Exodus 15:5

Exo 15:5 The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.

Ver. 5. As a stone.] So shall Rome. {Rev 15:5; Rev 18:21 Mic 7:19} The Jews, saith Montanus, took those things they abominated as filthy and unclean, and threw them into the sea. {a}

{a} Ex lib. Misna. cap. de Phase.

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.

(5) The depths have covered them.—Rather, covered them. The first stanza, or strophe, here terminates—the first historical review is completed. In it attention is concentrated on the one great fact of the deliverance by the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea. At the close it is probable that Miriam, with her chorus of women, took up the refrain of Exo_15:1, and slightly modifying it, sang, as recorded in Exo_15:21, “Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath glorified himself gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”

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

5. The deeps] chiefly a poet. word: Psa_77:16; Psa_106:9, Isa_63:13 (all with reference to the passage of Red Sea); and elsewhere.

did cover them] The tense used represents the action vividly as it was taking place, something in the manner of the Greek imperfect. Song of Solomon vv6, 7. It cannot be reproduced idiomatically in English. ‘Cover’ is probably meant by the Revisers to be a historical present: but even this is inadequate; and the word is very liable to be misunderstood as an actual present (‘cover them now’).

the depths] Mic_7:19, Psa_68:22; Psa_107:24, Neh_9:11 (an allusion to the present passage), al. Properly, perhaps, the gurgling-places (cf. on v. 10). Quite a different word from ‘deeps,’ vv. 5, 8.

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.

The depths have covered them,.... The depths of the sea covered Pharaoh and his host, so as to be seen no more; and in like manner will mystical Babylon, or antichrist, be destroyed, and be no more found and seen; as likewise the sins of God's people, being cast into the depths of the sea, and covered with the blood of Christ, will be seen no more; when they are sought for, they shall not be found:

they sunk into the bottom as a stone; into the bottom of the sea, as a stone thrown into anybody of water sinks and rises not up again; this circumstance is observed by Neh 9:11.

their persecutors thou threwest into the deep, as a stone into the mighty waters; and thus a stone like a millstone being taken by an angel and cast into the sea, is made an emblem of the irrecoverable ruin and destruction of Babylon, or antichrist, Rev 18:21.

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

The depths have covered them. Rather "covered them." Into the bottom. Literally, "into the abyss." Like a stone. The warriors who fought in chariots commonly wore coats of mail, composed of bronze plates sewn on to a linen base, and overlapping one another. The coats covered the arms to the elbow, and descended nearly to the knee. They must have been exceedingly heavy: and the warrior who wore one must have sunk at once, without a struggle, like a stone or a lump of lead (verse 10).

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

יכסימו THEY COVER THEM — this is the same as יְכַסּוּם and the middle י is redundant. This is quite usual in Scripture–verses (in Biblical Hebrew), just as in (Deuteronomy 8:13) וצאנך ירביון, and (Psalms 36:9) ירויון מדשן ביתך, and the force of the first י which expresses the future tense you must explain as follows: they have been sunk in the Red Sea in order that the waters should return and should cover them. The word יכסימו has no similar example in Scripture so far as its punctuation is concerned; ordinarily it would be יְכַסְיֻמוּ with Melopum (חולם)‎.

כמו אבן AS A STONE — But in another passage (v. 10) it states, “they dropped like lead”, and in yet another passage (v. 7) “it consumes them as stubble”! The wicked amongst the Egyptians were as stubble, being continually dashed about, and tossed up and down; those of average worth sank as a stone, suffering less agony, whilst the best amongst them sank as lead so that they came to their rest at once (cf. 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.