Exodus 14:1-31

Then the Lord said to Moses: ‘Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth,¹ between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall camp opposite it, by the sea. Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, “They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.”² I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,³ and he will pursue them, so that I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.’⁴ And they did so.⁵

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed towards the people,⁶ and they said, ‘What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?’ So he had his chariot made ready, and took his army with him; he took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.⁷ The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh⁸ king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord.⁹ They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?¹⁰ What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, “Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians”?¹¹ For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.’
But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today;¹² for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you,¹³ and you have only to keep still.’
Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry out to me?¹⁴ Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it,¹⁵ that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians¹⁶ so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory¹⁷ for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord,¹⁸ when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.’
The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.¹⁹
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.²⁰ The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.²¹ The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.²² At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic.²³ He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, ‘Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’²⁴



Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.’ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea.²⁵ The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites²⁶ walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.²⁷ Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.²⁸



1 Perhaps a P author addition to reorient the locale of the encounter with the Egyptians

2 God's knowledge of what will happen is emphasized several times.

3 Once again, the credit for Pharaoh's negative response is given to God.

4 Reason given here – to give glory to God and to show the Egyptians that he is Lord

5 Israelites obedient here, though doubts come soon

6 For a moment it appears that Pharaoh himself is responsible for his own change in heart

7 The great strength of the Egyptian army is repeatedly emphasized.

8 God is given credit for hardening Pharaoh's heart again. Is this just an effort to show that God is in control of everything?

9 Though they shouldn't be afraid, crying out to the Lord is indeed the proper response to fear.

10 Quite a sarcastic response.

11 A desperate response – they are so frightened they would prefer slavery. Lots of analogies could be made here.

12 Moses is now a pillar of faith, in contrast to his early uncertainty.

13 A major theme of Exodus – God will fight for us.

14 God points out that the Israelites should have trust in his plan all along.

15 Yet again God uses unnecessary human hands to carry out his miracle.

16 For the third time in this passage, God is given credit for hardening Pharaoh's heart

17 Again, showing God's glory is given as a motivation for the hardening of Pharaoh's heart

18 Again, the hardening of Pharaoh's heart is a lesson meant to show the Egyptians that God is Lord

19 A second purpose of the miraculous cloud – once it led the Israelites, now it protects them from the Egyptians

20 Moses does exactly what was asked again

21 Powerful image.

22 The recklessness of the Egyptians assault is emphasized.

23 Yet another miraculous manifestation of God.

24 This sort of response is not really at all difficult to believe.

25 God's clear judgment of the Egyptians is emphasized.

26 The state of the Israelites is contrasted from the state of the Egyptians.

27 One more time the state of the Israelites is contrasted from the state of the Egyptians.

28 God's purposes are fulfilled – the people fear and believe in him.

Take-home: The Exodus story climaxes. God's power and control over all the events in emphasized. His judgment of the Egyptians is made clear – though they are incredibly strong, the Lord judged them and demonstrated his clear power over them. All measures, including the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, the incredible manipulation of nature, and the killing of thousands of Egyptians, is used to show God's glory and convince the Egyptians and Israelites both that God is Lord. The Israelites are obedient, though their doubt and willingness to go back to slavery comes up, not for the last time.