Exodus · Chapter 15

V. 1. Then sang Moses-Moses composed this song, and sang it with the children of Israel. Doubtless he wrote it by inspiration, and sang it on the spot. 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, 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.

Verse 1. 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 labour, and even the solace of age. In such a way the histories of most nations have been preserved. The interesting events celebrated, the rhythm or metre, and the accompanying tune or recitativo air, rendered them easily transmissible to posterity; and by means of tradition they passed safely from father to son through the times of comparative darkness, till they arrived at those ages in which the pen and the press have given them a sort of deathless duration and permanent stability, by multiplying the copies. Many of the ancient historic and heroic British tales are continued by tradition among the aboriginal inhabitants of Ireland to the present day; and the repetition of them constitutes the chief amusement of the winter evenings. Even the prose histories, which were written on the ground of the poetic, copied closely their exemplars, and the historians themselves were obliged to study all the beauties and ornaments of style, that their works might become popular; and to this circumstance we owe not a small measure of what is termed refinement of language. How observable is this in the history of Herodotus, who appears to have closely copied the ancient poetic records in his inimitable and harmonious prose; and, that his books might bear as near a resemblance as possible to the ancient and popular originals, he divided them into nine, and dedicated each to one of the muses! His work therefore seems to occupy the same place between the ancient poetic compositions and mere prosaic histories, as the polype does between plants and animals. Much even of our sacred records is written in poetry, which God has thus consecrated to be the faithful transmitter of remote and important events; and of this the song before the reader is a proof in point. Though this is not the first specimen of poetry we have met with in the Pentateuch, (see Lamech’s speech to his wives, Genesis 4:23, 24; Noah’s prophecy concerning his sons, Genesis 9:25-27; and Jacob’s blessing to the twelve patriarchs, Genesis 49:2-27, and the notes there,) 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 32:1-43; Judges 5:1-31; and 2 Samuel 22:1-51,) 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 Æneis; 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 æquis,) 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 Wisdom 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; Wisdom 10:21. As if he had said, Every person felt an interest in the great events which had taken place, and all laboured 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, Exodus 15:20,) and they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, the Son of God,” Revelation 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 Exodus 15:21. See Dr. Kennicott’s arrangement and translation of this piece at the end of this chapter. See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 15:26”.

Triumphed gloriously] hag hag yk ki gaoh gaah, he is exceedingly exalted, rendered by the Septuagint, endoxwv gar dedoxastai, 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.

Verse 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.

Verse 1. Then sang Moses. The Israelites sang in companies; and the one company often answered the other. See Bishop Lowth on the Hebrew Poetry. Also Psalm 68:25. Ecclesiastes 2:8. Ezra 2:65.

SONG OF MOSES AND MIRIAM, 1-21.

Following the text of the authorized version we give the song, translated as literally as our idiom will allow, and divided as before indicated. The chorus followed each strain. The stanzas are in couplets, triplets, and quatrains.

1. Most glorious — That is, perhaps, as well as our English can do with the terse, alliterative jag hag, which swelled like a thousand trumpets in every repetition of the chorus. The horse and his rider — To be taken collectively, cavalry and chariotry.

V. 2. Israel rejoiceth in God, as their strength, song, and salvation-Happy therefore the people whole God is the Lord: They are weak 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.

Verse 2. 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 hwhy JEHOVAH in the original, but hy JAH; “as if by abbreviation,” says Mr. Parkhurst, “for hyhy yeheieh or yhy yehi. It signifies the Essence JO WN, He who IS, simply, absolutely, and independently. The relation between hy Jah and the verb hyh to subsist, exist, be, is intimated to us the first time hy Jah is used in Scripture, (Exodus 15:2:) ‘My strength and my song is hy JAH, and he is become (yhyw vajehi) to me salvation.’“ See Psalm 68:5; 89:6; 94:7; 115:17, 18; 118:17. JAH hy is several times joined with the name Jehovah hwhy so that we may be sure that it is not, as some have supposed, a mere abbreviation of that word. See Isaiah 12:2; 26:4. Our blessed Lord solemnly claims to himself what is intended in this Divine name hy JAH, John 8:58: “Before Abraham was, (genesqai, was born,) egw eimi, I AM,” not I was, but I am, plainly intimating his Divine eternal existence. Compare Isaiah 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 Colossians 1:16,17, where the Apostle Paul, after asserting that all things that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, were created, ektistai, by and for Christ, adds And HE IS (autov esti, not hn, was) before all things, and by him all things sunesthke, have subsisted, and still subsist. See Parkhurst.

From this Divine name hy Jah the ancient Greeks had their ih, ih, 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 “Exodus 3:14”, and the concluding observations there.

I will prepare him a habitation] whwnaw 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 doxasw auton, 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 vdqm hl ynbaw 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, yba yhla 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 Galatians 4:6.

Verse 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 verse 13. Rab. Salom., however, considers the Hebrew word here used as being derived from ywn, hwn and han, and translates it, I will declare his beauty and his praise. To the same purpose the Seventy, doxasw, and the Vulgate, glorificabo, I will glorify him.

2-5. First strain. JAH — A poetic abbreviation of JAHVEH, restricted in use to the higher kinds of poetry, and found often in compound names, as Yirm’jah, (Jeremiah;) also in certain formulas, as Hallelu-jah, (Praise ye Jah.) This is my God — A gesture here directs the hearer heavenward. The God of my father — Father is taken collectively, bringing up to view the patriarchs, the covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was as their God that Jehovah spoke to Moses from the burning bramble. This is a double strain, of two quatrains, or four-line stanzas. Parallelisms of thought and expression, such as are described in the Introduction, will be noticed in the first three lines of the first quatrain, the fourth line proclaiming in simple grandeur JEHOVAH as the hero of this victory. So in the second quatrain the lines of the first couplet are parallel with each other, and then those of the second also, in both instances rising in climax. Similar parallels are readily traced throughout the ode.

V. 3. The Lord is a man of war-Able to deal with all those that strive with their maker.

Verse 3. 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’s notes on “Genesis 2:4”, and “Exodus 6:3”.

Verse 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.

2-5. First strain. JAH — A poetic abbreviation of JAHVEH, restricted in use to the higher kinds of poetry, and found often in compound names, as Yirm’jah, (Jeremiah;) also in certain formulas, as Hallelu-jah, (Praise ye Jah.) This is my God — A gesture here directs the hearer heavenward. The God of my father — Father is taken collectively, bringing up to view the patriarchs, the covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was as their God that Jehovah spoke to Moses from the burning bramble. This is a double strain, of two quatrains, or four-line stanzas. Parallelisms of thought and expression, such as are described in the Introduction, will be noticed in the first three lines of the first quatrain, the fourth line proclaiming in simple grandeur JEHOVAH as the hero of this victory. So in the second quatrain the lines of the first couplet are parallel with each other, and then those of the second also, in both instances rising in climax. Similar parallels are readily traced throughout the ode.

