John Gill Commentary Exodus 14

And the Lord spoke to Moses Out of the pillar of the cloud in which he went before them; either while they were at Etham, or when journeying from there, and a little before they turned off to the right, as they were now directed: saying; as follows:

Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn

Not return to Egypt, or to the place, or towards the place from which they came, but turn off, out of the road in which they were; for, as a late traveller says ^F1 , there were two roads, through which the Israelites might have been conducted from Cairo (which he supposes may be Rameses) to Pihahiroth. One of them lies through the valleys, as they are now called, of Jendily, Rumaleah, and Baideah, bounded on each side by the mountains of the lower Thebais; the other lies higher, having the northern range of these mountains (the mountains of Mocattee) running parallel with it on the right hand, and the desert of the Egyptian Arabia, which lies all the way open to the land of the Philistines, on the left, (see (Exodus 13:17) ) about the middle of this range we may turn short on our right hand into the valley of Baideah, through a remarkable breach or discontinuation, in which we afterwards continued to the very banks of the Red sea; this road then, through the valley of Baideah, which is some hours longer than the other open road, which leads directly from Cairo to Suez, was in all probability the very road which the Israelites took to Pihahiroth, on the banks of the Red sea.

And again he says ^F2 , this valley ends at the sea in a small bay, made by the eastern extremities of the mountains, and is called "Tiah beni Israel", i.e. the road of the Israelites, from a tradition of the Arabs, of their having passed through it; as it is also called Baideah from the new and unheard of miracle that was wrought near it, by dividing the Red sea, and destroying therein Pharaoh, his chariots and horsemen:

and encamp before Pihahiroth : which was sixteen miles from Etham ^F3 , and by some ^F4 thought to be the same with the city of Heroes (or Heroopolis), on the extreme part of the Arabic gulf, or the Phagroriopolis, placed by Strabo ^F5 near the same place.

According to the above traveller ^F6 , Pihahiroth was the mouth, or the most advanced part of the valley of Baideah to the eastward toward the Red sea; with which Jarchi in some measure agrees, who says Pihahiroth is Pithom, now so called, because the Israelites became free: they (Hahiroth) are two rocks, and the valley between them is called (Pi) the mouth of the rocks: so Dr. Shaw observes ^F7 ; the word may be deduced from (rx) , "a hole" or "gullet", and by a latitude common in those cases, be rendered a narrow "defile", road or passage, such as the valley of Baideah has been described.

But as the Israelites were properly delivered at this place from their captivity and fear of the Egyptians, (Exodus 14:13) we may rather suppose that Hhiroth denotes the place where they were restored to their liberty; as Hhorar and Hhiroth are words of the like sort in the Chaldee.

But another very learned man ^F8 says, that in the Egyptian language Pihahiroth signifies a place where grew great plenty of grass and herbs, and was contiguous to the Red sea, and was like that on the other shore of the sea, the Arabian, which Diodorus Siculus ^F9 speaks of as a pleasant green field:

between Migdol and the sea ; which signifies a tower, and might be one: there was a city of this name in Egypt, and in those parts, but whether the same with this is not certain, (Jeremiah 44:1)

over against Baalzephon ; which the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem take to be an "idol": and so does Jarchi, and say it was the only one left of the idols of Egypt; see (Exodus 12:12) and so some Christian as well as Jewish writers suppose it to be; and that it was as a watch, or guard, or amulet, to keep fugitives from going out of the land.

But by Ezekiel the tragedian ^F11 it is called a city; and so by Josephus ^F12 , who says they came to Baalzephon the third day, a place situated by the Red sea; which is most likely, and it is highly probable that this and Migdol were two fortified places, which guarded the mouth of the valley, or the straits which led to the Red sea.

Artapanus ^F13 the Heathen historian agrees with Josephus in saying it was the third day when they came to the Red sea:

before it shall you encamp by the sea ; and there wait till Pharaoh came up to them.

FOOTNOTES:

• F1: Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 307. Ed. 2.
• F2: lb. p. 309.
• F3: Bunting's Travels, p. 82.
• F4: See the Universal History, vol. 3. p. 387.
• F5: Geograph. l. 17. p. 553.
• F6: Shaw, ib. p. 310.
• F7: Ut supra. (^F1)
• F8: Jablonski de Terra Goshen, Dissert. 5. sect. 9.
• F9: Bibliothec. c. 3. p. 175.
• F11: Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 29. p. 444.
• F12: Antiqu. l. 2. c. 15. sect. 1.
• F13: Apud Euseb. ib. c. 27. p. 436.

For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel
The Septuagint version adds, "to his people", his ministers and courtiers, when he hears where they are: they are entangled in the land ;
have lost their way, and got into places they cannot easily get out of, and are perplexed in their minds, and do not know what way to take or course to steer: the wilderness has shut them in ;
or, "shut up the way to them" ^F14 ; the wilderness between the mountains the above mentioned traveller speaks of ^F15 the mountains of Gewoubee; these would stop their flight or progress to the southward, as those of the Attackah would do the same towards the land of the Philistines; the Red sea likewise lay before them to the east, while Pharaoh (could) close up the valley behind them, with his chariots and his horsemen; and which, no doubt, appeared very advantageous and encouraging to him, as it must be very distressing to the Israelites.

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: (Mhyle rgo) "clausit viam illis", Pagninus, "praeclusit sese illis", Vatablus.
• F15: Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 309. Ed. 2.

And I will harden Pharaoh's heart: Once more, as he had often done.

that he shall follow after them: to Pihahiroth, and even into the sea after them.

and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host: in his wisdom, faithfulness, power, and justice, by the destruction of them.

that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord: the only Jehovah, the Lord God omnipotent; even those that feel the weight of his hand while troubling their host, and bringing the waters upon them; especially those that shall remain in the land, and will not be involved in the catastrophe.

and they did so: the Israelites turned to the right to Pihahiroth, instead of going by Bishbesh and Tinah (Bubastis and Pelusium), and so along the sea coast towards Gaza and Ascalon, and encamped there between Migdol and the sea over against Baalzephon, as they were ordered and directed.

And it was told the king of Egypt
By some of the Egyptians, or mixed multitude that went out with Israel, but returned upon their encampment at the Red sea, or by some spies Pharaoh sent with them to observe their motions: the Targums of Jonathan and Jarchi make use of a word which Buxtorf translates military officers: and the latter says, they went out with them the three days' journey, but the Israelites not returning to Egypt (as expected), they tell Pharaoh of it the fourth day; and on the fifth and sixth he pursued them, and in the night of the seventh went into the sea after them, and on the morning they (the Israelites) sung the song, which was the seventh of the passover: these reported to Pharaoh:

that the people fled ;
that under a pretence of going three days' journey into the wilderness, to serve and sacrifice to the Lord, they were about to make their escape out of the land:

and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants were turned against the
people ;
who had so much favour in their sight, not only to give them leave to go, and to hasten their departure, but to lend and give them things of great value; but now their hearts were filled with hatred of them, and with malice and revenge:

and they said, why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from
serving us ?
not Pharaoh only, but his servants said so, even those who had entreated him to let them go, (Exodus 10:7) yet now repent of it, and cannot think what reason they had to do it, when at that time they saw reason, and gave a very sufficient one, namely, the destruction of Egypt; but now the judgments and plagues of God being no more upon them, they recollect the great service of the Israelites to them and the benefits and advantages they had reaped by it, and the loss they had sustained by parting with them, and therefore reflect upon themselves for such a piece of conduct.