suffered shall never return to him. This is a matter quite beyond the reach
of ordinary medical ability. But it is not so with our heavenly Healer. He undertakes to
make His healing work not only perfect but permanent. Two things show us this.
1. One of these is the state into which Christ introduces the saved soul after death. It
is a state in which there will be no sickness, sorrow, or sin. And what that state is, as
the healed soul enters into it, it will be for ever. It is a “continuing city.”
2. And then the state of the soul as it enters that blessed abode will show the same
thing. “Presented perfect in Christ Jesus” (Col_1:28).
V. He is a glorious healer. Most physicians are satisfied if they can restore their patients
to the condition in which they were before the disease seized upon them. If they can heal
a man’s wounds they are satisfied. They will not pledge that in securing this result there
shall be no disfiguring scars remaining. But it is different with our heavenly Healer. He
restores the sin-sick soul, not to its original state, but to one infinitely better than that.
The creation state of the soul was pronounced good, the redeemed state of the soul is
declared to be perfect. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The Lord that healeth
“Many a time have I been brought very low, and received the sentence of death in myself,
when my poor, honest, praying neighbours have met, and, upon their fasting and earnest
prayers, I have recovered. Once, when I had continued weak three weeks, and was
unable to go abroad, the very day that they prayed for me, being Good Friday, I
recovered, and was able to preach and administer the sacrament the next Lord’s day;
and was better after it, it being the first time that ever I administered it. And ever after
that, whatever weakness was upon me, when I had, after preaching, administered that
sacrament to many hundred people, I was much revived and eased of my infirmities.”
“Oh how often,” he writes in his “Dying Thoughts,” “have I cried to Him when men and
means were nothing, and when no help in second causes did appear, and how often, and
suddenly, and mercifully hath He delivered me! What sudden ease, what removal of long
affliction have I had! Such extraordinary changes, and beyond my own and others’
expectations, when many plain-hearted, upright Christians have, by fasting and prayer,
sought God on my behalf, as have over and over convinced me of special providence and
that God is indeed a hearer of prayers. And wonders have I seen done for others also,
upon such prayer, more than for myself; yea, and wonders for the Church, and for public
societies.” “Shall I therefore forget how often He hath heard prayers for me, and how
wonderfully He often hath helped both me and others? My faith hath been helped by
such experiences, and shall I forget them, or question them without cause at last?”
(Richard Baxter.)
Elim.—
The pilgrim’s pathway
I. That, in life’s pilgrimage, God crowns His people with constant blessings and

153. diversified tokens of His goodness. These blessings, as here implied, are of great
practical utility; they are—
1. Essential—“Water.”
2. Refreshing—“Palm-trees.”
3. Diversified—“Wells and palm-trees.”
4. Proportionate,—“Twelve wells and threescore and ten palm-trees.”
II. That, in life’s pilgrimage, God’s blessings should be appropriated and enjoyed. “They
encamped there.”
III. That, in life’s pilgrimage, Elim, with its refreshing shade, is frequently not far from
Marah, with its bitter waters. Therefore, as pilgrims, we should not be too much elated
or depressed with our camping-places. In the history of the Zion-bound traveller, it
should not be forgotten, that it is always better further on.
IV. That, in life’s pilgrimage, we should remember that we are not yet home, only
pilgrims on the way. Our immortality would starve to death on the richest oasis this
desert world could give us, if we should attempt to make it our abiding home. So, they
did not buy the land, or build a city, they only “encamped there.” (T. Kelly.)
Marah and Elim
I. The varied experience of human life.
1. There are the sorrowful scenes of life. You know well the sources from whence
these sorrows arise. There is the sorrow that comes to us from our disappointments.
We are constantly deceived and disappointed, partly because we indulge in
unreasonable expectations, and partly because things differ so much in their reality
from what they are in their outward appearance. Then there is the sorrow that
proceeds from physical suffering. Another source of sorrow is our bereavements. A
whole generation fell in the wilderness, and as the Israelites travelled onward, they
had again and again to pause in their journey and bury their dead. Another source of
sorrow is sin. This indeed is the great source of all sorrow, the fountain from whence
these bitter waters flow.
2. There are the joys of life. Another day’s march, and the scene was changed;
verdure refreshed the eye, there was Tater in abundance to quench the thirst, and the
weary pilgrim could repose under the palm-tree’s welcome shade. True type again of
human life—“Weeping endures for a night, joy cometh in the morning.” “For a small
moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.” The most
weary pilgrimage has its quiet resting places, and the saddest heart is not without its
joys. God is kind even to the unthankful, for on them He bestows His providential
bounties, but “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.” He gives to them a
“peace which passeth understanding,” a “hope which maketh not ashamed,” and “a
joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.” Life, then, has a varied experience.
II. But what are the reasons for it? There can be little doubt that if it were left to our
choice, we should choose a less chequered course—we should avoid the bitter waters of
Marah, and seek the palm-trees of Elim. Why is it that joy and sorrow, hope and fear,
health and sickness, blessings bestowed and blessing removed, follow each other in such
rapid succession.

154. 1. It is to correct our self-will. Many whose hearts were stubborn enough when they
began life, have found life so different to what they expected, that they have at length
confessed—It is vain to fight against God; henceforth I place myself under His
government—His will, not mine, be done.
2. To develop our character. If the events of life were exclusively sorrowful, then the
test of our character would be but partial; so would it be if these events were
exclusively joyful; and therefore it is sorrow to-day and joy to-morrow. Thus our
whole character is developed.
3. To open our hearts to those sacred influences which soften and purify them. (H. J.
Gamble.)
Elim: the springs and the palms
I. Elim rises before us as the representative of the green oases, the spots of sunny
verdure, the scenes of heavenly beauty, wherewith God hath enriched, though sparingly,
our wilderness world. This world is not all bad; its marches are not all bare. “Cursed is
the ground for thy sake”—and because for thy sake, it is not cursed utterly. It is not all
black, bare, lifeless, as the crust of a cold lava flood; a prison-house for reprobates,
instead of a training school for sons.
II. The nearness of Elim to Marah opens up to us a deep truth in the spiritual history of
man.
1. Had they pushed on instead of murmuring at Marah, they would have found all
they sought, and more than they hoped for, at Elim. Ah! the time we waste in
repining and rebelling—scheming to mend God’s counsels! How many Elims would
it find for us, if employed in courage and faith!
2. How near is the sweetness to the bitterness in every trial! it is but a short step to
Elim, where we may encamp and rest. The brightest spots of earth are amidst its
most savage wildernesses, and the richest joys of the Christian spring ever out of his
sharpest pains. The humbling pains of disappointment tune the soul for the joys
which the next station of the journey affords. It is when we have learnt the lessons of
the wilderness, and are resolved to press on, cost what it may, in our heavenly path,
that springs of unexpected sweetness gush up at our very feet, and we find shade and
rest, which give foretaste of heaven.
III. Let us endeavour to discern the principle of this alternate sweetness and bitterness
of life. These lights and shadows of nature, this glow and gloom, are caught from a
higher sphere. Nature is but the reverse of the medal whose obverse is man. The
ultimate reason of the bitterness of Marah is the sin in the heart of Israel and all
pilgrims; the ultimate reason of the sweetness and freshness of Elim is the mercy that is
in the heart of God. There is a fearful power in the human spirit to make God’s brightest
blessings bitter curses. Who was it who wanted to die, because God had found a
deliverance for a great city in which were half a million of doomed men? At the door of
your own spirit lie all the pangs and wretchedness you have known. You have cursed fate
and fortune, and protested that you were the most wronged and persecuted of men. But
the mischief lies not in God’s constitution of the world, nor in His government of it, but
in your hearts. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)

155. Sweetness not far from bitterness
Sorrow is not all a wilderness, even to the most sorrowful. Amid all its bleakness and
desolation it has oases of beauty and fertility. It has Elims as well as Marahs, and
frequently these Elims are very near the Marahs—if we only knew it. But six short miles
separated the twelve wells of water and the threescore and ten palm.trees from the
bitter, nauseous well that filled the hearts of the thirsting multitudes with
disappointment. And so near in human life is the sweetness to the bitterness in every
trial. A few steps will take us through the valley of the shadow of death out into the green
pastures and beside the still waters upon which it opens. Had the Israelites of old,
instead of murmuring at Marah, pushed on a little further, they would, in two short
hours, have found at Elim all they sought and more than they expected. And so the time
we waste in repining and rebelling would be better employed in living faith and active
duty, for thus would consolation be found. Instead of sitting down to murmur at Marah,
let us march in faith under the guidance of our tender Shepherd, who will bring us to the
next station, where we may lie down in green pastures and beside still waters. (Christian
Age.)
The comparative duration of sorrow and joy
Is there ever a Marah without an Elim near it, if only we follow on in the way the Lord
marks out for us through the wilderness? The notice of Elim occupies less than four
lines, while there are as many verses in the record of Marah, and a whole chapter
following about the wilderness of sin; and we are apt to draw the hasty inference that the
bitter experiences were the rule, and the delightful ones the exception. And so it often
seems in the checkered life of the tried disciple of the Lord. But look again. The bitter
time at Marah was quite short, though it occupies a great deal of space in the history.
These four verses tell the story probably of as many hours or less. But the four lines
about Elim are the story of three weeks, during which they “encamped there by the
waters.” When troubles come, the time seems long; when troubles have gone, the time
seems short; and so many are apt to think that they are hardly dealt with, whereas if they
would look more carefully into the Lord’s dealings with them, they might find that they
have far more to be thankful for than to grieve over. Hours at Marah are followed by
weeks at Elim. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.).
23 When they came to Marah, they could not
drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why
the place is called Marah.[f])

156. BAR ES, "Marah - Now identified with the fount of Huwara. The fountain rises
from a large mound, a whitish petrifaction, deposited by the water, and is considered by
the Arabians to be the worst in the whole district.
CLARKE, "Marah - So called from the bitter waters found there. Dr. Shaw
conjectures that this place is the same as that now called Corondel, where there is still a
small rill which, if not diluted with dews or rain, continues brackish. See his account at
the end of Exodus (Exo_40:38 (note)).
GILL, "And when they came to Marah,.... A place in the wilderness, afterwards so
called from the quality of the waters found here; wherefore this name is by anticipation:
they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; and they
must be very bitter for people in such circumstances, having been without water for
three days, not to be able to drink of them: some have thought these to be the bitter
fountains Pliny (f) speaks of, somewhere between the Nile and the Red sea, but these
were in the desert of Arabia; more probably they were near, and of the same kind with
those that Diodorus Siculus (g) makes mention of, who, speaking of the Troglodytes that
inhabited near the Red sea, and in the wilderness, observes, that from the city Arsinoe,
as you go along the shores of the continent on the right hand, there are several rivers
that gush out of the rocks into the sea, of a bitter taste: and so Strabo (h) speaks of a foss
or ditch, which runs out into the Red sea and Arabian gulf, and by the city Arsinoe, and
flows through those lakes which are called bitter; and that those which were of old time
bitter, being made a foss and mixed with the river, are changed, and now produce good
fish, and abound with water fowl: but what some late travellers have discovered seems to
be nearer the truth: Doctor Shaw (i) thinks these waters may be properly fixed at
Corondel, where there is a small rill, which, unless it be diluted by the dews and rain,
still continues to be brackish: another traveller (k) tells us that, at the foot of the
mountain of Hamam-El-Faron, a small but most delightful valley, a place called
Garondu, in the bottom of the vale, is a rivulet that comes from the afore mentioned
mountain, the water of which is tolerably good, and in sufficient plenty, but is however
not free from being somewhat bitter, though it is very clear: Doctor Pocock says there is
a mountain known to this day by the name of Le-Marah; and toward the sea is a salt well
called Bithammer, which is probably the same here called Marah: this Le-Marah, he
says, is sixteen hours south of the springs of Moses; that is, forty miles from the landing
place of the children of Israel; from whence to the end of the wilderness were six hours'
travelling, or about fifteen miles; which were their three days' travel in the wilderness,
and from thence two hours' travel, which were five miles, to a winter torrent called
Ouarden; where, it may be supposed, Moses encamped and refreshed his people, and
from thence went on to Marsh, about the distance of eight hours, or twenty miles
southward from the torrent of Ouarden:
therefore the name of it is called Marah; from the bitterness of the waters, which
the word Marah signifies; see Rth_1:20.
HE RY 23-26, ". That at Marah they had water, but it was bitter, so that though they
had been three days without water they could not drink it, because it was extremely