V. 4. He hath cast-With great force, as an arrow out of a bow, so the Hebrew word signifies.

Verse 4. 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.

Verses 4, 5. He hath cast — With great force and velocity, as an arrow out of a bow, as the Hebrew word hry, 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.

2-5. First strain. JAH — A poetic abbreviation of JAHVEH, restricted in use to the higher kinds of poetry, and found often in compound names, as Yirm’jah, (Jeremiah;) also in certain formulas, as Hallelu-jah, (Praise ye Jah.) This is my God — A gesture here directs the hearer heavenward. The God of my father — Father is taken collectively, bringing up to view the patriarchs, the covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was as their God that Jehovah spoke to Moses from the burning bramble. This is a double strain, of two quatrains, or four-line stanzas. Parallelisms of thought and expression, such as are described in the Introduction, will be noticed in the first three lines of the first quatrain, the fourth line proclaiming in simple grandeur JEHOVAH as the hero of this victory. So in the second quatrain the lines of the first couplet are parallel with each other, and then those of the second also, in both instances rising in climax. Similar parallels are readily traced throughout the ode.

Verses 4, 5. He hath cast — With great force and velocity, as an arrow out of a bow, as the Hebrew word hry, 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.

2-5. First strain. JAH — A poetic abbreviation of JAHVEH, restricted in use to the higher kinds of poetry, and found often in compound names, as Yirm’jah, (Jeremiah;) also in certain formulas, as Hallelu-jah, (Praise ye Jah.) This is my God — A gesture here directs the hearer heavenward. The God of my father — Father is taken collectively, bringing up to view the patriarchs, the covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was as their God that Jehovah spoke to Moses from the burning bramble. This is a double strain, of two quatrains, or four-line stanzas. Parallelisms of thought and expression, such as are described in the Introduction, will be noticed in the first three lines of the first quatrain, the fourth line proclaiming in simple grandeur JEHOVAH as the hero of this victory. So in the second quatrain the lines of the first couplet are parallel with each other, and then those of the second also, in both instances rising in climax. Similar parallels are readily traced throughout the ode.

Verse 6. Thy right hand] Thy omnipotence, manifested in a most extraordinary way.

6-8. Second strain. Now the poet breaks out into a bold apostrophe to Jehovah. Here are seven lines in two couplets and one triplet, rising in climax from a declaration of his power to a description of its manifestation at the Red Sea, first in plain language, and then in tropes which steadily rise in fervour and boldness. Blast of thy nostrils — Sublime imagery for the “strong east wind” which God made to blow “all that night.” Rise like a heap… stiffen — The waters are poetically painted as solid masses, heaped up like walls. Habakkuk sang in a yet bolder strain: The deep lifted up his voice, (and) raised his hands on high. Habakkuk 3:10.

V. 7. In the greatness of thine excellency-By thy great and excellent power.

Verse 7. In the greatness of thine excellency] To this wonderful deliverance the Prophet Isaiah refers, Isaiah 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.”

Verse 7. In the greatness of thine excellency — Thy great and excellent power. Excellency, or highness, (as the word ˆwag, here used, properly means,) belongs in the most eminent and unqualified sense to Jehovah, who is superlatively high and excellent in all his attributes.

6-8. Second strain. Now the poet breaks out into a bold apostrophe to Jehovah. Here are seven lines in two couplets and one triplet, rising in climax from a declaration of his power to a description of its manifestation at the Red Sea, first in plain language, and then in tropes which steadily rise in fervour and boldness. Blast of thy nostrils — Sublime imagery for the “strong east wind” which God made to blow “all that night.” Rise like a heap… stiffen — The waters are poetically painted as solid masses, heaped up like walls. Habakkuk sang in a yet bolder strain: The deep lifted up his voice, (and) raised his hands on high. Habakkuk 3:10.

V. 8. With the blast of thy nostrils-By thine anger: The depths were congealed-Stood still, as if they had been frozen: In the heart of the sea-The midst of it.

Verse 8. The depths were congealed] The strong east wind (Exodus 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.

Verse 8. With the blast of thy nostrils — Or, of thine anger, as the Hebrew word is often rendered. He means that vehement east wind, (verse 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.

6-8. Second strain. Now the poet breaks out into a bold apostrophe to Jehovah. Here are seven lines in two couplets and one triplet, rising in climax from a declaration of his power to a description of its manifestation at the Red Sea, first in plain language, and then in tropes which steadily rise in fervour and boldness. Blast of thy nostrils — Sublime imagery for the “strong east wind” which God made to blow “all that night.” Rise like a heap… stiffen — The waters are poetically painted as solid masses, heaped up like walls. Habakkuk sang in a yet bolder strain: The deep lifted up his voice, (and) raised his hands on high. Habakkuk 3:10.

V. 9. My lust-My desire both of revenge and gain.

Verse 9. 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!”

Verse 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.

9, 10. Third strain. Now the enemy is personified, and his boasts and threats are dramatically pictured in six terse, strong phrases, all compressed into ten nervous words, which our translation has broken up into twenty-five! In successive flashes it reveals the Egyptian host, proud, confident, fierce, eager for their prey, dashing on their chase through the darkness into the cloven sea; and then the closing couplet paints once more the waters returning at the blast of Jehovah’s breath. Like lead — So Homer, Iliad, 24:80: “She, (Iris,) like the lead, plunged to the abyss.”

Verse 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!

Ver. 10. Thou didst blow with thy wind. Thou didst send thy spirit, the strong wind excited by the Almighty, as in ver. 21.

9, 10. Third strain. Now the enemy is personified, and his boasts and threats are dramatically pictured in six terse, strong phrases, all compressed into ten nervous words, which our translation has broken up into twenty-five! In successive flashes it reveals the Egyptian host, proud, confident, fierce, eager for their prey, dashing on their chase through the darkness into the cloven sea; and then the closing couplet paints once more the waters returning at the blast of Jehovah’s breath. Like lead — So Homer, Iliad, 24:80: “She, (Iris,) like the lead, plunged to the abyss.”

V. 11. The gods-So called: Idols, or Princes: Glorious in holiness-In justice, mercy and truth: Fearful in praises-To be praised with reverence.

Verse 11. 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 ym 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 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 y b k m 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 makkabaiov, and also the Syriac [Syriac] makabi, that the name was written originally with q koph, not k caph. It is most likely, as Michaelis has observed, that the name must have been derived from bqm 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.

Verse 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.

