Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 14:23-28

"And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh`s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass in the morning watch, that Jehovah looked forth upon the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians. And he took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for Jehovah fighteth for them against the Egyptians. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and Jehovah overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, even all the host of Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea; there remained not so much as one of them." — Exodus 14:23-28 (ASV)

The Egyptians pursued. — All the Israelites having entered the bed of the sea, the pillar of the cloud, it would seem, withdrew after them. The Egyptians, who, if they could not see, could at any rate hear the sound of the departure, began to advance, following on the track of the fugitives. What they thought concerning the miracle, or what they expected, is difficult to say. They can scarcely have entered the bed of the sea without knowing it. Probably they assumed that, as the bed had somehow become dry, it would continue dry long enough for their chariots and horsemen to get across.

The distance may not have been as much as a mile, which they might have expected to accomplish in ten minutes; but once they had entered, their troubles began. The Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar ... and troubled the host of the Egyptians (Exodus 14:24). By some terrible manifestation of His presence and His anger, proceeding from the pillar of the cloud in front of them, God threw the Egyptian troops into consternation and confusion. A panic terror seized them. Some probably stopped, some fled, but others persevered.

Then a second difficulty followed. The progress of the chariots was obstructed. According to the present reading of the Hebrew text, the wheels parted from the axles, which would naturally bring the vehicles to a stop. According to the Septuagint and a reading found in the Samaritan Pentateuch, the wheels “became entangled,” as they would if they sank up to the axles in the soft ooze.

By this means, the advance was rendered slow and difficult: they drave them heavily. To the Egyptians, the obstruction seemed more than could be accounted for by natural causes, and they became convinced that Jehovah was fighting for Israel and against them (Exodus 14:25).

Thereupon, they turned and fled. But the flight was even harder than the advance. A confused mass of horses and chariots filled the channel—they impeded each other, could make no progress, and could scarcely move. Then came the final catastrophe. At God’s command, Moses once more stretched his hand over the sea, and the waters returned on either side. A north-west wind brought back those of the Bitter Lakes (Exodus 14:10), and the flood tide brought back those of the Red Sea. Consequently, the entire force that had entered the sea-bed in pursuit of the Israelites was destroyed.