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15. Song of Moses and Miriam

¹ Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:

   “I will sing to the LORD,
   for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
   he has hurled into the sea.

    ² “The LORD is my strength and my defense Or song;
   he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
   my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
³ The LORD is a warrior;
   the LORD is his name.
⁴ Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
   he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
   are drowned in the Red Sea. Or the Sea of Reeds; also in verse 22
⁵ The deep waters have covered them;
   they sank to the depths like a stone.
⁶ Your right hand, LORD,
   was majestic in power.
Your right hand, LORD,
   shattered the enemy.

    ⁷ “In the greatness of your majesty
   you threw down those who opposed you.
You unleashed your burning anger;
   it consumed them like stubble.
⁸ By the blast of your nostrils
   the waters piled up.
The surging waters stood up like a wall;
   the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.
⁹ The enemy boasted,
   ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
   I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
   and my hand will destroy them.’
¹⁰ But you blew with your breath,
   and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
   in the mighty waters.
¹¹ Who among the gods
   is like you, LORD?
Who is like you—
   majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
   working wonders?

    ¹² “You stretch out your right hand,
   and the earth swallows your enemies.
¹³ In your unfailing love you will lead
   the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
   to your holy dwelling.
¹⁴ The nations will hear and tremble;
   anguish will grip the people of Philistia.
¹⁵ The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,
   the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling,
the people Or rulers of Canaan will melt away;
    ¹⁶ terror and dread will fall on them.
By the power of your arm
   they will be as still as a stone—
until your people pass by, LORD,
   until the people you bought Or created pass by.
¹⁷ You will bring them in and plant them
   on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place, LORD, you made for your dwelling,
   the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.

¹⁸ “The LORD reigns
for ever and ever.”

¹⁹ When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen Or charioteers went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. ²⁰ Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. ²¹ Miriam sang to them:

   “Sing to the LORD,
   for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
   he has hurled into the sea.”

The Waters of Marah and Elim

²² Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah. Marah means bitter.) ²⁴ So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

²⁵ Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.

There the LORD issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. ²⁶ He said, “If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.”

²⁷ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.

11. Who is like unto thee? Moses concludes this song of praise with an ejaculation, because the grandeur of the subject transcends the power of words. The interrogation expresses more than as if he had simply asserted that none can be compared with God; because it marks both admiration and assured confidence in the truth of what he says; for he exclaims, as if overwhelmed with astonishment, “Who is like unto thee, O Lord?” The notion of some that by the word “gods” he means the angels, is more suitable to other passages; for instance, (Psalm 89:6,) “Who in heaven can be compared unto the Lord; who among the sons¹⁶²¹⁶² Filios Dei. — V. of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?” for it immediately follows, “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him.” (Ver. 7, etc.) The meaning then is,¹⁶³¹⁶³ “Or le Sainct Esprit veut dire;” now the Holy Spirit means to say. — Fr. that, although there be excellence in the angels, still God is exalted far above them all; but here it may be more properly referred to idols, for Moses (as has been said) is professedly contrasting’ the one true God, whose religion and worship existed among the children of Abraham, with the delusions of the Gentiles. The word “sanctitas,” holiness, expresses that glory which separates God from all His creatures; and therefore, in a manner, it degrades all the other deities which the world has invented for itself; since the majesty of the one only God is thus eminent and honorable. He adds, “fearful in praises;” because He cannot be duly praised, without ravishing us with astonishment. Moses afterwards explains himself, by saying that God’s works are wonderful. In my opinion, their explanation is a poor one, who think that He is said to be “fearful in praises,” because He is to be praised with fear; and theirs is farfetched, who say that he is terrible, even when he is praised.

13. Thou in thy mercy hast led them forth.¹⁶⁴¹⁶⁴ Wilt lead them forth. — Lat. The verb in Hebrew is indeed in the past tense; but, since it is plain from the context that their hope for what was to come was founded on God’s former mercies, I have preferred making the meaning clearer by translating it in the future.¹⁶⁵¹⁶⁵ “Selon l’usage commun de la langue;” according to the common usage of the language. — Fr. Moses, therefore, exhorts the people to proceed to their promised land boldly and joyfully; because God will not forsake His work in the midst of it. And on this account he expressly mentions their redemption; as though he had said, that the people were not in vain delivered from impending death, but that God, as He had begun, would be their constant guide. David uses the same argument, (Psalm 31:5,)

“Into thine hand I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me,
O Lord God of truth.”

For, as the beginning of their redemption has proceeded from God’s mere mercy, so he says that for this same reason He will lead them even to their promised inheritance. But, since the many obstacles might impress them with alarm, he at the same time sets before them the “strength” of God; for the whole praise is given to God, who had both been freely gracious to His people, and, asking assistance from no other source, but contented with His own power, had supplied what would have been otherwise incredible.