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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 13:19
Joseph's bones. A premise, and most of all a promise to the dead, is to be regarded as sacred. Amidst the haste of their departure the Israelites did not forget to take with them the bones of Joseph. They probably carri…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 13:20
And they took their journey from Succoth and encamped in Etham. On the probable position of Etham, see the "Introduction" to this book. The word probably means "House of Turn," and implies the existence at the place of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 13:21-22
EXPOSITION THE PILLAR OF THE CLOUD AND OF FIRE. Having stated, in Exodus 13:17, that "God led the Israelites," and determined their route for them, the writer here proceeds to explain how this leading was accomplished.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 13:21
The Lord went before them. From Succoth at any rate; perhaps even on the journey from Rameses to Succoth. In a pillar of cloud. The pillar was seen—the presence of Jehovah, though unseen, was believed to be in it, and t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 13:22
He took not away. The last distinct mention of the cloud is in Numbers 16:42, after the destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. There is perhaps a later allusion to it in Numbers 20:6. In Nehemiah it is said that "the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:1-19
Moses' Song. The sublimity of this noble ode is universally admitted. It brings Moses before us in the new character of "poet." Moses does not seem to have devoted himself largely to this species of composition; but the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:1-18
The song of Moses a pattern thanksgiving. There is nothing in the whole range of sacred or profane literature more fresh, more vigorous, more teeming with devotional thought than this wonderful poem. In rhythm it is gra…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:1-21
EXPOSITION THE SONG OF MOSES. Full of gratitude, joy, and happiness—burning with a desire to vent in devotional utterance of the most fitting kind, his intense and almost ecstatic feelings, Moses, who to his other extra…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:1
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel. It is in accordance with the general modesty of Moses, that he says nothing of the composition of the "song." No serious doubt of his authorship has ever been entertained; but…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:1-19
The song of triumph-God exalted in the lips of the people. This song we may take as being in some measure the result and expression of the state of feeling mentioned in Exodus 14:31. People who feared Jehovah and believ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:1-21
One of the first songs in the Bible—the first Jewish song—we may almost call it the tap-root whence springs the main stem of Jewish psalmody. The art of poetry and instruments of music were no doubt brought from Egypt;…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:1-21
Song of Moses and the Lamb. "And they sing the song of Moses," etc. (Revelation 15:3). It is quite impossible to sever in thought the song by the sea, and the reference in the Book of the Revelation. We therefore take f…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:1-19
The song of triumph. The sense of Israel's obligation to Jehovah fully expressed. God, we have noticed, is lifted up in this song. We now proceed to observe how he is lifted up in the midst of his people, whom he encomp…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:2
The Lord is my strength and song. Literally, "My strength and song is Jah." The name Jah had not previously been used. It is commonly regarded as an abbreviated form of Jehovah, and was the form generally used in the te…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:3-21
The results of deliverance to God's people. I. THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE MARVELLOUSNESS OF GOD'S POWER (3-12). 1. The might of Egypt, when measured with the strength of God, was utter vanity (4, 5). The Lord's right hand had…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:3
A man of war. A strong anthropomorphism, but one that could scarcely be misunderstood—"a man of war," meaning commonly "a warrior," or "one mighty in battle" (Psalms 24:8). God's might had just been proved, in that he a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:4
Pharaoh's chariots and his host. The "host" of this passage is not the "army" of Exodus 14:9, though in the original the same word is used, but the whole multitude of those who rode in the chariots, and were drowned in…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:5
The depths have covered them. Rather "covered them." Into the bottom. Literally, "into the abyss." Like a stone. The warriors who fought in chariots commonly wore coats of mail, composed of bronze plates sewn on to a li…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:6
Thy right hand, O Lord. Another anthropomorphism, here used for the first time. Compare Exodus 15:12; Deuteronomy 33:2; and the Psalms, passim. Is become glorious Or "is glorious. Kalisch rightly regards verses 6 and 7…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:6-18
Between Exodus 15:5 and Exodus 15:6, Miriam's chorus was probably interposed "Sing ye unto the Lord," etc. Then began the second strophe or stanza of the ode. It is, in the main, expansive and exegetical of the precedin…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:7
Thou hast overthrown, etc. Here again the verbs are future. Translate—"thou wilt overthrow," or "thou overthrowest them that rise up against thee; thou (wilt send) sendest forth thy wrath, which consumes them as stubble…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:8
With the blast of thy nostril the waters were gathered together. Poetically, Moses describes the east wind which God set in motion as "the blast" or "breath of his nostrils." By means of it, he says, the waters were "ga…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:9
The enemy said. This verse is important as giving the animus of the pursuit, showing what was in the thoughts of the soldiers who flocked to Pharaoh's standard at his call—a point which had not been previously touched.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 15:10
Thou didst blow with thy wind. Here we have another fact not mentioned in the direct narrative, but entirely harmonising with it. The immediate cause of the return of the waters, as of their retirement, was a wind. This…