1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, "I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations.
Isn't it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? The ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy shall be on their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; [and] sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the thing in which they dealt arrogantly against them."
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless you Yahweh. Hear, you kings; give ear, you princes; I, [even] I, will sing to Yahweh; I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel. Yahweh, when you went forth out of Seir, When you marched out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled, the sky also dropped, Yes, the clouds dropped water. The mountains quaked at the presence of Yahweh, Even yon Sinai at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel. In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, The travelers walked through byways. The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel. They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel? My heart is toward the governors of Israel, Who offered themselves willingly among the people: Bless you Yahweh. Tell [of it], you who ride on white donkeys, You who sit on rich carpets, You who walk by the way. Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Yahweh, [Even] the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates. Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song: Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam. Then came down a remnant of the nobles [and] the people; Yahweh came down for me against the mighty. Out of Ephraim [came down] they whose root is in Amalek; After you, Benjamin, among your peoples; Out of Machir came down governors, Out of Zebulun those who handle the marshal's staff. The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben There were great resolves of heart. Why sat you among the sheepfolds, To hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben There were great searchings of heart. Gilead abode beyond the Jordan: Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, Abode by his creeks. Zebulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death, Naphtali, on the high places of the field. The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan. In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: They took no gain of money. From the sky the stars fought, From their courses they fought against Sisera. The river Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon. My soul, march on with strength. Then did the horse hoofs stamp By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones. Curse you Meroz, said the angel of Yahweh. Curse you bitterly the inhabitants of it, Because they didn't come to the help of Yahweh, To the help of Yahweh against the mighty. Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed shall she be above women in the tent. He asked water, [and] she gave him milk; She brought him butter in a lordly dish. She put her hand to the tent-pin, Her right hand to the workmen's hammer; With the hammer she struck Sisera, she struck through his head; Yes, she pierced and struck through his temples. At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; At her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell down dead. Through the window she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Sisera [cried] through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariots wait? Her wise ladies answered her, Yes, she returned answer to herself, Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A lady, two ladies to every man; To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil? So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh: But let those who love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might. The land had rest forty years.
David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: and he said, Yahweh is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine; God, my rock, in him will I take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge; My savior, you save me from violence. I will call on Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from my enemies. For the waves of death compassed me; The floods of ungodliness made me afraid: The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came on me. In my distress I called on Yahweh; Yes, I called to my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, My cry [came] into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled, The foundations of heaven quaked Were shaken, because he was angry. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, Fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; Thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub, and did fly; Yes, he was seen on the wings of the wind. He made darkness pavilions round about him, Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness before him Coals of fire were kindled. Yahweh thundered from heaven, The Most High uttered his voice. He sent out arrows, and scattered them; Lightning, and confused them. Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare, By the rebuke of Yahweh, At the blast of the breath of his nostrils. He sent from on high, he took me; He drew me out of many waters; He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. They came on me in the day of my calamity; But Yahweh was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me. Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, And have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his ordinances were before me; As for his statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also perfect toward him; I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore has Yahweh recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in his eyesight. With the merciful you will show yourself merciful; With the perfect man you will show yourself perfect; With the pure you will show yourself pure; With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd. The afflicted people you will save; But your eyes are on the haughty, that you may bring them down. For you are my lamp, Yahweh; Yahweh will lighten my darkness. For by you I run on a troop; By my God do I leap over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect: The word of Yahweh is tried; He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him. For who is God, save Yahweh? Who is a rock, save our God? God is my strong fortress; He guides the perfect in his way. He makes his feet like hinds' [feet], Sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to war, So that my arms do bend a bow of brass. You have also given me the shield of your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great. You have enlarged my steps under me; My feet have not slipped. I have pursued my enemies, and destroyed them; Neither did I turn again until they were consumed. I have consumed them, and struck them through, so that they can't arise: Yes, they are fallen under my feet. For you have girded me with strength to the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, That I might cut off those who hate me. They looked, but there was none to save; Even to Yahweh, but he didn't answer them. Then did I beat them small as the dust of the earth, I did crush them as the mire of the streets, and did spread them abroad. You also have delivered me from the strivings of my people; You have kept me to be the head of the nations: A people whom I have not known shall serve me. The foreigners shall submit themselves to me: As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me. The foreigners shall fade away, Shall come trembling out of their close places. Yahweh lives; Blessed be my rock; Exalted be God, the rock of my salvation, Even the God who executes vengeance for me, Who brings down peoples under me, Who brings me forth from my enemies: Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me; You deliver me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the nations, Will sing praises to your name. Great deliverance gives he to his king, Shows loving kindness to his anointed, To David and to his seed, forevermore.
Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, For his wonderful works to the children of men!
Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, For his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare his works with singing.
In that day you will say, "I will give thanks to you, Yahweh; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation." Therefore with joy you shall draw water out of the wells of salvation. In that day you will say, "Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name. Declare his doings among the peoples. Proclaim that his name is exalted! Sing to Yahweh, for he has done excellent things! Let this be known in all the earth! Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for great in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel!"
I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his host, over his chariots, and over his horsemen. The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen."
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 15
Commentary on Exodus 15 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 15
Ex 15:1-27. Song of Moses.
1. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel—The scene of this thanksgiving song is supposed to have been at the landing place on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, at Ayoun Musa, "the fountains of Moses." They are situated somewhat farther northward along the shore than the opposite point from which the Israelites set out. But the line of the people would be extended during the passage, and one extremity of it would reach as far north as these fountains, which would supply them with water on landing. The time when it was sung is supposed to have been the morning after the passage. This song is, by some hundred years, the oldest poem in the world. There is a sublimity and beauty in the language that is unexampled. But its unrivalled superiority arises not solely from the splendor of the diction. Its poetical excellencies have often drawn forth the admiration of the best judges, while the character of the event commemorated, and its being prompted by divine inspiration, contribute to give it an interest and sublimity peculiar to itself.
I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously—Considering the state of servitude in which they had been born and bred, and the rude features of character which their subsequent history often displays, it cannot be supposed that the children of Israel generally were qualified to commit to memory or to appreciate the beauties of this inimitable song. But they might perfectly understand its pervading strain of sentiment; and, with the view of suitably improving the occasion, it was thought necessary that all, old and young, should join their united voices in the rehearsal of its words. As every individual had cause, so every individual gave utterance to his feelings of gratitude.
20. Miriam the prophetess—so called from her receiving divine revelations (Nu 12:1; Mic 6:4), but in this instance principally from her being eminently skilled in music, and in this sense the word "prophecy" is sometimes used in Scripture (1Ch 25:1; 1Co 11:5).
took a timbrel—or "tabret"—a musical instrument in the form of a hoop, edged round with rings or pieces of brass to make a jingling noise and covered over with tightened parchment like a drum. It was beat with the fingers, and corresponds to our tambourine.
all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances—We shall understand this by attending to the modern customs of the East, where the dance—a slow, grave, and solemn gesture, generally accompanied with singing and the sound of the timbrel, is still led by the principal female of the company, the rest imitating her movements and repeating the words of the song as they drop from her lips.
21. Miriam answered them—"them" in the Hebrew is masculine, so that Moses probably led the men and Miriam the women—the two bands responding alternately, and singing the first verse as a chorus.
22. wilderness of Shur—comprehending all the western part of Arabia-Petræa. The desert of Etham was a part of it, extending round the northern portion of the Red Sea, and a considerable distance along its eastern shore; whereas the "wilderness of Shur" (now Sudhr) was the designation of all the desert region of Arabia-Petræa that lay next to Palestine.
23. when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters—Following the general route of all travellers southward, between the sea and the tableland of the Tih ("valley of wandering"), Marah is almost universally believed to be what is now called Howarah, in Wady Amarah, about thirty miles from the place where the Israelites landed on the eastern shore of the Red Sea—a distance quite sufficient for their march of three days. There is no other perennial spring in the intermediate space. The water still retains its ancient character, and has a bad name among the Arabs, who seldom allow their camels to partake of it.
25. the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet—Some travellers have pronounced this to be the Elvah of the Arabs—a shrub in form and flower resembling our hawthorn; others, the berries of the Ghurkhud—a bush found growing around all brackish fountains. But neither of these shrubs are known by the natives to possess such natural virtues. It is far more likely that God miraculously endowed some tree with the property of purifying the bitter water—a tree employed as the medium, but the sweetening was not dependent upon the nature or quality of the tree, but the power of God (compare Joh 9:6). And hence the "statute and ordinance" that followed, which would have been singularly inopportune if no miracle had been wrought.
and there he proved them—God now brought the Israelites into circumstances which would put their faith and obedience to the test (compare Ge 22:1).
27. they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water—supposed to be what is now called Wady-Ghurandel, the most extensive watercourse in the western desert—an oasis, adorned with a great variety of trees, among which the palm is still conspicuous, and fertilized by a copious stream. It is estimated to be a mile in breadth, but stretching out far to the northeast. After the weary travel through the desert, this must have appeared a most delightful encampment from its shade and verdure, as well as from its abundant supply of sweet water for the thirsty multitude. The palm is called "the tree of the desert," as its presence is always a sign of water. The palms in this spot are greatly increased in number, but the wells are diminished.