Exodus 14:29-31

14:29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground in the middle of the sea, the water forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 14:30 So the Lord saved ¹  Israel on that day from the power ²  of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead ³  on the shore of the sea. 14:31 When Israel saw ⁴  the great power ⁵  that the Lord had exercised ⁶  over the Egyptians, they ⁷  feared the Lord, and they believed in ⁸  the Lord and in his servant Moses. ⁹ 

[14:30]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term וַיּוֹשַׁע (vayyosha’) is the key summation of the chapter, and this part of the book: “So Yahweh saved Israel.” This is the culmination of all the powerful works of God through these chapters.

[14:30]  ² tn Heb “the hand,” with “hand” being a metonymy for power.

[14:30]  ³ tn The participle “dead” is singular, agreeing in form with “Egypt.”

[14:31]  ¹ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces a clause that is subordinate to the main points that the verse is making.

[14:31]  ² tn Heb “the great hand,” with “hand” being a metonymy for work or power. The word play using “hand” contrasts the Lord’s hand/power at work on behalf of the Israelites with the hand/power of Egypt that would have killed them.

[14:31]  ³ tn Heb “did, made.”

[14:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the people feared.”

[14:31]  ⁵ tn The verb is the Hiphil preterite of אָמַן (’aman).

[14:31]  ⁶ sn Here the title of “servant” is given to Moses. This is the highest title a mortal can have in the OT – the “servant of Yahweh.” It signifies more than a believer; it describes the individual as acting on behalf of God. For example, when Moses stretched out his hand, God used it as his own (Isa 63:12). Moses was God’s personal representative. The chapter records both a message of salvation and of judgment. Like the earlier account of deliverance at the Passover, this chapter can be a lesson on deliverance from present troubles – if God could do this for Israel, there is no trouble too great for him to overcome. The passage can also be understood as a picture (at least) of the deliverance at the final judgment on the world. But the Israelites used this account for a paradigm of the power of God: namely, God is able to deliver his people from danger because he is the sovereign Lord of creation. His people must learn to trust him, even in desperate situations; they must fear him and not the situation. God can bring any threat to an end by bringing his power to bear in judgment on the wicked.