Annotated Torah Reading for Passover

Exodus 13:17 - 15:5

13:17 [lead them … regret: A play on words: Heb. naham … yinnahem. way: Some take this to be a proper noun or name: “The Way/Road of the Land of the Philistines.” land of the Philistines: That is, along the Mediterranean coast.] [The Route and the Escort (13:17–22): The initial exit from Egypt highlights an ominous fact about the Israelites: God is well aware of their weaknesses and leads them by a detour, lest they “see war” and seek to recover the familiar security of being serfs. The section also explains what they are doing out of the way of the logical route to Canaan (the place names are difficult to identify, but the general stress is clear), and sets up the great final victory of the next chapter.

Two other elements of weight enter in this brief passage. One concerns Yosef’s bones, which leave Egypt with his descendants. The body of Yosef seems to anchor early Israelite history: its mummification brings the Genesis stories to a close, its journey here links up Israel’s patriarchal past with the radically new deliverance from bondage, and its final interment in the land of Israel formally closes out the conquest of the land under Yehoshua (Joshua) (Josh. 24:32).

Another unifying motif is that of God’s accompanying the journeying Israelites in the form of cloud and fire. This passage is the first of what I have called the “Presence Accounts” described in “On the Book of Exodus and Its Structure,” above.]

13:17 Now it was, when Pharaoh had sent the people free,
that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, which indeed is nearer,
for God said to himself:
Lest the people regret it, when they see war,
and return to Egypt!

18 [Sea of Reeds: Not “Red Sea,” which came from an ancient translation. It has more recently been suggested that the term (Heb. suf) can be read “End [sof] Sea,” that is, the Sea at the End of the World. This mythological designation is attractive, given the cosmically portrayed events of the next chapter, but is not provable. The exact location, in any event, has not been established with certainty. armed: Heb. (hamush) unclear. The present rendering is supported by ancient versions; Plaut raises the possibility of “groups of five/fifty.”]

18 So God had the people swing about by way of the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds.
And the Children of Israel went up armed from the land of Egypt.

19 [he had made the Children of Israel swear: See Gen. 50:25. The bones will be reburied, marking the end of the conquest of Canaan, in Josh. 24:32 .]

19 Now Moshe had taken Yosef’s bones with him,
for he had made the Children of Israel swear, yes, swear, saying:
God will take account, yes, account of you—so bring my bones up from here with you!
20 They moved on from Sukkot and encamped in Etam at the edge of the wilderness.

21 [YHWH goes before them: Others, “went before them.” The Hebrew idiom here means “to lead,” especially in war, and is the classic biblical description of a king. column of cloud: Heb. ’ammudÕ anan. cloud … fire: These are seen as physical manifestations of God’s presence, and are brought back in the narrative at Sinai (19:16, 18).]

21 Now YHWH goes before them,
by day in a column of cloud, to lead them the way,
by night in a column of fire, to give light to them,
to (be able to) go by day and by night.
22 There does not retire
the column of cloud by day
or the column of fire by night
from before the people!

14:1 [At the Sea of Reeds (14): The liberation account ends with two literary masterpieces: the semipoetic story of Israel’s miraculous passage through the Sea of Reeds along with God’s smashing of the Egyptian war machine, and the song of triumph that follows in Chap. 15. Taken together, they form a natural conclusion to what has gone before and a bridge to what follows. Chap. 14 marks the Israelites’ last contact with the Egyptians, and the beginning of their desert journey.

As if the actual exodus were not dramatic enough, the narrator or editor has included a battle scene at this point in the text. As before, the principal combatants are God and Pharaoh, and as before, we begin with God’s hardening the monarch’s heart (v.4) to teach him a final lesson (“I will be glorified”). In that vein, some of the plague motifs are repeated, making Chap. 14 a fitting conclusion to the Deliverance account stylistically and thematically (see also Isbell). At the same time the story includes a foreshadowing of Israel’s behavior in the wilderness for the next two years, with a detailed account of their complaints against Moshe (and God’s miraculous response).

God appears in this story in his most warlike garb, and temporarily resembles many of the gods of antiquity (Cross uses the term “the divine warrior,” relating it to Northwest Semitic imagery). This is not unusual for the Bible, and seems appropriate here, given the climactic nature of the events and the general context of the Deliverance Narrative. Otherwise, the Hebrew God was conceived of as the originator of all things, good and evil, and was of course not compartmentalized into limited tasks as were other gods of neighboring cultures.