157. unpleasant to the taste or was likely to be prejudicial to their health, or was so brackish
that it rather increased their thirst than quenched it, Exo_15:23. Note, God can embitter
that to us from which we promise ourselves most satisfaction, and often does so in the
wilderness of this world, that our wants and disappointments in the creature may drive
us to the Creator, in whose favour alone true comfort is to be had. Now in this distress, 1.
The people fretted and quarrelled with Moses, as if he had done ill by them. What shall
we drink? is all their clamour, Exo_15:24. Note, The greatest joys and hopes are soon
turned into the greatest griefs and fears with those that live by sense only, and not by
faith. 2. Moses prayed: He cried unto the Lord, Exo_15:25. The complaints which they
brought to him he brought to God, on whom, notwithstanding his elevation, Moses
owned a constant dependence. Note, It is the greatest relief of the cares of magistrates
and ministers, when those under their charge make them uneasy, that they may have
recourse to God by prayer: he is the guide of the church's guides and to him, as the Chief
Shepherd, the under-shepherds must upon all occasions apply. 3. God provided
graciously for them. He directed Moses to a tree, which he cast into the waters, in
consequence of which, all of a sudden, they were made sweet. Some think this wood had
a peculiar virtue in it for this purpose, because it is said, God showed him the tree. God
is to be acknowledged, not only in the creating of things useful for man, but in
discovering their usefulness. Or perhaps this was only a sign, and not at all a means, of
the cure, any more than the brazen serpent, or Elisha's casting one cruse full of salt into
the waters of Jericho. Some make this tree typical of the cross of Christ, which sweetens
the bitter waters of affliction to all the faithful, and enables them to rejoice in tribulation.
The Jews' tradition is that the wood of this tree was itself bitter, yet it sweetened the
waters of Marah; the bitterness of Christ's sufferings and death alters the property of
ours. 4. Upon this occasion, God came upon terms with them, and plainly told them,
now that they had got clear of the Egyptians, and had entered into the wilderness, that
they were upon their good behaviour, and that according as they carried themselves so it
would be well or ill with them: There he made a statute and an ordinance, and settled
matters with them. There he proved them, that is, there he put them upon the trial,
admitted them as probationers for his favour. In short, he tells them, Exo_15:26, (1.)
What he expected from them, and that was, in one word, obedience. They must
diligently hearken to his voice, and give ear to his commandments, that they might
know their duty, and not transgress through ignorance; and they must take care in every
thing to do that which was right in God's sight, and to keep all his statutes. They must
not think, now that they were delivered from their bondage in Egypt, that they had no
lord over them, but were their own masters; no, therefore they must look upon
themselves as God's servants, because he had loosed their bonds, Psa_116:16; Luk_1:74,
Luk_1:75. (2.) What they might then expect from him: I will put none of these diseases
upon thee, that is, “I will not bring upon thee any of the plagues of Egypt.” This intimates
that, if they were rebellious and disobedient, the very plagues which they had seen
inflicted upon their enemies should be brought upon them; so it is threatened, Deu_
28:60. God's judgments upon Egypt, as they were mercies to Israel, opening the way to
their deliverance, so they were warnings to Israel, and designed to awe them into
obedience. Let not the Israelites think, because God had thus highly honoured them in
the great things he had done for them, and had proclaimed them to all the world his
favourites, that therefore he would connive at their sins and let them do as they would.
No, God is no respecter of persons; a rebellious Israelite shall fare no better than a
rebellious Egyptian; and so they found, to their cost, before the got to Canaan. “But, if
thou wilt be obedient, thou shalt be safe and happy;” the threatening is implied only, but
the promise is expressed: “I am the Lord that healeth thee, and will take care of thy
comfort wherever thou goest.” Note, God is the great physician. If we be kept well, it is

158. he that keeps us; if we be made well, it is he that restores us; he is our life, and the length
of our days.
JAMISO , "when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters
— Following the general route of all travellers southward, between the sea and the
tableland of the Tih (“valley of wandering”), Marah is almost universally believed to be
what is now called Howarah, in Wady Amarah, about thirty miles from the place where
the Israelites landed on the eastern shore of the Red Sea - a distance quite sufficient for
their march of three days. There is no other perennial spring in the intermediate space.
The water still retains its ancient character, and has a bad name among the Arabs, who
seldom allow their camels to partake of it.
ELLICOTT, "(23) The waters of Marah . . . were bitter.—The extreme bitterness of
the springs at the southern extremity of the wilderness of Shur is witnessed to by all
travellers. (Burckhardt: Travels in Syria, p. 777; Robinson: Palestine, vol. i., p. 106;
Wellsted, Arabia, vol. ii., p. 38, &c.) There are several such springs, that called Ain
Howarah being the most copious, but scarcely so bitter as some others.
Therefore the name of it was called Marah.—“Marah” means “bitterness” both in
Hebrew and in Arabic. It appears to be a form of the root which we find also in
mare and amarus.
COFFMA , "Verse 27
"And they came to Elim, where were twelve springs of water, and three score and
ten palm-trees: and they encamped there by the waters."
It is amazing that the number of the twelve springs corresponded to the number of
the Twelve Tribes and of the Twelve Apostles, and the 70 palm-trees corresponded
to the seventy souls of Jacob's family who went down into Egypt, to the seventy
assistants appointed by Moses, to the seventy nations of mankind, and to the seventy
sent out by the Lord Jesus Christ. Both the numbers twelve and seventy were sacred
to the Jews; and they must have felt in the recurrence of these numbers in the
outstanding features of Elim, that is, in the springs and in the palm-trees, that it was
a place especially prepared for them by the Lord. o wonder they camped there for
an indefinite time.
COKE, "Exodus 15:23. When they came to Marah— Moses tells us, in the close of
the verse, that the place was called Marah, from the bitterness of the waters there.
"In travelling from Sdur, Or Shur," says Dr. Shaw, "towards Mount Sinai, we came
into the desert, as it is still called, of Marah, where the Israelites met with the bitter
waters of Marah. As this circumstance did not happen till after they had wandered
three days in the wilderness, Exodus 15:22 we may probably fix these waters at
Corondel, where there is still a small rill, which, unless it be diluted by the dews and
rain, still continues to be brackish. ear this place the sea forms itself into a large
bay, called Berk el Coronarel, i.e. the lake of Corondel; which is remarkable from a
strong current which sets into it from the northward, particularly at the recess of
the tide. The Arabs, agreeably to the interpretation of Kolzum, their name for this

159. sea, preserve a tradition, that a numerous host was formerly drowned at this place;
occasioned, no doubt, by what is related, ch. Exodus 14:30 that the Israelites saw the
Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore; i.e. all along, as we may presume, from Sdur to
Colondel; and at Corondel, especially, from the assistance and termination of the
current." Several heathen writers agree, that there were bitter waters in the parts
where the Israelites were now travelling, which is supposed by many to have been
owing to the saline and nitrous particles wherewith the soil thereabout is strongly
impregnated.
EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "Exodus 15:23-24
The enthusiasm with which men of all classes had welcomed William to London at
Christmas had greatly abated before the close of February. The new king had, at the
very moment at which his fame and fortune reached the highest point, predicted the
coming reaction. That reaction might, indeed, have been predicted by a less
sagacious observer of human affairs. For it is to be chiefly ascribed to a law as
certain as the laws which regulate the succession of the seasons and the course of the
trade winds. It is the nature of man to overrate present evil, and to underrate
present good; to long for what he has not, and to be dissatisfied with what he has.
This propensity, as it appears in individuals, has often been noticed both by
laughing and by weeping philosophers. It was a favourite theme of Horace and of
Pascal, of Voltaire and of Johnson. To its influence on the fate of great communities
may be ascribed most of the revolutions and counter revolutions recorded in history.
A hundred generations have passed away since the first great national emancipation
of which an account has come down to us. We read in the most ancient of books that
a people bowed to the dust under a cruel yoke, scourged to toil by hard taskmasters,
not supplied with straw, yet compelled to furnish the daily tale of bricks, became
sick of life, and raised such a cry of misery as pierced the heavens. The slaves were
wonderfully set free; at the moment of their liberation they raised a song of
gratitude and triumph; but in a few hours they began to regret their slavery, and to
reproach the leader who had decoyed them away from the savoury fare of the house
of bondage to the dreary waste which still separated them from the land flowing
with milk and honey. Since that time the history of every great deliverer has been
the history of Moses retold. Down to the present hour rejoicings like those on the
shore of the Red Sea have ever been speedily followed by murmurings like those at
the Waters of Strife. The most just and salutary revolution must produce much
suffering. The most just and salutary revolution cannot produce all the good that
had been expected from it by men of uninstructed minds and sanguine tempers.
Even the wisest cannot, while it is still recent, weigh quite fairly the evils which it
has caused against the evils which it has removed. For the evils which it has caused
are felt, and the evils which it has removed are felt no longer.
Thus it was now in England. The public was, as it always is during the cold fits
which follow its hot fits, sullen, hard to please, dissatisfied with itself, dissatisfied
with those who had lately been its favourites.
—Macaulay, History of England, chap. XI.

160. Though every man of us may be a hero for one fatal minute, very few remain so
after a day"s march even.
—George Meredith, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, chap. xxx.
PARKER, "Moses At Marah
Exodus 15:23-25
The children of Israel had just concluded their song of thankfulness for deliverance
from the hand of Pharaoh and his hosts. A very wonderful song too had they sung.
It might have had the thunder for an accompaniment, so solemn was it and so
majestic. It rises and falls like the great billows of the sea. ow it roars by reason of
its mightiness, and presently it subsides into a tone of tremulous pathos. The
children of Israel had been made "more than conquerors"; they had not simply
conquered by the expenditure of every energy as is sometimes done in hotly
contested fields,—they had actually stood still, and in their standing had seen the
salvation of God. Their references to Pharaoh and his hosts were made in a tone of
derisive victory. "Pharaoh"s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his
chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea." "Thou didst blow with thy wind,
the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters." "Sing ye to the Lord,
for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the
sea,"—thrown, as a child might throw a pebble into the deep! After singing such a
Song of Solomon , Israel will never again know the meaning of doubt or fear. The
singing of such a song marks an epoch in the history of life. In the presence of
difficulty Israel will remember this hour of holy triumphing, and under the
inspiration of such a recollection will surmount every obstacle. Is not this a
reasonable supposition? Will not the greatest event in life rule all secondary events,
and determine all subordinate considerations? Surely, if this hour could be
forgotten, the fear of death might return upon those who have already conquered
the grave. Alas! we soon find how much difference there is between singing a hymn
and living a life. The people had not gone more than three days into the wilderness
of Shur when they showed the fickleness of the most intensely religious passion, and
the inconstancy of the profoundest religious homage.
1. "They could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter,"—so the
greatest triumphs of life may be succeeded by the most vexatious inconveniences.
God had divided the Red Sea for his people, yet he suffered them to go into places
where there was no water to drink! For their sakes he had destroyed Pharaoh and
his hosts, yea, his chariots and his chosen captains, yet he allowed them to suffer the
pain of thirst! It is specially to be observed that the children of Israel were actually
in the right way when they found themselves exposed to this inconvenience. Could
we have learned that the people had strayed but one yard from the appointed path,
we should have found in that fact an explanation of this trial. We should have
exclaimed as men who have suddenly discovered the key of a great difficulty—"See
what comes of disobedience to the Divine voice! If the people had walked in the way

161. marked out for them by the Almighty, their bread and their water would have been
sure, but now that they have taken the course into their own hands, they come to
bitter streams which they cannot drink!" The contrary, however, is the fact of the
case. The people marched along the very road which God intended them to occupy,
and in that very march they came upon waters that were bitter. Is it not often so in
our own life? We have been delivered from some great trial, some overwhelming
affliction which brought us to the very gates of death, some perplexity which
bewildered our minds and baffled our energies, and then we have lifted up our
hearts in adoring songs to the Deliverer of our lives, and have vowed to live the rest
of our days in the assured comfort arising from the merciful interposition and
gracious defence of God; yet we have hardly gone three days" march into the future
before we have come upon wells which have aggravated the thirst we expected them
to allay. Compared with the great deliverance, the trial itself may seem to be trifling,
yet it becomes an intolerable distress. Suffer not the tempter to suggest that the trial
has befallen you because of disobedience. History has again and again shown us that
the field of duty has been the field of danger, and that the way which has conducted
directly from earth to heaven has been beset by temptations and difficulties too
great for human strength. You may be right, even when the heaviest trial is
oppressing you. You may be losing your property, your health may be sinking, your
prospects may be clouded, and your friends may be leaving you one by one, yet in
the midst of such disasters your heart may be steadfast in faithfulness to God. If,
however, we are able to trace our trial to some outward or inward sin, then indeed it
well becometh us to bow down before the God of heaven and to utter the cry of
penitence at the Cross of Jesus Christ, if haply we may be forgiven.
2. "The people murmured against Moses,"—so the greatest services of life are soon
forgotten. Instead of saying to Moses, "Thou art our leader, and we will trust thee;
we remember thy services in the past, and we believe thee to be under the
inspiration of God," the children of Israel turned round upon Moses and openly
treated him as incapable, if not treacherous. Where was their recollection of the
overthrow of Pharaoh? Where was the memory of the thunderous and triumphant
song which they sang when the sea covered the chariots and horsemen of the tyrant
king? The people murmured and whimpered like disappointed children, instead of
bearing their trial with the fortitude of men and the hope of saints. So soon do we
forget the great services which have been rendered by our leaders. Moses was the
statesman of Israel, yet see how he was treated when he came upon difficulties over
which he had no personal control! It is so that we deal with our own patriots: they
think for us, they scheme for us, they involve themselves in the most exhausting
labour on our account; so long as they repeat our sentiments, and give effect to our
wishes, we laud them and write their names upon the bright banner, but let them
turn round and utter a conviction with which we cannot sympathise, or propose a
scheme with which we are but ill-fitted to grapple, so comprehensive is its scope and
so numerous its details, and in a moment we strike them in the face and trample
their reputation in the dust. We do the same with our preachers. We want our
preachers to be but echoes. So long as they will say from the pulpit the things which
we have been saying with cuckoo-like regularity for many years, we call them
excellent preachers, and pay them their paltry dole with as much enthusiasm as

162. small natures can feel; but if they attempt to lead us into unwonted tracks, if they do
but suggest in the most remote and delicate manner that possibly there are some
truths which we have not yet mastered, the probability is we shall in an hour forget
the pastoral solicitude and the ministerial zeal of years, and treat as enemies the
men who have been our wisest and gentlest friends.
3. "And Moses cried unto the Lord!"—so magnanimous prayer is better than
official resignation. Think what Moses might have said under the circumstances!
With what indignation he might have answered the murmuring mob! "Am I God
that I can create wells in the desert? Are we not moving under the express command
of Heaven, and has not God some purpose in leading us this way? Do I drink at a
secret well of pure water, and leave you to be poisoned by waters that are diseased
Avaunt, ye unreasoning and ungrateful reptiles, and learn the elements of civility
and the first principles of morality." Instead of speaking Song of Solomon , what
did Moses do? He cried unto the Lord! All great leaderships should be intensely
religious, or they will assuredly fail in the patience without which no strength can be
complete. The question was not between Moses and Israel, it was between Moses
and the Almighty One, revealed by the gracious names of the God of Abraham, and
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; hence to that Almighty One Moses directed
his appeal. Did the chief relations of life subsist wholly between the human parties
involved, there might be a ready way of escaping from difficulty and vexation; such
however is not the fact; the relation of parent and child, or of pastor and church, or
of strong and weak, is not a relation complete in itself,—it has a religious basis, and
it involves religious responsibility. What then are men to do when they are assailed
by murmuring and distrust from those who are under their care? They are not to
take the high and mighty plan of standing on their Song of Solomon -called dignity,
nor are they at liberty to enter the chariot of their own proud indignation, that they
may pass away into quieter realms; they must take the case to him who is Lord and
Master, and must wait the indication of his will. I cannot think of the patience of
Moses, or of any man or woman who has ever been concerned in the best training of
life, without seeing in such patience a faint emblem of that higher patience which is
embodied in the life and ministry of the Saviour of mankind! Were he not patient
with us beyond all that we know of human forbearance and hope, he would surely
consume us from the face of the earth, and so silence for ever the voice of our
petulant and unreasoning complaint; but he cares for us, he yearns over us; when
we strive most vehemently against him, when we smite his back and pluck the hair
from his cheek, he inquires with agony of wounded love, "How shall I give thee
up?"
Parents, instead of resigning the oversight of your children, pray for them! Pastors,
instead of resigning your official positions, pray for those who despitefully use you!
All who in anywise seek to defend the weak, or lead the blind or teach the ignorant,
instead of being driven off by every unreasonable murmuring, renew your patience
by waiting upon God!
4. "And the Lord shewed him a tree,"—so where there is a bane in life, there is also
an antidote. The water was bitter, but there was a tree of healing at hand! Things

