Exodus 14:4-9

14:4 I will harden ¹  Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them. I will gain honor ²  because of Pharaoh and because of all his army, and the Egyptians will know ³  that I am the Lord.” So this is what they did. ⁴ 

14:5 When it was reported ⁵  to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, ⁶  the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and the king and his servants said, ⁷  “What in the world have we done? ⁸  For we have released the people of Israel ⁹  from serving us!” 14:6 Then he prepared ¹⁰  his chariots and took his army ¹¹  with him. 14:7 He took six hundred select ¹²  chariots, and all the rest of the chariots of Egypt, ¹³  and officers ¹⁴  on all of them.

14:8 But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he chased after the Israelites. Now the Israelites were going out defiantly. ¹⁵  14:9 The Egyptians chased after them, and all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-Zephon.

Exodus 14:23-28

14:23 The Egyptians chased them and followed them into the middle of the sea – all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. 14:24 In the morning watch ¹⁶  the Lord looked down ¹⁷  on the Egyptian army ¹⁸  through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army ¹⁹  into a panic. ²⁰  14:25 He jammed ²¹  the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving, ²²  and the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee ²³  from Israel, for the Lord fights ²⁴  for them against Egypt!”

14:26 The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sea, so that the waters may flow ²⁵  back on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen!” 14:27 So Moses extended his hand toward the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state ²⁶  when the sun began to rise. ²⁷  Now the Egyptians were fleeing ²⁸  before it, but the Lord overthrew ²⁹  the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. 14:28 The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that was coming after the Israelites into the sea ³⁰  – not so much as one of them survived! ³¹ 

Exodus 15:4

15:4 The chariots of Pharaoh ³²  and his army he has thrown into the sea,

and his chosen ³³  officers were drowned ³⁴  in the Red Sea.

Psalms 46:8-9

46:8 Come! Witness the exploits ³⁵  of the Lord,

who brings devastation to the earth! ³⁶ 

46:9 He brings an end to wars throughout the earth; ³⁷ 

he shatters ³⁸  the bow and breaks ³⁹  the spear;

he burns ⁴⁰  the shields with fire. ⁴¹ 

Psalms 76:5-6

76:5 The bravehearted ⁴²  were plundered; ⁴³ 

they “fell asleep.” ⁴⁴ 

All the warriors were helpless. ⁴⁵ 

76:6 At the sound of your battle cry, ⁴⁶  O God of Jacob,

both rider ⁴⁷  and horse “fell asleep.” ⁴⁸ 

Ezekiel 38:8-18

38:8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war, ⁴⁹  with many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins. Its people ⁵⁰  were brought out from the peoples, and all of them will be living securely. 38:9 You will advance; ⁵¹  you will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the earth, you, all your troops, and the many other peoples with you.

38:10 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, ⁵²  and you will devise an evil plan. 38:11 You will say, “I will invade ⁵³  a land of unwalled towns; I will advance against ⁵⁴  those living quietly in security – all of them living without walls and barred gates – 38:12 to loot and plunder, to attack ⁵⁵  the inhabited ruins and the people gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center ⁵⁶  of the earth.” 38:13 Sheba and Dedan and the traders of Tarshish with all its young warriors ⁵⁷  will say to you, “Have you come to loot? Have you assembled your armies to plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to haul away a great amount of spoils?”’

38:14 “Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, you will take notice ⁵⁸  38:15 and come from your place, from the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a vast army. 38:16 You will advance ⁵⁹  against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land so that the nations may acknowledge me, when before their eyes I magnify myself ⁶⁰  through you, O Gog.

38:17 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants ⁶¹  the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days ⁶²  that I would bring you against them? 38:18 On that day, when Gog invades ⁶³  the land of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord, my rage will mount up in my anger.

[14:4]  ¹ tn In this place the verb חָזַק (hazaq) is used; it indicates that God would make Pharaoh’s will strong or firm.

[14:4]  ² tn The form is וְאִכָּבְדָה (vÿ’ikkavÿda), the Niphal cohortative; coming after the perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives expressing the future, this cohortative indicates the purpose of the hardening and chasing. Yahweh intended to gain glory by this final and great victory over the strength of Pharaoh. There is irony in this expression since a different form of the word was used frequently to describe Pharaoh’s hard heart. So judgment will not only destroy the wicked – it will reveal the glory and majesty of the sovereignty of God.

