Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 15

Then sang Moses and the children of Israel. — With his usual modesty, Moses does not say that he composed the magnificent ode which follows, but it is hardly conceivable that it could have had any other author. It bears a close resemblance to the Egyptian religious poetry, with which Moses—and probably no other Israelite of that time—would have been familiar from his early training; and it breathes an elevated tone of religious sentiment that was scarcely shared with Moses by any contemporary. The prophetic statements in the later verses of the hymn have led some to assign it a date later than Joshua; but the vagueness of these statements stands in remarkable contrast to the definiteness and graphic power of the descriptive portion, and points to the time of Moses for its composition.

The poetic genius shown in the composition is, no doubt, very considerable; but the statement that it transcends all later Hebrew poetry would not have been made by any critic whose judgment was not biased by his theories. The ode is distinguished from later similar compositions by greater simplicity in the language, and greater freedom in the rhythmical arrangement. There is the usual “parallelism of clauses,” with its three varieties of “antithetic, synthetic, and synonymous;” but the regular cadence is interrupted with unusual frequency by triplet stanzas, and the parallelism is less exact than that of later times.

The ode divides itself into two portions (Exodus 15:1–12 and Exodus 15:13-18): the first retrospective, the second prospective. Part II has no subdivisions; but Part I consists of three, or perhaps we should say of four, portions. First comes the burden, or refrain (Exodus 15:1), which was repeated at the close of each subdivision by Miriam and her choir of women (Exodus 15:21). Then we have the first stanza, or strophe, reaching from Exodus 15:2-5.

Next we have stanza or strophe 2, extending from Exodus 15:6-10. After this, stanza or strophe 3, comprising Exodus 15:11-12. These shorter, and as it were tentative, efforts are followed by the grand burst of prophetic song which constitutes Part II, and extends from Exodus 15:13-18, terminating with the sublime utterance, beyond which no thought of man can go, The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.

I will sing. — It may convey to the ordinary reader some idea of the rhythm of the ode to transcribe into Roman characters and accentuate this opening passage, which is as follows:—

Ashirah layhováh ki gaóh gaáh,
Sus v’rokebo ramáh bayyám.

He hath triumphed gloriously. —Heb., he hath glorified himself gloriously (ἐνδόξως δεδόξασται, Septuagint). The main idea implied in the verb gââh is exaltation.

The Lord is my strength and song. —Heb., My strength and song is Jah. The contracted form of Jehovah, Jah, is here used for the first time; but its existence in the current speech has already been indicated by the name Moriah, which occurs in Genesis 22:1. It is here used on account of the rhythm.

He is become my salvation. —Heb., he has been to me for salvation: i.e., “he has saved me out of the hand of Pharaoh.” The beauty and force of the passage causes Isaiah to adopt it into one of his most glorious poems, the “joyful thanksgiving of the faithful for the mercies of God,” contained in his twelfth chapter. (See Exodus 15:2.)

I will prepare him an habitation. —So Onkelos and Aben-Ezra; but Jarchi, the Targums of Jerusalem and Jonathan, the Septuagint, and Vulgate, with most moderns, translate, “I will glorify him.” It is a strong objection to the rendering of the Authorised Version that Moses is not likely to have had the idea of preparing God a habitation until the revelation of God’s will on the subject was made to him on Sinai (Exodus 25-27). The law of parallelism also requires such a meaning as “glorify” to correspond with the “exalt” of the next clause.

My father’s God. —“Father” here, by a common Hebrew idiom, stands for “forefathers” generally. (Compare the note on Exodus 3:6.)

The Lord is a man of war. —The directness and boldness of the anthropomorphism is markedly archaic, and is wisely retained by our translators. How turgid and yet weak are the Samaritan, “mighty in battle,” and the Septuagint, “crusher of wars,” in comparison!

The Lord is his name. —In the very name, Jehovah, is implied all might, all power, and so necessarily the strength to prevail in battle. The name, meaning “the Existent,” implies that nothing else has any real existence independently of Him; and if no existence, then necessarily no strength.

His chosen captains. — Compare Exodus 14:7, where the same word is used.

Are drowned. — Rather, were drowned.

The depths have covered them. —Rather, covered them. The first stanza, or strophe, here terminates—the first historical review is completed. In it, attention is concentrated on the one great fact of the deliverance by the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea. At the close, it is probable that Miriam, with her chorus of women, took up the refrain of Exodus 15:1, and, slightly modifying it, sang, as recorded in Exodus 15:21, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath glorified himself gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.