11-13. Fourth strain. Now Jehovah is compared with the imaginary gods of the heathen. Who like thee among the gods, Jehovah — This is four words in Hebrew, whose initials stand thus, ybkm, which, it is said, were inscribed as a motto upon the banner of the Maccabees, giving them their name. Ewald doubts this derivation, (since Maccabi is spelled with a q,) but it is poetically true, for here is the flame whence that family of heroes caught their fire. (See Apocrypha, Books of Maccabees.) So also the names Micha and Michael signify, “Who is like God?” Holiness — This is the distinguishing attribute of Jehovah among the imperfect and sinful deities created by man’s imagination. Fearful in praises — Fearful because of the awful judgments which call forth these praises. The first triplet of this strain is an apostrophe setting forth Jehovah’s attributes against those of the heathen gods; the second returns once more to the deliverance of his people, and gliding in the last line into the prophetic strain which follows. The Red Sea deliverance being the pledge of grander things in store for Israel, the inspired bard now turns away from the past, and is borne forth into the future on the long, final wave of the song.

V. 12. The earth swallowed them-Their dead bodies sunk into the sands on which they were thrown, which sucked them in.

Verse 12. 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; Psalm 77:18.

Verse 12. The earth swallowed them up — Their dead bodies sunk into the sands, on which they were thrown, which sucked them in.

Ver. 12. The earth swallowed them. Alluding to the burial of the dead bodies driven on shore.

11-13. Fourth strain. Now Jehovah is compared with the imaginary gods of the heathen. Who like thee among the gods, Jehovah — This is four words in Hebrew, whose initials stand thus, ybkm, which, it is said, were inscribed as a motto upon the banner of the Maccabees, giving them their name. Ewald doubts this derivation, (since Maccabi is spelled with a q,) but it is poetically true, for here is the flame whence that family of heroes caught their fire. (See Apocrypha, Books of Maccabees.) So also the names Micha and Michael signify, “Who is like God?” Holiness — This is the distinguishing attribute of Jehovah among the imperfect and sinful deities created by man’s imagination. Fearful in praises — Fearful because of the awful judgments which call forth these praises. The first triplet of this strain is an apostrophe setting forth Jehovah’s attributes against those of the heathen gods; the second returns once more to the deliverance of his people, and gliding in the last line into the prophetic strain which follows. The Red Sea deliverance being the pledge of grander things in store for Israel, the inspired bard now turns away from the past, and is borne forth into the future on the long, final wave of the song.

V. 13. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the People-Out of the bondage of Egypt, and out of the perils of the Red-sea. Thou hast guided them to thy holy habitation-Thou hast put them into the way to it, and wilt in due time bring them to the end of that way.

Verse 13. 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.

Verse 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 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.

Ver. 13. Holy habitation. Moses foresaw that a tabernacle would be built for national worship, and that the Lord’s house would be built on a mountain, as in ver. 17. They had, no doubt, after the manner of their father, an altar or a holy place; all sacred things were not lost, as appears from Exodus 16:9. They came before the Lord, and had priests also of the patriarchal order, as appears from Exodus 19:22.

11-13. Fourth strain. Now Jehovah is compared with the imaginary gods of the heathen. Who like thee among the gods, Jehovah — This is four words in Hebrew, whose initials stand thus, ybkm, which, it is said, were inscribed as a motto upon the banner of the Maccabees, giving them their name. Ewald doubts this derivation, (since Maccabi is spelled with a q,) but it is poetically true, for here is the flame whence that family of heroes caught their fire. (See Apocrypha, Books of Maccabees.) So also the names Micha and Michael signify, “Who is like God?” Holiness — This is the distinguishing attribute of Jehovah among the imperfect and sinful deities created by man’s imagination. Fearful in praises — Fearful because of the awful judgments which call forth these praises. The first triplet of this strain is an apostrophe setting forth Jehovah’s attributes against those of the heathen gods; the second returns once more to the deliverance of his people, and gliding in the last line into the prophetic strain which follows. The Red Sea deliverance being the pledge of grander things in store for Israel, the inspired bard now turns away from the past, and is borne forth into the future on the long, final wave of the song.

14-17. Fifth strain. The Egyptians were conquered, but other foes yet lay between the Israelites and the promised inheritance. The Canaanites filled the land, and Philistia barred one gate of entrance, while Moab and Edom held the other. It is a noteworthy mark of the genuineness of this prophecy that Canaan and Phllistia, Edom and Moab, are all spoken of in the same terms; yet, while the Canaanites were exterminated, Israel passed by Edom, (Numbers 20:18, etc.,) while Moab and Philistia were rival nations through all the centuries of the Hebrew commonwealth and monarchy. A poet would naturally have written thus at the time of the exodus, when he had simply the general revelation that Israel would triumph over all these enemies; but after the conquest of Canaan some distinction would naturally have been made between nations which were exterminated and those which never lost their independence. The theme of this last stanza is introduced with wonderful boldness and vigour, hurling out the words without article or connective. Palestina — Palestuth, Philistia; the meaning of the word Palestine or Palestina throughout the Bible. This was the dwelling-place of the Philistines, the long, fertile plain, about fifteen miles wide, which skirts the Mediterranean from the coast to the foot-hills of the mountains of Judah, and now, as probably then, an enormous wheat field. The name was afterwards extended to the whole of Canaan. Note Acts 8:40. Edom — Idumea, Mount Seir, and the adjacent desert; the mountainous and desert country east of the Arabah, stretching from the head of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea to the Jordan valley; separated by the brook Zered from Moab, which skirts the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Till thy people pass through — Through the desert to the Land of Promise. The strain closes with a beautiful parallelism and climax. Thou shalt… plant them in the mountain — Israel, like a fruitful tree, is to be planted in God’s mountain-land, God’s dwelling-place, God’s sanctuary, country, home, altar. (Murphy.) How calm the close! How delightful to repose under the vine and fig tree, to rest in the peaceful home, to cling to the sacred altar, after this tempest of emotions! And then from the whole congregation bursts forth the grand chorus, Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever — And the hearts of the vast host are all lifted heavenward and left before the Throne.

The saints on “the sea of glass” will sing the “song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” Revelation 15:3. The birth-song of ransomed Israel is, in its deeper meanings, the birth-song of the spiritual Israel of all ages — of the great redemption from the darkness and death of sin. The profound and far-reaching spiritual significance of these Old Testament events will be fully felt when “God’s mystery is finished;” when type and antitype, prophecy and history, law and gospel, will blend in one blaze of light. Christ is in all the Old Covenant as Moses is in all the New; the “Song of Moses” is the “Song of the Lamb.” “The word is nigh” us, though it comes to us across so many centuries, for it is a word from Jehovah, and not to Israel alone, but to mankind — to me and thee.

Verse 15. The dukes of Edom] Idumea was governed at this time by those called אלפים alluphim, heads, chiefs, or captains. See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 36:15”.