From a formal point of view, the sea narrative is among the most formulaic in the Hebrew Bible. That is, it is built entirely upon several phrases that repeat throughout the text, stressing its major themes. These include: God’s “making Pharaoh’s heart strong-willed” (vv.4, 8, 17); God’s “being glorified” through what he does to the Egyptians (vv.4, 17, 18); Israel’s going “upon dry-land” (vv.16, 22, 29); the waters’ “returning” (vv.26, 27, 28); Israel’s marching “through/into the midst of the sea” (vv.16, 22, 23, 27, 29); Pharaoh’s “chariots and riders” (vv.17, 18, 23, 26, 28); and a description of the standing waters, “the waters a wall for them to their right and to their left” (vv.22, 29); see also the refrain, “before Pi ha-Hirot … before Baal-Tzefon” (v.4) and “by Pi ha-Hirot, before Baal-Tzefon” (v.9). The text is thus much more than a journalistic account of what happened: it is a rhythmic retelling of an experience, strongly conditioned by traditional (probably oral) Israelite forms of storytelling.

The ending (vv.29–31) betrays the influence of Deuteronomy. Using language that mirrors the end of the entire Torah (Deut. 34), the text speaks of seeing, fearing, hand, eyes, and the unique-to-Deuteronomy phrase “Moshe his servant” (see Deut. 34:5). Significantly, then, the final narrative of Israel’s relationship to Egypt is cast as a classic ending in general.

What exactly happened at the sea? As I indicated in “On the Book of Exodus and Its Structure,” above, such a point is unanswerable, and may not have a great bearing on the meaning of our text. Scholars have scrambled their brains for decades, trying either to reconstruct precisely what “natural” event this “really” was (e.g., tides, tidal wave), or to identify the exact location of the “Sea of Reeds.” While such matters are important to the historian, the Bible itself concentrates on the theme of the story. The narrator was concerned to demonstrate God’s final victory and to portray Israel’s escape in terms of a birthing (through a path, out of water), and these themes had the most influence both on later biblical tradition and on the generations of inspired Jews and Christians that heeded them.]

14:1 YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying:

2 [Pi ha-Hirot: The location is unknown.]

2 Speak to the Children of Israel,
that they may turn back and encamp before Pi ha-Hirot, between Migdol and the sea,
before Baal-Tzefon, opposite it, you are to encamp by the sea.
3 Now Pharaoh will say of the Children of Israel:
They are confused in the land! The wilderness has closed them in!

4 [be glorified through: The Hebrew uses the same stem (k-b-d) earlier in the narrative, as if to suggest that Pharaoh’s “heaviness” (stubbornness) is answered, not only by “heavy” (severe) plagues, but by God, showing his “heaviness” (glory) at the sea. I did not find a solution in English to the unified use of the one root in Hebrew—a frustrating defeat, given the principles of this translation.]

4 I will make Pharaoh’s heart strong-willed, so that he pursues them,
and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army,
so that the Egyptians may know that I am Yhwh.
They did thus.

5 [told that the people fled: As if they were not expecting it; now it is obvious that the Israelites are not leaving simply to observe a religious festival (Plaut).]

5 Now the king of Egypt was told that the people fled,
and Pharaoh’s heart and (that of) his servants changed regarding the people, they said:
What is this that we have done, that we have sent free Israel from serving us?

6 [(fighting-) people: This reading is supported by Num. 31:32 and Josh. 8:1 (Childs).]

6 He had his chariot harnessed,
his (fighting-) people he took with him,

7 [six hundred: A nice counterpart of the 600,000 (or 600 units of) Israelite males mentioned previously. teams-of-three: Others, “officers,” “warriors,” “a picked team.”]

7 and he took six hundred selected chariots and every (kind of) chariot of Egypt,
teams-of-three upon them all.

8 [a high hand: Others, “defiantly,” “in triumph.”]

8 Now YHWH made the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt strong-willed, so that he pursued the Children of Israel,
while the Children of Israel were going out with a high hand.
9 The Egyptians pursued them and overtook them encamped by the sea,
all of Pharaoh’s chariot-horses, his riders, and his army,
by Pi ha-Hirot, before Baal-Tzefon.
10 As Pharaoh drew near, the Children of Israel lifted up their eyes:
Here, Egypt marching after them!
They were exceedingly afraid.
And the Children of Israel cried out to YHWH,

11 [they said … wilderness: The Israelites’ complaint has been shaped into a great rhetorical paragraph, with the people’s first “grumbling” against Moshe an ominous foreshadowing of what will occur throughout the wanderings. In this construction, the longed-for “Egypt” is repeated five times, and the unknown “wilderness” twice. Note also the stress on Moshe: “you have taken us out … you have done to us.”]

11 they said to Moshe:
Is it because there are no graves in Egypt
that you have taken us out to die in the wilderness?
What is this that you have done to us, bringing us out of Egypt?
12 Is this not the very word that we spoke to you in Egypt,
saying: Let us alone, that we may serve Egypt!
Indeed, better for us serving Egypt
than our dying in the wilderness!

