Exodus by Walter C. Kaiser Jr

Author:Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. [Kaiser, Jr., Walter C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL006060 Religion / Biblical Commentary / Old Testament
Publisher: Zondervan

COMMENTARY

15–18 Since God promised to bring Israel out of Egypt and to give them the land of Canaan, then Moses and Israel had best stop their crying (ṣʿq) to high heaven and begin moving on (nsʿ; v.15). The contrast between vv.16 and 17 is clear: “You” (ʾattâ), Moses (emphatic position), use your staff to “divide” or “form a valley” (bqʿ) so that Israel may go through the sea “on dry ground” (bayyabbāšâ); “I” (ʾanî, v.17, again in the emphatic position as is “you” in v.16), the Lord, will harden the hearts of the (pursuing) Egyptians—this is the first and only time the hearts of Egyptians other than Pharaoh are hardened (though cf. 9:12). Verses 17–18 repeat with slight expansions the promises of vv.3–4.

19–20 The identity of the angel of God is clarified in v.19b: the pillar of cloud and fire (see comment on 13:22). The reality of God’s promised presence may be stated in the symbol of his presence (the pillar of cloud and fire), in his messenger (the angel of the Lord), or as the Lord himself who goes “ahead of them” (13:21; cf. 14:24). But when God’s presence “withdraws” (nsʿ), he goes behind them to protect Israel’s rear guard. What is light for Israel becomes darkness for the Egyptians (v.20). The double nature of God’s glory in salvation and judgment, which later appears so frequently in Scripture, cannot be more graphically depicted.

21–22 With the single gesture of Moses’ upraised hand over the sea, the Lord “drives back” (yôlek, v.21) the sea by means of a “strong east wind all that night” (lit. tr.; cf. 15:8). The exact location of this “Reed Sea” crossing is unknown, but it seems best to locate it somewhere between the southern end of the Bitter Lakes and the Gulf of Suez or even in the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez itself (Finegan and Bourdon; see above on v.2), rather than in Lake Ballah (cf. ZPEB, 2:430) or south of Lake Timsah (Naville, 26) on the southern end of Lake Menzaleh, with its possible equation of Baal Zephon with Daphnae (Hyatt, 159). Even the width of this separation of the waters must have been somewhere around one-half mile wide (see Keil and Delitzsch, 2:47) to allow two million people to pass over in one night before the wind died down during the “last watch” (v.24), i.e., approximately between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (sunrise).

Meanwhile the waters form a “wall” (ḥōmâ, v.22) on the right and on the left. They are piled up like a “heap” (nēd, 15:8; Ps 78:13 [NIV, “wall”]). It is true that the last two references are found in poems; therefore the language can be poetic and not mean literal “walls.” But the prose text of ch. 14 is so explicit that to attempt to read this as a metaphor poses more problems than it solves. One must then ask: Of what is it a metaphor? Certainly it does not convey the idea of hardness or solidity. If it

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