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Exodus 15

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The Song of Moses: Praise for Deliverance 1–12

1
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto Jehovah, and spake, saying, I will sing unto Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. ​
2
Jehovah is my strength and song, And he is become my salvation: This is my God, and I will praise him; My father’s God, and I will exalt him. ​
3
Jehovah is a man of war: Jehovah is his name. ​
4
Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea; And his chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.
5
The deeps cover them: They went down into the depths like a stone.
6
Thy right hand, O Jehovah, is glorious in power, Thy right hand, O Jehovah, dasheth in pieces the enemy.
7
And in the greatness of thine excellency thou overthrowest them that rise up against thee: Thou sendest forth thy wrath, it consumeth them as stubble.
8
And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were piled up, The floods stood upright as a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. ​
9
The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
10
Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: They sank as lead in the mighty waters.
11
Who is like unto thee, O Jehovah, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders? ​
12
Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, The earth swallowed them.

Anticipation of the Conquest 13–19

13
Thou in thy lovingkindness hast led the people that thou hast redeemed: Thou hast guided them in thy strength to thy holy habitation. ​
14
The peoples have heard, they tremble: Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia. ​
15
Then were the chiefs of Edom dismayed; The mighty men of Moab, trembling taketh hold upon them: All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.
16
Terror and dread falleth upon them; By the greatness of thine arm they are as still as a stone; Till thy people pass over, O Jehovah, Till the people pass over that thou hast purchased.
17
Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, The place, O Jehovah, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, The sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. ​
18
Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever.
19
For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and Jehovah brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea.

Miriam and the Women Celebrate 20–21

20
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. ​
21
And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously; The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

The Trial at Marah and Provision at Elim 22–27

22
And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. ​
23
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. ​
24
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
25
And he cried unto Jehovah; and Jehovah showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them; ​
26
and he said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his eyes, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am Jehovah that healeth thee. ​
27
And they came to Elim, where were twelve springs of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees: and they encamped there by the waters. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 15

Verse 1

he hath triumphed gloriously — Ga'oh ga'ah, the verb doubled: to rise up, to be exalted. The song 'unto the LORD' answers the deliverance of Ex 14, and Miriam repeats its first line in v.21. In Revelation those who overcome 'sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb' (Rev 15:3).

Verse 2

my strength and song — The LORD here is Yah, the short form of the divine name. The line is taken up in Ps 118:14 and Isa 12:2: 'the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation'. 'Salvation' is yeshuah, deliverance, from yasha, 'to save', the root that gives the name Jesus its meaning: 'he shall save his people' (Matt 1:21).

Verse 3

a man of war — Ish milchamah. The war was the LORD's own: 'The LORD shall fight for you' (Ex 14:14), and Isaiah says he 'shall go forth as a mighty man… like a man of war' (Isa 42:13). The verse ends 'the LORD is his name', the name declared to Moses for Israel in Ex 6:3, 6.

Verse 8

the blast of thy nostrils — Ruach, wind or breath, with aph, nostrils: the song names as the LORD's breath what Ex 14:21 reports as 'a strong east wind'. 'Stood upright as an heap' (ned) is repeated in Ps 78:13, 'he made the waters to stand as an heap'. 'Depths' is tehom, the word translated 'the deep' in Gen 1:2.

Verse 11

Who is like unto thee — This answers Pharaoh's 'Who is the LORD?' (Ex 5:2). Israel's praise keeps the question: 'Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord' (Ps 86:8). Jethro says after the exodus, 'Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods' (Ex 18:11). 'Doing wonders' is pele.

Verse 13

which thou hast redeemed — Ga'al, the kinsman's verb of the promise 'I will redeem you with a stretched out arm' (Ex 6:6), now in the past tense. 'Mercy' is chesed, covenant love. 'Led forth' (nachah) and 'guided' (nahal) are verbs of leading, and the goal is the LORD's 'holy habitation' (naveh).

Verse 14

Palestina — Pelesheth, Philistia; the KJV prints 'Palestina' only here and in Isa 14:29, 31. The terror foretold in vv.14–16 is reported by Rahab: 'we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you… our hearts did melt' (Josh 2:10–11). 'Sorrow' (chil) is a pang, as of childbirth.

Verse 17

the mountain of thine inheritance — Nata, to plant: the people are set in the land as in the psalmist's 'plantedst them' (Ps 44:2). The 'Sanctuary' (miqdash) is the word of Ex 25:8, 'let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them'. Ps 78:54 recalls that he brought them 'to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain'.

Verse 20

Miriam the prophetess — Neviah, a prophetess; this is its first use, and in the five books it occurs only here. She is 'the sister of Aaron' (Num 26:59 names her with Aaron and Moses as Amram's children), and the LORD later says, 'I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam' (Mic 6:4).

Verse 22

three days in the wilderness — Israel had asked for a 'three days' journey into the wilderness' (Ex 5:3); now they walk three days and 'found no water'. Shur is the wilderness toward which Hagar fled (Gen 16:7). The want comes within days of the song of v.1.

Verse 23

Marah — Mar, bitter, as the verse says in giving the name. Num 33:8 lists the place after 'three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham'. The people's response follows: 'What shall we drink?' (v.24). 'Murmured' there is luwn, the verb that returns at Ex 16:2, 7–8 and 17:3.

Verse 25

the LORD shewed him a tree — Yarah, to point out or teach, the root of torah: Moses 'cried' (tsa'aq) and the LORD instructed him. There he made 'a statute and an ordinance' (choq, mishpat) and 'proved' (nasah) them; Moses recalls the forty years in which the LORD led them 'to prove thee' (Deut 8:2).

Verse 26

the LORD that healeth thee — Rapha, to heal. 'Diseases' (machalah) occurs in Exodus only here and at Ex 23:25, 'I will take sickness away from the midst of thee'; Deut 7:15 renews the promise and Deut 28:60 warns of 'the diseases of Egypt'. To 'hearken to the voice of the LORD' is what Pharaoh refused (Ex 5:2).

Verse 27

twelve wells of water — Elim, where 'wells' is literally 'eyes' (ayin), springs, beside 'threescore and ten palm trees'. Num 33:9 gives the same count, 'twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees'. After the bitter water of Marah (v.23), the camp 'encamped there by the waters'.