14-17. Fifth strain. The Egyptians were conquered, but other foes yet lay between the Israelites and the promised inheritance. The Canaanites filled the land, and Philistia barred one gate of entrance, while Moab and Edom held the other. It is a noteworthy mark of the genuineness of this prophecy that Canaan and Phllistia, Edom and Moab, are all spoken of in the same terms; yet, while the Canaanites were exterminated, Israel passed by Edom, (Numbers 20:18, etc.,) while Moab and Philistia were rival nations through all the centuries of the Hebrew commonwealth and monarchy. A poet would naturally have written thus at the time of the exodus, when he had simply the general revelation that Israel would triumph over all these enemies; but after the conquest of Canaan some distinction would naturally have been made between nations which were exterminated and those which never lost their independence. The theme of this last stanza is introduced with wonderful boldness and vigour, hurling out the words without article or connective. Palestina — Palestuth, Philistia; the meaning of the word Palestine or Palestina throughout the Bible. This was the dwelling-place of the Philistines, the long, fertile plain, about fifteen miles wide, which skirts the Mediterranean from the coast to the foot-hills of the mountains of Judah, and now, as probably then, an enormous wheat field. The name was afterwards extended to the whole of Canaan. Note Acts 8:40. Edom — Idumea, Mount Seir, and the adjacent desert; the mountainous and desert country east of the Arabah, stretching from the head of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea to the Jordan valley; separated by the brook Zered from Moab, which skirts the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Till thy people pass through — Through the desert to the Land of Promise. The strain closes with a beautiful parallelism and climax. Thou shalt… plant them in the mountain — Israel, like a fruitful tree, is to be planted in God’s mountain-land, God’s dwelling-place, God’s sanctuary, country, home, altar. (Murphy.) How calm the close! How delightful to repose under the vine and fig tree, to rest in the peaceful home, to cling to the sacred altar, after this tempest of emotions! And then from the whole congregation bursts forth the grand chorus, Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever — And the hearts of the vast host are all lifted heavenward and left before the Throne.

The saints on “the sea of glass” will sing the “song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” Revelation 15:3. The birth-song of ransomed Israel is, in its deeper meanings, the birth-song of the spiritual Israel of all ages — of the great redemption from the darkness and death of sin. The profound and far-reaching spiritual significance of these Old Testament events will be fully felt when “God’s mystery is finished;” when type and antitype, prophecy and history, law and gospel, will blend in one blaze of light. Christ is in all the Old Covenant as Moses is in all the New; the “Song of Moses” is the “Song of the Lamb.” “The word is nigh” us, though it comes to us across so many centuries, for it is a word from Jehovah, and not to Israel alone, but to mankind — to me and thee.

Verse 16. 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.

14-17. Fifth strain. The Egyptians were conquered, but other foes yet lay between the Israelites and the promised inheritance. The Canaanites filled the land, and Philistia barred one gate of entrance, while Moab and Edom held the other. It is a noteworthy mark of the genuineness of this prophecy that Canaan and Phllistia, Edom and Moab, are all spoken of in the same terms; yet, while the Canaanites were exterminated, Israel passed by Edom, (Numbers 20:18, etc.,) while Moab and Philistia were rival nations through all the centuries of the Hebrew commonwealth and monarchy. A poet would naturally have written thus at the time of the exodus, when he had simply the general revelation that Israel would triumph over all these enemies; but after the conquest of Canaan some distinction would naturally have been made between nations which were exterminated and those which never lost their independence. The theme of this last stanza is introduced with wonderful boldness and vigour, hurling out the words without article or connective. Palestina — Palestuth, Philistia; the meaning of the word Palestine or Palestina throughout the Bible. This was the dwelling-place of the Philistines, the long, fertile plain, about fifteen miles wide, which skirts the Mediterranean from the coast to the foot-hills of the mountains of Judah, and now, as probably then, an enormous wheat field. The name was afterwards extended to the whole of Canaan. Note Acts 8:40. Edom — Idumea, Mount Seir, and the adjacent desert; the mountainous and desert country east of the Arabah, stretching from the head of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea to the Jordan valley; separated by the brook Zered from Moab, which skirts the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Till thy people pass through — Through the desert to the Land of Promise. The strain closes with a beautiful parallelism and climax. Thou shalt… plant them in the mountain — Israel, like a fruitful tree, is to be planted in God’s mountain-land, God’s dwelling-place, God’s sanctuary, country, home, altar. (Murphy.) How calm the close! How delightful to repose under the vine and fig tree, to rest in the peaceful home, to cling to the sacred altar, after this tempest of emotions! And then from the whole congregation bursts forth the grand chorus, Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever — And the hearts of the vast host are all lifted heavenward and left before the Throne.

The saints on “the sea of glass” will sing the “song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” Revelation 15:3. The birth-song of ransomed Israel is, in its deeper meanings, the birth-song of the spiritual Israel of all ages — of the great redemption from the darkness and death of sin. The profound and far-reaching spiritual significance of these Old Testament events will be fully felt when “God’s mystery is finished;” when type and antitype, prophecy and history, law and gospel, will blend in one blaze of light. Christ is in all the Old Covenant as Moses is in all the New; the “Song of Moses” is the “Song of the Lamb.” “The word is nigh” us, though it comes to us across so many centuries, for it is a word from Jehovah, and not to Israel alone, but to mankind — to me and thee.

V. 17. Thou shalt bring them in-If he thus bring them out of Egypt, he will bring them into Canaan; for has he begun, and will he not make an end? Thou wilt plant them in the place which thou hast 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-In the mountainous country of Canaan: The sanctuary which thy hands have established-Will as surely establish as if it was done already.

Verse 17. 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, Deuteronomy 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 endeavour to regulate their lives according to its precepts, the government of that country is likely to be permanent.

Verse 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.

