Exodus 14:25

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.

Exodus 14:25 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 14:25

And took off their chariot wheels
The Targum of Jonathan renders it "cut" or "sawed them off"; perhaps they might be broken off by the hailstones. Milton F19 seems to have a notion of Pharaoh's chariot wheels being broken, when he says, "and craze" (i.e. break) "their chariot wheels"; or, as Jarchi suggests, he burnt them, through the force of the fire or lightning:

that they drave them heavily;
the wheels being off, the chariots must be dragged along by the horses by mere force, which must be heavy work; or, "and made them to go, or led them heavily", or "with heaviness" {t}; and so to be ascribed to the Lord, who looked at the Egyptians, took off the wheels of their chariots, and stopped them in the fury of their career, that they could not pursue with the swiftness they had:

so that the Egyptians said, let us flee from the face of Israel;
for by this battery and flashes of fire on them, they concluded that Israel, who they thought were fleeing before them, had turned and were facing them, and the Lord at the head of them; and therefore it was high time for them to flee, as follows:

for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians;
for they rightly took the thunder and lightning, the fire and hailstones, to be the artillery of heaven turned against them, and in favour of the Israelites. Jarchi interprets it, the Lord fights for them in Egypt, even in Egypt itself; but so he had done many a time before, of which they were not insensible.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 Paradise Lost, B. 12. ver. 210.
F20 (tdbkb Mghnyw) "et deduxit eos graviter", Vatablus; "et duxit eos cum gravitate", Drusius; so Ainsworth.

Exodus 14:25 In-Context

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.)
27 And when Moses had held forth his hand against the sea, it turned again first in the morrowtide to the former place (And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and early in the morning it returned to its former place); and when the Egyptians fled, the waters came (up) against them, and the Lord wrapped them (up) in the midst of the flood.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.