The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 2 — Section 3

l'Hulrrui, pa•ijirn. 11 beoome glorlou,, Or wind. ThiA wiri<l m1JRt, have r/m1'! ftom a n~w "iH gJ,,rioW1." KaliHch rightly regards vurHe.H quarter, r,r its eff,!d,H would n,Jt, havP. twr:11 lo G arn.l 7 RH containing "a g,mcral rlcwriptirm bring the water 1-Y.tek. We may reaw,nahlv of Ur,rJ's orrmipotcncfl and j1L~ticc," and noks sappr,se a. wind t,, have ari•en cr,ntrary t,, th,, thr.1. the poet only returns t,, the Huhject of the former one, blr,wing frr,m the nr,rth-w,,st ,,r Egyptians in verse 8. Ho a!HO Knobel. Rath the north, which wc,ulrl have driven the, water daahed 1n piece■. Rat.her, "Will dash in of the Bitt,,r LakeH rv,uthward, and thu., 1.,.,,. piecCB," or " daahes in pieces "-a genc.-ral duced the effect •pr,k,,n of. The effo:t may statement, or may oQt, have been increai;r,d hy the fl,,w ,,f Ver. 7.-Thou hut overthrown, etc. Here the tide in the R,,,d Sea.. They aani: as lead a.gain the verbs a.re future. TraDHiatc-" thou Bee the c,,mrnent on verse 5. wilt overthrow," or " thoo overthrow est them that rise op against thee; thou (wilt send) Vere. 11, 12 c,,nt.a.in the third etan7,a. r,f the ecndcet forth thy wrath, which consumes them first division of the ode. It is shr,rt cornpa.rerl RH stubble." The metaphor iri the wt clause to the r,ther two, cr,ut.a.irung merely a. fre.sh was one known to the EgyptiaDH. • a.eeription of praise to God, cast in a new fonn ; Ver. 8.-With the blaat ofthynoltrill the waters were gathered together. Poetically, and a. repetition of the great fa.et which the Moses describes the east wind which God set poem commemorates - the Egyptian over- in motion as " the blaet " or "breath of his throw. We cmiceive that Miriam'e r,horus ooetrilll." By meaDH of it, he ea.ye, the waters (ver. 21) was a.gain interpf.8ed between verses were "gathered together," or "piled up; " 10 and 11. then, growing bolder in his imagery, he rer,re- eents the floods as "standing in a heap ' on Ver. 11.-Who ii like unto thee, 0 Lord, either side, and the depths RH "congealed." among the goda 1 It was one great object of No doubt, if these tenns a.re meant to be taken the whole series of miraculone vi!!ita.tiooe literally, the miracle most have been one in whereof Egypt had been the scene, that the which "the sea." (as Kalisch says) "giving true God, J ehova.h, should be exalted far above up its nature, formed with its waves a. firm a.11 the gods of the heathen. (See eh. vii. 5 ; wa.11, and instead of streaming like a. fluid, xiv. 4, 18.) Moses therefore makes this one congealed into a. hard enbsta.nce." But the of his topics of praise ; and at the same time question is, a.re we justified in ta.king litera.lly notes three points in which God has no the strong expreesioDH of a highly wrooght rival-I. Holiness; 2. Awfulness; and 3. Mi- poetical description ? ra.culoos power. Compare Ps. lxxxvi. 8 ; Ver. 9.--The enemy said. This ver.e is "Among the gods there is none like unto import.ant as giving the animUII of the pursuit, thee, 0 Lord; neither a.re there anv works like showing what WaB in the thoughts of the thy works." Fearfol in ~ . e . , "to be soldien; who flocked to Phara.oh'e standard at viewed with a.we even when we praise Him." his ca.11-a point which had not been pre- Ver. 12.-Thou atretehedlt out thy right vio11Sly touched. It is remarkable RH a de- hand. Thou had!.1. only to stretch out an parture from the general stately order of arm, and at once thy enemies perished. The Hebrew poesy, and for what has been called earth swallowed them up-i.e., the sea., which its " abrupt, gasping " style. The broken is a. pa.rt of the earth. speech imita,tes the utterance of one at once eager and db.t of breath. I will divide the PART II spoil. The Israelites, it must be remembered, had gone out of Egypt laden with ornaments Ver. 13.-Thou in thy mercy hut led of silver and of gold, and accompanied b;r forth. Or " leadest forth." See the lutro- flocks and herd& of great value. Pharaoh s doction to the chapter. Whioh thou hut soldiers regarded this wealth RH legitimate redeemed. See the comment OD eh. vi. ,;_ plunder, and intended to a.~r~riate it. ][y Thou hut guided. Or "thoo guidest." Thy lnlt, Litera.lly, "my soul. Hage and hate holy habitation. By "God's holy habita- were the pa.ssi009 to be satiated, rather than tion" some understand Mount Sinai, others lust. Ky hand shall destroy them. So the Ca.naa.o, others Mount Moriah, or even the Vulga.te, Onkelos, Rosenmtiller, Knobel, Ka- temple there to be boilt ultimately. That li11Ch, and others. The LXX. have ""P••ocrn., Sinai is not intended seems clear from verses "acquire the lordehip over them" (whence H, 15, where the nations mentioned are such our marginal rendermg) But the drawn as were untouched by the occupation of that sword points to death rather than recapture. mountain. Canaan might sufficiently answer Ver. 10.-Thou didst blow with thy wind. the requirements of the present verse, but Here we have nnother fa.et not mentioned in er..arcely comes up to those of verse 17. the direct narrative, but entirely harmonising Altogether, it is clear that Moses knew there with it. The immediate ea.use of the return would be a place in the land of Caua.ao where c,f the water.;, 1111 of their retirement, was a God would "put his name" ( Deut. xii. 5, n ~ 4 'l'IlE BOOK OF EXODUS. [en. ~v. 13-20.