14-17. Fifth strain. The Egyptians were conquered, but other foes yet lay between the Israelites and the promised inheritance. The Canaanites filled the land, and Philistia barred one gate of entrance, while Moab and Edom held the other. It is a noteworthy mark of the genuineness of this prophecy that Canaan and Phllistia, Edom and Moab, are all spoken of in the same terms; yet, while the Canaanites were exterminated, Israel passed by Edom, (Numbers 20:18, etc.,) while Moab and Philistia were rival nations through all the centuries of the Hebrew commonwealth and monarchy. A poet would naturally have written thus at the time of the exodus, when he had simply the general revelation that Israel would triumph over all these enemies; but after the conquest of Canaan some distinction would naturally have been made between nations which were exterminated and those which never lost their independence. The theme of this last stanza is introduced with wonderful boldness and vigour, hurling out the words without article or connective. Palestina — Palestuth, Philistia; the meaning of the word Palestine or Palestina throughout the Bible. This was the dwelling-place of the Philistines, the long, fertile plain, about fifteen miles wide, which skirts the Mediterranean from the coast to the foot-hills of the mountains of Judah, and now, as probably then, an enormous wheat field. The name was afterwards extended to the whole of Canaan. Note Acts 8:40. Edom — Idumea, Mount Seir, and the adjacent desert; the mountainous and desert country east of the Arabah, stretching from the head of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea to the Jordan valley; separated by the brook Zered from Moab, which skirts the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Till thy people pass through — Through the desert to the Land of Promise. The strain closes with a beautiful parallelism and climax. Thou shalt… plant them in the mountain — Israel, like a fruitful tree, is to be planted in God’s mountain-land, God’s dwelling-place, God’s sanctuary, country, home, altar. (Murphy.) How calm the close! How delightful to repose under the vine and fig tree, to rest in the peaceful home, to cling to the sacred altar, after this tempest of emotions! And then from the whole congregation bursts forth the grand chorus, Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever — And the hearts of the vast host are all lifted heavenward and left before the Throne.

The saints on “the sea of glass” will sing the “song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” Revelation 15:3. The birth-song of ransomed Israel is, in its deeper meanings, the birth-song of the spiritual Israel of all ages — of the great redemption from the darkness and death of sin. The profound and far-reaching spiritual significance of these Old Testament events will be fully felt when “God’s mystery is finished;” when type and antitype, prophecy and history, law and gospel, will blend in one blaze of light. Christ is in all the Old Covenant as Moses is in all the New; the “Song of Moses” is the “Song of the Lamb.” “The word is nigh” us, though it comes to us across so many centuries, for it is a word from Jehovah, and not to Israel alone, but to mankind — to me and thee.

V. 18. The Lord shall reign 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.

Verse 18. 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.

Verses 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.

SONG OF MOSES AND MIRIAM, 1-21.

Following the text of the authorized version we give the song, translated as literally as our idiom will allow, and divided as before indicated. The chorus followed each strain. The stanzas are in couplets, triplets, and quatrains.

1. Most glorious — That is, perhaps, as well as our English can do with the terse, alliterative jag hag, which swelled like a thousand trumpets in every repetition of the chorus. The horse and his rider — To be taken collectively, cavalry and chariotry.

Verses 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.

19. This verse is not a part of the song, but repeats the incident that was its occasion.

V. 20. Miriam (or Mary, it is the same name) 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 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, 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.

Verse 20. 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 Exodus 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 “Exodus 2:2”.

There is great diversity of opinion on the origin of the name of Miriam, which is the same with the Greek mariam, the Latin Maria, and the English Mary. Some suppose it to be compounded of rm mar, a drop, (Isaiah 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, &c. It is probable that the first or the last is the true one, 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] haybnh hannebiah. For the meaning of the word prophet, aybn nabi, see Clarke’s note on “Genesis 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, Numbers 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, Micah 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, &c., of their devotional acts; for it appears that from the beginning to the present day the Jewish women all worshipped apart.

A timbrel] ãt toph, the same word which is translated tabret, Genesis 31:27, on which the reader is desired to consult the note. See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 31:27”.

And with dances.] tljm mecholoth. Many learned men suppose that this word means some instruments of wind music, because the word comes from the root llj 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, &c., of which we have ample proof in the construction of the tabernacle and its utensils. However ungrateful, rebellious, &c., 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.

Verses 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, Numbers 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.

Ver. 20. Timbrel. A little drum. Judges 11:34. 2 Samuel 6:5. Psalm 68:25.

20. Miriam the prophetess — Miriam, or Mariam, the Greek and Latin Maria, and the English Mary. Thus the Mother of our Lord bore the name of the prophetess of the Exodus, who is numbered by the prophet Micah (Micah 6:4) with Moses and Aaron as one of the deliverers of Israel. Sister of Aaron — The Scriptures nowhere speak of her marriage, and she seems to have held an independent position as sister of the high priest and of the leader of Israel. Josephus, however, says that she was the wife of Hur, and grandmother of the tabernacle architect, Bezaleel. (Antiq., 3:2, § 4, and 6, § 1.) Timbrels — Tabrets, tabours, or tambourines. Probably this was the same instrument which is now used by the modern Egyptians — a small, shallow drum, made by stretching a skin upon a hoop, about eleven inches in diameter. LANE says: “The hoop is overlaid with mother of pearl, tortoise shell, white bone or ivory, both without and within, and has ten double circular plates of brass attached to it.… It is held by the left or right hand, and beaten with the fingers of that hand, and by the other hand: the fingers of the hand which holds the instrument, striking only near the hoop, produce higher sounds than the other hand, which strikes in the center.” — Modern Egypt, ii, p. 76. See, also, notes on 1 Samuel 10:5, and 2 Samuel 6:5. Dances — Some render the word guitars.

V. 21. And Miriam answered them-The men: They sung by turns, or in parts.

Verses 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, Numbers 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.

21. Miriam answered — That is, she led in these words the chorus or refrain. See on verse 1.

Here closes the first division of the Book of Exodus. Israel has now gone forth, and, with the Sea behind and the Desert before, begins her career as a NATION.

DIVINE ADOPTION OF ISRAEL. — Exodus 15:22-40:38.

1. PREPARATORY PERIOD.

March from the Red Sea to Sinai. First Contact with Friends and Foes in the Desert. Exodus 15:22-18:27.

Exodus 15:22-27. — INTRODUCTORY.

The Wilderness of Shur. Shur signifies a wall, and is certainly perfectly applicable to the long, white, flat-topped limestone wall of the Jebel (Mountain) or Rahah, which now stretched along the left flank of the host of Israel as they faced towards Sinai. This mountain range ran southeast, far beyond the limit of their vision, thus giving name and character to the wilderness, which is here an undulating gravelly plain, twelve to fifteen miles wide between this white wall and the blue waters of the Gulf of Suez. It is also called “the wilderness of Etham,” in Numbers 33:8, from the station Etham, in the edge of the wilderness, near the head of the Gulf, where Israel encamped before the passage of the Sea. Exodus 13:20.

Israel is now fairly in the “wilderness,” and we therefore give here a general idea of the country in which they spent the ensuing forty years, gathered from the observations of recent travellers, and the Report of the “Sinai Survey Expedition” of 1868-69.

