Exodus 14

The general line of march is clearly indicated through Succoth to Etham “on the edge of the wilderness” that lies east of Egypt, then by a “turn” to the Red Sea by a route probably not far from the line of the present railway from Ismailia to Suez. S. C. B.—This route would save the crossing of two high, rocky ridges, which run from west to east parallel with the canal, and would afford a broad plain of desert over which to march southward, in accordance with the Divine purpose, when God “led the people about” to the Red Sea. Dulles.

Ex. 14:2. Turn back. They are to turn to the south, at right angles to their former course, along the west side of Lake Timsah and the Bitter Lakes. This would have the temporary advantage of keeping them for a little longer within reach of water and pasturage, but the great disadvantage of obliging them at some point to the southward to cross the Red Sea, an operation which they might hope to perform if unmolested and with abundance of time, but not otherwise. Dawson.—As you go southward from Ismailia, the lakes on your left, now filled by water from the Mediterranean, glitter with tints of blue that are exquisite, contrasting delicately with the amber-colored sand, while the gravelly desert on your right, with a stunted herbage, glows in the hot sunlight up to the foot of the hills which are bare and desolate masses of rock. The way to Suez, at the head of the western arm of the Red Sea, is broadly open for a moving caravan. But a little south of Suez, on the western side, a mountain ridge, the Gebel Attaka, runs boldly from the northwest across the southward path, abuts upon the sea, and renders a forward movement impracticable. Dulles.

14:2. Encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal-Zephon, by the sea. They were near the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea; near the modern way of the Hajj out of Lower Egypt, a highway which has swept across the desert, from gulf to gulf, from time immemorial. They were not far from the shore of the Red Sea; in a locality where three well-known landmarks were back of them, or about them: Migdol, Pi-hahiroth, and Baal-Zephon. Migdol was the outlook tower which overlooked that southernmost road desertward. H. C. T.—Migdol means fort or tower, and might designate simply a fortified place. Niebuhr first suggested for it Bir-Suweis, two miles from Suez, where there are two wells of very brackish water and a massive stone building of the seventeenth century. Kalisch favors it; and Canon Cook, in view of an investigation by Chabas, showing that “Maktal,” or Magdal, which Seti I. visited on his return from Syria, was built over a well, thinks there is “scarcely any room for doubt.” We may accept it as a very suitable conjecture. Pi-hahiroth is written in Numbers “Hahiroth,” giving some support to the opinion that the syllable “pi” is only the Egyptian article, and that the essential word is Hahiroth. There seems, on the whole, to be good reason for finding Hahiroth at Ajrood. It is the view of Jablonsky, Laborde, Winer, Kurtz, Keil, Knobel, Ebers, Sharpe, and apparently of Lange and Ewald. The name Hahiroth, as they have shown, corresponds in its consonant elements very closely to Ajrood. This name is certainly as old as the twelfth century. Other reasons concur. The situation and circumstances well correspond. The distance from the sea, four hours northwest of Suez, is suitable. A large plain, adapted to an encampment, ten miles long and nearly as broad, stretches to the sea. This camping-

ground lies in front, or, as the Hebrew might be translated, east of the place. A deep well (two hundred and fifty feet), though containing bitter water, must have made the spot a place of mark in former as in recent times. A fortress stands there now. These several circumstances will satisfy the conditions. Bartlett.

Baal-Zephon is the name of a divinity. It represents a combination of Semitic and Egyptian objects of worship. The name itself of the dualistic deity in its Semitic-Egyptian form of Ba’ali-Zapoona, or Ba’ali-Tsapuna, is found on the monuments; and that this is the same name as the Ba’al-Zephon (or the Ba’al-Tsephon) of the Hebrew Scriptures does not admit of serious question. In fixing the location of the shrine of Ba’al-Zephon there are helps in its mention in the text. The place of the encampment of the Israelites by the Red Sea is described by four cardinal points. It is in some way bounded, or indicated, by: Migdol, the sea, Pi-hahiroth, and Ba’al-Zephon. The sea must, in the nature of things, have lain at the eastward. As the commandment was to encamp “between Migdol and the sea,” Migdol is naturally to be looked for at the westward of the Sea. And as Pi-hahiroth is said to be “before,” or “over against,” Ba’al-Zephon, while the camp is at one time said to be “before,” or over against Pi hahiroth, and again to be “before” or “over against” Ba’al-Zephon, at the same time that it was “before” Migdol, it follows that Pi-hahiroth and Ba’al-Zephon must have been in the relation of northerly and southerly to each other; since Migdol was westerly, as over against the Sea which lay easterly. This corresponds with the supposed identifications of Migdol, at or near Muktala; and of Pi-hahiroth, or Hahiroth, at Ajrood. The landmarks at the northerly and westerly bounds of the place of encampment are at points which conform with all the indications of the text. This goes to fix the shrine of Ba’al-Zephon as at some point southerly from Ajrood, and southward of a line running from Muktala to the sea. In that direction the mountains of Atakah stand out too prominently to be overlooked as a probable site of such a shrine as that of Ba’al-Zephon must have been. Their summit commands a view of the isthmus, of the sea, and of the desert eastward. Ebers has advocated Gebel Atakah as a site of Ba’al-Zephon, and other scholars have accepted his judgment on this point as probably correct. It is not easy to find any sound reason for questioning its correctness. Trumbull.

At the western edge of the plain northwest of

Suez the station Muktala (Migdol) is found. The Israelites “encamped between Migdol and the sea,” for which there would be abundant room, as the distance is above ten miles. They were “beside Pi-hahiroth and before Baal-Zephon.” These conditions would be sufficiently answered if Pi-hahiroth were at Ajrood, and Baal-Zephon were on the northeastern flank of Jebel Atakah. We can only say that here, on the western coast of the Gulf of Suez, would be ample room for the encampment of the entire Israelitish host; that in this position it might well seem that “the wilderness had shut them in” (verse 3); and that the host would be “before a Migdol” (Nu. 33:7), and perhaps “beside a Pi-hahiroth.” The sea in front was but two or three miles across, and might easily have been passed in a night; the bottom was such as would naturally clog the Egyptian chariot wheels, and the further shore was destitute of springs, a true “wilderness,” where the Israelites may well have gone “three days without water.” G. R.

