Exodus 14:22 Kommentar

The departure of the children of Israel out of Egypt (which was indeed the birth of the Jewish church) is made yet more memorable by further works of wonder, which were wrought immediately upon it. Witness the records of this chapter, the contents whereof, together with a key to it, we have, Heb 11:29. "They passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned;" and this they did by faith, which intimates that there was something typical and spiritual in it. Here is, I. The extreme distress and danger that Israel was in at the Red Sea. 1. Notice was given of it to Moses before (Exo 14:1-4). 2. The cause of it was Pharaoh's violent pursuit of them (Exo 14:5-9). 3. Israel was in a great consternation upon it (Exo 14:10-12). 4. Moses endeavours to encourage them (Exo 14:13, Exo 14:14). II. The wonderful deliverance that God wrought for them out of this distress. 1. Moses is instructed concerning it (Exo 14:15-18). 2. Lines that could not be forced are set between the camp of Israel and Pharaoh's camp (Exo 14:19, Exo 14:20). 3. By the divine power the Red Sea is divided (Exo 14:31), and is made, (1.) A lane to the Israelites, who marched safely through it (Exo 14:22, Exo 14:29). But, (2.) To the Egyptians it was made, [1.] An ambush into which they were drawn (Exo 14:23-25). And, [2.] A grave in which they were all buried (Exo 14:26-28). III. The impressions this made upon the Israelites (Exo 14:30, Exo 14:31).

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 14 This chapter begins with directions of God to Moses, to be given to the children of Israel about the course they were to steer in their journey, with the reason thereof, Exo 14:1, which they observing, a report was brought to Pharaoh that they were fled, and this determined him and his servants to get ready and pursue after them, as they did with a great army, Exo 14:5, which when the Israelites saw, it put them in great fear, and set them to murmuring and complaining against Moses for bringing them out of Egypt, Exo 14:10, who desired them to be still and quiet, and they should see the salvation of the Lord, Exo 14:13, and he is bid to order the people to go on in their journey, and to take his rod and stretch it over the sea and divide it, that Israel might pass through it on dry ground, and the Egyptians follow them, whereby God would be honoured and glorified, Exo 14:15, upon which the Angel of the Lord in a pillar of cloud removed from before there, and went behind them for their protection, Exo 14:19, and Moses stretching out his hand over the sea, and a strong east wind blowing upon it, the waters divided and the Israelites went into it, and the Egyptians followed them, but their host being troubled by the Lord, and their chariot wheels taken off, they found themselves in great danger, and were thrown into a panic, Exo 14:20 and upon Moses's stretching out his hand again over the sea, the waters returned, and Pharaoh and his host were drowned, but the Israelites passed through safely, as on dry land, Exo 14:26, which great work of the Lord being observed by them, influenced their fear of him, their faith in him and his servant Moses, Exo 14:30.