The Mountain of the Law, or the Sinai of Exodus, is a peak of the great cluster of naked, steep, granite mountains in the southern part of the triangular peninsula of Sinai, which lies like a wedge between the Gulfs of Suez and Akabah. The apex of this triangle is at Ras (Cape) Mohammed, which stretches on the south into the Red Sea, and its base lying along the twenty-ninth parallel of north latitude; and it measures about one hundred and ninety miles along the Gulf of Suez, one hundred and thirty miles along the Gulf of Akabah, and one hundred and fifty miles from gulf to gulf. North of the Sinai peninsula is the desert of et Tih, an arid limestone table-land, with isolated mountain groups, which rise above plains of gravel, sand, and flint. This plateau is bounded generally by steep, flat-topped cliffs, and it projects wedge-wise into the Sinai desert on the south, and on the northeast joins the plateau of the Negeb, or “South Country” of Palestine. The Tih table-land is a fearful waste, almost wholly waterless; the valleys or wadies, along which the water runs in the wet season, marking the white or gray gravel with scanty lines of “sickly green.” The white range of cliffs which forms the western wall of this plateau of the Tih is called Jebel (Mount) Rahah on the north, and Jebel et Tih on the south; and it was along this wall, as seen above, that the Israelites commenced their desert march, the desert of Shur or Etham being the narrow strip between the mountains of Shur and the Gulf. Between the granitic cluster of Sinai and the southern limestone escarpment of the Tih is a broad belt of low sandstone hills, reaching nearly from shore to shore. These hills have flat tabular summits, and are often most fantastic in shape, and coloured gorgeously in various shades of yellow and red. Among these hills are broad, undulating plains, the chief of which is the Debbet er Ramleh, or Sandy Plain, which skirts the southern wall of et Tih. This sandstone formation contains many rich veins of iron, copper, and turquoise, which were worked by the ancient Egyptians on an extensive scale. At Maghareh and Surabit el Kadim, in this district, are found hieroglyphic tablets recording the names of the kings under whose auspices these mining operations were carried on. At the latter place are the ruins of two temples, one of hewn stone, the other excavated in the rock, and inscriptions which show, according to the translation of Lepsius, that these temples were constructed for the use of the miners and the troops stationed there for their protection. These inscriptions range in date from the third Memphitic dynasty, (about 2,500 B.C.,) to Rameses IV. of the twentieth dynasty, (about 1200 B.C.) Cheops, or Shufer, the builder of the Great Pyramid, has a tablet here. Here are also numerous evidences of immense smelting operations, piles of slag and remains of furnaces, which show that vast quantities of fuel must have been consumed here by the ancient Egyptians. Palmer and others hence infer that the country was once much more plentifully supplied with vegetation, and, therefore, had a more copious rainfall than now. (Desert of the Exodus, i, p. 235.)

The mountains of Sinai are a “rugged, tumbled chaos” of dark granite, variegated porphyries, and mica schist, with veins of green stone and variously shaded feldspar, often displaying a great variety of brilliant tints in the bright sun under the clear desert sky. There are three principal groups of these mountains: the central group of Jebel Musa, (Mount of Moses,) of which Mount St. Katharine is the highest peak, and the crown of the peninsula, standing seven thousand three hundred and sixty-three feet above the sea level; Serbal, whose smooth granite dome rises on the northwest; and Um Shomer, which lifts its jagged peaks in the southeast. There is a strip of broad gravelly plain called el Ga’ah, (or el Ka’a,) “the Plain,” which runs down along the Gulf of Suez between the mountains and the sea, and a narrower strip of a similar character along the Gulf of Akabah, which disappears here and there as the mountain spurs come down to the water. With the exception of the Debbet er Ramleh, or Sandy Plain, above mentioned, the plains and valleys are usually floored with gravel, dark in the granitic districts, and white and black in the limestone regions. The wadies, or dry rivers as they are sometimes called, are the water-courses of the desert, along which the torrents from the mountains find their way to the sea. These are the permanent natural roads through the mountains. Most of them are dry for the greater part of the year, and in the wet season destructive floods sweep through them, tearing out the scanty soil where it is not fastened down by large shrubs or trees, and often scattering boulders from the craggy walls along their course. These wadies must always have determined the lines of travel, for it is impossible to pass the mountains except in their beds; and in these only is there water and herbage for man and beast. It is this fact that makes it possible to determine with a high degree of certainty the route of the Israelites through these mountains; at least, we can be sure that we know all the alternatives that were before them in choosing their course.

On leaving the white glare of the desert plain, and rising through the mountain passes into the granite region, the traveller finds a cool, genial climate and refreshing breezes. A few perennial streams flow down from the mountains, along which are considerable tracts of vegetation. The trees are chiefly the acacia, or shittah, from which distils the gum arabic of commerce; the tamarisk, with its long feathery leaves and manna-dropping twigs; and the juniper, or broom, “with its high canopy and white blossoms;” while the palm is scattered along the more fertile wadies, and stands in fine groves at Tor and Feiran. The bright green caper plant often hangs along the face of the crags, and here and there are olive groves, or scattered olive trees, the relics of ancient monkish plantations. Game is occasionally found in the mountains — the ibex, or wild goat of Scripture, the gazelle, and the hare, while more rarely partridges and quails are seen. The productiveness of these fertile spots would be vastly increased by cultivation; then what are now bare rocks or gravelly torrent beds would be turned into gardens. It is well known that the amount of rain which falls upon a district depends to a high degree upon the evaporating surfaces furnished by the forests; and the forests of this region have for centuries been diminishing, having been destroyed, firstly, for fuel, as shown above, in the mining operations of successive centuries; and, secondly, for the manufacture of charcoal, which is the chief and almost sole export of the peninsula. These facts make it probable that this desert, at the time of the Exodus, was capable of sustaining quite a large population, and of furnishing water and pasturage to their cattle and flocks. The desert of the Tih is much more barren. It is drained by the Wady el Arish, or “river of Egypt,” into the Mediterranean; but it is a white wilderness of chalk and limestone, yet sprinkled over with a brown, dry herbage, which bursts into a sudden and transitory green after the autumnal rains. Yet the Tih bears traces of ancient, perhaps pre-historic, inhabitants, in the stone cairns and fenced inclosures which were reared by some primeval pastoral people. In the “South Country” of the Pentateuch and Joshua, northeast of the Tih plateau, are found deep ancient wells, remains of ruined cities, gardens, and vineyards; and also abundant traces of roads, which were once the pathways of civilization. It was through the arid and dreary Tih that Jacob went down into Egypt; and through the same wilderness Joseph and Mary fled with the infant Jesus.

Verse 22. The wilderness of Shur] This was on the coast of the Red Sea on their road to Mount Sinai. See the map.

Verse 22. They went three days and found no water — Here we see that deliverances, however great, do not exempt from future difficulties and trials. Never 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 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!

MARCH TO MARAH AND ELIM, 22-27.