That the place of the passage called “Pi-hahiroth before Baal-Zephon” was in the neighborhood of the present town of Suez, at the head of the gulf, there can be little doubt. Hull.—They remained within the territory of Egypt, going southward to a point where they were completely shut in, by the sea and mountains in front and on the two sides and by Pharaoh’s chariots in the rear. If we look for a spot on the western shore of the gulf which answers to this description, we find it in the plain of Suez. This plain is large enough to hold two millions of men; it is bounded on the west and southwest by the mountains of Atakah, and these mountains approach so nearly to the sea, which is here considerably widened in consequence of a rapid curve to the west, that very few men could pass side by side along the shore. K.

Here are found all the requisites of the Scripture narrative—“entangling land” and a wilderness to “shut them in,” a place of encampment “by the sea,” wind, high and low water, a possible passage, a practicable distance, and a natural connection with the subsequent journey. The landmarks are here, and apparently one of the names, “Hahiroth,” in Ajrood, and the traditional name of “Moses’s Wells” on the opposite shore. That the names should not be universally or generally traceable through the journey, except in some frequented watering-place like these, is perfectly natural in a region where there has never been a settled population. Names perish, though landmarks remain.

At the northwestern side of the Gulf of Suez lies a plain ten miles long and nearly as broad. Accepting Ajrood at its northern extremity for Hahiroth (Pi-hahiroth, with the Egyptian article prefixed), where the name is handed down in connection with the deep well which made it a place of resort; “Migdol” may have been at Bir Suweis, two miles north of Suez, where are two wells of brackish water and a stone building of the seventeenth century, in a region where Seti I. is shown by Chabas to have visited “Maktal” built over a well; and “Baal-Zephon” may well have been the high and precipitous mountain Jebel Atakah, the chief object in full view of Ajrood, shutting down sharply to the western shore some distance southwest of Suez, and sweeping off indefinitely westward. Here they were absolutely shut in by Jebel Atakah in front, and the sea on the east, extending two miles or more north of Suez, and terminating in a marshy region, and with the enemy in the rear. S. C. B.

3-5. We find here the same miraculous guidance of the Lord which at all times attends God’s kingdom on earth. He might have permitted his people to gain the wilderness by the accustomed route, and there by simple means have defended them from the power of Pharaoh; but he willed to make known his glory on this self-willed heathen, and at the same time, by a mighty miracle of deliverance, to sever his people, and forever, from fellowship with the heathen. When the need has reached its highest point, the Lord shows himself a deliverer in the mightiest way. Gerl.

The last movement of Heaven in this marvellous chain of providences—the leading of the children of Israel as into a net, between the Red Sea and the mountains of the wilderness—was fitted to suggest the thought to Pharaoh, when he had recovered a little from his consternation and felt the humiliation of his defeat, that now an opportunity presented itself of retrieving his lost honor and with one stroke avenging himself on his enemies. He was thus tempted in the confident hope of victory to renew the conflict, and when apparently sure of his prey was led, by the opening of the sea for the escape of the Israelites, and the removal of the Divine cloud to the rear so as to cover their flight, into the fatal snare which involved him in destruction. In the whole we see the directing and controlling agency of God, not in the least interfering with the liberty of Pharaoh or obliging him to sin, but still, in judgment for his sinful oppression of the Church of God and unjust resistance to the claims of Heaven, placing him in situations which, though fitted to influence aright a well-constituted mind, were also fitted when working on such a temperament as his to draw him into the extraordinary course he took. P. F.

The best proof of its Divine character is that it is a movement which no human leader would have directed. It was to lead to a yet more signal display of the Lord’s power in the discomfiture of the Egyptians, and was designed for the deliverance of Israel, not only from present danger, but from the future fears from the side of Egypt. To the Egyptians, who took care to watch the movements of the Hebrew host, this must have seemed the height of suicidal infatuation. The king, concluding that they were forsaken by the God whose power he had full cause to know, resolved to take advantage of such egregious folly, and pursue them with all the forces at his disposal. This shows that notwithstanding the humbled language he had used in allowing the Israelites to take their departure, his heart was still essentially unsoftened; and now that the opportunity seemed to offer of avenging the disgrace and loss he had sustained, he prepared for action against the fugitive host. Kit.

The fact that Pharaoh had not the remotest idea that the Israelites would return, but on the contrary regarded it as certain that they would not, is clearly proved by his astonishment when he heard that they had not gone straight into Asia, but were still within the borders of Egypt on this side of the Red Sea. “They have missed their way,” he said, “the wilderness hath shut them in.” K.—The Bible meaning of the word wilderness is that of “a wide open space, with or without actual pasture; the country of the nomads, as distinguished from that of the agricultural and settled people.” In our country, the word wilderness suggests a forest, and it is difficult for the ordinary Bible reader not to attach this preposterous feature to the wilderness of Sinai or Judea. The kindred word, “desert,” in the Bible, does not commonly indicate a barren region, but rather an uninhabited region, which may be either barren or fertile. N. C. B.—As a matter of fact, in the supposed track of the Israelites, sand deserts without vegetation are the exception. S. C. B.

5. They inquire among themselves, Why they have let the children of Israel depart? as if they had not endeavored in every way to prevent their free exit; as if their pertinacity had not been ten times divinely overcome; as if God had not at length torn the people from them, in spite of their reluctance. They were worn out by fierce and dreadful punishments; but now as if nothing had happened they discuss why they had not resisted God even to the end, when he had compelled them to submit with extreme reluctance, after they had ten times found out that they struggled against him in vain. Such is the pride by which the reprobates are driven onward to their own destruction, when they fight against God. Calv.

Pursuit of Pharaoh and his Army.

6-9. It was in that part of Lower Egypt which lay toward the Red Sea, the most exposed of all the borders of Egypt, that according to the accounts of profane authors almost the entire military power of Egypt was concentrated. E. C. W.—The great caste of the warriors, the second in dignity, were regularly quartered in certain cities on the different frontiers of the kingdom, so that a considerable force could be mustered on any emergency. With great rapidity he drew together 600 war chariots and a multitude of others, with their full equipment of officers. Milman.

The military organization of the Egyptians at the time of the exodus is represented as very complete. Now, it appears by the Egyptian monuments that the military system was brought to its highest perfection by Seti I. and Rameses II. It is certain that, in their time, the army was most carefully organized, divided into brigades, and maintained in a state of constant preparation. The chariot force was regarded as of very much the highest importance, and amounted, according to the lowest computation, to several thousands. G. R.—The strength of Pharaoh’s army consisted chiefly in his war chariots. Hengstenberg has shown how strongly this account is supported by information derived from the monuments respecting the customs of ancient Egypt. The chariots on the Egyptian monuments are drawn by two horses, and generally hold one driver and one warrior. Pharaoh hastily gathered together all the available chariots that could be procured, and did not wait till the entire force could be brought from the most distant military stations. In addition to the charioteers, he was also attended by a proportionate number of horsemen. K.

