Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 14:3
For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They [are] entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
3. entangled, &c.] rather, perplexed, confused (Est 3:15, Joe 1:18) in the land: they do not know which way to turn in order to escape: the wilderness (the Egyptian wilderness, S. of Wdy umlt) hath shut them in: the implicit thought being, They will not dream of crossing the sea; so we have but to follow them ( v. 4), and they will be in our power.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They are entangled … – The original intention of Moses was to go toward Palestine by the wilderness: when that purpose was changed by Gods direction and they moved southwards, Pharaoh, on receiving information, was of course aware that they were completely shut in, since the waters of the Red Sea then extended to the Bitter Lakes. It is known that the Red Sea at some remote period extended considerably further toward the north than it does at present. In the time of Moses the water north of Kolsum joined the Bitter Lakes, though at present the constant accumulation of sand has covered the intervening space to the extent of 8000 to 10,000 yards.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. They are entangled in the land] God himself brought them into straits from which no human power or art could extricate them. Consider their situation when once brought out of the open country, where alone they had room either to fight or fly. Now they had the Red Sea before them, Pharaoh and his host behind them, and on their right and left hand fortresses of the Egyptians to prevent their escape; nor had they one boat or transport prepared for their passage! If they be now saved, the arm of the Lord must be seen, and the vanity and nullity of the Egyptian idols be demonstrated. By bringing them into such a situation he took from them all hope of human help, and gave their adversaries every advantage against them, so that they themselves said, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There are enclosed with mountains, and garrisons, and deserts.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. the wilderness hath shut theminPharaoh, who would eagerly watch their movements, was nowsatisfied that they were meditating flight, and he naturally thoughtfrom the error into which they appeared to have fallen by enteringthat defile, he could intercept them. He believed them now entirelyin his power, the mountain chain being on one side, the sea on theother, so that, if he pursued them in the rear, escape seemedimpossible.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel,…. The Septuagint version adds, “to his people”, his ministers and courtiers, when he hears where they are:
they are entangled in the land; have lost their way, and got into places they cannot easily get out of, and are perplexed in their minds, and do not know what way to take or course to steer:
the wilderness hath shut them in; or, “shut up the way to them” n; the wilderness between the mountains the above mentioned traveller speaks of o the mountains of Gewoubee; these would stop their flight or progress to the southward, as those of the Attackah would do the same towards the land of the Philistines; the Red sea likewise lay before them to the east, while Pharaoh (could) close up the valley behind them, with his chariots and his horsemen; and which, no doubt, appeared very advantageous and encouraging to him, as it must be very distressing to the Israelites.
n “clausit viam illis”, Pagninus, “praeclusit sese illis”, Vatablus. o Dr. Shaw’s Travels, p. 309. Ed. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This turn in their route was not out of the way for the passage through the Red Sea; but apart from this, it was not only out of the way, but a very foolish way, according to human judgment. God commanded Moses to take this road, that He might be honoured upon Pharaoh, and show the Egyptians that He was Jehovah (cf. Exo 14:30, Exo 14:31). Pharaoh would say of the Israelites, They have lost their way; they are wandering about in confusion; the desert has shut them in, as in a prison upon which the door is shut ( as in Job 12:14); and in his obduracy he would resolve to go after them with his army, and bring them under his sway again.
