Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 15:9
The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
9. The enemy’s confidence of victory, dramatically expressed in a series of quick, abrupt sentences, describing the rapid succession of one stage after another of the expected triumphant pursuit.
divide the spoil ] A result of victory always looked forward to with satisfaction; cf. Jdg 5:30, Isa 9:3; Isa 33:23, Psa 68:12.
My soul shall be filled with them ] i.e. sated, or glutted with them. The ‘soul,’ in the psychology of the Hebrews, is the seat of desire, and especially of appetite or greed; see Deu 12:15; Deu 14:26; Deu 23:24 (‘thou mayest eat grapes thy fill according to thy soul), Isa 29:8; Isa 32:6, Psa 17:9 (‘my greedy enemies,’ lit. ‘my enemies in soul ’), Psa 27:12 (‘give me not over unto the soul of my enemies, so Psa 41:2), Psa 78:18 (‘by asking food for their soul ’), Pro 23:2 (‘a man given to appetite,’ lit. ‘the possessor of a soul ’), Ecc 6:7, Isa 56:11 (‘greedy dogs,’ lit. ‘dogs strong of soul ’). See further the Glossary in the writer’s Parallel Psalter, p. 459 f.
shall dispossess them ] Often used of the nations of Canaan (see on Exo 34:24). Fig. here for root out; cf. Num 14:12. ‘Destroy’ is a paraphrase, which obliterates the distinctive figure of the original.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Exo 15:9-10
The enemy said.
The enemys spirit
Observe the spirit of the enemy of Israel. It was characterized–
1. By great ambition. It was the love of power and dominion. To hold human beings as property is the vilest display of ambition.
2. Great arrogance and pride. I will pursue (rather repossess), overtake, divide, etc. What self-confidence! What boasting! What assumption! Pride goeth before destruction.
3. Insatiable avarice. Divide the spoil. Had not Pharaoh enough? An avaricious spirit unceasingly cries, Give! give! What a cursed spirit it is! Well has it been said that nature is content with little, grace with less, but the lust of avarice not even with all things.
4. Reckless malevolence and cruelty. My lust shall be satisfied, I will draw my sword, etc. What thirsting for blood! Ambition and avarice render the mind cold and the heart callous. Tears, wailings, groans, mangled bodies and the flowing blood of mankind allay not the fires of human malevolence and lust.
5. Presumptuous confidence and security. I will do, not endeavour, no peradventure. Contingency and doubt have no place. How foolish for the man who puts on the armour to boast. (A. Nevin, D. D.)
Gods Church and her enemies
Israel was a type of the Church, Pharaoh a type of the Churchs enemies in all ages of the world, both of the spiritual enemy Satan, and of the temporal, his instruments. The deliverance was a type of the deliverance that Christ wrought upon the cross by His blood; also of that Christ works upon His throne, the one from the reign of sin, the other from the empire of antichrist. The text is a part of Moses song; a song after victory, a panegyric; the praise of God, attended with dancing, at the sight of the Egyptian wrecks (Exo 15:20).
1. It was then real; the Israelites then sang it.
2. It is typical; the conquerors of antichrist shall again triumph in the same manner (Rev 15:3).
3. It was an earnest of future deliverance to the Israelites.
General observations.
1. The greatest idolaters are the fiercest enemies against the Church of God. It is the Egyptian is the enemy. No nation had more and more sordid idols.
2. The Churchs enemies are not for her correction, but her destruction: I will pursue; my hand shall destroy them.
3. How desperate are sometimes the straits of Gods Israel in the eye of man! How low their spirits before deliverance.
4. God orders the lusts of men for His own praise.
5. The nearer the deliverance of the Church is, the fiercer are Gods judgments on the enemies of it, and the higher the enemies rage.
6. All creatures are absolutely under the sovereignty of God, and are acted by His power in all their services.
7. By the same means God saves His people, whereby He destroys His enemies: the one sank, the other passed through. That which makes one balance sink makes the other rise the higher.
8. The strength and glory of a people is more wasted by opposing the interests of the Church than in conflicts with any other enemy.
9. We may take notice of the folly of the Churchs enemies. Former plagues might have warned them of the power of God, they had but burned their own fingers by pinching her, yet they would set their force against almighty power, that so often had worsted them; it is as if men would pull down a steeple with a string.
But the observations I shall treat of are–
1. When the enemies of the Church are in the highest fury and resolution, and the Church in the greatest extremity and dejection, then is the fittest time for God to work her deliverance fully and perfectly. When the enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, etc., then God blowed with His wind, then they sank.
2. God is the author of all the deliverances of the Church, whosoever are the instruments. Thou didst blow with Thy wind; who is like unto the Lord among the gods. Uses: How dear is the Church to God!
