Exodus 14:24

24 And the watch of the morrowtide came then, and lo! the Lord beheld on the castles of the Egyptians, by a pillar of fire, and of cloud, and killed the host of them; (And the morning watch came then, and lo! the Lord looked down through the pillars of fire, and of cloud, on the army of the Egyptians, and he panicked all the soldiers;)

Exodus 14:24 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 14:24

And it came to pass, that in the morning watch
The Romans divided the night into four watches, so the Hebrews; though some say into three only. The first began at six o'clock, and lasted till nine, the second was from thence to twelve, the third from thence to three in the morning, and the last from three to six, which is here called the morning watch; so that this was some time between three and six o'clock in the morning:

the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians, through the pillar of
fire and of the cloud;
the Angel of the Lord, and who was Jehovah himself, who was in it, he looked to the army of the Egyptians; not to know whereabout they were, he being the omniscient God; nor in a friendly manner, but as an enemy, with indignation and wrath. The Targum of Jonathan is,

``he looked through the pillar of fire, to cast upon them coals of fire, and through the pillar of cloud, to cast upon them hailstones.''

The Jerusalem Targum is,

``pitch, fire, and hailstones;''

and Josephus ^F17 speaks of storms and tempests, of thunder and lightning, and of thunderbolts out of the clouds; and Artapanus ^F18 of fire or lightning flashing out against them, by which many perished. Perhaps the psalmist may have reference to this in ( Psalms 106:10-15 )

and troubled the host of the Egyptians;
the thunder and lightning no doubt frightened the horses, so that they broke their ranks, and horsemen and chariots might run foul on one another, and the hailstones scatter and destroy many; however, the whole must be terrible and distressing to them, especially it being in the night season.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 2.)
F18 Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 27. p. 436.)

Exodus 14:24 In-Context

22 And the sons of Israel entered by the midst of the dry sea; for the water was as a wall at the right side, and the left side of them. (And the Israelites entered into the midst of the sea on dry land; for the water was like a wall on their right side, and on their left side.)

23 And the Egyptians pursued, and entered after them, all the riding of Pharaoh, his chariots, and [his] knights, by the midst of the sea. (And the Egyptians pursued them, and entered into the midst of the sea after them, yea, all the horses of Pharaoh, and his chariots, and his soldiers.)

24 And the watch of the morrowtide came then, and lo! the Lord beheld on the castles of the Egyptians, by a pillar of fire, and of cloud, and killed the host of them; (And the morning watch came then, and lo! the Lord looked down through the pillars of fire, and of cloud, on the army of the Egyptians, and he panicked all the soldiers;)

25 and he destroyed the wheels of [the] chariots, and those were borne into the depth (and he clogged up the wheels of the chariots, and they turned with great difficulty). Therefore the Egyptians said, Flee we (from) Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against us.

26 And the Lord said to Moses, Hold forth thine hand on the sea, that the waters turn again to [the] Egyptians, on the chariots, and on the knights of them. (And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch forth thy hand over the sea, so that the waters return onto the Egyptians, yea, onto their chariots, and onto their soldiers.)