Exo 14:4-9 When it was announced that Israel had fled, “ the heart of Pharaoh and his servants turned against the people, ” and they repented that they had let them go. When and whence the information came, we are not told. The common opinion, that it was brought after the Israelites changed their route, has no foundation in the text. For the change in Pharaoh’s feelings towards the Israelites, and his regret that he had let them go, were caused not by their supposed mistake, but by their flight. Now the king and his servants regarded the exodus as a flight, as soon as they recovered from the panic caused by the death of the first-born, and began to consider the consequences of the permission given to the people to leave his service. This may have occurred as early as the second day after the exodus. In that case, Pharaoh would have had time to collect chariots and horsemen, and overtake the Israelites at Hachiroth, as they could easily perform the same journey in two days, or one day and a half, to which the Israelites had taken more than three. “ He yoked his chariot (had it yoked, cf. 1Ki 6:14), and took his people (i.e., his warriors) with him, ” viz., “ six hundred chosen war chariots (Exo 14:7), and all the chariots of Egypt ” (sc., that he could get together in the time), and “ royal guards upon them all.” , , tristatae qui et terni statores vocantur, nomen est secundi gradus post regiam dignitatem (Jerome on Eze 23:23), not charioteers (see my Com. on 1Ki 9:22). According to Exo 14:9, the army raised by Pharaoh consisted of chariot horses ( ), riding horses ( , lit., runners, 1Ki 5:6), and , the men belonging to them. War chariots and cavalry were always the leading force of the Egyptians (cf. Isa 31:1; Isa 36:9). Three times (Exo 14:4, Exo 14:8, and Exo 14:17) it is stated that Jehovah hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he pursued the Israelites, to show that God had decreed this hardening, to glorify Himself in the judgment and death of the proud king, who would not honour God, the Holy One, in his life. “ And the children of Israel were going out with a high hand: ” Exo 14:8. is a conditional clause in the sense of, “although they went out” ( Ewald, 341). , the high hand, is the high hand of Jehovah with the might which it displayed (Isa 26:11), not the armed hand of the Israelites. This is the meaning also in Num 33:3; it is different in Num 15:30. The very fact that Pharaoh did not discern the lifting up of Jehovah’s hand in the exodus of Israel displayed the hardening of his heart. “ Beside Pihachiroth: ” see Exo 14:2.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
3. For Pharaoh will say. God here explains to Hoses His design; although, in His engagements with Pharaoh, he had so often gained glorious victories, that the last act still remained to overwhelm him and his army in the sea. He says that Pharaoh, then, will be caught in riffs snare, so as to rush upon his destruction. For, if the people had come into the land of Canaan by a direct course, they could not have been so readily pursued; therefore God, for the sake, of magnifying His glory, set a bait to catch the tyrant, just as fish are hooked. The word here used נבכים, (152) nebukim, some render “perplexed,” others “entangled;” but it may be well explained, that they were to be “confounded in the land,” because they would find no way of egress; as being on all sides hemmed in in the narrow passage, with the sea behind them. And where He speaks of the intentions of Pharaoh, He does not, as men do, conceive a mere probability, but; He declares the secret mind of the tryrant, as of a thing which He well knew, since it is His attribute to discern our hearts. Afterwards He goes still further; for he signifies not only that He foresaw what would happen, but again repeats what we have so often observed before, that he would harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he should follow after the people. Whence it follows, that all this was directed by tits will and guidance. But He did not testify this to Hoses only in private, but would have them all previously admonished, lest, being terrified by the sudden assault of their enemies, they should despair of safety. But this admonition was less useful to them than it should have been; because, being soon after surprised, they are not less alarmed than as if they had been brought into danger through the error of God and the ignorance of Moses.
(152) נבכים. Calvin adopts the explanation given by S. M., on the authority of Aben-Ezra, “Passivum est a verbo בוך, quod significat animo perplexum esse, ut nescias quo te vertas.” — W.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) Entangled in the land.Literally, confused, perplexed. (Comp. Est. 3:15.) Pharaoh, seeing that the Israelites had placed the Bitter Lakes on their left, and were marching southward, in a direction which would soon put the Red Sea on one side of them and a desert regionthat about the Jebel Atakahon the other, thought that they must be quite ignorant of the geography, and have, as it were, lost their way. He observed, moreover, that the wilderness had shut them in. The desert tract between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea lay upon their left and in their front: they would soon be unable to proceed, and would not know which way to turn.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
This account is again rehearsed by Moses: Num 33:7-8 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 14:3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They [are] entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
Ver. 3. They are entangled. ] Perplexed; intricated; they know not what to do, or which way to turn. Enemies watch opportunities, but oft miss of their meaning.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
For. The assault of the enemy foreseen and provided against by Jehovah.
Pharaoh. See App-37.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pharaoh: Exo 7:3, Exo 7:4, Deu 31:21, Psa 139:2, Psa 139:4, Eze 38:10, Eze 38:11, Eze 38:17, Act 4:28
They are entangled: Jdg 16:2, 1Sa 23:7, 1Sa 23:23, Psa 3:2, Psa 71:11, Jer 20:10, Jer 20:11
Reciprocal: Jos 8:6 – They flee Jdg 15:14 – the Philistines 2Ch 32:14 – your God Jer 34:11 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 14:3-4. Pharaoh will say they are entangled He will presume that you are hemmed in between the rocks and the sea. I will harden Pharaohs heart See note on Exo 4:21; Exo 7:13-14. The meaning is, that Pharaoh would take occasion, from the apparently distressed situation the Israelites were now in, enclosed with mountains, deserts, and Egyptian garrisons, to harden his heart. He would even be so desperate as to attempt to follow and bring them back again into their former state of bondage. I will be honoured upon Pharaoh By the manifestation of my power and justice.