Exodus 14:30

Exo 14:30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

Ver. 30, 31. Thus the Lord.] A mercy never enough memorised. What, then, is our redemption from sin, death, and hell

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_14:30-31

Thus the Lord saved Israel

The great deliverance

Had it not been for this great deliverance, the children of Israel would only have been remembered in the after-history of the world as the slaves who helped to build the Pyramids.

Their religion was fast perishing among them, their religious rites forgotten; and they would soon have been found among the worshippers of the monster gods of Egypt. But God had better things in store for them, when He led them through the Red Sea, making a path for them amid the waters.

I. It was one of the greatest blessings for the human race, that during the preservation of the Jewish people, the great truth of the personality of God, and His nearness to His people, was set before them in language which could not be mistaken. And it is one of the greatest blessings which we enjoy, that we have the same Lord personally presented to us, revealed in the risen and glorified Lord Jesus Christ.

II. God is set before us here not only as a Person, but as a person who cares with all a fathers love and watchfulness for his own people, Our hopes in days of doubt and difficulty are directed to the same personal fatherly care of the great God who loves all His creatures, and who loves Christians above all in the Lord Jesus Christ.

III. When a great national victory is achieved, what boots it to him who loses his life in the hour of victory? The question for us is, not whether God has wrought a great deliverance, but whether we as individuals are partakers of that deliverance, partakers of the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Archbishop Tait.)

Israels deliverance

I. The state of the Israelites when Moses came to them.

1. They were in bondage.

2. They were so far conscious of the misery of their position that they had a strong desire for liberty.

3. They were by no means ready at first to accept the message of Gods deliverance.

4. They had their comforts even in slavery. In all these things we have a picture of ourselves.

II. The deliverance.

1. The moment the Passover is observed, that moment Pharaohs power is broken. The moment that all is right between us and God, that moment Satans power is broken, and he can no longer hold us in bondage.

2. The waters of judgment which saved the Israelites were the means of destroying the vast hosts of Egypt. The power of Satan is broken by the very means by which he intended to destroy.

3. It is our privilege to take our stand on the other side of the Red Sea, and see ourselves raised up with christ into a new life. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)

The diving deliverer recognised

And this mighty God, who so delivered Israel in ancient time, is our God for ever and ever. The walls and covering of our habitations are as truly upheld and kept from falling and crushing us to death, by the Divine hand, as were the walls of waters kept upright, like solid stone, by Almighty power, while the Hebrews passed safely between. We say that it was miracle which protected them, and the laws of nature which protect us. But in both cases it is God. The deepest and truest philosophy of life and faith for us is to bring ourselves into the most intimate relations with the infinite God. The most profound and accurate student of nature is he whose eye is quickest to see the plan and purpose of an intelligent, governing Mind in everything that exists. What should we think of an Israelite walking through the depths of the sea on dry ground, between walls of water standing up like marble on either hand, and yet not recognizing the intended and merciful display of the Divine power for his protection? What should we think of a ransomed Hebrew standing on the safe shore of the Red Sea on that memorable morning, and yet refusing to join in the song of thanksgiving for the great deliverance of the night? The same that we ought to think of one who lies down to sleep at night in his own house, and goes to his daily occupation in the morning, and never prays, never offers thanksgiving to God, for the mercy which redeems his life from destruction every moment. In God we live, and move, and have our being. Every use of our faculties, every sensation of pleasure, every emotion of happiness, every possession, experience, and hope that makes existence a blessing, is a witness to us of Gods special, minute, and ceaseless attention to our welfare. (D. March, D. D.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo 14:30. Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore — Rather, Israel upon (or from) the sea-shore saw the Egyptians dead — That is, saw their dead bodies floating upon the waters. It is likely, however, that the bodies of many of them were cast on shore, and became food to the beasts and birds of prey that frequent the wilderness, which may be the meaning of Psa 74:14; and that the Israelites had the benefit of the spoil, especially of their arms, which they wanted. The Egyptians were very curious in preserving the bodies of their great men; but here the utmost contempt is poured upon the grandees of Egypt: see how they lie, heaps upon heaps, as dung upon the face of the earth!