22. And they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water — The springs regulate the movements and fix the halting places of the caravans now as in the time of Moses, and it is probable that the first resting-place of Israel after the passage of the Red Sea was the oasis which the Arabs call Ayun Musa, the “Springs of Moses,” two miles from the shore, and about six hours’ travel from Suez. There Robinson found seven fountains, one of massive ancient masonry; yet previous travellers describe many more, some mentioning twenty. The water is dark coloured and brackish, depositing a hard, calcareous sediment as it rises, which forms mounds around the springs, over which the water flows into the sands and disappears. About twenty palm bushes now grow around the springs, and there is a small patch of grain and a vegetable garden cultivated by people from Suez. There are fragments of tiles and pottery, indicating that there were once habitations near these springs. It was probably from this spot that Israel started on the three days’ journey in the wilderness of Shur.

V. 23. The name of it was called Marah-That is, Bitterness.

Verse 23. 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. See Clarke note “Exodus 40:38”.

23. Marah — Bitterness, a place of bitter or brackish water. This does not enable us to locate the station, since all the springs of the region are saltish. Since the time of Burckhardt Marah has been generally identified with Hawwara, a little over forty miles, or about three days’ journey, from Ayun Musa, and the first spring after leaving that station. But whether Marah be here, or five miles farther on, as Lepsius supposes, at Gharandel, or three miles back, at Wady Amarah, is of comparatively little moment, seeing that we certainly know that all of these spots are on the track of the great host of Israel as they moved towards Mount Sinai. Between the long white mountain wall of er-Rahah on their left, and the blue Red Sea waters on their right, they moved southeasterly across a great whitish gravelly plain, at times amid sand mounds and low, flat, barren hills of limestone and chalk, sparkling now and then with crystals of gypsum, and at other times crossing wadies, or dry water-courses, running from the mountain range across their course, and fringed occasionally with dwarf palms, stunted tamarisks, shrubby broom, and other hardy plants of the desert. There was no shade, and the sun’s rays were reflected hot and dazzling from the white hills and plains. Across the sea on their right the dark form of the promontory of Attaka reminded them of the Egypt that they had left. Accustomed all their lives to the sweet Nile water, which the Egyptians deem unsurpassed in the world, they had now for three days been drinking from their water-skins of the supply laid in at the last station, which was most likely Ayun Musa, anticipating the fountains, of which Moses had probably told them, at this oasis. And now they find the springs so bitter that they cannot drink of them.

Hawwara is now a spring but about eight feet across, within a calcareous mound which has been formed from its deposits. Two stunted palm trees grow near it, affording the weary traveller a delicious shade, and a number of ghurkud bushes straggle around it — low thorny shrubs, bearing small juicy berries, much like our barberry. Murray says, “Should the thirsty traveller hasten forward now to drink at the fountain, his Arabs will restrain him by the cry, Murr! murr! ‘Bitter! bitter!’” The water is strongly impregnated with salt and alum, and yet it is frequently quite drinkable. Holland says it is often more palatable than that which has been brought down in skins from Suez.

Verse 24. 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 “Exodus 13:17”.

24. Murmured against Moses — Burckhardt says that nothing is more common than to hear such complaints from Egyptian peasants and servants who travel in the Arabian deserts. Like the Israelites, they everywhere mourn for the sweet water of their native land. These murmurings were unbelieving and ungrateful, especially as poured out upon Moses, their deliverer; but in judging their sin we are to remember the magnitude of their trial. Nothing would be more quickly or more keenly felt by such a mingled host in the heat and glare of the desert than a lack of water, especially by a people who had always had an abundance of the most drinkable water in the world.

V. 25. And he cried unto the Lord-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: And the Lord directed Moses to a tree, which he cast into the waters, and they were made sweet-Some think this wood had a peculiar virtue in it for this purpose, because it is said, God shewed him the tree. God is to be acknowledged, not only in the creating things useful for man, but in discovering their usefulness. But perhaps this was only a sign, and not a means of the cure, no more than the brazen serpent. There he made a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them-That is, there he put them upon trial, admitted them as probationers for his favour. In short he tells them, Exodus 15:26, 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, and must take care, in every thing, to do that which was right in God’s sight, and to keep all his statutes. Then 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 disobedient, the plagues which they had seen inflicted on their enemies should be brought on them. But if thou wilt be obedient, thou shalt be safe, the threatening is implied, but the promise is expressed, I am the Lord that healeth thee-And will take care of thee wherever thou goest.

Verse 25. 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 ynpdra 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.

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 “Exodus 7:18”.

There he made for them] Though it is probable that the Israelites are here intended, yet the word wl 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.] whsn 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.

Verse 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 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.

25. The Lord showed him a tree — Many have supposed that this tree had sweetening properties, possibly neutralizing the salts which made the water undrinkable. Some have suggested that Moses used the ghurkud berries, above mentioned, for this purpose. But it was not yet time for this berry, which ripens in June, while the Israelites were at Marah in April; and if there were any shrub or tree in the desert possessing natural properties which would make these bitter, brackish springs drinkable, it is not at all probable that so valuable a fact would be unknown to the natives of the region; yet diligent inquiries made by the most intelligent travellers have failed to find any such knowledge among the Bedouins.

It is most probable that the wood had no more healing virtue than the clay which Jesus applied to the eyes of the blind man, or the Jordan waters which cleansed the leprosy of Naaman. The tree was but the appropriate means to call forth faith. Casting it into the waters was an exercise and manifestation of faith. And this was an instructive “sign” as well as a miracle. The first judgment-stroke upon Egypt made the sweet, wholesome Nile waters loathsome, and the first saving miracle in the desert made sweet the bitter Marah. Luther’s typical application is excellent. “Moses causes man to murmur by the terrors of the law, and thus pains him with bitterness, so that he longs for help; and then, when the Holy Spirit comes, at once it [the law] is made sweet. Now this tree of life is the Gospel, the word of the grace, the mercy, and goodness of God. When the Gospel is plunged into the law, and into the knowledge of sin which the law produces, and when it touches a heart in which the law has caused sadness, anxiety, terror, and confusion, it is at once delightful to the taste.”

For them (or, him, Israel being personified as one man) a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them (or, him; the pronoun is grammatically singular) — The statute or law, and the ordinance or judgment, follows in the next verse.

Verse 26. 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, &c. 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 neighbouring nations. 3. That they should continue to do so, and adorn their profession with a holy life. These 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 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 Jeremiah 7:22, 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.”

Verse 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.