The Isthmus of Suez at its narrowest part is seventy-two miles wide. The canal, indeed, measures one hundred miles from Port Said to Suez, but it does not cross the narrowest place

nor follow a straight line. Following the line of the canal southward, we pass for many miles through the broad Lake Menzaleh, and reach first a series of sandy downs, the highest point of which is Kantara, “the bridge” between the eastern and the western deserts. Here ran one of the greatest thoroughfares of the world, the highway between Egypt and the East. Passing next the shallow Lake Ballah, we reach El Gisir, the greatest elevation on the isthmus, about ten miles in width, and at its highest point sixty-five feet in height. Then comes Lake Timsah, the “crocodile” lake, midway between the two seas. South of it is the second elevation, the heights of Serapeum, about eight miles broad, and at its highest point sixty-one feet high. South of this lie the Bitter Lakes, a great depression, extending southeasterly some twenty-two miles in length, and from two and a half to five miles in breadth. Their greatest depth is about thirty-five feet below the sea-level. Before the water was admitted in 1867 by the modern canal, this depression was and had for ages been dry. The bottom was covered with a layer or layers of salt of great extent (seven miles by five) and of variable thickness, but reaching the depth of thirty-three feet. Between the Bitter Lakes and the Red Sea lies the third and last barrier, the heights of Chaloof, about five miles broad from north to south, and rising for a short distance twenty feet or more above the sea-level. Then follows the sandy plain of Suez for a distance of about ten miles, rising but a few feet (about four on the average) above the level of the sea. Since the geological times the heights of Gisir must have formed an effectual barrier to the Red Sea; and it will hardly be claimed that within historic times these waters have extended over the ridge of Serapeum. But some reasons have been urged for supposing that in the times of the exodus the Bitter Lakes were but part of a continuous arm of the Red Sea. Three circumstances have been adduced for this opinion: First, the deposits of salt found in the Bitter Lakes; secondly, the identity of shells found at the sides and bottom of the lakes with those of the Red Sea; and, thirdly, the name “Bitter Lakes,” implying the knowledge of a time when they were filled with salt water. But neither the deposits of salt nor of shells, unless the shells were of modern species (which is not affirmed), would determine the question whether such a connection existed during the present geological condition of the earth. It is not doubted that during and before the tertiary period this connection existed, and, indeed, many hold that at some time anterior the Red Sea and Mediterranean were connected. The name “Bitter Lakes” is accounted for either by the salt marshes which existed there before the modern canal introduced the sea water, or it may point back to an earlier time involved in the Arab tradition (mentioned by Robinson), that these marshes “were made by a canal cut thus far from the Red Sea, and then neglected.”

But the decisive objection to the theory of a connection between the Red Sea and these lakes in modern geological times is found in the fact that the impassable bar of Chaloof is a tertiary formation. Such is the positive testimony of Fraas, and of M. Mauriac, the engineer of the Suez Canal Company, and the admission of M. Ritt. Secondly, there is apparently clear testimony that in early times the breadth of the isthmus was substantially the same as now. Thirdly, the remains of the ancient canal leading northward from the gulf toward the Bitter Lakes complete the evidence. They show that in ancient times, as in modern, the connection was an artificial one. Burckhardt recognized the line of the canal long ago, and Rüppell travelled for an hour and a half along its bed, where it was, as he judged, one hundred feet broad. Herodotus distinctly describes the course of this canal in his day as leading eastward from Bubastis, near Patumos, and skirting the base of the hills, till it “turns southward and enters the Arabian Gulf.” He affirms that this southern connection was completed by Darius, and a stone bearing the name of that monarch, in Persian characters, near the terminus of the canal, sustains his statement, and carries us back nearly five hundred years before the Christian era. Of course, the construction of the canal disproves the natural extension of the gulf to the Bitter Lakes at that time. We may assume, till positive evidence is adduced to the contrary, that as in the time of Darius so in that of Moses, the Red Sea did not connect with the Bitter Lakes, but that the ridge of Chaloof, rising far above the highest known seas, and sending off a branch northerly and northwesterly to form the western bank of the Bitter Lakes, and to join the eastern slope of Jebel Geneffé, was then, as now, an impassable barrier. At the same time, the appearances about Suez, the constant drifting of the sands, and the present low level of the plain, would justify the belief that the gulf may have extended somewhat further north than at present. Schleiden may be right in supposing that the whole distance, if we accept the heights of Chaloof, was more marshy than now, and probably untravelled, if not impassable. Bartlett.

At a time when existing species of shells were living, the waters of the Red Sea extended over the lands of Egypt and along the shore of the Gulf of Suez to a height of 200 feet above the present level of these waters. The process of elevation of this sea-bed over so large a tract was probably exceedingly gradual, and at the date of the exodus the elevation may not have taken place up to the present extent. A strip of Red Sea water—not very deep—may at this time have stretched northward from the Gulf of Suez, forming to the host of Israel an effective barrier to their progress into the desert. Hull.

In his correspondence with President Bartlett, M. Mauriac held that “the ridge of Chaloof is now far above the highest known seas;” that “it is of the same age with the mountain Geneffeh, of which it is a kind of buttress or prolongation;” that the overflow of the Red Sea into the basin of the Bitter Lakes, which left there the existing strata of salt, “could not have taken place during the present geological condition of the globe;” that the level of the Red Sea has not materially changed within this geological epoch; and that there has been “no communication of the lakes with the Red Sea except in pre-historic times.” Again, Dr. Klunzinger, a naturalist of no mean degree, who went to Egypt directly in the interests of science, and “with the special object of making zoological investigations and collections on the Red Sea,” has recently furnished important testimony on this point, as a result of observations in his particular sphere. He says: “The arm of sea which springs from the great Indian Ocean, and bears the name of Red Sea or Arabian Gulf, is a genuine tropical sea, although it stretches northward far beyond the tropic. Though it is separated from the Mediterranean Sea only by the Isthmus of Suez, in the character of its animal life it is sharply distinguished from the former sea, and only a few cosmopolitan forms are common to both, a proof that in recent epochs at least there has been no communication between the two.” Trumbull.

