Exodus 14:7

7 He took with him 600 of Egypt’s best chariots, along with the rest of the chariots of Egypt, each with its commander.

Exodus 14:7 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 14:7

And he took six hundred chosen chariots
The chief and best he had, war chariots, chariots of iron; perhaps such as had iron scythes to them, to cut down men as they drove along; these were taken partly for quickness of dispatch, that they might be able the sooner to overtake the Israelites, who had got several days' marches before them; and partly for their strength and the annoyance of their enemies with them:

and all the chariots of Egypt:
as many as could in so short a time be got together: for the words are not to be taken in the utmost latitude, but to signify a great number, and all that could be conveniently come at: the Greek version is, "all the horse", the cavalry, which better distinguishes them from the former:

and captains over everyone of them:
over everyone of the chariots, so that they must each of them have many in them, to have captains over them: and perhaps the infantry, or foot soldiers, for, quickness of expedition, were put into them; for, besides these, there were horsemen: Josephus ^F16 makes the whole number of his army to be 50,000 horse, and 200,000 foot, and the same number is given by a Jewish chronologer ^F17: but Patricides, an Arabic writer, says ^F18 it consisted of 600,000, and Ezekiel ^F19, the tragic poet, has made it amount to a million of horse and foot: should it be asked where horses could be had to draw the chariots, and horses for the horsemen after mentioned, when all were destroyed by the hail, ( Exodus 9:25 ) it may be replied, that only those in the field were killed, not such as were in stables, where chariot horses and horses for war may be supposed to be: besides, as the Targum of Jonathan intimates, these might belong to these servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord, and took their cattle home, ( Exodus 9:20 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Antiqu. l. 2. c. 15. sect. 3.
F17 Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 77. 4.
F18 Apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 464.
F19 Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. c. 27. p. 436.)

Exodus 14:7 In-Context

5 When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelites had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. “What have we done, letting all those Israelite slaves get away?” they asked.

6 So Pharaoh harnessed his chariot and called up his troops.

7 He took with him 600 of Egypt’s best chariots, along with the rest of the chariots of Egypt, each with its commander.

8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel, who had left with fists raised in defiance.

9 The Egyptians chased after them with all the forces in Pharaoh’s army—all his horses and chariots, his charioteers, and his troops. The Egyptians caught up with the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Pi-hahiroth, across from Baal-zephon.