163. are never so bad in reality as they often appear to be. Undoubtedly there are bitter
experiences, but quite as undoubtedly there are remedies precisely adapted to these
experiences. The tree was not created in order to meet the case: it was actually
standing there at the time of the complaint. The cure is often much nearer us than
our irrational distrust will allow us to suppose. Remember that the tree was not
discovered by Moses himself: it was specially pointed out by the Lord. God is the
Teacher of true methods of healing the body, as well as the only source of spiritual
salvation. We may divide the spheres amidst which we live, and may for the sake of
convenience call one Agriculture, another Medicine, another Architecture, and
others by distinguishing names, but, regarded profoundly and truly, human life is
still under a Theocracy. Theology contains all that is true in art and in science, as
well as the doctrines which apply to our highest capabilities and aspirations. An
ancient saint looking upon the ploughman and upon the sower, and observing how
they prepared the earth to bring forth and bud, that there might be bread for the
world, exclaimed, "This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is
wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." The true physician is inspired of
Heaven; so is the true poet; so is the true painter; so also is the true preacher. We
must not narrow theology until it becomes a sectarian science; we must insist that
within its expansiveness are to be found all things and all hopes which minister to
the strength and exalt the destiny of human life.
Hast thou come, my friend, in thy wilderness way, to the place of bitter waters?
Canst thou not drink of the stream, even though thy thirst be burning and thy
strength be wasted? Know thou, there is a tree the leaves of which are for the
healing of the nations! A tree? Truly so; but a tree as yet without a leaf,—a tree bare
as the frosts and the winds of winter can make it,—the great, grim, dear, sad,
wondrous Cross of the Son of God! Some have sought to touch the wells of life with
other trees, but have only aggravated the disease which they sought to cure. By the
grace of Heaven others have been enabled to apply the Cross to the bitter wells of
their sin and grief, and behold the waters have become clear as the crystal river
which flows fast by the throne of God!
MACLARE , "MARAH
Exodus 15:23 - - Exodus 15:25.
I. The time of reaching Marah-just after the Red Sea. The Israelites were encamped
for a few days on the shore to shake themselves together, and then at this, their very
first station, they began to experience the privations which were to be their lot for
forty years. Their course was like that of a ship that is in the stormy Channel as
soon as it leaves the shelter of the pier at Dover, not like that of one that glides down
the Thames for miles.
After great moments and high triumphs in life comes Marah.
Marah was just before Elim-the alternation, how blessed! The shade of palms and
cool water of the wells, one for each tribe and one for each ‘elder.’ So we have
alternations in life and experience.
II. The wrong and the right ways of taking the bitter experience. The people
grumbled: Moses cried to the Lord. The quick forgetfulness of deliverances. The

164. true use of speech is not complaint, but prayer.
III. The power that changes bitter to sweet. The manner of the miracle is singular.
God hides Himself behind Moses, and His miraculous power behind the material
agent. Perhaps the manner of the miracle was intended to suggest a parallel with the
first plague. There the rod made the ile water undrinkable. There is a
characteristic economy in the miraculous, and outward things are used, as Christ
used the pool and the saliva and the touch, to help the weak faith of the deaf and
dumb man.
What changes bitter to sweet for us?-the Cross, the remembrance of Christ’s death.
‘Consider Him that endured.’ The Cross is the true tree which, when ‘cast into the
waters, the waters were made sweet.’
Recognition of and yielding to God’s will: that is the one thing which for us changes
all. The one secret of peace and of getting sweetness out of bitterness is loving
acceptance of the will of God.
Discernment of purpose in God’s ‘bitter’ dealings-’for our profit.’ The dry rod
‘budded.’ The Prophet’s roll was first bitter, then sweet. Affliction ‘afterwards
yieldeth the peaceable fruit.’
PETT, "Exodus 15:23-25 a
‘And when they came to Marah they could not drink of the waters of Marah
because they were bitter. That is why the name of it was called Marah. And the
people murmured against Moses saying, “What shall we drink?” And he cried to
Yahweh, and Yahweh showed him a tree and he cast it into the waters and the
waters were made sweet.’
After the period without water they came to the oasis at Marah, but the waters were
too bitter to drink. Marah may well be the modern ‘Ayin Hawarah. This is a
solitary spring of bitter water which now has stunted palm trees growing near it,
although the quality of the water varies from time to time. When they saw water the
children of Israel were no doubt ecstatic, but the desert waters were bitter
compared with the sweet waters of the ile valley and while their cattle and flocks
may well have drunk of it the people themselves found that they could not stomach
it. Their joy turning to disappointment they immediately turned on Moses. This led
him to pray to Yahweh who directed him to a bush which was probably a kind of
barberry, which is known to have the qualities described. And when this was
thrown into the waters it was made sweet, that is, the bitterness was softened.
It may be that from his life in the wilderness with the Midianites he had learned the
usefulness and effectiveness of this bush on such occasions, and that his prayer to
Yahweh was for help in finding such bushes, a cry which was rewarded by Him
showing him where he could indeed find some.
ote the contrast between Egypt with the sweet-water ile made bitter, and the
bitter water here made sweet. He Who had brought judgment on Egypt could in a
similar way bring provision to Israel. And in the next verse this provision will
include His statutes and His ordinances.

165. This the first of many times that we are told that the people murmured. We see
immediately their slave conditioning. A few days before they had beheld a
deliverance that would be remembered for generations to come, but now because of
shortage of water they have already forgotten it. While it would certainly be hot,
and the journey difficult, there had not really been time for the position to become
desperate. The fact was that they had expected to find water, but had not. They
were not used to not having water at hand. The ile had always been near. They
were not yet aware of what could be expected in wilderness conditions, and of trek
discipline, and had been caught out. And immediately their buoyant spirits
slumped.
The emphasis on the water shortage is a sign of genuineness. This above all would
be what such a large group would immediately notice in the wilderness. The
provision by natural means is also a sign of genuineness, and reminds us that God
keeps his miracles (and Moses’ staff) for important occasions.
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:23
And when they came to Marah. It is not clear whether the place already bore the
name on the arrival of the Israelites, or only received it from them. Marah would
mean "bitter" in Arabic no less than in Hebrew. The identification of Marah with
the present Ain Howarah, in which most modem writers acquiesce, is uncertain
from the fact that there are several bitter springs in the vicinity—one of them even
bitterer than Howarah. We may, however, feel confident that the bitter waters of
which the Israelites "would not drink" were in this neighbourhood, a little north of
the Wady Ghurundel.
24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying,
“What are we to drink?”
CLARKE, "The people murmured - They were in a state of great mental
degradation, owing to their long and oppressive vassalage, and had no firmness of
character. See Clarke’s note on Exo_13:17.

166. GILL, "And the people murmured against Moses,.... For bringing them into a
wilderness where they could find no water fit to drink; saying:
what shall we drink? what shall we do for drink? where can we drink? this water is
not drinkable, and, unless we have something to drink, we, and our wives, and children,
and servants, and cattle, must all perish.
SIMEO , "Verse 24-25
DISCOURSE: 85
THE WATERS OF MARAH SWEETE ED
Exodus 15:24-25. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we
drink? And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he
had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a
statute and an ordinance; and there he proved them.
GREAT are the vicissitudes of human life: nor is there any person exempt from
them. Even the most favoured servants of God, when moving expressly in the way
that he has appointed for them, may be reduced as it were in an instant from the
highest pinnacle of earthly prosperity to a state of the deepest distress and anguish.
ot to mention an imprisoned Joseph, a dethroned David, an incarcerated Daniel,
we notice the whole nation of Israel exulting in the completest deliverance that ever
was vouchsafed to any people in the world, and within three days brought down to
utter despondency. But from this we may derive much profitable instruction; whilst
we notice,
I. Their trial—
This was indeed severe—
[We have no idea in general how much our happiness, and even our very lives,
depend on the common bounties of Providence. We acknowledge this indeed in
words; but we have by no means a proportionate sense of our obligations to God for
a regular supply of water. The Israelites had travelled three days, and had found
none; till at last, coming to Marah, they found an abundant supply: but, behold, the
water was so bitter, as to be incapable of being turned to any general use. When the
Israelites, in addition to their want, were made to experience this painful
disappointment, they broke out into murmuring and complaints.]
But their murmuring was wrong—
[Had the question they put to Moses, been nothing more than a simple
interrogation, it had been innocent enough: but it was an unbelieving, passionate
complaint. (How often are our words also, or our actions, inoffensive perhaps as to

167. their external form, while, on account of the spirit with which they are blended, they
are most hateful and detestable in the sight of God!) But why should they murmur
against Moses? He had not conducted them thither of his own mind, but by God’s
command. Their displeasure against him was, in fact, directed against God himself.
(And it will be well for us to remember, that in venting our wrath, and indignation
against the instruments by whom God at any time afflicts us, we vent it in reality
against him who uses them.) And why should they murmur against God? Had he
committed an oversight in leading them into that situation? Had he forgotten to be
gracious? Was he so changed within the space of three days, that he could no longer
devise a way for their relief? Or was his ear become so heavy that he could not hear,
or his hand so shortened that he could not save? Should they not rather have
concluded, that now, as on many recent occasions, he had permitted their trial to be
great, in order that he might the more abundantly magnify his own power and
mercy in their deliverance? Doubtless this would have become them who had seen so
many and such stupendous miracles wrought in their behalf.]
We next fix our attention upon,
II. Their deliverance—
Some have thought, that the healing of the waters by casting a tree into them, was
intended to typify the sweetening of all our afflictions, and the removing of all our
sorrows, by the cross of Christ. It might be so: but we are afraid to venture upon
any ground not expressly trodden by the inspired writers. We therefore rather
content ourselves with shewing what God indisputably declared by this singular
interposition:
1. That he is never at a loss for means whereby to effect his purposes—
[If we cannot see some opening whereby God can come to our relief, we are ready to
think that he is quite excluded from us. But what need has he of any means at all?
What means did he employ in constructing the universe? Indeed the very means he
does use, are generally such, as tend only to evince, by their utter inadequacy, the
mighty working of his own power. It was thus when he healed the deleterious waters
of a spring, and the barrenness of the land through which they ran, by a single cruse
of salt [ ote: 2 Kings 2:21.]: and thus also when he restored the serpent-bitten
Israelites by the mere sight of a brasen serpent. As to the idea of the tree itself
possessing qualities calculated to produce the effect, it cannot for one moment be
admitted; because the waters were sufficient for the supply of two millions of
people, besides all their cattle; and because the effect was instantaneously produced.
We therefore say again, that the insufficiency or the means he used, displayed only
the more clearly the all-sufficiency of his own power, precisely as when by the voice
of a feeble worm he awakens men from their death in trespasses and sins [ ote: 2
Corinthians 4:7.].]
2. That he will put honour upon humble and believing prayer—

168. [There is such “efficacy in the fervent prayer of a righteous man,” that God, if we
may be permitted so to speak, is not able to withstand it. See persons in any
circumstances whatever, and you are sure to find them extricated from their
difficulties, and made victorious over their enemies, when once they begin to pray.
Even if the people themselves be ever so unworthy, yet, if they have an Advocate
and Intercessor for them at the throne of grace, they almost invariably escape the
judgments which God had denounced against them; so cordially does “God delight
in the prayer of the upright,” and so desirous is he to encourage all persons to pray
for themselves. The murmuring spirit of the people might well have provoked God
to decline all further communication with them: but Moses prayed; and his cry
entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts.]
But both the trial and deliverance were sent with a view to some ulterior good: let us
consider,
III. God’s design in each—
Amongst other objects which God designed to accomplish, the two following seem to
be peculiarly prominent. He sought to bring them to a sense of,
1. Their duty—
[What particular statutes and ordinances God promulged to them at this time, we
are not informed. But there is one thing which he certainly made known to them;
namely, the conditional nature of the covenant which he was about to make with
them, and the suspension of his favours upon their obedience [ ote: 6.]. They had
hitherto dwelt only on their privileges, without at all considering their duties: they
thought of what God was to be to them; but not of what they were to be to God.
ow God, having softened their minds by a heavy trial, and conciliated their
regards by a miraculous interposition, opens to them the connexion between duty
and privilege; and thereby prepares them for becoming “a holy and peculiar people,
zealous of good works.”]
2. Their sinfulness—
[This mixture of judgment and mercy was well calculated to bring them to a
knowledge of themselves. The trial alone would only irritate and inflame their
minds: but the deliverance applied a balm to their wounded spirits. By the union of
them they would be humbled, and led to acknowledge the heinousness of their
ingratitude, their unbelief, their querulousness, and rebellion. This is expressly
declared to have been a very principal end of all the dispensations of God towards
them in the wilderness [ ote: Deuteronomy 8:2.]: and it is a main object of his
diversified dealings with his people at this day.]
Let us learn from this subject,
1. To mark the effect of trials and deliverances on our own minds—

