Exodus 14:28

28 And the waters turned again, and covered the chariots, and [the] knights of all the host of Pharaoh, which followed, and entered into the sea; soothly not one of them was (left) alive. (And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and all the soldiers of Pharaoh's army, who had followed the Israelites, and had entered into the sea after them; truly not one of them was left alive.)

Exodus 14:28 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 14:28

And the waters returned
To their place, and so in the above tradition related by Diodorus Siculus, it is said that the sea returning with a mighty force was restored to its place again; (See Gill on Exodus 14:22).

and covered the chariots and the horsemen;
the wall they made being much higher than a man on horseback, when they fell down, covered even those who had the advantage of horses and chariots; and much more must the infantry be covered by them, who may be meant in the next clause:

and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them;
the foot, that went into the sea after the chariots and horsemen, or the whole army, including the cavalry and infantry, which went into the sea after the children of Israel. Who this Pharaoh was is not agreed; according to Berosus F24 his name was Cenchres, or Chenchres, whom Acherres succeeded; according to Bishop Usher F25 it was Amenophis; but our English poet F26 calls him Busiris; though Strabo F1 says there was no king or governor of that name. Diodorus Siculus F2 indeed speaks of two so called; yet he elsewhere F3 says, not that there was any king of the name, only the sepulchre of Osiris was so called:

there remained not so much as one of them;
wherefore it must be a falsehood which is related by some, that Pharaoh himself was preserved, and afterwards reigned in Nineveh F4, since not one was saved; see ( Psalms 106:11 ) and so Artapanus F5 the Heathen says, they all perished, and among these are said F6 to be Jannes and Jambres, the magicians of Egypt mentioned in ( 2 Timothy 3:8 ) but this is contradicted by those F7 who ascribe the making of the golden calf to them.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 Antiqu. l. 5. fol. 88. 2. & 90. 2.
F25 Annal. Vet. Test. p. 19.
F26 "-------whose waves o'erthrew Busiris, and his Memphian chivalry." Milton's Paradise Lost, B. 1. v. 306, 307.
F1 Geograph. l. 17. p. 552.
F2 Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 42.
F3 Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 79.
F4 Dibre Hayamim, fol. 13. 2.
F5 Ut supra. (Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 27. p. 436.)
F6 Midrash in Exod. xv. 10. & Arab. MS. apud Gregory's Notes & Observ. p. 6.
F7 Shalshalet, fol. 7. 1.

Exodus 14:28 In-Context

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.
28 And the waters turned again, and covered the chariots, and [the] knights of all the host of Pharaoh, which followed, and entered into the sea; soothly not one of them was (left) alive. (And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and all the soldiers of Pharaoh's army, who had followed the Israelites, and had entered into the sea after them; truly not one of them was left alive.)
29 Forsooth the sons of Israel went through the midst of the dry sea, and the waters were to them as for a wall, on the right side, and on the left side. (But the Israelites went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and for them the waters were like a wall, on their right side, and on their left side.)
30 And in that day the Lord delivered Israel from the hand of [the] Egyptians, and they saw the Egyptians dead on the brink of the sea, (And on that day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and they saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore,)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.