14: 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before 119Pihahiroth, between 120Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon: over against it shall ye encamp by the sea.
119Probably north of Etham, closer to where the Philistine road would have taken them. Hence Pharaoh’s reaction in vss. 3-5.
120Meaning Tower, as in fortified cities. So Gesenius.
14: 3 And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
14: 4 And I will 121harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he shall follow after them; and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah. And they did so.
121Hb. make Pharaoh’s heart strong,
14: 5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people were fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, What is this we have done, 122that we have let Israel go from serving us?
122A large work force had been lost to the economy.
14: 6 And he made ready his 123chariot, and took his people with him:
123Or, chariots, The Hyksos introduced horse-and-chariot warfare into Egypt.
14: 7 and he took six hundred chosen chariots, 124even all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them.
124Or, and
14: 8 And Jehovah 125hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: for the children of Israel went out with a high hand.
125Hb. made strong the heart
14: 9 And the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal-zephon.
14: 10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah.
14: 11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to bring us forth out of Egypt?
14: 12 Is not this the word that we spake unto thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
14: 13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will work for you today: 126for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, 127ye shall see them again no more for ever.
126Or, for whereas ye have seen the Egyptians today,
127In addition to the death of these Egyptians in the Red Sea, the Egyptians from Thebes drove the rest of the Hyksos out of Egypt, and then defeated them at Sharuhen in SW Canaan while the Israelites were coming into Canaan from the east. After that we know nothing more of the Egyptian Hyksos.
14: 14 Jehovah will fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
14: 15 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.
14: 16 And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.
14: 17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
14: 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
14: 19 And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud removed from before them, and stood behind them:
14: 20 and it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one came not near the other all the night.
14: 21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and Jehovah caused the sea to go back by a strong 128east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
128An east wind in Spring would likely be warm and dry; a few hardened cm of surface over mud might support animals and man, but could cause the wheels of a fast fully-loaded chariot to sink in.
14: 22 And the children of Israel 129went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a 130wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
129Called a type in 1Co 10:1-2, 6, 11.
130Not necessarily a vertical wall. Cf. 1Sam 25:16.
14: 23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
14: 24 And it came to pass in the 131morning watch, that Jehovah looked forth upon the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians.
131The third watch of the night, ending at sunrise.
14: 25 And he 132caused their chariot wheels to come off, 133and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for Jehovah fighteth for them against the Egyptians.
132So Massoretic and Vulgate. Sept., Sam. and Aram. read bound (or, clogged) their chariot wheels,
133Or, and made them to drive heavily;
14: 26 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the sea, that 134the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.
134High tides on Nisan 18 would have been about 1:25 a.m. and 1:37 p.m.; low tide close to 7:30 a.m. Seismic waves from Thera could cause the water to shock towards the south end of the Red Sea, giving 5-6 hours of low water level, before reflecting back from the Bab el Mandeb strait, and returning at perhaps 10 km/minute. Or an earthquake could cause a flood.
14: 27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to 135its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and Jehovah 136overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
135Or, its wonted flow when the morning appeared;
136Hb. shook off the Egyptians
14: 28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, even all the host of 137Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea; there remained not so much as one of them.
137Evidently Pharaoh also died. Ps 136:15. Mayebre (Jambres Assis) reigned only 3 (possibly 13) years.
14: 29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
14: 30 Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore.
14: 31 and Israel saw the great 138work which Jehovah did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared Jehovah: and they believed in Jehovah, and in his servant Moses.
138Hb. hand