And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground,.... Some Jewish writers say (c), that the tribe of Judah went in first, and then the other tribes followed; but it is most likely, what Josephus says (d), that Moses first entered in, and then the Israelites, encouraged by his example, went in after him; and a very adventurous action it was, and nothing but strong faith in the almighty power and promise of God could have engaged them in it, to which the apostle ascribes it, Heb 11:29. It is the opinion of Aben Ezra, and some other Jewish writers, that the Israelites did not pass through the Red sea to the opposite shore, only went some way into it, and took a compass in a semicircle, and came out on the same shore again, and which has been espoused by some Christian writers; and chiefly because they were in the wilderness of Etham before, and from whence they went into it, and when they came out of it, it was still the wilderness of Etham they came into, and went three days' journey into it seeking water; see Exo 13:20. Though it is possible the wilderness on the opposite shore might bear the same name, because of its likeness to it; and if it was the same wilderness that went round the Arabic gulf, or Red sea, and reached on to the other side of it, and so the wilderness of Etham lay on both sides, the difficulty is removed; for it seems most agreeable to the expressions of Scripture, that the Israelites passed through it from shore to shore. Others, in order to lessen the miracle, would have it that Moses, well knowing the country, and observing the tide, took the advantage of low water, and led the Israelites through it; and this story is told by the Egyptian priests of Memphis, as Artapanus (e) relates; but were the Egyptians less knowing of their country, and of the tide of the Red sea? and could Moses be sure of the exact time when they would come up to him, and the tide would serve him? Besides, the Egyptian priests at Heliopolis own the miracle, and relate it much as Moses has done; which must proceed from a conviction of the truth of it. And the above historian reports that the king (of Egypt) with a great army, and consecrated animals, pursued the Jews because of the substance they had borrowed of the Egyptians, which they took with them; but Moses being bid by a divine voice (or the voice of God, of Jehovah) to smite the sea with a rod, and hearkening to it, he touched the water with the rod, and so it divided, and his forces passed through a dry path, and the Egyptians attempting the same and pursuing, fire or lightning flashed out against them; and the sea shutting up the path again, partly by fire, and partly by the flow of the water, they all perished: and that this affair was miraculous, and could not be owing to any advantage taken from the tide, the following things have been observed; it is owned that the Red sea ebbs and flows like other seas that have a communication with the ocean, that is, the waters rise towards the shore during six hours, and having continued about a quarter of an hour at high water, ebb down again during another six hours; and it is observed by those who have examined it, that the greatest distance it falls from the place of high water is about three hundred yards; and that during the time of low water, one may safely travel it, as some have actually done; so that those three hundred paces, which the sea leaves uncovered during the time of low water, can continue so but for the space of half an hour at most; for during the first six hours, the sea retires only by degrees, and in less than half an hour it begins again to flow towards the shore. The most therefore that can be allowed, both of time and space of passable ground, in a moderate computation, is about two hundred paces, during six hours, or one hundred and fifty paces, during eight hours. Now it is further observed, that it is plain that a multitude consisting of upwards of two millions and a half of men, women, children, and slaves, encumbered besides with great quantities of cattle, household stuff, and the spoils of the Egyptians, could never perform such a march within so short a time; we may say within even double that space, though we should allow them also double the breadth of ground to do it on. This argument, it is added, will hold good against those who suppose they only coasted along some part of the sea, and those who maintain that they crossed the small arm or point of it which is toward the further end, near the isthmus of Suez; seeing that six or eight hours could not have sufficed for the passage of so immense a multitude, allow them what breadth of room you will; much less for Pharaoh to have entered it with his whole host (f): and for the confirmation of the Mosaic account of this affair, and as miraculous, may be observed the testimony of Diodorus Siculus, who reports (g) that it is a tradition among the Ichthyophagi, who inhabit near the Red sea, or Arabic gulf, which they have received from the report of their ancestors, and is still preserved with them, that upon a great recess of the sea, every place of the gulf became dry, the sea falling to the opposite parts, the bottom appeared green, and returning back with a mighty force, was restored to its place again; which can have reference to nothing else but to this transaction in the time of Moses. And Strabo (h) relates a very wonderful thing, and such as rarely happens, that on the shore between Tyre and Ptolemais, when they of Ptolemais had a battle with the Emperor Sarpedon at that place, and there being put to flight, a flow of the sea like an inundation covered those that fled, and some were carried into the sea and perished, and others were left dead in hollow places; after a reflux followed, and discovered and showed the bodies of those that lay among the dead fishes. Now learned men have observed (i), that what is here said of the sea of Tyre is to be understood of the Red sea, and that Sarpedon is not a proper name, but the same with , "Sarphadon", the prince of deliverance, or of the delivered, as Moses was: and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left; some of the Jewish Rabbins from Exo 15:8 have supposed that the waters were frozen as they were drove back by the east wind, and so stood up firm while the Israelites passed through, and then another wind thawed them, which brought them upon the Egyptians; but no doubt this was done by the wonderful interposition of divine power, and perhaps the ministry of angels was made use of, to detain and continue them in this position, until the end was answered. Adrichomius says (k), the breadth of the sea was six miles at the passage of the Israelites; but a late traveller (l) tells us, that the channel between Sdur (or Shur, on the opposite side) and Gibbel Gewoubee, and Attackah (which he supposes was the place of their passage), was nine or ten miles over. Thevenot says (m), that during the space of five days he kept along the coast of the Red sea, in going to Mount Sinai, he could not observe it to be anywhere above eight or nine miles over. A later traveller (n) tells us, that from the fountains of Moses may be plainly seen a wonderful aperture (Pihahiroth; see Exo 14:2) in the mountains on the other side of the Red sea, through and from which the children of Israel entered into it, when Pharaoh and his host were drowned; which aperture is situated west-southwest from these fountains of Moses, and the breadth of the sea hereabouts, where the children of Israel passed it, is about four or five hours' journey. The Arabic geographer (o) calls the place Jethren, where Pharaoh and his host were drowned; and represents it as a dangerous place to sail in, and where many ships are lost, and that this rough place is about the space of six miles. A countryman (p) of ours, who had been in these parts, guesses that the breadth of the place (called by the Mahometans, Kilt el Pharown, the well or pit of Pharaoh) where the Israelites are said to pass through is about six or seven leagues; the difference between these writers may be accounted for by the different places where they suppose this passage was. (c) Pirke Elizer, c. 42. (d) Antiqu. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 2. (e) Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 27. p. 436. (f) Universal History, vol. 3. p. 392, 393. marg. (g) Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 174. (h) Geograph. l. 16. p. 521, 522. (i) Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 1. p. 167. (k) Theatrum Terrae, p. 123, 124. (l) Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 314. Edit. 2. (m) Travels into the Levant, B. 2. ch. 33. p. 175. (n) A Journal from Grand Cairo, &c. in 1722. p. 13. Edit. 2. (o) Climat. 3. par. 3. (p) Pitts's Account of the Mahometans, p. 77.