169. [If trials always, instead of humbling, disquiet us; and if deliverances produce only a
temporary impression, and not a lasting change on our hearts; can we be right
before God? They ought to “work patience, experience, and hope;” and by means of
them our faith ought to be so purified, as to tend “to the praise and honour and
glory of our God at the appearing of Jesus Christ [ ote: 1 Peter 1:7.].” By
examining into this point we may “prove our own selves,” and ascertain with
considerable precision our true character.]
2. To distrust our religious feelings—
[We may be moved under a sermon or any particular occurrence; we may
sometimes be dissolved in tears, and at other times be elevated with joy; and yet
have no root in ourselves, nor any inheritance with the saints in light. Who that had
heard the devout songs of Israel at the Red Sea, would have thought that in three
days they could so totally forget their mercies, and indulge such a rebellious spirit?
But look within; and see whether, after an occasional exercise of religious affections,
you have not, within a still shorter space of time, been hurried into the indulgence of
the most unhallowed tempers, and the gratification of a spirit that is earthly,
sensual, and devilish? Ah! think of “the stony-ground hearers, who received the
word with joy, and yet in time of temptation fell away.” Lay not then too great a
stress on some transient emotions; but judge yourselves by the more certain test of a
willing and unreserved obedience.]
3. To place an entire and uniform dependence on God—
[God may see fit to try us, and to delay the relief that we implore. But let us not
entertain hard thoughts of him. From the time of Abraham it has passed into a
proverb, that “in the mount the Lord shall be seen.” Our Isaac may be bound, and
the knife actually lifted up to inflict the fatal blow, and all who might interpose to
rescue the victim may be at a great distance; but, in the moment of need, God’s
voice from heaven shall arrest the murderous hand, and deliver us from the
impending stroke. “The vision is yet for an appointed time; therefore, though it
tarry, wait for it: for at the appointed season it shall come, and not tarry [ ote:
Habakkuk 2:3.].” Whether our afflictions be of a temporal or spiritual nature, we
may rest assured of this blessed truth, that “they who wait on him shall never be
confounded.”]
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:24
And the people murmured against Moses. As they had already done on the western
shores of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:11, Exodus 14:12), and as they were about to do so
often before their wanderings were over. (See below, Exodus 16:2; Exodus 17:3;
umbers 14:2; umbers 16:41; Deuteronomy 1:27, etc.) "Murmuring" was the
common mode in which they vented their spleen, when anything went ill with them;
and as Moses had persuaded them to quit Egypt, the murmuring was chiefly against
him. The men who serve a nation best are during their lifetime least appreciated.

170. What shall we drink? Few disappointments are harder to bear than that of the man,
who after long hours of thirst thinks that he has obtained wherewith to quench his
intolerable longing, and on raising the cup to his lips, finds the draught so nauseous
that he cannot swallow it. Very unpalatable water is swallowed when the thirst is
great. But there is a limit beyond which nature will not go. There "may be water,
water everywhere, yet not a drop to drink."
25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the
Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into
the water, and the water became fit to drink.
There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for
them and put them to the test.
BAR ES, "A tree ... - The statement points to a natural agency, but the result was
manifestly supernatural.
He made ... - The Lord then set before them the fundamental principle of implicit
trust, to be shown by obedience. The healing of the water was a symbol of deliverance
from physical and spiritual evils.
CLARKE, "He cried unto the Lord - Moses was not only their leader, but also
their mediator. Of prayer and dependence on the Almighty, the great mass of the
Israelites appear to have had little knowledge at this time. Moses, therefore, had much to
bear from their weakness, and the merciful Lord was long-suffering.
The Lord showed him a tree - What this tree was we know not: some think that
the tree was extremely bitter itself, such as the quassia; and that God acted in this as he
generally does, correcting contraries by contraries, which, among the ancient physicians,
was a favourite maxim, Clavus clavo expellitur. The Targums of Jonathan and
Jerusalem say that, when Moses prayed, “the Word of the Lord showed him the tree
‫ארדפני‬ ardiphney, on which he wrote the great and precious name of (Jehovah), and then
threw it into the waters, and the waters thereby became sweet” But what the tree
ardiphney was we are not informed.

171. Many suppose that this tree which healed the bitter waters was symbolical of the cross
of our blessed Redeemer, that has been the means of healing infected nature, and
through the virtue of which the evils and bitters of life are sweetened, and rendered
subservient to the best interests of God’s followers. Whatever may be in the metaphor,
this is true in fact; and hence the greatest of apostles gloried in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by which the world was crucified to him and he unto the world.
It appears that these waters were sweetened only for that occasion, as Dr. Shaw
reports them to be still brackish, which appears to be occasioned by the abundance of
natron which prevails in the surrounding soil. Thus we may infer that the natural cause
of their bitterness or brackishness was permitted to resume its operations, when the
occasion that rendered the change necessary had ceased to exist. Thus Christ simply
changed that water into wine which was to be drawn out to be carried to the master of
the feast; the rest of the water in the pots remaining as before. As the water of the Nile
was so peculiarly excellent, to which they had been long accustomed, they could not
easily put up with what was indifferent. See Clarke’s note on Exo_7:18.
There he made for them - Though it is probable that the Israelites are here
intended, yet the word ‫לו‬ lo should not be translated for them, but to him, for these
statutes were given to Moses that he might deliver them to the people.
There he proved them - ‫נסהו‬ nissahu, he proved Him. By this murmuring of the
people he proved Moses, to see, speaking after the manner of men, whether he would be
faithful, and, in the midst of the trials to which he was likely to be exposed, whether he
would continue to trust in the Lord, and seek all his help from him.
GILL, "And he cried unto the Lord,.... Or prayed, as all the Targums, that God
would appear for them, and relieve them in their distress, or, humanly speaking, they
must all perish: happy it is to have a God to go to in time of trouble, whose hand is not
shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that he cannot hear! Moses knew the
power of God, and trusted in his faithfulness to make good the promises to him, and the
people, that he would bring them to the land he had swore to give them:
and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters,
the waters were made sweet; what this tree was is not known; if it was in its own
nature sweet, as the author of Ecclesiasticus seems to intimate, when he says, in chapter
38:5 "was not the water made sweet with the wood, that its virtue might be known?" Yet
a single tree could never of itself sweeten a flow of water, and such a quantity as was
sufficient for so large a number of men and cattle; and therefore, be it what it will, it
must be owing to a miraculous operation that the waters were made sweet by it: but the
Hebrew writers say the tree was bitter itself, and therefore the miracle was the greater:
Gorionides (l) says it was wormwood; and both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem
call it the bitter tree, Ardiphne, which Cohen de Lara (m) makes to be the same which
botanists call Rhododaphne or rose laurel, and which, he says, bears flowers like lilies,
which are exceeding bitter, and are poison to cattle; and so says Baal Aruch (n); and
much the same has Elias Levita (o): and this agrees well enough with the mystical and
spiritual application that may be made of this; whether these bitter waters are
considered as an emblem of the bitter curses of the law, for that bitter thing sin, which
makes work for bitter repentance; and for which the law writes bitter things against the
sinner, which, if not prevented, would issue in the bitterness of death; so that a sensible
sinner can have nothing to do with it, nor can it yield him any peace or comfort: but

172. Christ, the tree of life, being made under the law, and immersed in sufferings, the
penalty of it, and made a curse, the law is fulfilled, the curse and wrath of God removed,
the sinner can look upon it with pleasure and obey it with delight: or whether these may
be thought to represent the afflictions of God's people, comparable to water for their
multitude, and for their overflowing and overwhelming nature, and to bitter ones, being
grievous to the flesh; especially when God hides his face and they are thought to be in
wrath: but these are sweetened through the presence of Christ, the shedding abroad of
his love in the heart, the gracious promises he makes and applies, and especially through
his bitter sufferings and death, and the fruits and effects thereof, which support, refresh,
and cheer, see Heb_12:2,
there he made a statute and an ordinance: not that he gave them at this time any
particular law or precept, whether moral or ceremonial, such as the laws of keeping the
sabbath and honouring of parents, which the Targum of Jonathan mentions (p); and to
which Jarchi adds that concerning the red heifer: but he gave them a general instruction
and order concerning their future behaviour; that if they hearkened to his
commandments, and yielded obedience to them, it would be well with them, if not they
must expect to be chastised and afflicted by him, as is observed in the following verse, to
which this refers:
and there he proved them; the people of Israel; by these waters being first bitter and
then sweetened, whereby he gave them a proof and specimen how it would be with them
hereafter; that if they behaved ill they must expect the bitter waters of affliction, but, if
otherwise, pleasant and good things: or, "there he proved him" (q); Moses, his obedience
and faith, by ordering him to cast in the tree he showed him; but the former sense seems
best to agree with what follows.
JAMISO , "the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the
waters, the waters were made sweet — Some travellers have pronounced this to be
the Elvah of the Arabs - a shrub in form and flower resembling our hawthorn; others, the
berries of the Ghurkhud - a bush found growing around all brackish fountains. But
neither of these shrubs are known by the natives to possess such natural virtues. It is far
more likely that God miraculously endowed some tree with the property of purifying the
bitter water - a tree employed as the medium, but the sweetening was not dependent
upon the nature or quality of the tree, but the power of God (compare Joh_9:6). And
hence the “statute and ordinance” that followed, which would have been singularly
inopportune if no miracle had been wrought.
and there he proved them — God now brought the Israelites into circumstances
which would put their faith and obedience to the test (compare Gen_22:1).
K&D, "Exo_15:25-26
When Moses cried to the Lord in consequence, He showed him some wood which,
when thrown into the water, took away its bitterness. The Bedouins, who know the
neighbourhood, are not acquainted with such a tree, or with any other means of making
bitter water sweet; and this power was hardly inherent in the tree itself, though it is
ascribed to it in Ecclus. 38:5, but was imparted to it through the word and power of God.
We cannot assign any reason for the choice of this particular earthly means, as the
Scripture says nothing about any “evident and intentional contrast to the change in the

173. Nile by which the sweet and pleasant water was rendered unfit for use” (Kurtz). The
word ‫ץ‬ ֵ‫ע‬ “wood” (see only Num_19:6), alone, without anything in the context to explain
it, does not point to a “living tree” in contrast to the “dead stick.” And if any contrast had
been intended to be shown between the punishment of the Egyptians and the training of
the Israelites, this intention would certainly have been more visibly and surely
accomplished by using the staff with which Moses not only brought the plagues upon
Egypt, but afterwards brought water out of the rock. If by ‫ץ‬ ֵ‫ע‬ we understand a tree, with
which ְ‫ך‬ ֵ‫ל‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ַ ַ‫,ו‬ however, hardly agrees, it would be much more natural to suppose that
there was an allusion to the tree of life, especially if we compare Gen_2:9 and Gen_3:22
with Rev_22:2, “the leaves of the tree of life were for the healing of the nations,” though
we cannot regard this reference as established. All that is clear and undoubted is, that by
employing these means, Jehovah made Himself known to the people of Israel as their
Physician, and for this purpose appointed the wood for the healing of the bitter water,
which threatened Israel with disease and death (2Ki_4:40).
By this event Jehovah accomplished two things: (a) “there He put (made) for it (the
nation) an ordinance and a right,” and (b) “there He proved it.” The ordinance and
right which Jehovah made for Israel did not consist in the words of God quoted in Exo_
15:26, for they merely give an explanation of the law and right, but in the divine act
itself. The leading of Israel to bitter water, which their nature could not drink, and then
the sweetening or curing of this water, were to be a ‫ּק‬‫ח‬ for Israel, i.e., an institution or law
by which God would always guide and govern His people, and a ‫ט‬ ָ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫מ‬ or right, inasmuch
as Israel could always reckon upon the help of God, and deliverance from every trouble.
But as Israel had not yet true confidence in the Lord, this was also a trial, serving to
manifest its natural heart, and, through the relief of its distress on the part of God, to
refine and strengthen its faith. The practical proof which was given of Jehovah's
presence was intended to impress this truth upon the Israelites, that Jehovah as their
Physician would save them from all the diseases which He had sent upon Egypt, if they
would hear His voice, do what was right in His eyes, and keep all His commandments.
CALVI , "25.And he cried. Hence we gather that Moses alone duly prayed when
the people tumultuously rose against him, and that they who were not worthy of the
common air itself were abundantly supplied with sweet water. Herein shone forth
the inestimable mercy of God, who deigned to change the nature of the water for the
purpose of supplying such wicked, and rebellious, and ungrateful men. He might
have given them sweet water to drink at first, but He wished by the bitter to make
prominent the bitterness which lurked in their hearts. He might, too, have corrected
by His mere will the evil in the waters, so that they should have grown sweet
spontaneously. It is not certain why He preferred to apply the tree, except to
reprove their foolish impiety by showing that He has many remedies in His power
for every evil. A question also arises as to the tree, whether it inherently possessed
the property which it there exercised. But although probable arguments may be
adduced on both sides, I rather incline to the opinion that there was indeed a
natural power concealed in the tree, and yet that the taste of the water was
miraculously corrected; because it would have been difficult so speedily to collect a
sufficient quantity of the tree for purifying a river; for 600,000 men, together with
their wives and children and cattle, would not have been contented with a little