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

Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore, &c.--The tide threw them up and left multitudes of corpses on the beach; a result that brought greater infamy on the Egyptians, but that tended, on the other hand, to enhance the triumph of the Israelites, and doubtless enriched them with arms, which they had not before. The locality of this famous passage has not yet been, and probably never will be, satisfactorily fixed. Some place it in the immediate neighborhood of Suez; where, they say, the part of the sea is most likely to be affected by "a strong east wind" [Exo 14:21]; where the road from the defile of Migdol (now Muktala) leads directly to this point; and where the sea, not above two miles broad, could be crossed in a short time. The vast majority, however, who have examined the spot, reject this opinion, and fix the passage, as does local tradition, about ten or twelve miles further down the shore at Wady Tawarik. "The time of the miracle was the whole night, at the season of the year, too, when the night would be about its average length. The sea at that point extends from six and a half to eight miles in breadth. There was thus ample time for the passage of the Israelites from any part of the valley, especially considering their excitement and animation by the gracious and wonderful interposition of Providence in their behalf" [WILSON].

Next: Exodus Chapter 15

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 30. Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.] By the extraordinary agitation of the waters, no doubt multitudes of the dead Egyptians were cast on the shore, and by their spoils the Israelites were probably furnished with considerable riches, and especially clothing and arms; which latter were essentially necessary to them in their wars with the Amalekites, Basanites, and Amorites, &c., on their way to the promised land. If they did not get their arms in this way, we know not how they got them, as there is not the slightest reason to believe that they brought any with them out of Egypt.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(30) Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.—On one who saw this sight it would be likely to make a great impression; to after generations it was nothing, since it had no further consequences. That it is recorded indicates the pen of an eyewitness.

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

30. the Egyptians] Heb. Egypt (with a sing. partic. for ‘dead’): cf. vv. 10, 25.

30, 31. Close of the narrative in J.

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.

Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians,.... For though it was now six or seven days since they had leave to go out of Egypt, and actually did depart, yet they could not be said properly to be saved, or to be in safety, till this day, when all the Egyptians their enemies were destroyed, that pursued after them; and this was the twenty first day of the month, and the seventh and last day of the passover, and was an holy convocation to the Lord; See Gill on Exo 12:16.

and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the sea shore; all along, as a late traveller (h) observes, as we may presume, from Sdur (or Shur) to Corondel, and at Corondel especially, from the assistance and termination of the current there. The word for "dead" (i) is in the singular number, and joined with a plural may denote that they saw everyone of the Egyptians dead, since they were all destroyed, and not one remained of them, as in Exo 14:28. Aben Ezra thinks the sense of the words is, not that the Egyptians were seen dead upon the sea shore, but that the Israelites standing upon the sea shore saw the dead bodies of the Egyptians, that is, floating on the waters of the sea; but rather the meaning is, that their dead bodies were by the force of the waters cast upon the shore, and there beheld and plundered by the Israelites. Josephus (k) observes, that the day following (that night the Egyptians were drowned) the arms of the Egyptians being cast on the shore where the Hebrews encamped, through the force of the sea and wind, Moses gathered them up and armed the Hebrews with them; and this will account for it how they came to have arms, since it is highly probable they came out of Egypt unarmed; and how they could fight battles as they did in the wilderness, and when they came into the land of Canaan.

(h) Shaw's Travels, p. 314. Ed. 2. (i) Mortuum, Montanus, Drusius. (k) Antiqu. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 6.

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

Which was done either,

1. By the natural power of the sea, which casteth up its dead bodies after a certain time; till which time God caused the Israelites to abide near the sea, that they might see this for their comfort. Or,

2. By the mighty power of God, which brought them, and their arms too, as many probably conceive, to shore before the usual time.

Quest. How could the Israelites, both they and their cattle, in so little time get over that great sea?

