Exodus 15:17-27

17 Thou dost bring them in, And dost plant them In a mountain of Thine inheritance, A fixed place for Thy dwelling Thou hast made, O Jehovah; A sanctuary, O Lord, Thy hands have established;

18 Jehovah reigneth -- to the age, and for ever!'

19 For the horse of Pharaoh hath gone in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and Jehovah turneth back on them the waters of the sea, and the sons of Israel have gone on dry land in the midst of the sea.

20 And Miriam the inspired one, sister of Aaron, taketh the timbrel in her hand, and all the women go out after her, with timbrels and with choruses;

21 and Miriam answereth to them: -- `Sing ye to Jehovah, For Triumphing He hath triumphed; The horse and its rider He hath thrown into the sea!'

22 And Moses causeth Israel to journey from the Red Sea, and they go out unto the wilderness of Shur, and they go three days in the wilderness, and have not found water,

23 and they come in to Marah, and have not been able to drink the waters of Marah, for they [are] bitter; therefore hath [one] called its name Marah.

24 And the people murmur against Moses, saying, `What do we drink?'

25 and he crieth unto Jehovah, and Jehovah sheweth him a tree, and he casteth unto the waters, and the waters become sweet. There He hath made for them a statute, and an ordinance, and there He hath tried them,

26 and He saith, `If thou dost really hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, and dost that which is right in His eyes, and hast hearkened to His commands, and kept all His statutes: none of the sickness which I laid on the Egyptians do I lay on thee, for I, Jehovah, am healing thee.

27 And they come to Elim, and there [are] twelve fountains of water, and seventy palm trees; and they encamp there by the waters.

Exodus 15:17-27 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 15

This chapter contains the song of Moses, and of the children of Israel, on the banks of the Red sea; in which they celebrate their passage through it, the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in it, and the glory of the divine perfections displayed therein, interspersed with prophetic hints of things future, Ex 15:1-19 which same song was sung by the women, with Miriam at the head of them, attended with timbrels and dances, Ex 15:20,21, an account is given of the march of the children of Israel from the Red sea to the wilderness of Shur, and of the bitter waters found at Marah, which occasioned a murmuring, and of their being made sweet by casting a tree into them, Ex 15:22-25 when they were told by the Lord, that if they would yield obedience to his commandments, they should be free from the diseases the Egyptians had been afflicted with, Ex 15:26, and the chapter is concluded with their coming to Elim, where they found twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees, and there encamped, Ex 15:27.