174. streamlet. But I am led by no trifling reason to think that this property was
previously existing in the tree; because it is plain that a particular species was
pointed out to Moses, yet does not that prevent us from believing that a greater
efficacy than usual was imparted to it, so that the waters should be immediately
sweetened by its being put into them. What follows in the second part of the verse
admits of a double signification, viz., either that, whereas God had there ordained a
statute, yet that He was tempted by the people; or, because God was tempted by the
people, therefore He had ordained the statute. If the first sense be preferred, their
crime will be augmented by the comparison; for the impiety of the people was all the
worse because, being taught by the voice of God, yet in the very same place they
gave the reins to their rebellious spirit. But I rather embrace the latter sense, viz.,
that God chastised the sin of the people by whom He had been tempted. It was in
fact a kind of tempting of God, because they not only doubtingly inquired who
should give them water, but in these words manifested their despair. But because in
the same context it is said, “there he made for them a statute, and there he tempted
(or proved) them,” the name of God appears to be the subject in both clauses, and it
is predicated of the people that they received the ordinance and were proved. Thus
the meaning will be, that after God had tried His people, by the want of water, He at
the same time admonished them by His word, that hereafter they should submit
themselves more teachably and obediently to His commands.
ELLICOTT, "(25) The Lord shewed him a tree.—There are trees which have the
power of sweetening bitter water; but none of them is at present found in the
Sinaitic peninsula, and the Arabs are not now acquainted with any means of
rendering the bitter waters of Howarah and the neighbouring springs palatable.
Perhaps in ancient times there were forms of vegetable life in the peninsula which
do not now exist there. Moses would scarcely have been “shown a tree” unless the
tree had some virtue of its own; but, on the other hand, the tree alone is scarcely to
be credited with the entire effect. As in so many other instances, God seems to have
made use of nature, as far as nature could go, and then to have superadded His own
omnipotent energy in order to produce the required effect. (Compare our blessed
Lord’s method in working His miracles.)
He made for them a statute and an ordinance.- God took advantage of the occasion
to draw a lesson from it. He promised that, as He had healed the waters, so, if the
Israelites would henceforth faithfully keep His commandments, He would “heal”
them (Exodus 15:26), keeping them free from all the diseases of Egypt, and from the
far greater evil involved in their own corrupted nature and infirmity.
BE SO , "Exodus 15:25. He cried unto the Lord — Moses did what they ought to
have done. He made request unto the Lord for help in this distress. It is the greatest
relief of the cares of magistrates and ministers, when those under their charge make
them uneasy, that they may have recourse to God by prayer. He is the guide of the
church’s guides; and to the chief Shepherd the under shepherds must, on all
occasions, apply themselves. The Lord showed him a tree — What tree this was is
quite uncertain. And although some have been of opinion that it had a peculiar

175. virtue in it to render the bitter waters sweet, because it is said, God showed him the
tree, yet since they were made sweet immediately upon casting the tree into them,
and that to such a degree as to correct the taste of them for many hundreds of
thousands of people, not to mention the numerous flocks and herds, it seems
perfectly evident that this effect must have been miraculous, and that the tree was
only a sign, and not the means of the cure, any more than the brazen serpent in
another case. May not this tree be considered as an emblem of the cross of Christ,
and of the blessings purchased thereby, which, when we receive them in faith,
sweeten our bitterest trials with the peace and love of God, peace of conscience, and
lively, joyful hopes of everlasting blessedness? There he made them a statute and an
ordinance — God, having now eased them of the hard and iron yoke of the
Egyptians, puts his sweet and easy yoke upon them, and having undertaken to be
their king, protector, and leader, he claims their subjection to himself, and to his
laws and statutes. It seems, however, that all he now did was to give them some
general intimations of his will, previous to the promulgation of his law. According to
the tradition of the Jews, the statute and ordinance now given was, that they should
observe the sabbath, and do justice. There he proved or tried them — That is, he
both tried their faith by the difficulty now mentioned, namely, their want of water,
and their future obedience by this general command, afterward branched out into
divers particulars.
COKE, "Exodus 15:25. And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a
tree, &c.— As soon as the Israelites felt the least inconvenience, they shewed that
murmuring and discontented disposition, which so strongly marks their character.
Their murmurs against Moses, Exodus 15:24 were, in reality, murmurs against
GOD. Moses, however, was more wise; and, in fervent prayer, applied to Jehovah,
who alone can help in the hour of distress. The Lord heard his prayer, and pointed
out to him a particular tree, which was probably of such natural efficacy, as to
produce the end desired; sweetening these bitter waters. It is, I believe, impossible to
tell of what species this tree was; and therefore conjectures are vain. Pliny (lib. xiv.
c. 2.) and other naturalists inform us, that there is wood which will work this effect:
the miracle, therefore, probably, consisted in Jehovah's pointing out to Moses this
particular species of wood. In this view the author of Ecclesiasticus considers it:
Was not the water, says he, made sweet with wood, that the virtue thereof might be
known? ch. Exodus 38:5. See 2 Kings 2:21-22; 2 Kings 4:41. Demetrius, a heathen
writer, quoted by Eusebius, (Praep. Evan. lib. ix. c. 29.) reports this fact in the same
manner as Moses. Some are of opinion, that Jehovah sweetened these waters by his
own immediate power; and that the tree, or wood, which was cast into them, was
only an external sign, and not the means of the miracle which was wrought on this
occasion. See Shuckford's Connection, vol. iii. p. 7. The fathers have made some
ingenious comparisons between this wood and the cross of Christ. See Parker's
Bibliothec. &c. on the place.
There he made—a statute and an ordinance, &c.— It seems most natural to
understand these words as addressed by Jehovah to Moses; for, he proved them,
should certainly be rendered, he proved him, agreeably to the next verse: and Moses
may be considered here, as the representative of all the people. See ch. Exodus

176. 16:28-29. The Lord having proved or tried him, by this circumstance of the tree, and
having found him faithful, here lays it down, as his fixed statute and determined
ordinance, that if he, and the people committed to his charge, would continue
faithful to his commands, he would deliver them from every evil disease and every
calamity; and preserve them in health, as he was well able to do, being the Lord of
health: for I am the Lord, that gives thee health; alluding to that health or
sweetness, which he had just given, by his Divine interposition, to the bitter waters.
The health of the Israelites was so remarkable at this time, that the Psalmist tells us,
there was not one feeble person among them, Psalms 105:37. Junius translates this, I
am God thy Saviour. See Jeremiah 7:22-23. I spake not unto your fathers, nor
commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt,
concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices: but this thing commanded I them, saying,
Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk ye in all
the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you: a passage, which
would induce one to believe, that this was the original statute and ordinance, which
GOD designed for his people; and that, had they been less discontented and
refractory, they would not have been loaded with so burdensome a yoke of
ceremonies: indeed we are told that this was laid upon them for the hardness of
their hearts. Houbigant translates this verse, Moses prayed unto the Lord, who
shewed him a tree; which being cast into the water, the water was made sweet. And
there, after he had proved him, he made with him the following covenant, that it
might be observed: Exodus 15:26. If thou wilt, &c. See ch. Exodus 16:4.
ISBET, "BITTER WATERS SWEETE ED
‘The waters were made sweet.’
Exodus 15:25
We have in our text a parable of the deep things of Christ.
I. Israel was in those days fresh, from their glorious deliverance out of Egypt, they
had sung their first national song of victory; they had breathed the air of liberty.
This was their first disappointment, and it was a very sharp one; from the height of
exultation they fell almost at once to the depths of despair. Such disappointments we
have all experienced, especially in the outset of our actual march, after the first
conscious sense of spiritual triumph and freedom.
II. Of us also it is true that God hath showed us a certain tree, and that tree is the
once accursed tree on which Christ died. This is the tree of life to us, although of
death to Him.
III. It was God who showed this tree unto Moses.—And it was God who showed it to
us in the Gospel. Applied by our faith to the bitter waters of disappointment and
distress, it will surely heal them and make them sweet. Two things there are about
the tree of scorn which will never lose their healing power—the lesson of the Cross
and the consolation of the Cross; the example and the companionship of Christ
crucified.
IV. The life which found its fitting close upon the Cross was not a life of suffering

177. only, but emphatically a life of disappointment.—Here there is comfort for us. Our
dying Lord must certainly have reflected that He, the Son of God, was leaving the
world rather worse than He found it in all human appearance.
V. Whatever our trials and disappointments, let us use this remedy; it will not fail
us, even at the worst.
Rev. R. Winterbotham.
Illustration
(1) ‘Elim, Elim! Through the sand and heat
I toil with heart uplifted, I toil with bleeding feet;
For Elim, Elim! at the last, I know
That I shall see the palm-trees, and hear the waters flow.
Elim, Elim! Grows not here a tree,
And all the springs are Marah, and bitter thirst to me;
But Elim, Elim! in thy shady glen
Are twelve sweet wells of water, and palms threescore and ten.
Elim, Elim! though the way be long,
Unmurmuring I shall journey, and lift my heart in song;
And Elim, Elim! all my song shall tell
Of rest beneath the palm-tree, and joy beside the well.
(2) ‘What a motley company it was! A good many did not love and trust God for
themselves; they were good because they were with good people; but such goodness
is sure to break down when the first trouble comes. There is a striking sentence in
one of the Psalms, “Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver
him.” That we must do, each one for himself.
Is it right to grumble when something seems to go wrong? These Israelites should
have united to pray. That would have been a thousand times wiser than
“murmuring.” Some are always grumbling and finding fault. Take care not to begin
the bad habit in early life; and remember, there is never any real reason for
murmuring against God.’
PETT, "Exodus 15:25 b
‘There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them.
And he said, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and will
do what is right in his eyes, and will give ear to what he commands, and keep all his
statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians,
for I am Yahweh your healer.” ’
“There he made for them a statute and an ordinance.” Here also is an attempt to
make life sweet. We may see in this the first attempt of Moses, at the command of
Yahweh, to lay down some pattern of behaviour by which the conglomerate peoples
now making up ‘the children of Israel’ could be governed on their wilderness
journey. The accompaniment by the mixed multitude had been an unexpected event
and clearly some kind of agreement had to be reached about behaviour now that

178. they were part of the children of Israel, so that all could be aware of their
responsibilities and what was expected of them. They would not have the same
customs as the original children of Israel. It was therefore necessary to lay down
certain laws to be observed by all. This would enable the smooth running of the
camp.
Humanly speaking these would be taken from his own experiences, his knowledge of
Egyptian and Midianite laws, and the customs of his own people formulated under
the wise guidance of the fathers. They would be written down to form a guide and
pattern. This is then confirmed by Yahweh with the promise that obedience will
result in good health. Such an attempt would be required in view of the inexperience
of the people in living under such conditions and their wide differences in customs
(the mixed multitude). The corollary is that if they did not obey they would come
under judgment.
From Moses later behaviour we can presume that these also were put down in
writing and read out to the people. They were a primitive beginning to the later
laws. They were then no doubt put into the primitive Tent of Meeting as part of ‘the
Testimony’ (see on 16:34).
“There he proved them.” This is Moses’ response to their murmuring. The verb was
used of the testing of Abraham (Genesis 22:1). This may refer to the testing of the
people by the bitter waters, a test which they failed. Or it may refer to the fact that
He laid down these regulations described above through Moses and ‘proved’ them
by seeing whether they were willing to respond to them by accepting them as the
binding requirements of Yahweh. In view of the words that followed the latter
seems more likely, although there may be a play on the two situations. It should be
noted that Yahweh is said to ‘prove’ His people three times, here, in Exodus 16:4
and in Exodus 20:20. He is building up to Sinai.
However, in view of the words that follow where the second part at least is in the
words of Yahweh, we may take the ‘He made for them’ and ‘He proved them’
words speaking about Yahweh. He had made the waters sweet, now He provided the
guidance and laws which would enable life to go on sweetly. And He did it to test out
whether, in spite of their murmurings, they were ready to be faithful to Him.
“If you will diligently hear and obey the voice of Yahweh your God, and will do
what is right in his eyes --- I will --.” These are the direct words of Yahweh through
Moses. The change from the third person to the first person occurs on a number of
occasions in the Old Testament in words of Yahweh, reflecting the composite nature
of God. The reward for obedience will be good health. Instead of bitterness there
will be sweetness. He had healed the waters and he would heal them. The corollary
was that flagrant disobedience would lead precisely to such diseases. It is in fact
unquestionable that some of the provisions of the Law would enhance their physical
wellbeing.
“Diseases.” They were to be kept from the diseases common in Egypt such as

179. ophthalmia, dysentery, and a variety of skin diseases (see Deuteronomy 28:27). In
the context this mention of diseases links with the bitterness of the water. If Israel
are obedient they will be delivered from diseases, if they are not they will drink
bitter water.
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:25, Exodus 15:26
The Lord shewed him a tree.—Several trees or plants belonging to different parts of
the world, are said to possess the quality of rendering bitter water sweet and
agreeable; as the nellimaram of Coromandel, the sassafras of Florida, the yerva
Caniani of Peru, and the perru nelli (Phylanthus emblica) of India. But none of
them is found in the Sinaitic. peninsula. Burckhardt suggested that the berries of the
ghurkud (Peganum retusum), a low thorny shrub which grows abundantly round
the Ain Howarah, may have been used by Moses to sweeten the drink; but there are
three objections to this.
1. Moses is not said to have used the berries, but the entire plant;
2. The berries would not have been procurable in April, since they do not ripen till
June; and
3. They would not have produced any such effect on the water as Burckhardt
imagined. In fact there is no tree or shrub now growing in the Sinaitic peninsula,
which would have any sensible effect on such water as that of Ain Howarah; and the
Bedouins of the neighbourhood know of no means by which it can be made
drinkable. Many of the Fathers believed that the "tree" had no natural effect, and
was commanded to be thrown in merely to symbolise the purifying power of the
Cross of Christ. But to moderns such a view appears to savour of mysticism. It is
perhaps most probable that there was some tree or shrub in the vicinity of the bitter
fountain in Moses' time which had a natural purifying and sweetening power, but
that it has now become extinct. If this be the case, the miracle consisted in God's
pointing out the tree to Moses, who had no previous knowledge of it. The waters
were made sweet. Compare the miracle of Elisha (2 Kings 2:19-22). There he made
for them a statute and an ordinance. See the next verse. God, it appears, after
healing the water, and satisfying the physical thirst of his people, gave them an
ordinance, which he connected by a promise with the miracle. If they would
henceforth render strict obedience to all his commandments, then he would "heal"
them as he had healed the water, would keep them free at once from physical and
from moral evil, from the diseases of Egypt, and the diseases of their own hearts.
And there he proved them. From the moment of their quitting Egypt to that of their
entering Canaan, God was ever "proving" his people—trying them, that is—
exercising their faith, and patience and obedience and power of self-denial, in order
to fit them for the position which they were to occupy in Canaan. He had proved
them at the Red Sea, when he let them be shut in between the water and the host of
the Egyptians—he proved them now at Marah by a bitter disappointment—he
proved them again at Meribah (Exodus 17:1-7); at Sinai (Exodus 20:20); at Taberah
( umbers 11:1-3); at Kibroth-hattaavah ( umbers 11:34); at Kadesh ( umbers

