78:53 He guided them safely along,
while the sea covered their enemies.
135:9 He performed awesome deeds 1 and acts of judgment 2
in your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
15:4 The chariots of Pharaoh 9 and his army he has thrown into the sea,
and his chosen 10 officers were drowned 11 in the Red Sea.
15:5 The depths have covered them, 12
they went down to the bottom 13 like a stone.
15:10 But 14 you blew with your breath, and 15 the sea covered them.
They sank 16 like lead in the mighty waters.
15:11 Who is like you, 17 O Lord, among the gods? 18
Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, 19 working wonders?
1 tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).
2 tn Or “portents”; “omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are alluded to here.
3 tn The Hebrew term לְאֵיתָנוֹ (lÿ’etano) means “to its place,” or better, “to its perennial state.” The point is that the sea here had a normal level, and now when the Egyptians were in the sea on the dry ground the water would return to that level.
4 tn Heb “at the turning of the morning”; NASB, NIV, TEV, CEV “at daybreak.”
5 tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav (ו) on the noun, signaling either a circumstantial clause or a new beginning. It could be rendered, “Although the Egyptians…Yahweh…” or “as the Egyptians….”
6 tn The verb means “shake out” or “shaking off.” It has the significance of “throw downward.” See Neh 5:13 or Job 38:13.
7 tn Heb “that was coming after them into the sea.” The referent of “them” (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “not was left among them as much as one.”
9 tn Gesenius notes that the sign of the accusative, often omitted in poetry, is not found in this entire song (GKC 363 §117.b).
10 tn The word is a substantive, “choice, selection”; it is here used in the construct state to convey an attribute before a partitive genitive – “the choice of his officers” means his “choice officers” (see GKC 417 §128.r).
11 tn The form is a Qal passive rather than a Pual, for there is not Piel form or meaning.
12 tn The verb form is יְכַסְיֻמוּ (yÿkhasyumu) is the Piel preterite. Normally a vav (ו) consecutive is used with the preterite, but in some ancient poems the form without the vav appears, as is the case frequently in this poem. That such an archaic form is used should come as no surprise, because the word also uses the yod (י) of the root (GKC 214 §75.dd), and the archaic suffix form (GKC 258 §91.l). These all indicate the antiquity of the poem.
13 tn The parasynonyms here are תְּהֹמֹת (tÿhomot, “deep, ocean depths, deep waters”) and מְצוֹלֹת (mÿtsolot, “the depths”); S. R. Driver says properly the “gurgling places” (Exodus, 134).
14 tn “But” has been supplied here.
15 tn Here “and” has been supplied.
16 tn The verb may have the idea of sinking with a gurgling sound, like water going into a whirlpool (R. A. Cole, Exodus [TOTC], 124; S. R. Driver, Exodus, 136). See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, “The Song of Miriam,” JNES 14 (1955): 243-47.
17 tn The question is of course rhetorical; it is a way of affirming that no one is comparable to God. See C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament, 22, 66-67, and 94-97.
18 sn Verses 11-17 will now focus on Yahweh as the incomparable one who was able to save Israel from their foes and afterward lead them to the promised land.
19 tn S. R. Driver suggests “praiseworthy acts” as the translation (Exodus, 137).
20 tn Heb “signs and wonders.” This phrase is a hendiadys. The second noun functions adjectivally, while the first noun retains its full nominal sense: “awesome signs” or “miraculous signs.”
21 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 tn Or “arrogantly” (so NASB); NRSV “insolently.”
23 tn Heb “in the midst of.”
24 tn Heb “those who pursued them.”
25 tn Heb “mighty.”