Bibelkommentare

Exodus 15:1. Then sang Moses — this song — The first song recorded in Scripture, and, excepting perhaps the book of Job, the most ancient piece of genuine poetry extant in the world. And it cannot be too much admired. It abounds with noble and sublime sentiments, expressed in strong and lofty language. Its figures are bold, its images striking, and every part of it calculated to affect the mind and possess the imagination. There is nothing comparable to it in all the works of profane writers. It is termed the Song of Moses, Revelation 15:2-3, and is represented as sung, together with the song of the Lamb, by those who had gotten the victory over the beast, all standing on a sea of glass with the harps of God in their hands. Doubtless Moses wrote this song by inspiration, and, with the children of Israel, sang it on the spot then, while a grateful sense of their deliverance out of Egypt, their safe passage through the Red sea, and their triumph over Pharaoh and his host, were fresh upon their minds. By this instance it appears that the singing of psalms or hymns, as an act of religions worship, was used in the church of Christ before the giving of the ceremonial law, and that therefore it is no part of it, nor abolished with it: singing is as much the language of holy joy, as praying is of holy desire. I will sing unto the Lord — All our joy must terminate in God, and all our praises be offered up to him; for he hath triumphed — All that love God triumph in his triumphs.

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 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, נוהand נאה, and translates it, I will declare his beauty and his praise. To the same purpose the Seventy, δοξασω, and the Vulgate, glorificabo, I will glorify him.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!