The exact spot of the passage through the Red Sea will never probably be identified. It is difficult even to determine how great a change the lapse of 3500 years may have made in the condition of the gulf. Its head has evidently been silted up to some extent, but the ruins of an ancient town at Suez seem to point to the fact that the level of its shores has not materially altered. The passage of the Israelites is generally supposed to have taken place in the immediate neighborhood of Suez, and a careful examination of the isthmus and head of the gulf has led me fully to concur in this opinion. Holland.

Wellsted judiciously remarks thus, on the whole aspect of the case: “When I look away from all hypotheses, and confine myself to the Holy Scriptures, I must decide that the passage took place in the neighborhood of Suez. The objection that the water was not sufficient to drown the whole host of Pharaoh has no weight. It is now certainly enough, and must formerly have been more than enough, whereof there exist most striking evidences. It is expressly related in the Bible that a strong wind co-operated with the miracle. At Suez the water recedes when the northeast wind has blown for some time; and if a southeast wind follows it, then the water suddenly rises more than six feet, and causes the ford itself, one and a half English miles north of the town, to become impassable. Fatal accidents not seldom take place. We have only to think of Bonaparte, who on the passage had nearly perished. In other parts of the Red Sea, the rise and fall of the water is dependent on the winds, but nowhere so greatly as here at the end of it. If we suppose the passage of the Israelites at Suez, the determination of the next stations has no difficulty; since, on the modern journey from Suez to Sinai, they easily come round of themselves. The Desert of Shur, wherein they spent three days, is the desert stretching between Suez and Hawarah, upon which to-day no drinkingwater is found. The whole distance between these two points amounts to fifteen hours (33 to 35 miles); and if they marched five hours on each of the three days, travelling with their baggage and effects, that would be as much as we could expect. Hawwarah, with its bitter waters, must be Marah, since, so far as I could find, there are no other bitter fountains in the region. Gharandel, where there are water and palms, becomes the biblical Elim.” And fixing the Encampment by the Sea near Ras Selima, he adds, “From Ras Selima to Mount Sinai are expressly made five more stations. I used twenty-five hours; which gives for the Israelites, again, five days’ marches of five hours each.” Bartlett.

The topography of the head of the Red Sea we found to be as follows: The sea coming up from the south is several miles wide, and is deep enough for the largest ships, until within two or three miles of Suez. Then the water shoals rapidly, so that, at low tide, wide sand-flats are exposed, and the water is reduced to a small river-like and shallow stream. At the same time the sea is narrowed to the width of perhaps two miles, by the coming in from the west of the sandy peninsula on which stands the town of Suez. The sea running northward, from below Suez, makes a sudden bend to the west around this peninsula, so as to pass along the northern side of the town from east to west. Before fairly clearing the town it turns again northward, but after a short distance loses itself in a tangle of shallows and sand-banks. N. C. B.

In a line running southeast from the town, directly toward “the wells of Moses,” is a comparatively shallow region where at low tide the Arabs have always, prior to the dredging of a channel for the ship-canal, been in the habit of fording the gulf, and where they now pass, after crossing the dredged channel with a boat. This passage is now a little less than three miles in length, with much deeper water on each side. When a northeasterly wind concurs with low tide on the one hand, or a strong southerly wind with high tide on the other, the differences in depth, as shown by the Maritime Canal Company’s chart, amount to ten feet and seven inches. The Scripture narrative distinctly introduces the wind, which blew “all that night and made the sea dry” (Ex. 14:21), and again says in the sequel (15:10), “Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them.” (It has sometimes been objected as an inconsistency to recognize the introduction of a natural cause here. But the inconsistency would be in not recognizing a fact explicitly asserted in the narrative itself. The prevalent winds are north or northwest winds, but “the most terrible,” says M. Mauriac, the engineer of the Canal Company, are “those from the southwest,” which would accompany the returning tide.) The distance across and the time assigned, as shown by Dr. Robinson in detail, would correspond with what was practicable for such a host. “The waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left—” that is, completely protected their flanks from attack. With the morning light came the returning tide and changing wind, and the fate which Napoleon narrowly escaped at another ford two miles north befell the Egyptian army. Bartlett.

From the Bible account of this miracle, it appears, first, that the miracle was of a mediate character, or that, as has well been said, it was wrought by natural causes supernaturally applied. The waters retired from before the Israelites through the agency of a wind which the Lord caused to blow just at the right time and in the right direction for the purpose. The language is: “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” So, after the crossing, it was the wind blowing from the opposite quarter which brought the sea back overwhelmingly upon the Egyptians. Thus sang Miriam: “Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them.” Secondly, the passage occurred in the nighttime, and, it would seem, in a single night. The continuance of the wind was “all that night,” and it was “in the morning watch” that “the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians,” and troubled them, prior to their destruction in the waters. Now, both these items argue for the view that the place of the crossing was near the head of the sea, where the waters were shallow and narrow, rather than farther down, where they were deep and broad. N. C. B.

Ex. 14 10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them ; and they were sore afraid : and the 11 children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness ? 12 wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to bring us forth out of Egypt ? Is not this the word that we spake unto thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians ? For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we 13 should die in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you to-day : for the 14 Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. 15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me ? speak unto the 16 children of Israel, that they go forward. And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it : and the children of Israel shall go into the 17 midst of the sea on dry ground. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them : and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, 18 and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, 19 upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them ; and the pillar of cloud 20 removed from before them, and stood behind them ; and it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel ; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet 21 gave it light by night : and the one came not near the other all the night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea ; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were 22 divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground : and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their 23 left. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, 24 all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass in the morning watch, that the LORD looked forth upon the host of the Egyptians through 25 the pillar of fire and of cloud, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians. And he took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily : so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel ; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians. 26 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. 27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared ; and the Egyptians fled against it ; and the LORD over- 28 threw the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, even all the host of Pharaoh that went in after them 29 into the sea ; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea ; and the waters were a wall unto 30 them on their right hand, and on their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians ; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea 31 shore. And Israel saw the great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD, and in his servant Moses.

No. 33 8 And they journeyed from before Habioth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness.

The Captain takes command in person. Centuries have gone by; plans have been matured, man developed. Now is the crisis. The nation is a compact host, well ordered by families, ready to march. The Captain of their salvation and ours takes command in person; for this “Angel of Jehovah,” that appeared to Abram, that rained destruction on Sodom, who wrestled with Jacob, and appeared unto Moses, is no other than the Lord Jesus. The cloudy pavilion is his chariot; from it he looks with loving light on his beloved; from it he looks wrath and hurls thunder and panic on his enemies. This is the beginning of his forty years’ leading of Israel like a flock in the wilderness. Warren.