How hard a temptation it is to pass through the midst of the sea, to see the waves rise piled up, to hear the noise and rumbling of the raging waters! But if you follow Moses, that is, the law of God, the waters will become for you walls on the right and left, and you will find a path on dry ground in the midst of the sea. Moreover, it can happen that the heavenly journey that we say the soul takes may hold peril of waters. Great waves may be found there.

Again, according to the view of the inspired Paul, the people itself, by passing through the Red Sea, proclaimed the good tidings of salvation by water. The people passed over, and the Egyptian king with his host was engulfed, and by these actions this sacrament was foretold. For even now, whensoever the people is in the water of regeneration, fleeing from Egypt, from the burden of sin, it is set free and saved. But the devil with his own servants (I mean, of course, the spirits of evil) is choked with grief and perishes, deeming the salvation of men to be his own misfortune.

This people of God, freed from a great and broad Egypt, is led, as through the Red Sea, that in baptism it may make an end of its enemies. For by the sacrament as it were of the Red Sea, that is by baptism consecrated with the blood of Christ, the pursuing Egyptians, the sins, are washed away.

The Israelites are commanded to encamp before Pi-hahiroth, Exo 14:1, Exo 14:2. God predicts the pursuit of Pharaoh, Exo 14:3, Exo 14:4. Pharaoh is informed that the Israelites are fled, and regrets that he suffered them to depart, Exo 14:5. He musters his troops and pursues them, Exo 14:6-8. Overtakes them in their encampment by the Red Sea, Exo 14:9. The Israelites are terrified at his approach, Exo 14:10. They murmur against Moses for leading them out, Exo 14:11, Exo 14:12. Moses encourages them, and assures them of deliverance, Exo 14:13, Exo 14:14. God commands the Israelites to advance, and Moses to stretch out his rod over the sea that it might be divided, Exo 14:15, Exo 14:16; and promises utterly to discomfit the Egyptians, Exo 14:17, Exo 14:18. The angel of God places himself between the Israelites and the Egyptians, Exo 14:19. The pillar of the cloud becomes darkness to the Egyptians, while it gives light to the Israelites, Exo 14:20. Moses stretches out his rod, and a strong east wind blows, and the waters are divided, Exo 14:21. The Israelites enter and walk on dry ground, Exo 14:22. The Egyptians enter also in pursuit of the Israelites, Exo 14:23. The Lord looks out of the pillar of cloud on the Egyptians, terrifies them, and disjoints their chariots, Exo 14:24, Exo 14:25. Moses is commanded to stretch forth his rod over the waters, that they may return to their former bed, Exo 14:26. He does so, and the whole Egyptian army is overwhelmed, Exo 14:27, Exo 14:28, while every Israelite escapes, Exo 14:29. Being thus saved from the hand of their adversaries, they acknowledge the power of God, and credit the mission of Moses, Exo 14:30, Exo 14:31.

And the waters were a wall unto them on their right and on their left - This verse demonstrates that the passage was miraculous. Some have supposed that the Israelites had passed through, favored by an extraordinary ebb, which happened at that time to be produced by a strong wind, which happened just then to blow! Had this been the case, there could not have been waters standing on the right hand and on the left; much less could those waters, contrary to every law of fluids, have stood as a wall on either side while the Israelites passed through, and then happen to become obedient to the laws of gravitation when the Egyptians entered in! An infidel may deny the revelation in toto, and from such we expect nothing better; but to hear those who profess to believe this to be a Divine revelation endeavoring to prove that the passage of the Red Sea had nothing miraculous in it, is really intolerable. Such a mode of interpretation requires a miracle to make itself credible. Poor infidelity! how miserable and despicable are thy shifts!

