Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 15:13-18

"Thou in thy lovingkindness hast led the people that thou hast redeemed: Thou hast guided them in thy strength to thy holy habitation. The peoples have heard, they tremble: Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia. Then were the chiefs of Edom dismayed; The mighty men of Moab, trembling taketh hold upon them: All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away. Terror and dread falleth upon them; By the greatness of thine arm they are as still as a stone; Till thy people pass over, O Jehovah, Till the people pass over that thou hast purchased. Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, The place, O Jehovah, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, The sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever." — Exodus 15:13-18 (ASV)

The concluding stanza of the ode involves a change of attitude and deals with new matters. The poet’s eye fixes itself upon the future.

First, he speaks of the guidance of God, recently begun and about to continue until Canaan is reached (Exodus 15:13). Then, his glance turns to the enemies of Israel, and he considers the effect that the miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt will have on them (Exodus 15:14–16).

Finally, he sees the people brought into the “land of their inheritance” and securely established there under the ordering of Divine Providence.

Then, with an ascription of glory comparable to the Doxology attached to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew (Exodus 6:13), and to that attached in the Liturgies of the Church to the Psalms and Canticles, he concludes his composition.