10-14. As Luther puts it, they were like a mouse in a trap or a partridge in a snare. The desert, the sea, the enemy, were their alternatives. And as they camped, they saw in the distance the rapid advance of the dreaded force of chariots. No wonder that they lost heart. Moses alone keeps his head and his faith. A. M. —In a human point of view their case was bad enough. The mountains were on the west and south, the sea on the east, and the war chariots of the well-appointed foe advancing on the north. There was not the slightest prospect of ultimate escape for a fugitive people scantily furnished with the means of defence. M.

Shut in between mountains, the sea, and Pharaoh’s host; neither prepared nor able to fight, and without the least human prospect of victory, deliverance, or flight; the people now began to despair. “Were there no graves in Egypt,” they cried out to Moses, “that thou shouldst lead us away to die in the wilderness?” Nor did Moses see any human way of escape. But his faith expected deliverance from Jehovah, and from Jehovah it came. “Fear not,” said he to the desponding people, “stand firm, and see the salvation which Jehovah will effect for you to-day. Jehovah will fight for you, and ye shall be still.” It was now to be clearly shown that the ways of God, though they may appear to be foolish by the side of the wisdom of men, insure the result in the safest, quickest, and most glorious way. K.

13. Stand still. What would this be in any mere human leader but the ravings of frenzy? Yet, wonderful to relate, the event accords with it. The Israelites escape “by the way of the sea;” the Egyptians perish in the same sea. Graves.—The Lord did not propose to bring the people into battle with the trained hosts of Egypt at this early stage of their new life of freedom. They were in no manner prepared for the conflict of arms. This time the Lord alone would go into battle against Egypt. Israel might stand still and look on! H. C.—If God himself bring his people into straits, he will himself discover a way to bring them out again. In times of great difficulty and great expectation, it is our wisdom to keep our spirits calm, quiet, and sedate; for then we are in the best frame both to do our own work, and to consider the work of God. Your strength is to sit still (Is. 30: 7). H.

“Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord; the Lord will fight for you.” Thus speaks the true hero, and the type of all true heroic men of all ages, amid all the darkness of overshadowing danger, whether divinely inspired by direct inspiration or not. Fear not; you have obeyed plain orders. You can do nothing more. But what of that, if it is really and truly the fact that ye have done all and have nothing more to do. Leave the rest to God. Make no vain efforts in your frantic fear. Stand still and see the salvation of God. Would to God the Church in this age could thoroughly grasp the great idea of this exhortation, and learn that this want of earthly resources, and numbers, and wealth, and worldly influence need cause no solicitude or discouragement to his faithful people. Would that the Church could learn that her success is “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord,” and thus learn to cast away all dependence on external power and influence, and simply standing still, look up to the unseen shrine of her risen Saviour, and look for Pentecostal effusions of the Holy Spirit as the power which alone can give the Gospel success against all opposition and deliverance out of all difficulties however insuperable. S. R.—As long as human means can avail, it is a man’s duty, trusting to Divine help, to employ them. To sit and wait, where effort can avail, is to insult God’s providence. The “salvation of the Lord” is when all conceivable means have been employed, and have failed. The hand can do, the heart can devise, nothing more. Such positions are frequently arrived at in life. We feel that we are at the end of all endeavor, and the object has not been gained. Our strength and resources—all possible expedients—have been brought into exercise. The last reserve has been thrown into the battle, and yet it goes against us. We may struggle on with a blind despair, and as long as strength remains we must struggle on; but this power, too, seems to be failing. It is then that the case rises distinctly into “the salvation of the Lord.” Nothing can save us but his marked interposition, and the heart must put itself in the attitude of “hope and quiet waiting” for it. Ker.

Ye shall see them again no more. Here was strong faith, accompanied by the spirit of prophecy. God showed Moses what He would do; “he believed, and therefore he spoke.” A. C.

It is the littleness of our faith which makes us dwarfs in spiritual stature, cowards in conflict and in enterprise, narrow-minded in our views and plans of duty, and niggards in sacrifice and in contribution to the cause of Christ. It is the sin and the misery even of the sincere disciples of Christ that the promises of God have so little daily influence on their practical habits. Be afraid of unbelief; be ashamed of unbelief; only believe, and act as if you believed, and you shall see the salvation of God. S. Miller.

15. We hear not one word of Moses’s praying; and yet the Lord asks why he cries unto Him? From which we may learn that the heart of Moses was deeply engaged with God, though he did not articulate one word. A. C.—His heart’s language God well understood, and took notice of. Moses’s silent prayers of faith prevailed more with God than Israel’s loud outcries of fear (verse 10). Moses had bidden them stand still, and expect orders from God; and now orders are given. They thought they must have been directed either to the right hand or to the left. “No,” says God, “speak to them to go forward, directly to the sea-side;” as if there had lain a fleet of transport-ships ready for them to embark in. When we are in the way of our duty, though we meet with difficulties, we must go forward, and not stand in mute astonishment; we must mind present work, and then leave the event to God; use means, and trust him with the issue. H.

There was no occasion to cry to the Lord; for he had already manifested so decidedly that he was determined to deliver his people, that neither they nor Moses ought to have had a doubt about it. And this was no time for prayer. There was something else to be instantly done. It was the time for him and them to act. “Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward.” In the most difficult and appalling circumstances, the command is often to be heard by us, “Go forward.” Though there may be mountains of opposition or seas of danger in the path of duty, yet the word is “Go forward.” Faith has its most perfect work in the hour of darkness. Follow its guidance, and “a way shall be made in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters.” Bush.

When God leads us into danger, he will take us safely through it. Had the Israelites gone of their own accord to encamp at Pi-hahiroth, they would have had no claim on the Divine protection; but because God had taken them thither, he stood near to help them. It makes all the difference in the world, when I am in danger, whether I am there for my own pleasure and of my own motive, or on the business and at the bidding of the Lord. In the former case, I have no warrant for his protection; in the latter, I may be sure that he will put himself between me and the peril, and make himself indeed my shield. This principle is far-reaching, and may be applied by us to business, to amusements, and, indeed, to every department of life. To go into danger thoughtlessly, is rashness; to go into it wantonly, is foolhardiness; but to go into it because only thereby can I follow my Master, and do what he commands, is true courage; and at such times I shall always find Him at my side. Pharaoh tried to cross the sea without warrant, and he was drowned; but the Hebrews, following their God, went over on dry land. Faith is one thing; presumption is another. To expect that God will keep me, no matter though I go recklessly into danger, is presumption; to go through that danger on his service, is courage. W. M. T.

