Exodus 14:26

Exo 14:26 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

Ver. 26. That the waters may come again.] By wind that God sent. {Exo 15:10} "The winds blow, the waters flow." {Psa 147:18}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo 14:26. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the sea — And give a signal to the waters to close again, as before upon the word of command they had opened to the right and the left. He did so, and immediately the waters returned to their place, and overwhelmed all the host of the Egyptians. Pharaoh and his servants, that had hardened one another in sin, now fell together, and not one escaped. An ancient tradition saith, that Pharaoh’s magicians, Jannes and Jambres, perished with the rest. Now God got him honour upon Pharaoh, a rebel to God, and a slave to his own barbarous passions; perfectly lost to humanity, virtue, and all true honour; here he lies buried in the deep, a perpetual monument of divine justice: here he went down to the pit, though he was the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(26) And the Lord said.—Or, The Lord had said. Probably the command was given as soon as the Israelites were safe across. It would take some hours for the north-west wind to bring back the waters of the Bitter Lakes.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26, 27a. The sequel in P to v. 23. The waters are to return, as they were divided (v. 21a, c), at the signal given by Moses’ hand.

26. come again] come back; the word rendered ‘returned’ in vv. 27, 28. ‘Again’ in EVV., as in Old English generally, often means back.

27b. and the sea returned, &c.] By the cessation of the E. wind (v. 21b); or, if Exo_15:10 is to be pressed, by a contrary wind beginning.

to its wonted flow] The marg. is right: lit. to its perennial state. The word signifies properly everflowing (Amo_5:20 RVm., Psa_74:15 RVm., Deu_21:6 RV.); but its meaning was lost by the Jews; and as it occurs in many passages in which the rend. mighty, or strong, strength, would satisfy the context, the Jews interpreted it by these words, and hence the usual rendering of it in AV. The true meaning of the word was not recovered till in the 18th cent. Arabic began to be studied and compared with Hebrew, when Albert Schultens pointed out that the root in Arabic was used of a stream, and signified to be perennial, ever-flowing. Cf. the writer’s note on Amo_5:24; and Lex. p. 450b.

appeared] Heb. turned (to approach): an idiom, expression, occurring also Jdg_19:26, Psa_46:5, and, with ‘evening’ for ‘morning’, Gen_24:63, Deu_23:11.

and the Egyptians, &c.] The Heb. is more forcible: and (= as) the Egyptians were fleeing against it.

shook off] The marg. is again right, ‘overthrew’ being a paraphrase: see Neh_5:13, where ‘overthrow’ for ‘shake out’ would obviously be impossible. Cf. the allusion in Psa_136:15 RVm. (the same word). (In Exo_15:7 the Heb. word is different.)

28a. The continuation of v. 27a in P, just as v. 21c is the continuation of v. 21a.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Out of the pillar of fire and of the cloud, when the Egyptians were in all the confusion before described, and about to make the best of their way back again:

Stretch out thine hand over the sea; with his rod in it, by which all the wonders were wrought, and particularly by which the sea had been divided, and now it must be used to a different purpose:

that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen; the waters which stood upright as a wall, on the right and left, might be no longer kept in such a position, but fall down upon the Egyptians, their chariots and horsemen, being higher than they.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That the waters may come - A sudden cessation of the wind, possibly coinciding with a spring tide (it was full moon) would immediately convert the low flat sand-banks first into a quicksand, and then into a mass of waters, in a time far less than would suffice for the escape of a single chariot, or horseman loaded with heavy corslet.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 26, 27. And the Lord said. God here interposed a new difficulty. Moses was instructed to stretch out his rod once more, and undo his former work. At the appointed sign, the east wind ceased to blow, and the waters of the Bitter Lakes, no longer driven to the north-west by its force, flowed back with something of a reflux, while at the same time, the tide having turned, the Red Sea waves came rushing on at unwonted speed. In vain the Egyptians fled. They were met by the advancing floods, which poured in on either side, overwhelming and covering up all those who had entered on the dangerous path.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the sea - And give a signal to the waters to close again, as before upon the word of command they had opened to the right and the left. He did so, and immediately the waters returned to their place, and overwhelmed all the host of the Egyptians. Pharaoh and his servants, that had hardened one another in sin, now fell together, and not one escaped. An ancient tradition saith, That Pharaoh's magicians Jannes and Jambres perished with the rest. Now God got him honour upon Pharaoh, a rebel to God, and a slave to his own barbarous passions; perfectly lost to humanity, virtue, and all true honour; here be lies buried in the deep, a perpetual monument of divine justice: here he went down to the pit, though he was the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Then God directed Moses to stretch out his staff again over the sea, and the sea came back with the turning of the morning (when the morning turned, or approached) to its position (איתן perennitas, the lasting or permanent position), and the Egyptians were flying to meet it. "When the east wind which divided the sea ceased to blow, the sea from the north and south began to flow together on the western side;" whereupon, to judge from Exo 15:10, the wind began immediately to blow from the west, and drove the waves in the face of the flying Egyptians. "And thus Jehovah shook the Egyptians (i.e., plunged them into the greatest confusion) in the midst of the sea," so that Pharaoh's chariots and horsemen, to the very last man, were buried in the waves.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach out with your hand ... and their horsemen."

This can be stated as an indirect quote. AT: "Yahweh told Moses to reach out with his hand over the sea so that the waters would come back onto the Egyptians, their chariots, and their horsemen."

come back onto

"fall on"

The Egyptians fled into the sea

Since the sea was closing in on top of the Egyptians, instead of escaping, they were actually running right into the water.

Yahweh drove the Egyptians

"Yahweh pushed the Egyptians" or "Yahweh threw the Egyptians"

translationWords

Yahweh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

וישבו המים means THE WATERS that were standing erect as a wall SHALL RETURN to their places and form a cover over the Egyptians.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.