Exodus 14:1-14

1 Then the LORD said to Moses,

2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon.

3 Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’

4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So the Israelites did this.

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!”

6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him.

7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.

8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly.

9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen^[a] and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD.

11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.

14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Exodus 14:1-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 14

This chapter begins with directions of God to Moses, to be given to the children of Israel about the course they were to steer in their journey, with the reason thereof, Ex 14:1-4, which they observing, a report was brought to Pharaoh that they were fled, and this determined him and his servants to get ready and pursue after them, as they did with a great army, Ex 14:5-9, which when the Israelites saw, it put them in great fear, and set them to murmuring and complaining against Moses for bringing them out of Egypt, Ex 14:10,11,12, who desired them to be still and quiet, and they should see the salvation of the Lord, Ex 14:13,14, and he is bid to order the people to go on in their journey, and to take his rod and stretch it over the sea and divide it, that Israel might pass through it on dry ground, and the Egyptians follow them, whereby God would be honoured and glorified, Ex 14:15-18, upon which the Angel of the Lord in a pillar of cloud removed from before there, and went behind them for their protection, Ex 14:19,20, and Moses stretching out his hand over the sea, and a strong east wind blowing upon it, the waters divided and the Israelites went into it, and the Egyptians followed them, but their host being troubled by the Lord, and their chariot wheels taken off, they found themselves in great danger, and were thrown into a panic, Ex 14:20-25 and upon Moses's stretching out his hand again over the sea, the waters returned, and Pharaoh and his host were drowned, but the Israelites passed through safely, as on dry land, Ex 14:26-29, which great work of the Lord being observed by them, influenced their fear of him, their faith in him and his servant Moses, Ex 14:30,31.

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 33:7; Jeremiah 44:1; Ezekiel 29:10
• 2. ver 9
• 3. S Exodus 4:21
• 4. ver 8,17,23; Psalms 71:11
• 5. S Exodus 9:16; Ro 9:17,22-23
• 6. S Exodus 6:2; Ezekiel 32:15; Exodus 7:5
• 7. S Genesis 31:21
• 8. Psalms 105:25
• 9. Exodus 15:4
• 10. ver 4; S Exodus 11:10
• 11. Numbers 33:3; Acts 13:17
• 12. Genesis 47:17
• 13. ver 6-7,25; Joshua 24:6; Isaiah 43:17
• 14. Exodus 15:9
• 15. ver 2
• 16. Exodus 15:25; Joshua 24:7; Nehemiah 9:9; Psalms 5:2; Psalms 34:17; Psalms 50:15; Psalms 107:6,28
• 17. S Exodus 5:21; Exodus 16:3; Exodus 17:3; Numbers 11:1; Numbers 14:22; Numbers 20:4; Numbers 21:5; Deuteronomy 9:7; Psalms 106:7-8
• 18. S Exodus 5:21; Exodus 15:24; Exodus 17:2; Psalms 106:7-8
• 19. S Genesis 15:1
• 20. 1 Samuel 12:16; 2 Chronicles 20:17; Isa 41:10,13-14
• 21. ver 30
• 22. ver 25; Exodus 15:3; Deuteronomy 1:30; Deuteronomy 3:22; Deuteronomy 20:4; Joshua 10:14; Joshua 23:3,10; 2 Samuel 5:24; 2 Chronicles 20:29; Nehemiah 4:20; Psalms 24:8; Psalms 35:1; Isaiah 42:13; Jeremiah 41:12
• 23. 1 Samuel 12:16; Psalms 37:7; Psalms 46:10; Psalms 116:7; Isaiah 28:12; Isaiah 30:15; Zechariah 2:13

Footnotes

• [a] Or "charioteers" ; also in verses 17, 18, 23, 26 and 28