[14:4]  ³ tn This is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive. But it announces the fulfillment of an long standing purpose – that they might know.

[14:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they did so.”

[14:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “and it was told.” The present translation uses “reported,” since this involves information given to a superior.

[14:5]  ⁶ tn The verb must be given a past perfect translation because the fleeing occurred before the telling.

[14:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “and they said.” The referent (the king and his servants) is supplied for clarity.

[14:5]  ⁸ tn The question literally is “What is this we have done?” The demonstrative pronoun is used as an enclitic particle for emphasis (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[14:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “released Israel.” By metonymy the name of the nation is used collectively for the people who constitute it (the Israelites).

[14:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “bound.”

[14:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his people.”

[14:7]  ¹² tn The passive participle of the verb “to choose” means that these were “choice” or superb chariots.

[14:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “every chariot of Egypt.” After the mention of the best chariots, the meaning of this description is “all the other chariots.”

[14:7]  ¹⁴ tn The word שָׁלִשִׁם (shalishim) means “officers” or some special kind of military personnel. At one time it was taken to mean a “three man chariot,” but the pictures of Egyptian chariots only show two in a chariot. It may mean officers near the king, “men of the third rank” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 394). So the chariots and the crew represented the elite. See the old view by A. E. Cowley that linked it to a Hittite word (“A Hittite Word in Hebrew,” JTS 21 [1920]: 326), and the more recent work by P. C. Craigie connecting it to Egyptian “commander” (“An Egyptian Expression in the Song of the Sea: Exodus XV.4,” VT 20 [1970]: 85).

[14:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “with a high hand”; the expression means “defiantly,” “boldly,” or “with confidence.” The phrase is usually used for arrogant sin and pride, the defiant fist, as it were. The image of the high hand can also mean the hand raised to deliver a blow (Job 38:15). So the narrative here builds tension between these two resolute forces.

[14:24]  ¹⁶ tn The night was divided into three watches of about four hours each, making the morning watch about 2:00-6:00 a.m. The text has this as “the watch of the morning,” the genitive qualifying which of the night watches was meant.

[14:24]  ¹⁷ tn This particular verb, שָׁקַף (shaqaf) is a bold anthropomorphism: Yahweh looked down. But its usage is always with some demonstration of mercy or wrath. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 120) suggests that the look might be with fiery flashes to startle the Egyptians, throwing them into a panic. Ps 77:17-19 pictures torrents of rain with lightning and thunder.

[14:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “camp.” The same Hebrew word is used in Exod 14:20. Unlike the English word “camp,” it can be used of a body of people at rest (encamped) or on the move.

[14:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “camp.”

[14:24]  ²⁰ tn The verb הָמַם (hamam) means “throw into confusion.” It is used in the Bible for the panic and disarray of an army before a superior force (Josh 10:10; Judg 4:15).

[14:25]  ²¹ tn The word in the text is וַיָּסַר (vayyasar), which would be translated “and he turned aside” with the sense perhaps of removing the wheels. The reading in the LXX, Smr, and Syriac suggests a root אָסַר (’asar, “to bind”). The sense here might be “clogged – presumably by their sinking in the wet sand” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 120).

[14:25]  ²² tn The clause is וַיְנַהֲגֵהוּ בִּכְבֵדֻת (vaynahagehu bikhvedut). The verb means “to drive a chariot”; here in the Piel it means “cause to drive.” The suffix is collective, and so the verbal form can be translated “and caused them to drive.” The idea of the next word is “heaviness” or “hardship”; it recalls the previous uses of related words to describe Pharaoh’s heart. Here it indicates that the driving of the crippled chariots was with difficulty.

[14:25]  ²³ tn The cohortative has the hortatory use here, “Let’s flee.” Although the form is singular, the sense of it is plural and so hortatory can be used. The form is singular to agree with the singular subject, “Egypt,” which obviously means the Egyptian army. The word for “flee” is used when someone runs from fear of immanent danger and is a different word than the one used in 14:5.

[14:25]  ²⁴ tn The form is the Niphal participle; it is used as the predicate here, that is, the verbal use: “the Lord is fighting.” This corresponds to the announcement in v. 14.

[14:26]  ²⁵ tn The verb, “and they will return,” is here subordinated to the imperative preceding it, showing the purpose of that act.