Answ. 1. The Hebrew and some other interpreters deny that they went over, and tell us, they only went into the sea, and fetched a compass in it, that they might allure the Egyptians to follow them, and then by Moses’s conduct returned to the Egyptian shore again. The principal ground of which opinion is this, That as they went into the sea out of the wilderness of Etham, Exo 13:20, so they came again out of the sea into the wilderness of Etham, Num 33:8. But the sameness of the name doth not prove that it is the same place, nothing being more frequent in Scripture, than for divers places to be called by one and the same name. And the Israelites might possibly give the name of Etham to this desert on the Arabian side of the Red Sea, either for its great resemblance to that desert so called on the Egyptian side; or to intimate, that God by dividing the sea, had made that and this to be one continued desert. Or the name of Etham might be common to all that desert at the end of the Red Sea, and on both sides of it.

Answ. 2. They might all conveniently pass over the sea to the Arabian shore in the time allowed for it, either by the mighty power of God, which could easily make both men and beasts to do it in much less than ordinary time, or even by the course of nature; for that part of the sea was not above eight or nine miles over, as geographers and others affirm. And the time allotted for their passage seems to be much more than interpreters have assigned for it. For the Egyptians and Israelites were divided one from another by the cloudy pillar all the night, Exo 14:20, and a strong east wind blew all that night, Exo 14:21. The next morning, as I apprehend it, the cloud still keeping between them, and possibly covering the Egyptians with gross and horrible darkness, which hindered their march, the whole body of the Israelites, and their cattle too, are drawn by Moses’s direction near the shore, and, it may be, the cattle were put into the sea, all which might well take up most of that day; then towards the evening they enter into the sea, and so proceed; and the cloud withdrawing further from the Egyptians, and following the Israelites, the Egyptians pursue after them, and, as it is very probable from the nature and reason of the thing, stand debating some considerable time, when they came to the shore, whether they should venture to follow them into the sea or no. At last the worst counsel prevails, as it generally happens when a people are under a Divine infatuation, and into the sea they go; and by the beginning of the morning watch they draw near the Israelites, when God seasonably appears for Israel’s succour, and puts a stop to the march of the Egyptians. So the morning watch, mentioned Exo 14:24, I take to be, not the morning watch of that night, mentioned Exo 14:20,21, (for all that night, and therefore the morning watch of that night, which was a third, or at least a fourth part of it, was now past and gone,) but the next morning watch after that night and the succeeding day; which seems much more reasonable, than to shrink up the march, first of the Israelites, and then of the Egyptians, into about three hours’ time, which is the time between the midnight and the morning watch. Nor is there any thing in the text which in the least contradicts this opinion, but only that this day’s interval and work is not mentioned in this story; whereas such omissions are frequent in Scripture relations, in which the substance only is mentioned, and many circumstances omitted, whereof we have seen some instances already, and shall meet with many more hereafter.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

30, 31. The Egyptians dead upon the sea shore — The western wind and the returning tide strewed the eastern shore with men and horses, chariots and armour. Josephus says: “On the next day Moses gathered together the weapons of the Egyptians which were brought to the camp of the Hebrews by the current of the sea and the force of the winds assisting it.” (Antiq., 2:16, 6.) Thus might the Israelites have obtained arms for the battles afterwards described with the desert tribes and the Canaanites.