2. Remember former deliverances in time of straits.
3. Thankfully remember former deliverances. (S. Charnock, B. D.)
Vanity of boasting
When Bonaparte was about to invade Russia, a person who had endeavoured to dissuade him from his purpose, finding he could not prevail, quoted to him the proverb, Man proposes, but God disposes; to which he indignantly replied, I dispose as well as propose. A Christian lady, on hearing the impious boast, remarked, I set that down as the turning-point of Bonapartes fortunes. God will not suffer a creature with impunity thus to usurp His prerogative. It happened to Bonaparte just as the lady predicted. His invasion of Russia was the commencement of his fall.
Triumphing before the battle
Nothing can be got, but much may be lost, by triumphing before a battle. When Charles V. invaded France, he lost his generals and a great part of his army by famine and disease; and returned baffled and thoroughly mortified from an enterprize which he began with such confidence of its happy issue, that he desired Paul Jovius, the historian, to make a large provision of paper sufficient to record the victories which he was going to acquire!
Providentially destroyed
During the last summer, at Coblentz, we saw a monument erected to commemorate the French campaign against the Russians in 1812. It was a gigantic failure; 400,000 men set forth for Moscow; 25,000, battered and worn and weary, tattered and half famished, returned. Do you ask how it was done? Not by the timid Alexanders guns and swords. We read in one place that the stars in their courses fought against Sisera; in another, how God has sent an army of locusts to overthrow an army of men; but here the very elements combine to drive the invader back in disgrace. Yes. He gave snow like wool, He scattered His hoar-frost like ashes, He cast forth His ice like morsels–who can stand before His cold? Who? Not Napoleon who, with self-sufficient heart, boasted in his own right hand, and sacrificed to his insatiable ambition the blood of myriads of murdered men. No! God blows upon him with His wind out of the north, and, shivering and half-starved, he slinks back in defeat. What a picture! But Alexander had not forgotten to prepare his ways before the Lord and seek the God of Jacobs aid. And in recognition of the Divine interposition and help, he struck a medal with a legend: Not to me, not to us, but unto Thy Name. Thus the lesson taught by ancient and modern history is, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to the man who prepares his ways before the Lord his God. (Enoch Hall.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. The enemy said] As this song was composed by Divine inspiration, we may rest assured that these words were spoken by Pharaoh and his captains, and the passions they describe felt, in their utmost sway, in their hearts; but how soon was their boasting confounded? “Thou didst blow with thy wind, and the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters!”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
My lust; the lust of covetousness and revenge too. Shall destroy them; or, take possession of them and theirs: see of this word, Num 14:12,24.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
The enemy said,…. That is, Pharaoh, who repented that he had let Israel go; an emblem of Satan, who when the people of God are taken out of his hands is uneasy at it, and seeks to recover them again into his possession; or of antichrist breathing out threatening and slaughter to the saints, the reformers departed from him, and delivered out of his captivity:
I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; which words being expressed without the copulative “and”, show the passion he was in, the hastiness of his expressions, and the eagerness of his mind; and being delivered in such an absolute manner, “I will”, “I will”, c. denote not only the fixed resolution and determination he had made to pursue, but the assurance he had of carrying his point he thought as surely, as he pursued he should overtake, and overtaking should conquer, and get into his hands all the riches the people of Israel went out of Egypt with:
my lust shall be satified upon them; both his lust of covetousness to possess himself of the wealth the people had of their own, and which they had spoiled the Egyptians of, by borrowing of them; and also his lust of revenge and cruelty upon them; as appears from what follows:
I will draw my sword; out of its scabbard, and sheathe it in them:
my hand shall destroy them; which he made no doubt of, they being an unarmed people; and therefore, though numerous, were unable to engage with him, and defend themselves; see Re 6:14 and with it compare Isa 10:11.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
9. The enemy said. He relates the boast of Pharaoh not merely in exultation over him, but to magnify the miracle, whereby God gives over to destruction this wolf intent upon his prey. But there is more force in the language when he introduces the Egyptians as speakers, than as if he had described their plans; for thus does the marvelous catastrophe more strikingly affect our minds, when the Egyptians, brought as it were on the stage, not only trumpet forth their victory, but insolently give vent to their arrogance and cruelty. But, presently, the Lord is introduced on the other side, dissipating by a single blast their terrible audacity. For whence came this great confidence to the Egyptians, promising themselves that they should be satisfied with the spoils, and that they should have nothing more to do in order to put the people to death than to draw their swords, but from the fact of their being very well armed against this unwarlike multitude? Hence, then, God’s power shone forth more brightly, when He put them out of the way by “blowing with His wind.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) The enemy said.Pharaohs soldiers were as anxious as their master to come to blows. (See above, Exo. 15:7.) They hoped to acquire the rich spoil which the Israelites had carried off from Egypt in the shape of gold and silver ornaments and goodly apparel (Exo. 12:35-36), as well as their flocks and herds (Exo. 12:38).