[14:27]  ²⁶ 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.

[14:27]  ²⁷ tn Heb “at the turning of the morning”; NASB, NIV, TEV, CEV “at daybreak.”

[14:27]  ²⁸ 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….”

[14:27]  ²⁹ tn The verb means “shake out” or “shaking off.” It has the significance of “throw downward.” See Neh 5:13 or Job 38:13.

[14:28]  ³⁰ tn Heb “that was coming after them into the sea.” The referent of “them” (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:28]  ³¹ tn Heb “not was left among them as much as one.”

[15:4]  ³² tn Gesenius notes that the sign of the accusative, often omitted in poetry, is not found in this entire song (GKC 363 §117.b).

[15:4]  ³³ 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).

[15:4]  ³⁴ tn The form is a Qal passive rather than a Pual, for there is not Piel form or meaning.

[46:8]  ³⁵ sn In this context the Lord’s exploits are military in nature (see vv. 8b-9).

[46:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “who sets desolations in the earth” (see Isa 13:9). The active participle describes God’s characteristic activity as a warrior.

[46:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “[the] one who causes wars to cease unto the end of the earth.” The participle continues the description begun in v. 8b and indicates that this is the Lord’s characteristic activity. Ironically, he brings peace to the earth by devastating the warlike, hostile nations (vv. 8, 9b).

[46:9]  ³⁸ tn The verb שָׁבַר (shavar, “break”) appears in the Piel here (see Ps 29:5). In the OT it occurs thirty-six times in the Piel, always with multiple objects (the object is either a collective singular or grammatically plural or dual form). The Piel may highlight the repetition of the pluralative action, or it may suggest an intensification of action, indicating repeated action comprising a whole, perhaps with the nuance “break again and again, break in pieces.” Another option is to understand the form as resultative: “make broken” (see IBHS 404-7 §24.3). The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.

[46:9]  ³⁹ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries along the generalizing emphasis of the preceding imperfect.

[46:9]  ⁴⁰ tn The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.

[46:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “wagons he burns with fire.” Some read “chariots” here (cf. NASB), but the Hebrew word refers to wagons or carts, not chariots, elsewhere in the OT. In this context, where military weapons are mentioned, it is better to revocalize the form as עֲגִלוֹת (’agilot, “round shields”), a word which occurs only here in the OT, but is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic.

[76:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “strong of heart.” In Isa 46:12, the only other text where this phrase appears, it refers to those who are stubborn, but here it seems to describe brave warriors (see the next line).

[76:5]  ⁴³ tn The verb is a rare Aramaized form of the Hitpolel (see GKC 149 §54.a, n. 2); the root is שָׁלַל (shalal, “to plunder”).

[76:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “they slept [in] their sleep.” “Sleep” here refers to the “sleep” of death. A number of modern translations take the phrase to refer to something less than death, however: NASB “cast into a deep sleep”; NEB “fall senseless”; NIV “lie still”; NRSV “lay stunned.”

[76:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and all the men of strength did not find their hands.”

[76:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “from your shout.” The noun is derived from the Hebrew verb גָּעַר (ga’ar), which is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Pss 68:30; 106:9; Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 9:5; 18:15; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[76:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “chariot,” but even so the term is metonymic for the charioteer.

[76:6]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “he fell asleep, and [the] chariot and [the] horse.” Once again (see v. 5) “sleep” refers here to the “sleep” of death.

[38:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “from the sword.”

[38:8]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “it.”

[38:9]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “go up.”

[38:10]  ⁵² tn Heb “words will go up upon your heart.”

[38:11]  ⁵³ tn Heb “go up against.”

[38:11]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “come (to).”

[38:12]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “to turn your hand against.”

[38:12]  ⁵⁶ tn The Hebrew term occurs elsewhere only in Judg 9:37. Perhaps it means “high point, top.”

[38:13]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “young lions.”

[38:14]  ⁵⁸ tn The Hebrew text is framed as a rhetorical question: “will you not take notice?”

[38:16]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “come up.”

[38:16]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “reveal my holiness.”

[38:17]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “by the hand of my servants.”

[38:17]  ⁶² tn The Hebrew text adds “years” here, but this is probably a scribal gloss on the preceding phrase. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:201.

[38:18]  ⁶³ tn Heb “goes up against.”