180. 13:26-33), and elsewhere. For forty years he led them through the wilderness" to
prove them, to know what was in their heart" (Deuteronomy 8:1-20.), to fit them for
their glorious and conquering career in the land of promise All these diseases. See
Deuteronomy 7:15; Deuteronomy 28:27. Kalisch correctly observes that, though the
Egyptians had the character in antiquity of being among the healthiest and most
robust of nations (Herod. 2.77), yet a certain small number of diseases have always
raged among them with extreme severity He understands the present passage of the
plagues, which, however, are certainly nowhere else called "diseases." There is no
reason why the word should not be taken literally, as all take it in the passages of
Deuteronomy above cited.
26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord
your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you
pay attention to his commands and keep all his
decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases
I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord,
who heals you.”
CLARKE, "If thou wilt diligently hearken - What is contained in this verse
appears to be what is intended by the statute and ordinance mentioned in the preceding:
If thou wilt diligently hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which
is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I
will put none of these diseases upon thee, etc. This statute and ordinance implied the
three following particulars:
1. That they should acknowledge Jehovah for their God, and thus avoid all idolatry.
2. That they should receive his word and testimony as a Divine revelation, binding on
their hearts and lives, and thus be saved from profligacy of every kind, and from
acknowledging the maxims or adopting the customs of the neighboring nations.
3. That they should continue to do so, and adorn their profession with a holy life. T
hese things being attended to, then the promise of God was, that they should have
none of the diseases of the Egyptians put on them; that they should be kept in a state of
health of body and peace of mind; and if at any time they should be afflicted, on

181. application to God the evil should be removed, because he was their healer or physician -
I am the Lord that healeth thee. That the Israelites had in general a very good state of
health, their history warrants us to believe; and when they were afflicted, as in the case
of the fiery serpents, on application to God they were all healed. The Targum of
Jonathan ben Uzziel states that the statutes which Moses received at this time were
commandments concerning the observance of the Sabbath, duty to parents, the
ordinances concerning wounds and bruises, and the penalties which sinners should
incur by transgressing them. But it appears that the general ordinances already
mentioned are those which are intended here, and this seems to be proved beyond
dispute by Jer_7:22, Jer_7:23 : “For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded
them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings
or sacrifices: but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your
God, and ye shall be my people; walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that
it may be well unto you.”
GILL, "And said, if thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy
God,.... By this and the following words, they are prepared to expect a body of laws to be
given unto them, as the rule of their future conduct; and though they were delivered
from the rigorous laws, bondage, and oppression of the Egyptians, yet they were not to
be without law to God, their King, Lord, and Governor, whose voice they were to
hearken to in all things he should direct them in:
and wilt do that which is right in his sight; which he shall see and order as fit to be
done, and which was not to be disputed and contradicted by them:
and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes; whether
moral, ceremonial, or judicial, even all that either had been made known to them, or
should be hereafter enjoined them; and this at Mount Sinai, where they received a body
of laws, they promised to do; namely, both to hear and to obey, Exo_24:3.
I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the
Egyptians; in any of the plagues inflicted on them, which they were witnesses of; from
these they should be preserved, if obedient, but if not they must expect them, or what
was similar to them, see Deu_28:27,
for I am the Lord that healeth thee; both in body and soul; in body, by preserving
from diseases, and by curing them when afflicted with them; and in soul, by pardoning
their iniquities, which, in Scripture, is sometimes signified by healing, see Psa_103:3.
CALVI , "26.If thou wilt diligently hearken. Moses now unfolds what was the
statute or ordinance which God promulgated. For here the reference is not to the
whole law which was afterwards given on mount Sinai, but to the special
admonition which served to chastise the wickedness of the people. The sum of it is,
that if the Israelites were tractable and, obedient to God, He on the other hand
would be kind and. bountiful to them. And it is an implied rebuke, that they might
know whatever troubles they experienced to be, brought upon them by their sins.
He proposes the Egyptians to them as an example, whose rebellion they had seen

182. punished by God with such severe and heavy calamities. “I am the Lord that healeth
thee,” is immediately added in confirmation, as if he had said, that the Israelites
were liable to the same plagues which had been inflicted on the Egyptians, and were
only exempt from them because God performed the office of a healer. And truly
whatsoever diseases afflict the human race, we may see in them, as in so many
mirrors, our own, miseries, that, we may perceive that there is no health in us,
except in so far as God spares us. We are also taught in this verse that this is the rule
of a good life, when we obey God’s voice and study to please Him. But because the
will of God was soon after to be proclaimed in the law, He expressly commands
them to “give ear to His commandments, and to keep His statutes.” (170) I know not
whether there is any force in the opinion of some who distinguish the word ‫,חקים‬
chokim, (which it is usual to translate “statutes,”) from precepts, as if they were
mere declarations of His pleasure to which no reason is attached. Let it suffice that
God’s law is commended under many names, to take away all pretext of ignorance.
BE SO , "Exodus 15:26. If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord
thy God, &c. — He here states the substance of what he required of them. For as yet
he did not load them with that grievous yoke of ceremonies, which he thought fit
afterward to lay upon them, for the hardness of their hearts, or because they showed
themselves incapable of a more liberal and ingenuous service. And to this the words
of the Lord by Jeremiah seem to refer, Jeremiah 7:22-23, “I spake not to your
fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-
offerings, or sacrifices,” &c. I will put none of these diseases upon thee — Either
such preternatural plagues as God had inflicted on the Egyptians, or the diseases
which were peculiar to Egypt, and most frequent in that country, such as the
leprosy and other cutaneous diseases. This intimates that if they were disobedient,
the plagues which they had seen inflicted on their enemies should be brought on
them. The threatening is implied only, but the promise is expressed. I am the Lord
that healeth thee — That preserves thee in health, as well as heals thy diseases.
PARKER, ""I am the Lord that healeth thee."— Exodus 15:26.
Every man must have his own special revelation of God.—Some have never seen
God in what may be called his metaphysical relations; they do not, in that sense,
know God. Others know him in his relation to affliction, sorrow, and the whole of
the enduring side of life. They cannot account for their deliverances except by a
superior power. In their memory is the recollection of a pit out of which they were
lifted, and they know of a surety that no arms could have delivered them from that
pit but the arms of the Almighty One.—The infinity of true religion is thus shown
by the infinity of the responses which it elicits from human nature.—One man"s
religion is all music—that is to say—an expression of thanksgiving, delight, and
confidence in God. He has no argument, no logic, no well-connected and highly-
authenticated history by which to defend himself, or on which to rest his Christian
beliefs. He knows who came to him in the day of sorrow, who walked with him to
the edge of the grave, who gave him heart again in the time of great loss and pain.—
It is needless to argue with such a man; he is himself his own argument.—When the
debater has ceased his storm of words, the man retires upon his own consciousness,

183. and in the recesses of his memory he finds a comfort which the war of words can
never reach.—This is the kind of experience open to all men.—Few can be scholars,
fewer still can be poets; to only one or two has it been permitted to enter into the
holy of holies; but every life has had its own difficulty, or pain, or shadow, or
cross—its own awful affliction or bitter poverty.—The Christian religion is strong
upon every ground, but stronger, perhaps, on this ground than any.—Every one of
its believers has his own story to tell respecting the richness of Christian comfort
and the cheering of the Divine light.—Every man must base his argument upon the
strongest point of his own consciousness.—Let the restored blind man say, "One
thing I know"; let him keep steadily to that plain story, and no band of Pharisees,
how infuriated soever by malice, can unsettle his position or disturb his serenity.
SIMEO , "CHRIST THE HEALER OF HIS PEOPLE
Exodus 15:26. I am the Lord that healeth thee.
SCARCELY had the Jews passed the Red Sea before they began to murmur: as the
Psalmist has said, “They provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea [ ote: Psalms
106:7.].” True it was that they must have suffered greatly, both they and their cattle,
when they were three days without water; and when, on finding water, it was so
bitter that they could not drink it. But, when they had been conducted thither by
God himself, (for the pillar and the cloud never left them day or night [ ote: Exodus
13:22.],) they might be assured that He, who had so miraculously delivered them
hitherto, would, if they cried unto him, supply their wants. They should have had
recourse to prayer therefore, and not to murmuring. But this conduct of theirs gave
occasion for a rich display of God’s mercy towards them, and for an explicit
declaration on his part what the rule of his procedure towards them in future
should be. They were delivered from the Egyptian yoke: but they were not to cast
off obedience to their God. They were, as his redeemed people, to consecrate
themselves to him, and to obey his voice in all things: and, according as they
performed or neglected their duty to him, he would extend to them his favour, or
visit them with his displeasure; either loading them with, or exempting them from,
the diseases with which the Egyptians had been visited, and which they greatly
dreaded [ ote: 6 with Deuteronomy 28:27; Deuteronomy 28:60.].
This declaration of God to them was so important, that the Prophet Jeremiah, a
thousand years afterwards, referred to it, to shew, that, from the very first moment
of the people having been taken into covenant with God, their sacrifices had been
held as of no account in comparison of obedience. “I spake not unto your fathers,
nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt,
concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices. But this thing commanded I them, saying,
Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk ye in all
the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you [ ote: Jeremiah
7:22-23.].” or is it less important to us, at this day; for God will still deal with us
according as we conduct ourselves towards him. The retribution indeed may not
now be so visibly marked by external dispensations; but it shall be maintained in
reference to our souls, God either healing our spiritual maladies, or giving us up to

184. the power of them, according as we approve ourselves to him, or walk contrary to
his commands. If we offend him by a wilful and habitual disobedience to his will,
none shall be able to protect us: but, if we surrender up ourselves unfeignedly to
him, “none shall be able to harm us:” whatever we may either feel or fear, we may
assure ourselves of his favour; for he is, and ever will be, “The Lord that healeth
us.”
In further discoursing on these words, we shall be led to point out,
I. The office which God executes in behalf of his people—
As God inflicts judgments on his enemies, so does he administer healing to his
people: and this he does,
1. In a way of gracious exemption—
[The Hebrews were exempted from the various calamities with which Egypt was
overwhelmed. And this is particularly noticed in the words preceding my text: “I
will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians:
for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” In like manner, if we are exempt from many
diseases under which others labour, and by which their whole lives are imbittered,
we should acknowledge God as the Author of this distinction, and receive it as a
special mercy at his hands. We know that even under the Christian dispensation
bodily diseases are often sent by God, as the punishment of sin [ ote: 1 Corinthians
11:30 and James 5:14-15.]: and we cannot but feel that we have merited, on many
occasions, such tokens of his displeasure. If therefore we, like the Hebrews, have
been more highly favoured than others, we must, like them, be instructed that it is
God alone who has healed us.
But in this general description of Jehovah we must not overlook that which, after
all, was chiefly intended—his special favour towards his redeemed people, in
reference to spiritual disorders. Thousands are given up, like Judas, to an obdurate
heart and a reprobate mind; whilst some, like David and Peter, are recovered from
their falls. To whom must the recovery of these be ascribed?—to themselves? They
had in themselves no more strength or power than the unhappy Judas had. It was to
sovereign grace alone that they owed their restoration to the divine favour, and their
return to the paths of holiness and peace. And have not we similar obligations to our
heavenly Physician? How often have we indulged in our hearts propensities, to
which if we had been given up, we should have fallen a prey, and perished for ever!
The sins of the most abandoned of the human race were small in their beginning,
and by repetition became inveterate. O! what do we owe to God, who, whilst he has
left others to follow the imagination of their own hearts, has restrained us, “hedging
up our way with thorns, and building a wall, that we might not be able to prosecute
the paths” which our corrupt hearts so perversely sought! As far then as by his
preventing grace he has kept us from evil, we have reason to adore him as “the
healer” of our souls.]

185. 2. In a way of effectual interposition—
[On many occasions did God visit his people with severe chastisements; which he as
often removed, at the intercession of Moses, or on the humiliation of their souls
before him. And have there not been times when, by disease or accident, are have
been brought low; and when, if the evil inflicted had been suffered to attain the
same resistless power as it has acquired over others, we must have fallen a sacrifice
to its assaults? Whence is it, I would ask, that we have been restored to health,
whilst others have sunk under the influence of the same disease? Greatly do we err,
if we ascribe our recovery to any thing but the gracious favour of our God. He may
have made use of medicine as the means: but whatever may have been the secondary
cause, the one great primary cause of all has been the good pleasure of God, whose
province alone it is “to kill and to make alive, to wound and to heal [ ote:
Deuteronomy 32:39.].”
And what shall we say, if we have been healed of spiritual disorders? It is well
known that man is altogether corrupt; so that we may apply to him that description
which is given of the Jewish state, “from the sole of the foot even to the head there is
no soundness in him, but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores [ ote: Isaiah
1:6.].” In every faculty of our souls we are corrupted and debased by sin: our
understanding is darkened; our will rebellious; our affections sensual; our very
conscience is blind and partial. ow, if God has dealt with us as he did with the
springs of Jericho [ ote: 2 Kings 2:20-22.], if he has cast the salt of his grace into
our souls, and healed us at the fountain-head, have we not cause to bless and
magnify his name? It is expressly in reference to such a miracle as this that God
assumes to himself the name contained in our text. The waters of Marah being so
bitter as to be unfit for use, God directed Moses to cast a certain tree into them, by
means of which they were instantly made sweet [ ote: 5.]. And are not we also
directed to “a tree, whose very leaves are for the healing of the nations [ ote:
Revelation 22:2.] ?” Its virtue indeed is not known by thousands, in whose presence
it stands; and therefore they continue ignorant of its healing efficacy. But was its
virtue ever tried in vain? o: nor ever shall be. Only let Christ be received into the
heart by faith, and the whole man will be renewed; the understanding will be
enlightened, the will subdued, the affections purified, and the whole soul be
“changed into the divine image in righteousness and true holiness. ow, what if God
has pointed out this tree to us? What if we have experienced its healing efficacy?
Then have we in ourselves an evidence that our blessed Saviour sustains the office
claimed by him in our text: and then are we called to acknowledge it with gratitude,
and to adore him for this stupendous exercise of his power and grace.]
Such being the office of our blessed Lord, let us consider,
II. The duty which we owe him in reference to it—
This, though already in a measure anticipated, may with great propriety be now
more distinctly noticed.