GOD INSTRUCTS THE ISRAELITES AS TO THEIR JOURNEY. (Exo. 14:1-31) Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp--The Israelites had now completed their three days' journey, and at Etham the decisive step would have to be taken whether they would celebrate their intended feast and return, or march onwards by the head of the Red Sea into the desert, with a view to a final departure. They were already on the borders of the desert, and a short march would have placed them beyond the reach of pursuit, as the chariots of Egypt could have made little progress over dry and yielding sand. But at Etham, instead of pursuing their journey eastward with the sea on their right, they were suddenly commanded to diverge to the south, keeping the gulf on their left; a route which not only detained them lingering on the confines of Egypt, but, in adopting it, they actually turned their backs on the land of which they had set out to obtain the possession. A movement so unexpected, and of which the ultimate design was carefully concealed, could not but excite the astonishment of all, even of Moses himself, although, from his implicit faith in the wisdom and power of his heavenly Guide, he obeyed. The object was to entice Pharaoh to pursue, in order that the moral effect, which the judgments on Egypt had produced in releasing God's people from bondage, might be still further extended over the nations by the awful events transacted at the Red Sea. Pi-hahiroth--the mouth of the defile, or pass--a description well suited to that of Bedea, which extended from the Nile and opens on the shore of the Red Sea. Migdol--a fortress or citadel. Baal-zephon--some marked site on the opposite or eastern coast.

the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea, &c.--It is highly probable that Moses, along with Aaron, first planted his footsteps on the untrodden sand, encouraging the people to follow him without fear of the treacherous walls; and when we take into account the multitudes that followed him, the immense number who through infancy and old age were incapable of hastening their movements, together with all the appurtenances of the camp, the strong and steadfast character of the leaders' faith was strikingly manifested (Jos 2:10; Jos 4:23; Psa 66:6; Psa 74:13; Psa 106:9; Psa 136:13; Isa 63:11-13; Co1 10:1; Heb 11:29).

Passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea; Destruction of Pharaoh and His Army. - Exo 14:1, Exo 14:2. At Etham God commanded the Israelites to turn (שׁוּב) and encamp by the sea, before Pihachiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baalzephon, opposite to it. In Num 33:7, the march is described thus: on leaving Etham they turned up to (על) Pihachiroth, which is before (על־פּני( e in the front of) Baalzephon, and encamped before Migdol. The only one of these places that can be determined with any certainty is Pihachiroth, or Hachiroth (Num 33:8, pi being simply the Egyptian article), which name has undoubtedly been preserved in the Ajrud mentioned by Edrisi in the middle of the twelfth century. At present this is simply a fort, which a well 250 feet deep, the water of which is so bitter, however, that camels can hardly drink it. It stands on the pilgrim road from Kahira to Mecca, four hours' journey to the north-west of Suez (vid., Robinson, Pal. i. p. 65). A plain, nearly ten miles long and about as many broad, stretches from Ajrud to the sea to the west of Suez, and from the foot of Atkah to the arm of the sea on the north of Suez (Robinson, Pal. i. 65). This plain most probably served the Israelites as a place of encampment, so that they encamped before, i.e., to the east of, Ajrud towards the sea. The other places just also be sought in the neighbourhood of Hachiroth (Ajrud), though no traces of them have been discovered yet. Migdol cannot be the Migdol twelve Roman miles to the south of Pelusium, which formed the north-eastern boundary of Egypt (Eze 29:10), for according to Num 33:7, Israel encamped before Migdol; nor is it to be sought for in the hill and mountain-pass called Montala by Burckhardt, el Muntala by Robinson (pp. 63, 64), two hours' journey to the northwest of Ajrud, as Knobel supposes, for this hill lies too far to the west, and when looked at from the sea is almost behind Ajrud; so that the expression "encamping before Migdol" does not suit this situation, not to mention the fact that a tower (מגדּל) does not indicate a watch-tower (מצפּה). Migdol was probably to the south of Ajrud, on one of the heights of the Atkah, and near it, though more to the south-east, Baalzephon (locus Typhonis), which Michaelis and Forster suppose to be Heroopolis, whilst Knobel places it on the eastern shore, and others to the south of Hachiroth. If Israel therefore did not go straight into the desert from Etham, on the border of the desert, but went southwards into the plain of Suez, to the west of the head of the Red Sea, they were obliged to bend round, i.e., "to turn" from the road they had taken first. The distance from Etham to the place of encampment at Hachiroth must be at least a six hours' journey (a tolerable day's journey, therefore, for a whole nation), as the road from Suez to Ajrud takes four hours (Robinson, i. p. 66).