139Or, is highly exalted:
15: 2 140Jehovah 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.
140Hb. Jah
15: 3 Jehovah is a man of war: Jehovah is his name.
15: 4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea; And his chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.
15: 5 The deeps cover them: They went down into the depths like a stone.
15: 6 Thy right hand, O Jehovah, is glorious in power, Thy right hand, O Jehovah, dasheth in pieces the enemy.
15: 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.
15: 8 And with the breath of thy nostrils the waters were piled up. The floods stood upright as a heap; The deeps were 141congealed in the heart of the sea.
141Some think this means a cold wind froze over the sea, though drying a layer of mud seems more likely.
15: 9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My soul shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
15: 10 Thou didst blow with thy breath, the sea covered them: They sank as lead in the mighty waters.
15: 11 Who is like unto thee, O Jehovah, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, Awesome in praises, doing wonders?
15: 12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, The earth swallowed them.
15: 13 Thou in thy lovingkindness hast led the people that thou hast ransomed: Thou hast guided them in thy strength to thy holy habitation.
15: 14 The peoples have heard, they tremble: Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.
15: 15 Then were the chiefs of Edom dismayed; The 142mighty men of Moab, trembling taketh hold upon them: All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.
142Hb. rams of Moab,
15: 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 143purchased.
143Hb. gotten.
15: 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 144Jehovah, which thy hands have established.
144So 4Exodc Sam. Sopherim changed to Lord,
15: 18 Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever.
15: 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.
15: 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.
15: 21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to Jehovah, for he 145hath triumphed gloriously; The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
145Or, is highly exalted;
15: 22 And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went 146three days in the wilderness. And they found no water.
146Thus achieving the original goal. ch. 5:3.
15: 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 147Marah.
147That is, Bitterness.
15: 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
15: 25 And he cried unto Jehovah; and Jehovah showed him a 148tree, 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;
148There is a huge underground aquifer under the Sinai Peninsula, but still above sea level; so at several places on the west and east sides of the peninsula water comes out. The water is full of sulfates (like Na2SO4, Glauber’s salt, a strong cathartic), which are very bitter. Breccia, or calcified wood, can be powdered to precipitate the sulfate, which makes the water potable. Thus, it could be used throughout the Sinai journey.
15: 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 149none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am Jehovah that healeth thee.
149The Law anticipated much modern health advice by 36 centuries. See S.I. McMillen, “None of These Diseases;” Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming Revell, 1963.
15: 27 And they came to Elim, where were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm-trees: and they encamped there by the waters.