13 [Moshe said …: There follow four rapid-fire verbs of command, to quiet the complaints. Stand fast and see: Heb. hityatzevu u-reÕu.]  [deliverance: A word meaning “rescue,” but extending to circumstances that appear miraculous to those who experience them.]

13 Moshe said to the people:
Do not be afraid!
Stand fast and see
YHWH’s deliverance which he will work for you today,
for as you see Egypt today, you will never see it again for the ages!
14 YHWH will make war for you, and you—be still!

15 [YHWH said…: God echoes Moshe, issuing four commands.] [let-them-march-forward: Countering the “Egypt marching after them” of v. 10.]

15 YHWH said to Moshe:
Why do you cry out to me?
Speak to the Children of Israel, and let-them-march-forward!

16 [and split it: As if that were as natural an act as stretching out one’s hand!]

16 And you—
hold your staff high, stretch out your hand over the sea
and split it,
so that the Children of Israel may come through the midst of the sea upon the dry-land.
17 But I,
here, I will make Egypt’s heart strong-willed,
so that they come in after them,
and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army,
his chariots and his riders;
18 the Egyptians shall know that I am Yhwh,
when I am glorified through Pharaoh, his chariots and his riders.
19 The messenger of God that was going before the camp of Israel moved on and went behind them,
the column of cloud moved ahead of them
and stood behind them,

20 [and (there) it lit up: Heb. unclear; some read the verb as coming from a different root, meaning “cast a spell on,” which, however, weakens the theme of distinction mentioned earlier.]

20 coming between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel.
Here were the cloud and the darkness,
and (there) it lit up the night;
the-one did not come near the-other all night.

21 [fierce east wind: Looking back to the “east wind” that rid Egypt of the locusts in 10:13, and forward to God’s “fierce-might” in 15:2, after the triumph at the sea. firm-ground: In the Flood Narrative, another story of deliverance (and death) by water, the same word appears as a sign that all is well. Similarly, the “dry-land” of the next verse appears in Gen. 8:14.]

21 Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea,
and YHWH caused the sea to go back
with a fierce east wind all night,
and made the sea into firm-ground;
thus the waters split.
22 The Children of Israel came through the midst of the sea upon the dry-land,
the waters a wall for them on their right and on their left.
23 But the Egyptians pursued and came in after them,
all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his riders,
into the midst of the sea.

24 [daybreak-watch: Before sunrise; the biblical night was divided into three “watches.” panicked: “stirred up.” Others, “threw into panic.” The phrase is used in the Bible to describe God’s effect on his enemies (e.g., Josh. 10:10, Judg. 4:15, I Sam. 7:10) (Hyatt).]

24 Now it was at the daybreak-watch:
YHWH looked out against the camp of Egypt in the column of fire and cloud,
and he panicked the camp of Egypt,

25 [heaviness: Again, possibly a play on Pharaoh’s “heaviness” (stubbornness) and God’s “glory.”]

25 he loosened the wheels of his chariots and made them to drive with heaviness.
Egypt said:
I must flee before Israel,
for YHWH makes war for them against Egypt!
26 Then YHWH said to Moshe:
Stretch out your hand over the sea,
and the waters shall return
upon Egypt—upon its chariots and upon its riders.

27 [face: Or “turning,” which, however, would have clashed with the frequent “returning” (another Hebrew verb) in these verses. original-place: Others, “bed,” “normal depth.”]

27 Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea,
and the sea returned, at the face of dawn, to its original-place,
as the Egyptians were fleeing toward it.
And YHWH shook the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
28 The waters returned,
they covered the chariots and the riders of all of Pharaoh’s army that had come after them into the sea,
not even one of them remained.
29 But the Children of Israel had gone upon dry-land, through the midst of the sea,
the waters a wall for them on their right and on their left.

30 [saw … saw: The key verb again, echoing back not only to v. 13 but to various narratives throughout the book.]

30 So YHWH delivered Israel on that day from the hand of Egypt;
Israel saw Egypt dead by the shore of the sea,
31 and Israel saw the great hand that YHWH had wrought against Egypt,
the people held YHWH in awe,
they trusted in YHWH and in Moshe his servant.

15:1 [uttered (this) utterance: Giving a wider range of meaning for the Hebrew va-yomeru leÕmor. triumphed: A rendering based on Ugaritic.]  [The Song of God as Triumphant King (15:1–21): Moshe’s famous Song at the Sea provides a natural boundary in the book of Exodus. It sets off the Egypt traditions from those of Sinai and the wilderness, and brings to a spectacular close the saga of liberation. This is borne out even in scribal tradition, still observed in the writing of Torah scrolls today, where the Song is written out with different spacing from the preceding and following narrative portions.