It is no tame application, no degradation of the Divine watchword, if we say to one another, Go forward! Go forward in faith and holiness, in activity and zeal; go forward in brotherly kindness and charity, in devotion and self-denial; go forward in the self-knowledge which destroys confidence in the flesh; go forward in the courage which waxes strong in Christ Jesus; go forward in the humility which, conscious of unworthiness, still high-hearted and hopeful, seeks the things above; and forward in that seriousness which, taking truer views of life and its outgoings, has also joys and consolations unguessed by carnal levity. Go forward! for in the van are the bravest and best; go forward, for the guiding pillar is far before—so far before that the Bible is sometimes like to get out of our sight altogether; go forward, for the Forerunner has passed ahead, and they are the happiest pilgrims who so far can overtake as to pursue their course “looking unto Jesus.” Go forward! for the best accommodations and refreshments await those who are farthest in advance; and “from strength still onward unto strength,” their burdens are the lightest and their difficulties the fewest who, “forgetting the things that are behind,” evermore “press forward—” forward on the way where the guiding pillar precedes, “to the prize of our high calling,” even the place which Christ has prepared. Hamilton.

19. That the Israelites might not be dismayed at the appearance of their enemies, and that these might not be able to discern the object of their pursuit, the pillar of cloud moved from the front to the rear of the Israelitish camp, so as perfectly to separate between them and the Egyptians. A. C.—The pillar of fire and cloud, the symbol of the Divine Presence, passes from the van to the rear. Its guidance was not needed when but one path through the sea was possible. Its defence was needed when the foe was pressing eagerly on the heels of the host. His people’s needs determined then, as they ever do, the form of the Divine Presence and help. Long after the prophet seized the great lesson of this event, when he broke into the triumphant anticipation of a yet future deliverance, which should repeat in fresh experience the ancient victory, “The Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward.” In the place where the need is sorest and in the form most required, there and that will God ever be to those who trust him. A. M.

20. And it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. As an obstruction and a barrier to the former. The next clause is strictly translated in the Revision, And there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night. This sets forth the double aspect and function of this supernatural pillar. It is evident from the connection that the reference is not here, as in Ex. 13:21, to its different appearance by day and by night. These two aspects are not successive, but simultaneous, and set forth what it was upon its two sides. On one side it was all cloud and darkness; on the other it was luminous. The dark side was turned to the Egyptians and the bright side to the Israelites; and this is confirmed by Josh. 24:7. The obscurity prevented the Egyptians from seeing the retreating host before them and from seeing their own way, and thus perplexed them and retarded their progress. So that the one came not near the other all the night: Pharaoh and his army, thus checked, were not able to advance upon the Israelites, although they were already in such close proximity to them. W. H. G.

Darkness . . . yet light. In its typical sense, especially on the occasion of passing through the sea, on this occasion the pillar strikingly represents the twofold providence of God which are light to his people while death to his enemies; looking down upon the one with kindness and love, while he frowns in wrath upon the other. S. R.—It was a guide and a light to the believing, but a darkness and terror to the unbelieving. In the approach of difficulty, it was a protection to one and a destruction to the other. “By faith his people passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.” So it is with the principles and promises of God’s Word. Without faith working by and through love, receiving the truth in the love of it, we are mere children of sense and of darkness, mere Egyptians; and the Word, instead of being a pillar of fire by night, a flame of holy animating light, is a cloud of thick judgment and terrible darkness. There are nothing but elements of condemnation in it. And so, too, it must be with God’s providences. There is a bright side to them and a dark one; not indeed in themselves, for with reference to God they are all bright, as revelations of his attributes and parts of his administration. But to the view and experience of different souls, as submissive and believing or unsubmissive and unbelieving, as selfish and dark or loving and bright, God’s providences are all just like that pillar of cloud and flame. It was only the side toward God’s own people that was bright; the side toward the Egyptians was darkness. So it ever must be with all God’s dispensations. They have a bright and a dark side; but the bright side is bright only to faith, and the dark side is dark only to unbelief. Cheever.

It is fire as life, and not as death, that is the symbol of God. It speaks the might of his transforming power, the melting, cleansing, vitalizing influence of his communicated grace, the warmth of his conquering love. It hath, indeed, an under side of possible judgment, punishment, and destruction, but it hath a face of blessing, of life-giving, of sanctifying power. And therefore the Baptist spake glad tidings when he said, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” A. M.

21. The process is definitely stated in the Scripture narrative, by which the sea was divided and reunited: “The Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” This clearly asserts that the effect was wrought by a natural agency, though preternaturally applied. S. C. B.—It would be a great mistake to imagine that the passage of such a great caravan (as the Israelites) could have been effected by purely natural means. No caravans go this way nowadays, at least from Cairo to Sinai, though it would be a great saving of distance if they could. But it was even less possible for the children of Israel to cross thus, thousands of years ago, for the water was then apparently broader and deeper. The water seems not only to have retreated since, but the bottom of this shallow point appears to have been raised by the sand blown in for ages from the desert. Niebuhr.

Wonder did now justly strive with fear in the Israelites, when they saw the cloud remove behind them, and the sea remove before them. They were not used to such bulwarks. God stood behind them in the cloud; the sea reared them up walls on both sides them. That which they feared would be their destruction protected them. Bp. II.

Every one must see a miracle of the most wonderful kind in producing the effect here narrated—viz., the passage on dry ground of two millions of men, with their herds, during a space of twelve hours. Whoever receives the account as true will feel even now, on reading it, an awe in thought of the Divine Majesty which then revealed itself. Gerl.—In the Scriptures the supernatural element is continually presented, with simplicity, dignity, and a tone of authority; is treated as familiarly, with as little attempt at startling expression, as if it lay level with the commonest experience, yet with astonishing harmony and majesty in the outlines and vast adumbrations of its glory. No greater mistake can possibly be made than to suppose this amazing supernatural element—whose recognized presence in the Scriptures leads some to repel them—depressing or harassing to the stimulated mind. Above all things else, it is the one power which exalts, inspires, and re-enforces. R. S. S.