26. For I am the Lord that healeth thee — For I, JEHOVAH, am thy Healer, Physician. This first trial and miracle of the desert is made the occasion of great spiritual lessons, such as may ever come from great trials. They had seen Egypt’s blessings turned to curses because of the sins of the Egyptians, and the same God would not only save them from these dreadful judgments, but would turn all life’s bitterness to sweetness if they would but keep his law. Jehovah the Physician can heal all the Marahs of life if man but obeys and submits, whether he comprehends God’s dealings or not. Here, also, they were clearly taught that continued obedience was essential to their continued election as God’s covenant people. They were not to be presumptuous because of the wonderful manifestations in Egypt and at the Red Sea. If they sinned like the Egyptians they would also be punished like the Egyptians. But the great lesson here emphatically impressed is, that it is not ritual or outward obedience of any kind — not the offering of sacrifices or of bodily services merely — but the doing that which is right in his sight — the sacrifice of the heart, the offering of the self, that Jehovah demands. Jeremiah, centuries afterwards, refers to this transaction and this solemn spiritual lesson thus: “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: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” Jeremiah 7:22, 23. This “statute and ordinance” coming just before the Levitical economy — just before the first altar was reared in the wilderness — is most valuable as setting forth the real nature and spirit of the Levitical ordinances.

Verse 27. 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, {See Clarke note at “Exodus 40:38”.} 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 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, (Deuteronomy 32:1-43; Judges 5:1-31; 2 Samuel 22:1-51,) still expressed by them as poetry; yet have these critics carried their ideas of the song here to the end of Exodus 15:19. The reason why the same has been done by others probably is, they thought that the particle yk for, which begins Exodus 15:19, necessarily connected it with the preceding poetry. But this difficulty is removed by translating yk when, especially if we take Exodus 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, &c.’ That this chorus was sung more than once is thus stated by Bishop Lowth: Maria, cum mulieribus, virorum choro IDENTIDEM succinebat.- Prælect. 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. Jehovah is mighty in battle!Perhaps a chorus

Jehovah is his name! sung by the men.

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; 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, &c. 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, &c. 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 honoured by his gifts. God inspired the song of Moses, and perhaps from this very circumstance it has passed for current among the most polished of the heathen nations, that a poet is a person Divinely inspired; and hence the epithet of profhthv, 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 Revelation 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.

EXODUS

Verse 27. Twelve wells of water — One for each tribe, and the seventy palm-trees affording a cooling shade.

Ver. 27. Threescore and ten palm trees. This tree is now called the Date. “In Egypt the Date tree is very lofty, and from the singular formation of its bark, it is as easy to ascend to the top of one of them, as to climb a ladder. Wherever the date tree is found in the dreary deserts of that country, it not only presents a supply of salutary food for men and camels, but nature has so wonderfully contrived the plant, that its first offering is accessible to man alone; and its presence is a never-failing indication of water at the root. Botanists describe the trunk as full of rugged knots; the fact is, that it is full of cavities, exactly adapted to the reception of the human feet and hands; and these cavities are formed by the decay of the leaves, the stems of which are as thick as branches. It is impossible to view these trees without believing that He who in the beginning fashioned “every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed,” as “food for man,” has here manifested one among the innumerable proofs of his benevolent design. “The Date tree is a curious subject for consideration. Many of the inhabitants of Egypt, Arabia, and Persia, subsist almost entirely upon its fruit. They also boast of its medicinal virtues. Their camels feed upon the date stones. From the leaves they make couches, baskets, bags, mats and brushes; from the branches cages for their poultry, and fences for their gardens; from the fibres of their boughs, thread, ropes, and rigging; from the sap is prepared a spiritous liquor; and the trunk of the tree furnishes fuel. When the tree is grown to a size for bearing fruit, the leaves are six or eight feet long. The stems of the leaves are the only branches the tree has.” Dr. Edward Clarke’s Travels.

27. Elim — Trees. Here were palm trees and waters, or springs, around which they encamped, (rested and refreshed themselves,) probably for from two to three weeks, since it was just a month from the time of their leaving Rameses that they broke up from Elim. Exodus 16:1. As the next encampment was “by the Red Sea,” according to the itinerary in Numbers xxxiii, which gives a fuller catalogue of the stations, it is plain that Elim took them back from the shore, within sight of which they had been moving. Just below Hawwarah, and surrounding three sides of Jebel (Mount) Hammam, there are several fertile wadies, through and across which their route now led them, which perfectly met their requirement. Jebel Hammam is a bare, picturesque cliff of flinty limestone, warm sulphur springs rising from its northern base, which comes down to the Sea in steep bluffs five miles long, thus cutting off the plain already described as the “Wilderness of Shur,” and compelling caravans from Suez to go round and over its northern shoulder in order to reach the plain which skirts the Sea below the Mount, and which we suppose to be the “Desert of Sin.” Exodus 16:1. The Israelites were probably spread through all these wadies around Mount Hammam, while the headquarters of the host were encamped where there were wells corresponding in number to the tribes, and where there was a grove of palms corresponding to the tribal families — the Wady Gharandel. Gharandel is the principal halting place and the most fertile spot between Suez and Sinai; Wady Feiran alone comparing with it in richness and loveliness. It is in some places nearly a mile broad, its running brook fringed with trees, while water can be anywhere found by digging a little depth. “Here are the wild palms,” says Stanley, “successors of the threescore and ten. Not like those of Egypt or of pictures, but either dwarf, that is, trunkless, or else with savage, hairy trunks, and branches all dishevelled. Then there are the feathery tamarisks, here assuming gnarled boughs and hoary heads; the wild acacia; a tangled, spreading tree, which shoots out its gay foliage and blue blossoms over the desert.” — Sinai and Pal., p. 65. Here, too, the bright green grass is most refreshing to the eye wearied by the hot, white desert, but it is coarse and rough to the touch. Tischendorf says, “This is a glorious oasis… enclosed like a jewel between the chalky cliffs. We reposed for a long time in the grass, which was as tall as ourselves; tamarisks and dwarf palms stretched like a garland from east to west.” (Quoted by Kurtz.)

The wadies which succeed Gharandel resemble it somewhat in character, but are much inferior in fertility, although Useit once surpassed it in its palm-grove. Through these valleys we suppose the Israelitish camp to have spread, round the northern shoulder of Jebel Hammam, perhaps into Wady Taiyebeh, a beautiful valley, winding between steep cliffs of red sandstone, flinty chalk, and variegated conglomerates, down to the plain el Murkha, which skirts the Sea. When they left Elim they encamped at the mouth of the wady, and scattered along this plain, “by the Red Sea.” Numbers 33:10. As they descended the mountain pass, between the high steep walls, then as now curtained here and there with the green, creeping caper, and painted, as they neared the Sea, with bright bands of red, and brown, and black — as they poured down into the plain and spread along the shelly beach — they caught one more view of the distant hills of Egypt across the blue waters that had swallowed up the chariots and horses of Pharaoh.

From Gharandel to the Sea at Ras (Cape) Zelinea is, by this route, about eight hours’ travel, an easy day’s journey for the men of Israel after their long rest at Elim, but quite long for the remainder of the host, who, it is likely, had generally to come only from Useit, or the upper part of Taiyebeh. Palmer, who has thoroughly surveyed all these wadies, decides that Taiyebeh is the only valley by which they could have descended to the Sea.