Exodus 15:21

Exo 15:21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Ver. 21. Sing ye to the Lord.] This seems to have been the burden of the song: as Psa 134:1.

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.

By singing the like song of thanksgiving.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Miriam answered them--"them" in the Hebrew is masculine, so that Moses probably led the men and Miriam the women--the two bands responding alternately, and singing the first verse as a chorus.

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

(21) Miriam answered them.—Miriam and her maidens at the close of each portion of the “Song”—i.e., at the end of Exo_15:5; Exo_15:10; Exo_15:12; Exo_15:18—sang the refrain which is here given—a refrain very slightly altered from the opening verse of the “Song” itself, marking, no doubt, the time with their timbrels, and moving gracefully through a stately and solemn dance.

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

21. answered] The word means (note the ל), answered antiphonally in song, even if,—as some think, connecting it with the Arab. ghanâ (Lex. 777a),—it does not mean simply sang (comp. Num_21:17 b; and esp. 1Sa_18:7; 1Sa_21:11; 1Sa_24:5 [where the same word is rendered, ‘sing one to another’]).

them] The pron. is masc., so the reference might seem to be to the men (v. 1a), after they had sung v. 1b. But this antecedent is rather remote: and as in the 2nd and 3rd plur. the masc. form is often used with reference to women (G.-K. § 135o), it is probably better (with Bä.) to suppose the women in v. 20b to be referred to; cf. 1Sa_18:7.

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.

So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea,.... Or "caused them to journey" (a), which some think was done with difficulty, they being so eager and intent upon the spoil and plunder of the Egyptians cast upon the sea shore, the harness of their horses being, as Jarchi observes, ornamented with gold and silver, and precious stones; or as others, they had some inclination to return to Egypt, and take possession of the country for themselves; the inhabitants of it, at least its military force, being destroyed, and their armour in their possession; but the truer meaning of the word is, that Moses, as their general, gave them the word of command to march, and till they had it they stayed at the Red sea refreshing themselves, taking the spoils of the enemy, and singing the praises of God; but when Moses gave them orders to set forward, they proceeded on their journey:

and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; the same with the wilderness of Etham, as appears from Num 33:8 there might be, as Aben Ezra conjectures, two cities in or near this wilderness, of those two names, from whence it might be called: for, as Doctor Shaw says (b), Shur was a particular district of the wilderness of Etham, fronting the valley (of Baideah), from which, he supposes, the children of Israel departed: and Doctor Pocock says (c) that the wilderness of Shur might be the fourth part of the wilderness of Etham, for about six hours from the springs of Moses (where, according to the tradition of the country, the children of Israel landed, being directly over against Clysma or Pihahiroth) is a winter torrent, called Sedur (or Sdur), and there is a hill higher than the rest, called Kala Sedur (the fortress of Sedur), and from which this wilderness might have its name: and by another traveller (d) this wilderness is called the wilderness of Sedur: and now it was the wilderness of Etham they were in before they went into the Red sea, which has induced some to believe that they came out on the same shore again; for the solution of which difficulty See Gill on Exo 14:22,

and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water; which must be very distressing to such a vast number of people and cattle, in a hot, sandy, desert: this doubtless gave occasion to the stories told by Heathen authors, as Tacitus (e), and others, that the people of the Jews, under the conduct of Moses, were near perishing for want of water, when, following a flock of wild asses, which led them to a rock covered with a grove of trees, they found large fountains of water: the three days they travelled here were the twenty second, third and fourth, of Nisan, in the beginning of April.

(a) "et fecit proficisci", Pagninus & Montanus, Drusius; "jussit proficisci", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (b) Travels. p. 312. (c) Travels, p. 156. (d) Journal from Cairo, &c. p. 13. (e) Hist. l. 5. c. 3.

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

Miriam addressed either,

1. The women, last spoken of, and then it is an enallage of the gender. Or,

2. The men spoken of before. They sung by turns, or by parts, either the same words being repeated, or some other words of a like nature added. See 1Ch 16:41; 2Ch 5:13; Ezr 3:11.

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

21. Miriam answered — That is, she led in these words the chorus or refrain. See on Exo_15:1.

Here closes the first division of the Book of Exodus. Israel has now gone forth, and, with the Sea behind and the Desert before, begins her career as a NATION.

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

Miriam answered them. Miriam, with her chorus of women, answered the chorus of men, responding at the termination of each stanza or separate part of the ode with the refrain, "Sing ye to the Lord," etc. (See the "Introduction" to this chapter.) While responding, the female chorus both danced and struck their tambourines. This use of dancing in a religious ceremonial, so contrary to Western ideas of decorum, is quite consonant with Oriental practice, both ancient and modern. Other examples of it in Scripture are David"s dancing before the ark, (2Sa_6:16) the dancing of Jephthah"s daughter, (Jud_1:11:34) and that of the virgins of Shiloh. (Jud_1:21:21) It is also mentioned with approval in the Psalms. (Psa_149:3) Dancing was practised as a religious ceremony in Egypt, in Phrygia, in Thrace, by the Phoenicians, by the Syrians, by the Romans, and others. In the nature of things there is clearly nothing unfitting or indecorous in a dedication to religion of what has been called "the poetry of gesture." But human infirmity has connected such terrible abuses with the practice that the purer religions have either discarded it or else denied it admission into their ceremonial. It still however lingers in Mohammedanism among those who are called "dancing dervishes," whose extraordinary performances are regarded as acts of devotion.

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

And Miriam answered them - The men: They sung by turns, or in parts.

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

ותען להם מרים AND MIRIAM SANG UNTO THEM — Moses sang the Song to the men — he sang it and they repeated it after him; and Miriam sang the Song to the women and they repeated it after her (Mekhilta).

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.