22. And the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.** It would be consistent with these words to assume that the channel which was laid dry for the passage of the children of Israel was bordered by deep water on either hand, which thus was a wall of defence to them on both sides (compare Nah. 3:8). It is not, however, consistent with Ex. 15:8, according to which the waters stood in a perpendicular mass, as though they were congealed. It is expressly declared that this was the fact at the crossing of the Jordan (Josh. 3:16), and there is no reason why it may not likewise have been the case in this instance. . . . These various miracles were wrought by the immediate exercise of God’s power. Yet Moses’s instrumentality was used in announcing and effecting them, in order to put honor upon Moses as God’s agent and duly accredited messenger. Moses’s rod and his hand had no efficiency in dividing the sea. And yet stretching them forth was the divinely ordained means for accomplishing this result; and the sea would not have been divided had not Moses stretched them forth. It is thus with the appointed means of grace—the Word as read or preached, the sacraments, and prayer. They are made efficient only by the accompanying power of the Spirit of God. W. H. G.

The graphic description of the passage needs little comment. The author describes all so concisely and in a tone so unimpassioned, that it is difficult to realize that he is describing one of the most stupendous miracles in the history of the race since the flood. S. R.—He uses no ornaments of language in celebrating this miracle. He simply says that the sea was divided by the rod of Moses; that space enough for the passage of the people was dry; that the mighty mass of waters stood like solid rocks on either side. Designedly has he set the whole matter before our eyes bare of all verbal splendor; although it will be celebrated soon after, in accordance with its dignity, in the Canticle, and it is everywhere more splendidly magnified by the prophets and in the Psalms. Calv.

The scene, conceived of even according to the ascertained facts of the case, was more sublime than we commonly imagine. Remember that the passage was made in the night; made amid the howlings of that eastern blast which bore down on the waters of the sea with resistless force. And then take into the account what we learn from descriptions given in the Psalms; that this was a tempestuous wind, of clouds, and poured-out rains, and lightnings shooting athwart the sky, and thunders pealing round the horizon and shaking the earth, while the mysterious fiery cloud of God sent forth its ruddy glare on the scene. Says the Psalmist (77:16-20): “The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” N. C. B.

The Epistle to the Hebrews takes this as an instance of “faith” on the part of the Israelites; and truly we can feel that it must have taken some trust in God’s protecting hand to venture on such a road, where, at any moment, the walls might collapse and drown them all. They were driven to venture by their fear of Pharaoh; but faith, as well as fear, wrought in them. Our faith, too, is often called upon to venture upon perilous paths. We may trust him to hold back the watery walls from falling. The picture of the crossing carries eternal truth for us all. The way of safety does not open till we are hemmed in, and Pharaoh’s chariots are almost come up. It often leads into the very thick of what we deem perils. It often has to be ventured on in the dark, and with the wind in our faces. But if we tread it in faith, the fluid shall be made solid, and the pathless passable, or any other apparent impossibility be realized, before our confidence shall be put to shame, or one real evil reach us. A. M.—The passage through the sea turns out to be much safer than the path along the quiet shore, as soon as it appears that God is with us; for—and let it be inscribed on all our hearts—safety does not depend upon the road, but on the guide we choose. Far better to pursue what seems a hopeless track with God upon our side, than without God or against his will to tread a path, however smooth, that flesh and blood has opened up to us. Why should we, then, retreat a single inch-breadth, even on a road beset with every kind of difficulty, when the God who calls is also faithful, and does far above what we can ask or think? Van O.

24,25. Now when God sees the Egyptians too far to return, he finds time to strike them with their last terror: they know not why, but they would return too late. Those chariots in which they trusted now fall them, as having done service enough to carry them into perdition. God pursues them, and they cannot fly from Him. Bp. H.

24. In the morning watch. The Hebrews, as well as the Romans, divided the night into four parts, or watches, of about three hours each; so called, because at the beginning of each part the guard of soldiers who kept watch was changed. The morning watch was the last of them, immediately before sunrise. Bp. Patrick.—The LORD looked forth. We know of no sentence more memorably impressive in the Bible than that which tells us that

God looked out of the pillar of cloud and of the fire, and troubled the Egyptians. Such is the difference between the light of his countenance and the rebuke of his countenance. T. C.

25. Let us flee. The Egyptians now repented of their precipitate madness, and determined, as conquered by God’s power, to leave the children of Israel and to return home; but God shut up the way of escape at this very crisis. That we may know how evident a miracle was here, Moses adds (verse 27) that the morning then appeared, so that the broad daylight might show the whole transaction to the eyes of the spectators. Calv.—Israel is now, all of a sudden, become as much a terror to them as they had been to Israel. They might have let Israel alone and would not; now they would flee from the face of Israel and cannot. Men will not be convinced till it is too late that those who meddle with God’s people meddle to their own hurt; when the Lord shall come with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment, the mighty men will in vain seek to shelter themselves under rocks and mountains from the face of Israel and Israel’s King (Rev. 6:15). God reckoned with Pharaoh for all his proud and insolent conduct toward Moses his ambassador; mocking the messengers of the Lord and playing the fool with them, bring ruin without remedy: now God got him honor upon Pharaoh H.

27. And Moses stretched forth his hand. The rod of Moses is again stretched over the sea, and it returns to its strength. Those very waters which had guarded the passage of Israel again obey the suspended law of gravitation, and rushing down upon the heads of the Egyptians with overwhelming force, engulf them all beyond the power or possibility of escape. “The sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters.” The same element is the defence of the one and the destroyer of the other. Not an Israelite perished, not an Egyptian survived. Bush.

30. Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. Thus Israel went beyond the Land of Bondage into the Land of Training, as a nation of freemen. H. C. T.

Often mentioned both in the Old and New Testament, the dividing of the Red Sea before the children of Israel was the terror of the Canaanites (Josh. 2:9, 10), the praise and triumph of the Israelites (Ps. 114:3; 106:9; 136:13, 14). It was a type of baptism (1 Cor. 10:1, 2). Israel’s passage through it was typical of the conversion of souls (Is. 11:15), and the Egyptians’ perdition in it was typical of the final ruin of all impenitent sinners (Rev. 20 : 14).—The Old Testament people confess that the exodus from Egypt was their redemption. The bringing back from Babylon is a fact in holy history ; but the bringing out of Egypt stands high above it. It is an article of the Israelite creed, holding the first place in the Decalogue, included among the reasons for observing the Sabbath commandment (De. 5 : 15), solemnized by two feasts at the beginning of the ecclesiastical year (the pascha) and of the civil year (the feast of tabernacles), urgently impressed by the prophets and splendidly celebrated in many psalms. Delitzsch.

