Exodus 15:1-21

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

‘I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.²
The Lord is my strength and my might,
and he has become my salvation;
this 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.

‘Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea;
his picked officers⁴ were sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand,⁵ O Lord, glorious in power—
your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.
In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries;
you sent out your fury, it consumed them like stubble.
At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up,
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, “I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.”⁶
You blew with your wind, the sea covered them;
they sank like lead⁷ in the mighty waters.

‘Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?⁸
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in splendour, doing wonders?
You stretched out your right hand,
the earth swallowed them.⁹

‘In your steadfast love¹⁰ you led the people whom you redeemed;
you guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
The peoples heard, they trembled;
pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed;
trembling seized the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.¹¹
Terror and dread fell upon them;
by the might of your arm, they became still as a stone
until your people, O Lord, passed by,
until the people whom you acquired passed by.
You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession,¹²
the place, O Lord, that you made your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
The Lord will reign for ever and ever.’¹³



When the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his chariot drivers went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.



Then the prophet Miriam,¹⁴ Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them:

‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.’¹⁵



1 In case the work of the Lord was not clear enough, it is now emphasized further.

2 God's act of lethal judgment is praised.

3 The Israelites give God the glory are recognition that his acts were meant to lead to.

4 Sounds like someone who knew about the events from other sources, and not the Israelites who were fleeing while the picking of officers was going on.

5 What does “right hand” mean in this context?

6 The covetousness of the Egyptians is emphasized in this retelling

7 Many such words show the complete futility of the Egyptians' attempt to fight God.

8 God's majesty is compared favorably to all other gods, leaving it ambiguous whether other gods exist.

9 God's power over nature repeatedly emphasized.

10 In contrast to the main thrust of praises of God's strength, here God's love is praised.

11 This passage is strange, speaking of future events that wouldn't seem to have been on the Israelites' minds at this time.

12 Speaking of a future event as if it was a past event.

13 God's dominion and eternal nature are both emphasized.

14 Is this the same sister who saved Moses at the beginning of Exodus? If so, it is an interesting booknote on the story.

15 Quite a short song, once again emphasizing the glory of God's lethal judgment.

Take-home: In a song that looks much more like something composed long after the event than something made in the moment, God's power is again emphasized.  His lethal judgment of the Egyptians and absolute power over nature and all peoples are the main themes.