A poem is necessary at this point in the story, to provide emotional exultation and a needed break before the next phase of Israel’s journey in the book. The Song manages to focus the Israelites’ (the audience’s?) intense feelings in a way that neither the ritual of Chaps. 12–13 nor even the semipoetic description of God’s miraculous intervention in Chap. 14 can do. Only poetry is capable of expressing the full range of the people’s emotions about what has happened. This is similar to the effect of the great poems that occur toward the end of Genesis (Chap. 49, the Blessing of Yaakov) and Deuteronomy (Chaps. 32–33, the Song and Blessing of Moshe).

A major concern of the poet is God’s kingship, with which he ends the poem (a one-liner—”Let Yhwh be king for the ages, eternity!”—contrasting with the doublets and triplets in the body of the poem). This is no accident, nor is it inappropriate; since Chaps. 4 and 5 the story of Exodus has revolved around just who shall be king (God or Pharaoh) and just who shall be served. By the end of Chap. 14 this is no longer an issue. The victorious Yhwh can now be acclaimed as king, while we hear nothing further of Pharaoh. (Has he drowned or merely been written out of the story? Later generations of Jews enjoyed giving him a role in the world to come: he stands at the gate of Hell, admonishing evildoers as they enter; see Ginzberg.)

The attempts to recover what happened at the sea through the poem are doomed to failure, considering that the piece is constructed out of two traditional stories, the victory at the sea and the later conquest of Canaan (vv.1–12, 13–17). Further, it is set in cosmic terms. The words “Oceans” (Heb. tehomot; vv.5, 8) and “breath” (ruÕah; v.8) recall the primeval chaos at the beginning of Creation itself (Gen. 1:2). This technique is characteristic of much of ancient/religious literature: a great event is told in a way that reflects the beginnings of the gods and the world (this may include statements about the end of the world as well).

It should be noted that some scholars point out the close resemblance between God’s victory here and scenes in other ancient Near Eastern literatures that portray the triumph of a storm god over a sea god. So however historical the events in Chaps. 14–15 may have been, in their biblical retelling they have been patterned after antecedents in myth.

Much has been written concerning the structure of the Song (see, e.g., Cassuto, Cross, and Lichtenstein). I will mention only a few points here. The vocabulary of the poem is extremely concentrated. Major ideas are expressed by clusters of key verbs. Note, for instance, the grouping of “flung,” “hurled,” “plunged,” “shattered,” “smashed,” “consumed”—a veritable lexicon of military victory. A number of verbs describe divine leadership (“led,” “guided,” “brought”), and God’s establishment of the Israelites in Canaan (“planted,” “founded”). The fear of the Canaanites (of Israel and its God) is graphically expanded to “shuddered,” “seized with writhing,” “terrified,” “seized with trembling,” “melted away,” “…dread and anguish,” and “grew dumb.” Finally, there are a number of nouns that express weight (cf. Heb. kaved, previously discussed): “stone,” “dam,” and “lead.”

The overall effect of the poem is of fierce pride at God’s victory, and exultant description of the destruction and discomfort of enemies, whether Egyptian or Canaanite. This general tone parallels many ancient war poems; what is characteristically Israelite about it is God’s choosing and leading a people. Therefore the last verse goes far beyond the celebration of a single military victory. The Song constitutes the founding of a theocratic people.

Scholars have long noted the archaic style of the Song, which uses forms characteristic of early biblical Hebrew. Its tone is for this reason even more exalted than is usual in biblical poetry. An imaginative reflection of the effect can be found in Daiches, who paraphrases the Song in the style of early English epic poetry.

Two sections have been appended to the end of the poem. First there is the poetically remarkable summary of the narrative in v.19, notable for the fact that it is composed wholly from phrases used in Chap. 14. There follows a women’s repetition/performance of at least part of the Song complete with dance. Some scholars see this as the “original” form of the poem. Of equal interest is the characterization of Miryam as a “prophetess.” But there may be a structural reason for her appearance as well: the enterprise of deliverance from Egypt began with a little girl at the Nile, watching through the reeds to make sure her baby brother would survive; it ends with the same person, now an adult, a “prophetess” celebrating the final victory at the Sea of Reeds.]

15:1 Then sang Moshe and the Children of Israel
this song to YHWH,
they uttered (this) utterance:
I will sing to YHWH,
for he has triumphed, yes, triumphed,
the horse and its charioteer he flung into the sea!

2 [strength. Others, “song.” YAH: A shortened form (YH) of the name of God (YHWH), and found often in biblical names (e.g., Uriah).]

2 My fierce-might and strength is YAH,
he has become deliverance for me.
This is my God—I honor him,
the God of my father—I exalt him.

3 [man of war: Or “warrior.”]

3 YHWH is a man of war,
YHWH is his name!
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
he hurled into the sea,
his choicest teams-of-three
sank in the Sea of Reeds.
5 Oceans covered them,
they went down in the depths
like a stone.

Fox, Everett, The Five Books of Moses, (New York: Schocken Books Inc.) © 1995.

Judaica | The Schocken Bible