186. 1. 1. We should acknowledge him in the mercies we have received at his
hands—
[Sure I am, that his preventing goodness is by no means appreciated as it ought to
be. We see others sick and dying; and little think to whom we owe it, that their lot
has not been awarded to us. We are restored after sickness; and how soon do we
forget the hand that has delivered us [ ote: If this were a Spital Sermon, or on
occasion of a deliverance from childbirth, this would be the place for some
appropriate observations.] ! or are we less insensible of our obligations to God for
preservation from great and heinous sins; whereas, if we noticed the falls of others
who were in every respect as likely to stand as ourselves, we should be filled with
wonder and admiration at the distinguishing mercies vouchsafed unto us. Even
converting grace, alas! how little gratitude does it excite in our hearts! We can see
clearly enough the goodness of God to Israel in bringing them out of Egypt, and in
making them a peculiar people to himself, whilst their Egyptian taskmasters were
left to perish. But “that deliverance, though glorious, had no glory,” in comparison
with that which is vouchsafed to us. But I call on all to look at the mercies which
they have experienced, and at the means by which they have been procured for a
ruined world. The tree that heals us has been felled: the Saviour has been “wounded
for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; and by his stripes we are
healed” Yes, the Saviour himself has died, that we may live [ ote: Isaiah 53:5 with 1
Peter 2:24.]. Shall any one, then, that has experienced the virtue of his blood and the
efficacy of his grace, not bless him? O! let every soul stir himself up to praise his
God, and break forth like David, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within
me bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits;
who forgiveth all thy sins, and healeth all thy diseases [ ote: Psalms 103:1-3.] !”]
2. We should apply to him for the mercies which we may yet stand in need of—
[Wherefore does the Saviour proclaim to us his office, but that we may apply to him
to execute it in our behalf? That you are all labouring under a mortal disease, is
certain: and that there is but one remedy for all, is equally clear. But that remedy is
all-sufficient: none ever perished, who applied it to their souls. See our Redeemer in
the days of his flesh: was there any disease which he could not cure? Was not even a
touch of his garment instantly effectual for one who had spent her all upon
physicians, and to no purpose? Methinks I hear one complaining, that sin and Satan
have such an entire possession of his soul, as to render his state altogether hopeless.
But “is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician there?” Look at the demoniac
in the Gospel: so entirely was he possessed by Satan, that no chains could bind him,
no restraints prevent him from inflicting deadly wounds upon himself. But a single
word from the Saviour expels the fiend, and causes the maniac to sit at his feet,
clothed, and in his right mind. Fear not then, thou desponding sinner; for there is
nothing impossible with him. And if thou say, ‘True; but he has already tried his
hand upon me in vain, and given me up as incurable;’ hear then what he speaks to
thee by the Prophet Isaiah: “For his iniquity I was wroth, and smote him: I hid me,
and was wroth; and yet he went on forwardly in the way of his heart.” (Here is your
very case: and what says he to it? Does he say, ‘I have therefore given him up as

187. incurable?’ o; but (“I have seen his ways, and will heal him.” Heal him, does he
say? Yes; “I will heal him, and will restore comforts to him and to his mourners
[ ote: Isaiah 57:17-18.].” Go then to him, thou desponding soul. Say to him, as
David did, “Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee
[ ote: Psalms 41:4.].” — — — If you reply, ‘There is no hope for me, because I have
once known the Lord, and have backslidden from him;’ be it so; yet, as a backslider,
hear what a gracious message he sends thee by the Prophet Jeremiah: “Return, ye
backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings [ ote: Jeremiah 3:2].” One
thing only would I guard you against, and that is, “the healing of your wounds
slightly [ ote: Jeremiah 6:14.].” Let your wounds be probed to the very bottom: and
then, as the waters of Marah were healed so as that the fountain itself was changed,
so shall your soul be purified throughout, and “the waters flowing from you spring
up unto everlasting life [ ote: John 4:14; John 7:38.].”]
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were
twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they
camped there near the water.
BAR ES, "Elim - The valley of Gharandel, two hours’ journey south of Huwara.
Twelve wells - Read springs; the Hebrew denotes natural sources. These springs
may have been perennial when a richer vegetation clothed the adjacent heights.
CLARKE, "They came to Elim - This was in the desert of Sin, and, according to
Dr. Shaw, about two leagues from Tor, and thirty from Marah or Corondel.
Twelve wells of water - One for each of the tribes of Israel, say the Targums of
Jonathan and Jerusalem.
And threescore and ten palm trees - One for each of the seventy elders - Ibid.
Dr. Shaw found nine of the twelve wells, the other three having been choked up with
sand; and the seventy palm trees multiplied into more than 2000, the dates of which
bring a considerable revenue to the Greek monks at Tor. See his account at the end of
this book, (Exo_40:38 (note)) and see also the map. Thus sufficient evidence of the
authenticity of this part of the sacred history remains, after the lapse of more than 3000
years.
In the preceding notes the reader has been referred to Dr. Kennicott’s translation and
arrangement of the song of Moses. To this translation he prefixes the following

188. observations: -
“This triumphant ode was sung by Moses and the sons of Israel: and the women,
headed by Miriam, answered the men by repeating the two first lines of the song,
altering only the first word, which two lines were probably sung more than once as a
chorus.
“The conclusion of this ode seems very manifest; and yet, though the ancient Jews had
sense enough to write this song differently from prose; and though their authority has
prevailed even, to this day in this and three other poems in the Old Testament, (Deut.
22; Judges 5; and 2 Sam. 22)., still expressed by them as poetry; yet have these critics
carried their ideas of the song here to the end of Exo_15:19. The reason why the same
has been done by others probably is, they thought that the particle ‫כי‬ for, which begins
Exo_15:19, necessarily connected it with the preceding poetry. But this difficulty is
removed by translating ‫כי‬ when, especially if we take Exo_15:19-21 as being a prose
explanation of the manner in which this song of triumph was performed. For these three
verses say that the men singers were answered in the chorus by Miriam and the women,
accompanying their words with musical instruments. ‘When the horse of Pharaoh had
gone into the sea, and the Lord had brought the sea upon them; and Israel had passed,
on dry land, in the midst of the sea; then Miriam took a timbrel, and all the women went
out after her with timbrels and dances; and Miriam (with the women) answered them
(‫להם‬ lahem, the men, by way of chorus) in the words, O sing ye, etc.’ That this chorus was
sung more than Once is thus stated by Bishop Lowth: Maria, cum mulieribus, virorum
choro identidem succinebat - Praelect. 19.
“I shall now give what appears to me to be an exact translation of this whole song: -
Moses. Part I
1. I will sing to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously;
The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
2. My strength and my song is Jehovah;
And he is become to me for salvation:
This is my God, and I will celebrate him;
The God of my father, and I will exalt him.
3. (Perhaps a chorus sung by the men)
Jehovah is mighty in battle
Jehovah is his name!
(Chorus, by Miriam and the women.
Perhaps sung first in this place. )
O sing ye to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously:
The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Moses. Part II
4. Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea;
And his chosen captains are drowned in the Red Sea.
5. The depths have covered them, they went down;
(They sank) to the bottom as a stone.
6. Thy right hand, Jehovah, is become glorious in power;

189. Thy right hand, Jehovah, dasheth in pieces the enemy.
7. And in the greatness of thine excellence thou overthrowest them that rise against
thee.
Thou sendest forth thy wrath, which consumeth them as stubble.
8. Even at the blast of thy displeasure the waters are gathered together;
The floods stand upright as a heap,
Congealed are the depths in the very heart of the sea.
O sing ye to Jehovah, etc. Chorus by the women.
Moses. Part III
9. The enemy said: ‘I will pursue, I shall overtake;
I shall divide the spoil, my soul shall be satiated with them;
I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’
10. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them;
They sank as lead in the mighty waters.
11. Who is like thee among the gods, O Jehovah?
Who is like thee, glorious in holiness!
12. Fearful in praises; performing wonders!
Thou stretchest out thy right hand, the earth swalloweth them!
13. Thou in thy mercy leadest the people whom thou hast redeemed;
Thou in thy strength guidest to the habitation of thy holiness!
O sing ye to Jehovah, etc. Chorus by the women.
Moses. Part IV
14. The nations have heard, and are afraid;
Sorrow hath seized the inhabitants of Palestine.
15. Already are the dukes of Edom in consternation,
And the mighty men of Moab, trembling hath seized them;
All the inhabitants of Canaan do faint.
16. Fear and dread shall fall upon them;
Through the greatness of thine arm they shall be still as a stone.
17. Till thy people, Jehovah, pass over [Jordan];
Till the people pass over whom thou hast redeemed.
18. Thou shalt bring them and plant them in the mount of thine inheritance:
The place for thy rest which thou, Jehovah, hast made;
The sanctuary, Jehovah, which thy hands have established.
Grand Chorus by All.
Jehovah for ever and ever shall reign.”
1. When poetry is consecrated to the service of God, and employed as above to
commemorate his marvellous acts, it then becomes a very useful handmaid to
piety, and God is honored by his gifts. God inspired the song of Moses, and
perhaps from this very circumstance it has passed for current among the most

190. polished of the heathen nations, that a poet is a person Divinely inspired; and
hence the epithet of προφητης, prophet, and vates, of the same import, was given
them among the Greeks and Romans.
2. The song of Moses is a proof of the miraculous passage of the Israelites through
the Red Sea. There has been no period since the Hebrew nation left Egypt in which
this song was not found among them, as composed on that occasion, and to
commemorate that event. It may be therefore considered as completely authentic
as any living witness could be who had himself passed through the Red Sea, and
whose life had been protracted through all the intervening ages to the present day.
3. We have already seen that it is a song of triumph for the deliverance of the people
of God, and that it was intended to point out the final salvation and triumph of the
whole Church of Christ; so that in the heaven of heavens the redeemed of the Lord,
both among the Jews and the Gentiles, shall unite together to sing the song of
Moses and the song of the Lamb. See Rev_15:2-4. Reader, implore the mercy of
God to enable thee to make thy calling and election sure, that thou mayest bear thy
part in this glorious and eternal triumph.
GILL, "And they came to Elim,.... On the twenty fifth of Nisan; for, according to
Aben Ezra, they stayed but one day at Marah. Elim, as a late traveller (r) says, was upon
the northern skirts of the desert of Sin, two leagues from Tor, and near thirty from
Corondel; according to Bunting (s) it was eight miles from Marah:
where were twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees; and so a very
convenient, commodious, and comfortable place to abide at for a time, since here was
plenty of water for themselves and cattle, and shady trees to sit under by turns; for as for
the fruit of them, that was not ripe at this time of the year, as Aben Ezra observes.
Thevenot (t) seems to confound the waters here with the waters of Marah; for he says,
the garden of the monks of Tor is the place which in holy Scripture is called Elim, where
were sventy palm trees and twelve wells of bitter water; these wells, adds he, are still in
being, being near one another, and most of them within the precinct of the garden, the
rest are pretty near; they are all hot, and are returned again to their first bitterness; for I
tasted says he, of one of them, where people bathe themselves, which by the Arabs is
called Hammam Mouse, i.e. the "bath of Moses"; it is in a little dark cave: there is
nothing in that garden but abundance of palm trees, which yield some rent to the monks,
but the seventy old palm trees are not there now. This does not agree with an
observation of the afore mentioned Jewish writer, that palm trees will not flourish in the
ground where the waters are bitter; though they delight in watery places, as Pliny (u)
says; and yet Leo Africanus (w) asserts, that in Numidia the dates (the fruit of palm
trees) are best in a time of drought. A later traveller (x) tells us, he saw no more than
nine of the twelve wells that are mentioned by Moses, the other three being filled up by
those drifts of sand which are common in Arabia; yet this loss is amply made up by the
great increase in the palm trees, the seventy having propagated themselves into more
than 2000; under the shade of these trees is the Hammam Mouse, or "bath of Moses",
particularly so called, which the inhabitants of Tor have in great veneration, acquainting
us that it was here where the household of Moses was encamped. Dr. Pocock takes Elim
to be the same with Corondel; about four hours or ten miles south of Marah, he says, is
the winter torrent of Corondel in a very narrow valley, full of tamarisk trees, where there

191. is tolerable water about half a mile west of the road; beyond this, he says, about half an
hour, or little more than a mile, is a winter torrent called Dieh-Salmeh; and about an
hour or two further, i.e. about three or four miles, is the valley or torrent of Wousset,
where there are several springs of water that are a little salt; and he thinks that one of
them, but rather Corondel, is Elim, because it is said afterwards:
they removed from Elim, and encamped at the Red sea; and the way to
Corondel, to go to the valley of Baharum, is part of it near the sea, where he was
informed there was good water, and so probably the Israelites encamped there; and Dr.
Clayton (y) is of the same mind, induced by the argument he uses: a certain traveller (z),
in the beginning of the sixteenth century, tells us, that indeed the wells remain unto this
day, but that there is not one palm tree, only some few low shrubs; but he could never
have been at the right place, or must say a falsehood, since later travellers, who are to be
depended upon, say the reverse, as the above quotations show. As to the mystical
application of this passage, the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem make the twelve
fountains answerable to the twelve tribes of Israel, and seventy palm trees to the seventy
elders of the sanhedrim; and so Jarchi: and more evangelically the twelve fountains of
water may denote the abundance of grace in Christ, in whom are the wells of salvation,
and the sufficiency of it for all his people; and which the doctrine of the Gospel,
delivered by his twelve apostles, discovers and reveals, and leads and directs souls unto;
and the seventy palm trees may lead us to think of the seventy disciples sent out by
Christ, and all other ministers of the word, who for their uprightness, fruitfulness, and
usefulness, may be compared to palm trees, as good men in Scripture are, see Psa_92:12,
and they encamped there by the waters; where they stayed, as Aben Ezra thinks,
twenty days, since, in the first verse of the following chapter, they are said to come to the
wilderness of Sin on the fifteenth day of the second month; here being everything
agreeable to them for the refreshment of themselves and cattle, they pitched their tents
and abode a while; as it is right in a spiritual sense for the people of God to abide by his
word and ordinances.
HE RY, "That at Elim they had good water, and enough of it, Exo_15:27. Though
God may, for a time, order his people to encamp by the waters of Marah, yet that shall
not always be their lot. See how changeable our condition is in this world, from better to
worse, from worse to better. Let us therefore learn both how to be abased and how to
abound, to rejoice as though we rejoiced not when we are full, and to weep as though we
wept not when we are emptied. Here were twelve wells for their supply, one for every
tribe, that they might not strive for water, as their fathers had sometimes done; and, for
their pleasure, there were seventy palm-trees, under the shadow of which their great
men might repose themselves. Note, God can find places of refreshment for his people
even in the wilderness of this world, wells in the valley of Baca, lest they should faint in
their mind with perpetual fatigue: yet, whatever our delights may be in the land of our
pilgrimage, we must remember that we do but encamp by them for a time, that here we
have no continuing city.
JAMISO , "they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water —
supposed to be what is now called Wady-Ghurandel, the most extensive watercourse in
the western desert - an oasis, adorned with a great variety of trees, among which the
palm is still conspicuous, and fertilized by a copious stream. It is estimated to be a mile
in breadth, but stretching out far to the northeast. After the weary travel through the