31. The people feared the Lord.** They were convinced by the interference of Jehovah that his power was unlimited, and that he could do whatsoever he pleased, both in the way of judgment and in the way of mercy. And believed in the Lord. They clearly discerned that God had fulfilled all his promises, and that not one thing had failed of all the good which he had spoken concerning Israel. And they believed his servant Moses. They had now the fullest proof that he was divinely appointed to work all these miracles, and to bring them out of Egypt into the promised land. Thus God got himself honor upon the Egyptians, and credit in the sight of Israel. After this overthrow of their host, the Egyptians interrupted them no more in their journeyings. How strange that after such displays of the justice and mercy of Jehovah the Israelites should ever have been deficient in faith or have given place to murmuring ! A. C.

So complete, so marvellous was the deliverance : thus the Israelites were baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea. When they left Baal-Zephon they were separated finally from the idolatry of Egypt ; when they passed the Red Sea their independence of its power was sealed ; their life as a nation then began, a life inseparable henceforth from belief in Jehovah and his servant Moses, only to be merged in the higher life revealed by his Son. Cook.—This great work which God wrought for them by the ministry of Moses bound them effectually to follow his directions, under God. This confirmed their faith in the promises that were yet to be fulfilled ; and being brought thus triumphantly out of Egypt, they did not doubt that they should be in Canaan shortly, having such a God to trust to and such a mediator between them and Him. Oh, that there had been such a heart in them as now there seemed to be ! Sensible mercies when they are fresh make sensible impressions ; but with many these impressions soon wear off : while they see God’s works and feel the benefit of them, they fear him and trust in him ; but they soon forget his works, and then they slight him. H.

The beginnings and foundations of true religion do not rest upon human but upon Divine productivity and human receptivity. The Divine productivity is seen in the supernatural revelation ; the human receptivity in faith, which receives the revelation. At the beginnings, in the case of Abraham (Gen. 15 : 6) and here in the Mosaic age, faith, elsewhere rarely occurring in the Old Testament, is expressly mentioned. Auberlen.

In 1 Cor. 10 : 1-4 the apostle is representing the position of the Israelites in the desert as substantially one with that of the Corinthians. And, to make it more manifest, he even applies the terms fitted to express the condition of the Corinthians to the case of the Israelites. These, says he, were baptized like you, had Christ among them like you, and like you were privileged to eat and drink as guests in the Lord’s house. Of course, language transferred thus from one part of God’s dispensations to another could never be meant to be taken very strictly ; no more could it be so when the new things of the Christian dispensation were applied to the Israelites than when the old things of the Jewish are applied to the members of the Christian Church. In this latter mode of application the Christian Church is spoken of as having a temple as Israel had an altar, a pass-over-lamb and feast, a sprinkling with blood, a circumcision. Yet every one knows that what is meant by such language is, not that the very things themselves, the things in their outward form and appearance, but that the inward realities signified by them belong to the Church of Christ. The old name is retrained, though actually denoting something higher and better. And we must interpret in the same way when the transference is made in the reverse order—when the new things of the Christian Church are ascribed to the ancient Israelites. By the cloud passing over and resting between them and the Egyptians, and afterward by their passing under its protection through the Red Sea in safety, they were baptized into Moses ; for thus the line of demarcation was drawn between their old vassalage and the new state and prospects on which, under Moses, they had entered ; and Christ himself, whose servant Moses was, was present with them, feeding them as from his own hands with direct supplies of meat and drink, till they reached the promised inheritance. In short, these were to them relatively what Christian baptism and the Lord’s Supper are to believers now, but not in themselves formally the same. Christ was there only in a mystery; Gospel ordinances were possessed only under the shadow of means and provisions, adapted immediately to their bodily wants and temporal condition. Yet still Christ and the Gospel were there; for all that was then given and done linked itself by a spiritual bond with the better things to come, and as in a glass darkly reflected the benefits of redemption. So that as the Israelites in the desert stood relatively in the same position with the professing church under the Gospel, the language here used by the apostle merely shows how clearly he perceived the points of resemblance, and how profoundly he looked into the connection between them. P. F.

Three results would naturally follow on the occurrence of such circumstances as those recorded in Exodus. Egypt would be for a time weakened in a military point of view, and her glory, as a conquering power, would suffer temporary eclipse. The royal authority would be shaken and encouragement afforded to the pretensions of any rival claimants of the throne. The loss of six hundred thousand laborers would bring to an end the period of the construction of great works, or, at the least, greatly check their rapid multiplication. Now this is exactly what all historians of Egypt agree to have been the general condition of things in Egypt in the later years of Meneptah and the period immediately following. Military expeditions cease until the time of Rameses III., a space of nearly forty years. The later years of Meneptah are disturbed by the rise of a pretender, Ammonnes, who disputes the throne with his son, and, according to Manetho, occupies it for five years. Seti II., or Seti-Meneptah, has then a short reign; but another claimant is brought forward by a high official, and established in his place. Soon afterward complete anarchy sets in, and continues for several years, till a certain Setnekht is made king by the priests, and tranquillity once more restored. The construction of monuments during this period almost entirely ceases; and when Rameses III. shows the desire to emulate the architectural glories of former kings, he is compelled to work on a much smaller scale, and to content himself with the erection of a comparatively few edifices. G. R.

Meneptah’s portraits which have been preserved indicate, in full harmony with the biblical account, a ruler with weak womanish features, lacking every trace of masculine decision of character. Of his end we know nothing except what is contained in the Bible. His grave is preserved in the valley of the royal vaults in western Thebes; but this, as well as the sarcophagus, was usually constructed in the lifetime of the king himself. Meneptah’s mummy was not found in the cachette of Der-el-Bahri, where, six years ago, the bodies of his father and of so many other important Pharaohs were found. This may, of course, be an accident. Ebers.

Either the plagues of Egypt happened, or they did not. Either the Red Sea was divided, or it was not. Either the pillar of fire and of the cloud guided the movements of the hosts for forty years, or there was no such thing. Either there was manna each morning round about the camp, or there was none. The facts were too plain, too simple, too obvious to sense for there to be any doubt about them. The record is either a true account or a tissue of lies. We cannot imagine the writer an eye-witness, and reject the main features of his story, without looking on him as an impostor. No “enthusiasm,” no “poetic temperament,” could account for such a record if the exodus was accomplished without miracles. The writer either relates the truth, or was guilty of conscious dishonesty. G. R.