Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 15:13
Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided [them] in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
13. Thou didst lead in thy mercy the people which thou hadst redeemed; Thou didst guide them in thy strength to thy holy habitation.
lead ] As Exo 13:17; Exo 13:21, Exo 32:34, Psa 77:20; Psa 78:14, all of the Divine guidance of Israel in the wilderness.
redeemed ] See on Exo 6:6.
guide ] Properly, it seems, to judge from the Arabic, to lead to a watering-place; of Jehovah leading His servant, or His people, as a shepherd, Psa 23:2 (to ‘waters of rest’), Isa 40:11 (EVV. ‘gently lead’), Isa 49:10 (to ‘springs of water’).
habitation ] Heb. , properly homestead, or abode of shepherds and flocks (Isa 65:10, Jer 23:3); but often used in poetry of a habitation in general (as Pro 3:33, Isa 33:20). Here Canaan is probably meant (cf. Jer 10:25, Psa 79:7), though the reference might be to Zion (2Sa 15:25).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
13 17. Israel’s providential guidance through the wilderness to its home in Canaan. As translated in Revelation , vv13-16 describe, in anticipation, as if completed, the journey to, and settlement in, Canaan; but it is far from natural to understand the past tenses (in the Heb.) in vv. 13 15, except as referring to events actually past; and there is little doubt that the verses were really written long after Israel was settled in Canaan, as a poetical description of their journey through the wilderness, and establishment in Canaan (cf. Deu 32:10-14). The verbs should therefore all be rendered as aorists.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 13. Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.] As this ode was dictated by the Spirit of God, It is most natural to understand this and the following verses, to the end of the 18th, as containing a prediction of what God would do for this people which he had so miraculously redeemed. On this mode of interpretation it would be better to read several of the verbs in the future tense.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. Canaan, the place where not only they shall dwell, but thou in and with them. See Psa 78:52, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed,…. From their servitude and bondage in Egypt; and so they were the Lord’s people, peculiar to him, and distinct from all others: those he led forth, as out of Egypt, so through the Red sea onward towards Canaan’s land; which was owing to his mercy, pity, and compassion to them in their affliction and distress: thus the spiritual Israel are a people redeemed by Christ from the bondage of sin, Satan, and the law, and are his property, special and peculiar to him, and distinguished from all others: those he leads forth out of the state of nature in which they are, which is a very uncomfortable one, dark, bewildered, and forlorn, and out of their own ways, both of sin and self-righteousness; he leads them in himself the true way to eternal life, and in the paths of faith, truth, and holiness; and he leads to himself, his blood, righteousness, and fulness, and into his Father’s presence, into his house and ordinances, and at last to heaven, the city of their habitation: and though it is sometimes in a rough way he leads them thither, yet always in a right one; and this must be ascribed to his grace and mercy, and not to the merits of his people: it was owing to his mercy he engaged for them as a surety, and came into this world to be their Saviour, in his love and pity he redeemed them; and it is according to abundant mercy they are regenerated, and called, and saved:
thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation; or rather, “art guiding them” w; for as yet they were not brought to their rest, the land of Canaan, where God had chosen a place for his people and himself to dwell in; nor was the tabernacle as yet made, much less the temple, where Jehovah took up his residence; but as he had brought out his people Israel from Egypt with a strong hand, and mighty arm, he was guiding and directing them onward in their journey, in the same greatness of his strength, which he would and did continue, until he brought them to the place he had chosen for his habitation; which was typical, both tabernacle and temple, of the human nature of Christ, in which the fulness of the Godhead dwells, and which is holy, being perfectly free from sin, and to which the people of God are guided as the new and living way to the Father, and whereby they have communion with him: likewise they were an emblem of the church of God, where Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, dwell, and which consists of holy persons, and where holy services are performed; and hither the Lord guides and directs his people, and where he gives them a nature and a place better than that of sons and daughters; and also of heaven, where the Lord dwells, and which is the habitation of his holiness, where are holy angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and into which none shall enter but those that are holy; and hither the Lord guides all his people, with his counsel, and by his Spirit and word, and by his almighty power brings them thither;
w “commode ducis”, Junius & Tremellius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
13. Thou in thy mercy hast led them forth. (164) The verb in Hebrew is indeed in the past tense; but, since it is plain from the context that their hope for what was to come was founded on God’s former mercies, I have preferred making the meaning clearer by translating it in the future. (165) Moses, therefore, exhorts the people to proceed to their promised land boldly and joyfully; because God will not forsake His work in the midst of it. And on this account he expressly mentions their redemption; as though he had said, that the people were not in vain delivered from impending death, but that God, as He had begun, would be their constant guide. David uses the same argument, (Psa 31:5,)
“
Into thine hand I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.”