192. desert, this must have appeared a most delightful encampment from its shade and
verdure, as well as from its abundant supply of sweet water for the thirsty multitude. The
palm is called “the tree of the desert,” as its presence is always a sign of water. The palms
in this spot are greatly increased in number, but the wells are diminished.
K&D, "Exo_15:27
Elim, the next place of encampment, has been sought from olden time in the Wady
Gharandel, about six miles south of Howâra; inasmuch as this spot, with its plentiful
supply of comparatively good water, and its luxuriance of palms, tamarisks, acacias, and
tall grass, which cause it to be selected even now as one of the principal halting-places
between Suez and Sinai, quite answers to Elim, with its twelve wells of water and seventy
palm-trees (cf. Rob. i. pp. 100, 101, 105). It is true the distance from Howâra is short, but
the encampments of such a procession as that of the Israelites are always regulated by
the supply of water. Both Baumgarten and Kurtz have found in Elim a place expressly
prepared for Israel, from its bearing the stamp of the nation in the number of its wells
and palms: a well for every tribe, and the shade of a palm-tree for the tent of each of the
elders. But although the number of the wells corresponded to the twelve tribes of Israel,
the number of the elders was much larger than that of the palms (Exo_29:9). One fact
alone is beyond all doubt, namely, that at Elim, this lovely oasis in the barren desert,
Israel was to learn how the Lord could make His people lie down in the green pastures,
and lead them beside still waters, even in the barren desert of this life (Psa_23:2).
CALVI , "27.And they came to Elim. Moses here relates that a more pleasant
station was granted to the people, when they were led to a well-watered spot, even
planted with palm-trees, which do not usually grow in a dry soil. But we learn from
what precedes, that this was a concession to their infirmity, because they had borne
their thirst so impatiently.
ELLICOTT, "(27) Elim—the next stage to Marah, where there were “twelve wells
of water, and threescore and ten palm trees”—seems to be rightly identified with the
Wady Ghurundel in which “abundant grass grows thick and high,” where acacias
and tamarisks are plentiful, and in which, notwithstanding the ruthless denudation
of the country by the Arabs, there are still a certain number of palm-trees. These
are not now “seventy” in number, neither are they the ideal palm-trees of pictures,
or even such as grow in the Valley of the ile and in Upper Egypt generally. They
are “either dwarf—that is, trunkless—or else with savage hairy trunks, and
branches all dishevelled” (Stanley: Sinai and Palestine, p. 68)—specimens of the
palm-tree growing under difficulties. The exact number of “twelve wells,” which is
mentioned in the text, cannot now be traced with any distinctness; but there is a
perennial brook which supports the vegetation through the whole of the year, and in
the winter-time there is a large stream which flows down to the sea through the
wady.—( iebuhr: Description de l’Arabie, p. 347.)
They encamped there.—The head-quarters of the camp were at Elim (Wady
Ghurundel); probably the mass of the people filled all the neighbouring wadys, as

193. those of Useit, Ethal, and Tayibeh, or Shuweikah, which are all fertile, and have
good pasturage.
COKE, "Exodus 15:27. And they came to Elim— Elim was situated upon the
northern skirts of the desert of Sin, two leagues from Tor, and near thirty from
Corondel. I saw, says Dr. Shaw, no more than nine of the twelve wells which are
mentioned by Moses, the other three being filled up by those drifts of sand which
are common in Arabia. Yet, this loss is amply made up by the great increase in the
palm-trees, the seventy having propagated themselves into more than two thousand.
Under the shade of these trees is the hammam Mousa, or bath of Moses, particularly
so called; which the inhabitants of Tor have in great esteem and veneration;
acquainting us, that it was here where the household of Moses was encamped. The
Israelites, it is supposed, staid but one day at Marah; and, on the 25th of isan,
came to Elim: a word, which, according to some, signifies rams, from its good
pasturage for sheep: according to others, plains, from that part of the wilderness,
where there were large and spacious plains.
REFLECTIO S.—They who would go to heaven, must expect crosses in the way.
The Israelites no sooner begin their journey, than, 1. They are in want of water; and
to a marching army what more dangerous? or was their condition much mended
at Marah, where, though there was plenty, it was bitter, or brackish, and not fit for
drink. Our expected comforts are thus in the possession often embittered, in order
to lead us to the Fountain of living waters. 2. Their impatience is immediately
discovered. They who live by sense, not by faith, will not long continue in a cheerful
frame: every new difficulty will deject them. 3. Observe the supply which is granted
at Moses's prayer. There is not an useful plant for food or physic, but we should
read in it the wisdom and goodness of God. 4. The charge given them. Twice they
had begun to shew their murmuring spirit: God now expects their confidence, and
promises them his blessing, and freedom from the plagues of Egypt, if they be
obedient; and therein intimates, that if they should join with Egypt in rebellion, they
would share with it in suffering. ote; God is no respecter of persons; if his own
people sin, they must suffer for it. 5. Another march brings them to Elim, where
they have water in abundance and shady palms to cover them. ote; (1.) If our
comforts be delayed, yet we should possess our souls in patience. (2.) God is usually
better to us than our wishes. (3.) When we are most prosperous, we should
remember that we are marching to the grave; that we may sit as loose to our
comforts, as content under our crosses.
A review of the deliverance of the Israelites.
Having thus far seen the redemption of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage
perfected, let us pause a little; and, with due reverence, contemplate these mighty
works of Jehovah. Convinced of the truth of these striking facts, are can want no
further proof of the interposing Providence and irresistible Power of the Lord of the
whole earth. And while we observe his signal and fatherly distinction of his people;
his separation of them from those terrible evils which he inflicted on incorrigible
sinners; his attention to their cries, and his relief of all their necessities; we cannot

194. fail to rejoice with full resignation of heart, when we consider ourselves as the
creatures and subjects of such a GOD.
The miracles displayed in Egypt, are incontestible proofs of his Omnipotence: and,
though his judgments were administered with every circumstance of terror, the
humble soul can find no cause to remonstrate or complain; for it perceives strict
justice waving the tremendous sword of destruction, while tender mercy long
struggles to prevent its execution; and, in the midst of punishment, shews, that this
is the strange work of the Lord, and that goodness and salvation are his glory and
delight.
The joyful strains of Moses and the people must fill every pious heart with rapture:
for what so amiable, what so excellent, as gratitude to the Supreme Benefactor! We
seem to join with them in the triumphant eulogy; when, with united voices they sing,
Who is like unto thee, O JEHOVAH! who is like unto Thee? glorious in holiness;
fearful in praises; doing wonders! Happy we, if, like them, with zealous and
thankful praises, we magnify the Lord our Deliverer for his manifold favours to us;
but, more especially, for his mercy and power manifested in the work of our
redemption, by CHRIST JESUS our Lord!
After such a display of miracles on their behalf; after such particular distinction
made for their preservation; after a song of praise, so full of just and elevated
devotion; who could have thought that these Israelites would, in a little time,
murmur and grow discontented; and distrust that Providence, which had interposed
so remarkably for their salvation? Yet,—too striking example of the infidelity and
ingratitude of our nature,—such was the case. But condemn not, O man! these
murmurers too hastily: consult thy own breast, and thou wilt find a strong picture
of them there. How many mercies and favours has the free bounty of God conferred
upon thee? and what power and goodness has he displayed in thy creation,
continual preservation, and, above all, in the redemption of thy soul? Indeed what
hadst thou, which thou didst not receive; yet how much hast thou forgotten the
Divine Source of all thy blessings? How seldom hast thou shewed thyself sufficiently
thankful, while falling into impatience and discontent on the smallest
disappointments, and becoming ungrateful to thy God for all he has given, because
he has thought fit to withhold, and that, perhaps, for thy truest good, something
which thy fond heart too blindly and vehemently wished.
But observe we, that, while the conduct of the Israelites paints, in expressive colours,
the too general disposition of mankind; the forbearance and lenity which the great
Father of the Universe shewed towards them, affords the believing soul the most
pleasing foundation for comfort and hope. Long-suffering towards them, he heard
and condescended to relieve their complaints. Unworthy though they were, he gave
them fresh proofs of his love, and granted them new favours; studious, as it were, to
gain their affection, and to lead them to true happiness. Thus, thou blessed Source
of unexhausted good! thus dost thou continue to deal, abundant in mercy and truth,
with us thy frail and offending creatures. Knowing our weakness, thou art slow to
punish. Though we sin, thou forbearest: and, by heaping new blessings upon us,

195. thou dost graciously endeavour to awaken us to an ingenuous shame, and a
conscious acknowledgment of our offences against thee. Attentive to our true
welfare, thy chastisements, no less than thy blessings, are graciously intended to
accomplish it. Teach us to receive each, with the spirit of faith, humility, and love: to
discern thy hand pointing to our felicity, whether it bestow good or evil. And give us
wisdom, implicitly and with childlike obedience to follow thy sacred guidance: that
so, delivered from the bondage, and all the sufferings, of this world of trial;
conducted by thy spirit, and saved by the blood of thy son, we may pass triumphant
through the waves of death; and, safely landed on the blessed shore, may unite with
those who have gotten the victory; and who, having the harps of GOD, sing the song
of Moses, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works,
LORD GOD ALMIGHTY: just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who
shall not fear thee, O Lord! and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: all nations
shall come and worship before thee: for thy judgments are made manifest. Salvation
to our GOD who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
CO STABLE, "At Elim Israel learned something else about God. ot only would
He deliver them ( Exodus 15:3) and heal them ( Exodus 15:26), but He would also
provide refreshing drink and nourishing food for them as their Shepherd (cf. Psalm
23:2).
A method of God"s dealing with the Israelites as His people that He frequently
employed stands out clearly in these incidents. God did not lead the Israelites
around every difficulty. Instead He led them into many difficulties, but He also
provided deliverance for them in their difficulties. This caused the Israelites to learn
to look to Him for the supply of their needs. He still deals with His children the same
way. [ ote: See Allen P. Ross, "When God Gives His People Bitter Water ( Exodus
15:22-27)," Exegesis and Exposition1:1 (Fall1986):55-66.]
PETT, "Exodus 15:27
‘And they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm
trees and they encamped there by the waters.’
Their reward for their response was to arrive at an abundant oasis, a sign of
Yahweh’s pleasure in it. ‘Twelve’ and ‘seventy’ are probably not to be taken
literally. They probably indicate sufficiency, the ‘twelve’ springs of water indicating
ample sufficiency of water for the twelve sub-tribes, and the ‘seventy’ palm trees
indicating the divine sufficiency of the provision of palm trees with their fruits and
shelter (what are a literal seventy palm trees among so many?), or even sufficiency
for the clans of the seventy elders.
As with all the stops on the journey identification is uncertain but the Wadi
Gharandel, a well-known watering place complete with tamarisks and palms, has
been suggested.
The whole area is a comparatively fertile one, and contains three fertile wadis which
have water most of the year, and many springs of water. The pasturage is fairly

196. good, sometimes rich and luxuriant and there are an abundance of tamarisks, and a
number of palm trees. After the dryness of the way it must have been a joy to
behold, and they would be able to spread out to the other wadis and ensure that
their flocks and herds were able to make up for the hard times that they had
experienced.
PULPIT, "Exodus 15:27
They came to Elim. Elim was undoubtedly some spot in the comparatively fertile
tract which lies south of the "wilderness of Shur," intervening between it and the
"wilderness of Sin"—now E1 Murkha. This tract contains the three fertile wadys of
Ghurundel, Useit, and Tayibeh, each of which is regarded by some writers as the
true Elim. It has many springs of water, abundant tamarisks, and a certain number
of palm-trees. On the whole, Ghurundel seems to be accepted by the majority of
well-informed writers as having the best claim to be considered the Elhn of this
passage Twelve wells. Rather "springs." The "twelve springs" have not been
identified; but the Arabs are apt to conceal the sources of their water supplies. A
large stream flows down the Wady Ghurundel in the winter-time (ibid.), which later
becomes a small brook, and dries up altogether in the autumn. The pasture is good
at most seasons, sometimes rich and luxuriant; there are abundant tamarisks, a
considerable number of acacias, and. some palms. Three score and ten palm trees.
The palm-trees of this part of Arabia are "not like those of Egypt or of pictures, but
either dwarf—that is, truntdess—or else with savage hairy trunks, and branches all
dishevelled". There are a considerable number in the Wady Ghurundel, and others
in the Wady Tayibeh. They encamped there. It has been observed that the vast
numbers of the host would more than fill the Wady Ghurundel, and that while the
main body encamped there, others, with their cattle, probably occupied the adjacent
wadys—Useit, Ethal, and even Tayibeh or Shuweikah—which all offer good
pasturage