My lust.Heb., my soul. The particular passion to be gratified was cupidity, or desire of riches.
Destroy them.So the Vulg., Onkelos, Rosenmller, Knobel, Kalisch, and others. The meaning re-possess, given in the margin, rests upon the rendering of the LXX., which is , but is otherwise unsupported.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9, 10. Third strain . Now the enemy is personified, and his boasts and threats are dramatically pictured in six terse, strong phrases, all compressed into ten nervous words, which our translation has broken up into twenty-five! In successive flashes it reveals the Egyptian host, proud, confident, fierce, eager for their prey, dashing on their chase through the darkness into the cloven sea; and then the closing couplet paints once more the waters returning at the blast of Jehovah’s breath .
Like lead So Homer, Iliad, 24: 80: “She, (Iris,) like the lead, plunged to the abyss . ”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Lord Sends Quails and Manna
v. 9. And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the Lord; for He hath heard your murmurings. v. 10. And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. v. 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, v. 12. I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, v. 13. And it came to pass that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp; v. 14. And when the dew that lay was gone up, v. 15. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, What is this? For they wist v. 16. This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, v. 17. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less, v. 18. And when they did mete it with an omer, v. 19. And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning, v. 20. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses, v. 21. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating; and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Exo 15:9-10. The enemy said, &c. No reader can be insensible to the striking beauty in these verses: the exultation of the enemy is so finely expressed in the one, and their sudden destruction so emphatically in the other: thou didst blow with thy wind, &c. There is a similar beauty in the song of Deborah: see Jdg 5:29-31.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The church hath found great cause, in all ages, to plead with her God of the enemy’s vauntings. See Psa 74 throughout.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 15:9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
Ver. 9. The enemy said, I will. ] They made account all was their own, but were soon confuted, as were likewise Sisera and Sennacherib. Where the beginning of a business is confidence, the end is confusion.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will pursue. Note the Figure of speech Asyndeton (App-6), in Exo 15:9 and Exo 15:10. No “ands”: to hasten on to the grand climax-” they sank as lead” (Exo 15:10).
lust. Hebrew. nephesh = soul. See App-13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will pursue: Gen 49:27, Jdg 5:30, 1Ki 19:2, 1Ki 20:10, Isa 10:8-13, Isa 36:20, Isa 53:12, Hab 3:14, Luk 11:22
destroy: or, repossess, Exo 14:5, Exo 14:9
Reciprocal: Exo 14:23 – General Deu 11:4 – how he made Jos 8:6 – They flee Jdg 20:41 – were amazed 1Sa 23:7 – he is shut 1Ki 20:3 – General 2Ki 3:23 – now therefore 2Ki 19:24 – with the sole 2Ch 32:14 – your God Est 8:12 – one day Job 20:5 – the triumphing Psa 10:3 – boasteth Psa 12:3 – tongue Psa 17:10 – with Psa 35:25 – so Psa 37:36 – General Psa 64:5 – encourage Psa 76:10 – Surely Psa 94:4 – boast Psa 106:10 – And he Psa 124:6 – who hath not Pro 11:7 – General Pro 16:19 – than Pro 27:22 – General Isa 33:10 – now will I be exalted Isa 37:24 – By the Isa 51:13 – were ready Jer 31:2 – The people Jer 46:8 – I will go Jer 46:17 – Pharaoh Eze 21:3 – will draw Eze 38:11 – go up Dan 3:19 – he spake Dan 4:31 – the word Luk 1:51 – he hath scattered 1Th 5:3 – then Jam 3:5 – so Jam 4:6 – God
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 15:9. The enemy said, I will pursue This verse is inexpressibly beautiful. Instead of barely saying, The Egyptians, by pursuing the Israelites, went into the sea, Moses himself, as it were, enters into the hearts of these barbarians, assumes their passions, and makes them speak the language which their thirst of vengeance and strong desire of overtaking the Israelites had put into their hearts. I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil We perceive a palpable vengeance in these words as we read them. The inspired penman has not suffered one conjunction to intervene between the distinct members of the sentence, that it might have the greater spirit, and might express more naturally and forcibly the disposition of a man whose soul is fired, who discourses with himself, and does not mind connecting his words together. Moses goes further, he represents them as rioting on spoils, and swimming in joy: My lust shall be satisfied upon them.