For, as the beginning of their redemption has proceeded from God’s mere mercy, so he says that for this same reason He will lead them even to their promised inheritance. But, since the many obstacles might impress them with alarm, he at the same time sets before them the “strength” of God; for the whole praise is given to God, who had both been freely gracious to His people, and, asking assistance from no other source, but contented with His own power, had supplied what would have been otherwise incredible.
(164) Wilt lead them forth. — Lat.
(165) “Selon l’usage commun de la langue;” according to the common usage of the language. — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) Hast led forth . . . hast guided.Or, leadest forth . . . guidest. The guidance was not over; rather, it was just begun. The want of a present tense in Hebrew causes the preterite and future to have, both of them, under certain circumstances, the force of the present.
Thy holy habitation.It might be supposed that Canaan was the habitation intended; but the words of Exo. 15:17 imply something more. Moses certainly knew that when Canaan was reached God would select a place to put His name there (Deu. 12:5; Deu. 12:11; Deu. 12:14; Deu. 14:23-24; Deu. 16:6; Deu. 16:11, &c.), and possibly knew by revelation what place would be ultimately selected.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(13-18) The concluding stanza of the ode involves a change of attitude, and deals with new matters. The poets eye fixes itself upon the future. First, he speaks of the guidance of God, lately begun, and about to continue until Canaan is reached (Exo. 15:13). Then his glance turns to the enemies of Israel, and he considers. The effect which the miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt will have upon them (Exo. 15:14-16). Finally, he sees the people brought into the land of their inheritance, and securely established there under the ordering of Divine Providence. Then, with an ascription of glory which may be compared with the Doxology attached to the Lords Prayer in St. Matthew (Exo. 6:13), and to that attached in the Liturgies of the Church to the Psalms and Canticles, he terminates his composition.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 15:13. Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation There is in this song so great a variety in the tenses, as they are at present fixed by grammarians, that there can be no impropriety in giving to this passage such a version as makes it conformable with the fact. In agreement with Houbigant, therefore, we would render this verse, Thou, in thy mercy, leadest forth the people, whom thou hast redeemed: thou, in thy strength, leadest them forth to thy holy habitation: which holy habitation may either signify the land of Canaan, or the tabernacle of holiness, which God inhabited among them in the wilderness. The Hebrew word, which we render to lead, presents to us the idea of God peaceably conducting his flock like a shepherd.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
How sweet is it to remark distinguishing grace! Exo 8:22 ; Mat 13:49 ; Isa 65:13 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 15:13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people [which] thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided [them] in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
Ver. 13. Unto thy holy habitation. ] Canaan, where God chose to dwell. This he is said already to have done, because he would certainly do it. God’s promises are his performances, and every former mercy a pledge of a future.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exodus
THE SHEPHERD AND THE FOLD
Exo 15:13
What a grand triumphal ode! The picture of Moses and the children of Israel singing, and Miriam and the women answering: a gush of national pride and of worship! We belong to a better time, but still we can feel its grandeur. The deliverance has made the singer look forward to the end, and his confidence in the issue is confirmed.
