Exodus 15:4

15:4 The chariots of Pharaoh ¹  and his army he has thrown into the sea,

and his chosen ²  officers were drowned ³  in the Red Sea.

Exodus 13:18

13:18 So God brought the people around by the way of the desert to the Red Sea, ⁴  and the Israelites went up from the land of Egypt prepared for battle. ⁵ 

Exodus 15:22

The Bitter Water

15:22 ⁶ Then Moses led Israel to journey ⁷  away from the Red Sea. They went out to the Desert of Shur, walked for three days ⁸  into the desert, and found no water.

Exodus 10:19

10:19 and the Lord turned a very strong west wind, ⁹  and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. ¹⁰  Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt.

Exodus 23:31

23:31 I will set ¹¹  your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, ¹²  for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

[15:4]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn The form is a Qal passive rather than a Pual, for there is not Piel form or meaning.

[13:18]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term יַם־סוּף (Yam Suf) cannot be a genitive (“wilderness of the Red Sea”) because it follows a noun that is not in construct; instead, it must be an adverbial accusative, unless it is simply joined by apposition to “the wilderness” – the way to the wilderness [and] to the Red Sea (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 217).

[13:18]  ⁵ tn The term חֲמֻשִׁים (khamushim) is placed first for emphasis; it forms a circumstantial clause, explaining how they went up. Unfortunately, it is a rare word with uncertain meaning. Most translations have something to do with “in battle array” or “prepared to fight” if need be (cf. Josh 1:14; 4:12). The Targum took it as “armed with weapons.” The LXX had “in the fifth generation.” Some have opted for “in five divisions.”

[15:22]  ⁷ sn The first event of the Israelites’ desert experience is a failure, for they murmur against Yahweh and are given a stern warning – and the provision of sweet water. The event teaches that God is able to turn bitter water into sweet water for his people, and he promises to do such things if they obey. He can provide for them in the desert – he did not bring them into the desert to let them die. But there is a deeper level to this story – the healing of the water is incidental to the healing of the people, their lack of trust. The passage is arranged in a neat chiasm, starting with a journey (A), ending with the culmination of the journey (A'); developing to bitter water (B), resolving to sweet water (B'); complaints by the people (C), leading to to the instructions for the people (C'); and the central turning point is the wonder miracle (D).

[15:22]  ⁸ tn The verb form is unusual; the normal expression is with the Qal, which expresses that they journeyed. But here the Hiphil is used to underscore that Moses caused them to journey – and he is following God. So the point is that God was leading Israel to the bitter water.

[15:22]  ⁹ sn The mention that they travelled for three days into the desert is deliberately intended to recall Moses’ demand that they go three days into the wilderness to worship. Here, three days in, they find bitter water and complain – not worship.

[10:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps “sea wind,” i.e., a wind off the Mediterranean.

[10:19]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew name here is יַם־סוּף (Yam Suf), sometimes rendered “Reed Sea” or “Sea of Reeds.” The word סוּף is a collective noun that may have derived from an Egyptian name for papyrus reeds. Many English versions have used “Red Sea,” which translates the name that ancient Greeks used: ejruqrav qalavssa (eruqra qalassa).

[23:31]  ¹³ tn The form is a perfect tense with vav consecutive.

[23:31]  ¹⁴ tn In the Hebrew Bible “the River” usually refers to the Euphrates (cf. NASB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT). There is some thought that it refers to a river Nahr el Kebir between Lebanon and Syria. See further W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:447; and G. W. Buchanan, The Consequences of the Covenant (NovTSup), 91-100.