Thus the Lord saved Israel that day — Israel ever remembered this day and this event as the beginning of their national life. Reminiscences of the Red Sea deliverance are interwoven with all their literature, worship, and social life. Profane history has also preserved unmistakable traditions of this great event. Diodorus Siculus (iii, 39) relates that the inhabitants along the shore of the Sea have a tradition that it was once left dry by a great ebb tide, so that the bottom appeared. Artapanus relates (Euseb., Praep. Evang., 9:27) that the inhabitants of Memphis said that Moses led the hosts through the Red Sea during an ebb tide, while the inhabitants of Heliopolis said that Moses, when chased by the king, divided the Sea with his rod, but that when the Egyptians followed after them fire flashed upon them and the waters rolled back and destroyed them. In the language of Ewald, this is an event “whose historical certainty is well established, and its momentous results… are even to us distinctly visible.” (Hist. of Israel, 2:75.) It is not surprising that men who refuse to admit the supernatural anywhere attempt to explain the Red Sea deliverance as a fortuitous coincidence of natural events. Obstinate unbelief can resolve all answers to prayer into happy accidents. No amount of evidence can demonstrate the supernatural to him who lacks spiritual insight. No miracle can compel conviction like a mathematical demonstration, for the proof of divine activity is addressed to the moral and not to the intellectual man. The grandest miracle recorded in history, the resurrection of the Son of God, did not convince all who witnessed it, for “some doubted.” If unbelief were not always possible faith would not be a rewardable virtue, and it is this faith that sees with Israel that great work which Jehovah did upon the Egyptians.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. Josephus says (Ant. Jud_1:2:16, that, after the passage of the sea by the Israelites, a west wind set in, which (assisted by the current) drove the bodies of the drowned Egyptians to the eastern side of the gulf, where many of them were cast up upon the shore. In this way Moses, according to him, obtained weapons and armour for a considerable number of Israelites.

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

And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the shore - The Egyptians were very curious in preserving the bodies of their great men, but here the utmost contempt is poured upon all the grandees of Egypt; see how they lie heaps upon heaps, as dung upon the face of the earth.

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

This miraculous deliverance of Israel from the power of Egypt, through the mighty hand of their God, produced so wholesome a fear of the Lord, that they believed in Jehovah, and His servant Moses.

Exo 14:31

"The great hand:" i.e., the might which Jehovah had displayed upon Egypt. In addition to the glory of God through the judgment upon Pharaoh (Exo 14:4, Exo 14:17), the guidance of Israel through the sea was also designed to establish Israel still more firmly in the fear of the Lord and in faith. But faith in the Lord was inseparably connected with faith in Moses as the servant of the Lord. Hence the miracle was wrought through the hand and staff of Moses. But this second design of the miraculous guidance of Israel did not exclude the first, viz., glory upon Pharaoh. From this manifestation of Jehovah's omnipotence, the Israelites were to discern not only the merciful Deliverer, but also the holy Judge of the ungodly, that they might grow in the fear of God, as well as in the faith which they had already shown, when, trusting in the omnipotence of Jehovah, they had gone, as though upon dry land (Heb 11:29), between the watery walls which might at any moment have overwhelmed them.

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.)

Thus the Lord saved Israel

Redemption: (Exodus type) Summary. Exodus is the book of redemption and teaches:

(1) redemption is wholly of God Exo 3:7; Exo 3:8; Joh 3:16.

(2) redemption is through a person. (See Scofield "Exo 2:2"). Joh 3:16; Joh 3:17.

(3) redemption is by blood Exo 12:13; Exo 12:23; Exo 12:27; 1Pe 1:18.

(4) redemption is by power Exo 6:6; Exo 13:14; Rom 8:2.

(See Scofield "Isa 59:20"). See Scofield "Rom 3:24".

The blood of Christ redeems the believer from the guilt and penalty of sin. 1Pe 1:18 as the power of the Spirit delivers from the dominion of sin.; Rom 8:2; Eph 2:2.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

וירא ישראל את מצרים מת AND ISRAEL SAW THE EGYPTIANS DEAD — because the sea threw them out on its shore in order that the Israelites should not say: “Just as we have come up from out of the sea on this part, so they have come up on another part of this shore, but far away from us, and they will pursue us” (Mekhilta; Pesachim 118b; Arakhin 15a).

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.

On that day Ad-noy delivered. Only now were B’nei Yisrael delivered from the Egyptians because until this point they were still in fear of Pharaoh. [B’nei] Yisrael saw the Egyptians dead. It is written later on that the Egyptians “sunk” into the sea (15:4) and that the earth, “swallowed them up” (15:12). Therefore the statement that B’nei Yisrael “saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore” must mean that B’nei Yisrael saw the Egyptians dead in the middle of the sea while they themselves were on the shore.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.