I. The guiding God: or the picture of the leading. The original is ‘lead gently.’ Cf. Isa 40:11 , Psa 23:2 . The emblem of a flock underlies the word. There is not only guidance, but gentle guidance. The guidance was gentle, though accompanied with so tremendous and heart-curdling a judgment. The drowned Egyptians were strange examples of gentle leading. But God’s redemptive acts are like the guiding pillar of fire, in that they have a side that reveals wrath and evokes terror, and a side that radiates lambent love and kindles happy trust.
‘In Thy strength.’ Cf. Isa 40:10 , ‘with strong hand.’ ‘He shall gently lead.’ Note the combination with gentleness. That divine strength is the only power which is able to guide. We are so weak that it takes all His might to hold us up. It is His strength, not ours. ‘My strength is made perfect in thy weakness.’
‘To the resting-place of Thy holiness.’ The word is used for pasture, or resting-places for cattle. Here it meant Canaan; for us it means Heaven-’the green pastures’ of real participation in His holiness.
II. The triumphant confidence as to the future based upon the deliverance of the past. ‘ Hast,’ a past tense. It is as good as done. The believing use of God’s great past, and initial mercy, to make us sure of His future.
a In that He will certainly accomplish it.
b In that even now there is a foretaste-rest in toil. He guides to the ‘waters of resting.’ A rest now Heb 4:3; a rest ‘that remaineth’ Heb 4:3 , Heb 4:9.
III. The warning against confidence in self. These people who sang thus perished in the wilderness! They let go hold of God’s hand, so they ‘sank like lead.’ So He will fulfil begun work Php 1:6. Let us cleave to Him. In Heb 3:1 – Heb 3:19 and Heb 4:1 – Heb 4:16 lessons are drawn from the Israelites not ‘entering in.’ See also Psa 95:1 – Psa 95:11 .
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
mercy = loving-kindness, or grace. N. B. Led forth in mercy, redeemed in grace, guided by strength.
redeemed. Hebrew. g’aal. See notes on Exo 6:6 with Exo 13:13. Exodus the book of Redemption. See Title.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
redeemed
Heb. “gaal,” Redemp. (Kinsman type). Isa 59:20. (See Scofield “Isa 59:20”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Thou: Gen 19:16, Eph 2:4
led: Psa 77:14, Psa 77:15, Psa 77:20, Psa 78:52, Psa 78:53, Psa 80:1, Psa 106:9, Isa 63:12, Isa 63:13, Jer 2:6
guided: 1Pe 1:5
holy: Psa 78:54
Reciprocal: Exo 6:6 – redeem Deu 9:26 – which thou hast brought forth Neh 1:10 – whom Psa 25:6 – for they Psa 78:35 – their redeemer Psa 105:43 – And he Psa 106:10 – redeemed Psa 111:9 – sent Psa 136:15 – for his mercy Psa 136:24 – General Isa 35:9 – but Isa 43:1 – Fear Isa 51:10 – dried Luk 1:51 – showed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 15:13. Thou in thy mercy, &c. This and the four following verses contain a prophetic declaration of the glorious protection which God would grant his people after having brought them out of Egypt. And the reader does not know which to admire most, Gods tenderness for his people, whose guide and conductor he himself will be; or his formidable power, which, by causing terror and dread to walk before it, freezes with fear all such nations as should presume to oppose the passage of the Israelites through the Red sea, and strikes those nations, so that they become motionless as a stone; or, lastly, Gods wonderful care to settle them in a fixed and permanent manner in the promised land, or rather to plant them in it, an emphatic expression, and which alone recalls to mind all that the Scriptures observe, in so many places, concerning the care which God has taken to plant his beloved vine, to water it, to enclose it with fences, and to multiply and extend its fruitful branches to a great distance.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
15:13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people [which] thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided [them] in thy strength unto thy holy {h} habitation.
(h) That is, into the land of Canaan, or into mount Zion.