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"Jehovah is my strength and song, And he is become my salvation: This is my God, and I will praise him; My father’s God, and I will exalt him."
- Exodus 15: 2, American Standard Version, see link below.
1 - 13 Extended Song Summary:
Moses and the sons of Israel sang to the Lord God....
The song does not mention the plagues, or the people leaving Egypt. It only talks about the events at the crossing of the sea, and even then, only mentions in passing the dividing of the waters.
Part of the imagery in verse 9 includes statements from chapter 14, beginning at verse 5, when Pharaoh decides to pursue Israel.
Verse 13 includes the concept that God "gaal" (redeemed / ransomed) Israel,
see Exodus 6 : 6.
14 - 17 Extended Summary:
This section includes Moses's ideas about what the rulers of the various people's think of them. But there is something odd in this list in chapter 15, it includes "Pelesheth" (Philistia), which is apparently the same territory as "Pelishti" (Philistine), see chapter 13 verse 17, which was specifically named when they specifically avoided their land.
This passage also includes Edom (where the descendants of Esau settled), which is not in the earlier lists, and Moses talks about Moab (due east of the dead sea on what is now called the Jordanian Plateau, the kingdom came to a bad end later at the hands of Babylon). He does mention Canaan but does not include the others from the 'milk and honey' list. And then he mentions the 'mountain of Your inheritance'. Which at this point is unidentified but probably refers to Mount Moriah, which later becomes the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Note:
This is like the list that is first outlined in chapter 3 verse 8, and then restated in 13 : 5 as the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites. Except in Three it include the "Perizzites" which were not in Thirteen.
Why the difference? We don't know, but it is interesting that none of the lists include Moses's adopted homeland, Midian, as one of the places that now fear them, or they will take in battle.
end note
18
YHWH "malak" (reign / rule) "olam" (eternity / forever) "way" (and) "ad" (continually / perpetually).
"The Lord reigns for ever and ever."
That is not the shortest verse in the OT. That would be with Job 3 : 2 or 1 Chrionicles 1 : 25, depending on translation.
19 Summary:
This verse is a recap of the events of chapter 14.
20
and "laqach" (took / acquired) Miryam / Miriam the "nebiah" (prophetess) the "achoth" (sister) of Aaron, a "toph" (timbrel (essentially a tambourine)) in her hand - and went out all the women after her with timbrels and "mecholah" (dances).
We have no idea if this is the same woman that was the girl that spoke to the Daughter of Pharaoh about Moses in the basket. It could be, but it is never directly so stated in the Scripture. She is identified as the 'sister of Aaron'. While Aaron and Moses were brothers (see Exodus 4 : 14), Miriam is not identified here as Moses's sister. Something that does not happen in the text until Numbers 26 : 59. See link below for an in depth study of her in the Jewish Women's Archive.
21
And "anah" (answered / responded) Miriam, "shir" (sing) to YHWH, for "gaah" (triumphed / exalted / gloriously) for He "gaah" ((word is repeated)) for the horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea.
22 - 23 Examination:
Those who write Exodus studies that list the 'Wilderness of Sur / Shur' as being the northern part of the Sinai, east of Suez, simply have not read Genesis 25 : 18, and 1 Samuel 15 : 7 and 27 : 8, and then looked at a map. It was most likely the extreme northwestern portion of the Saudi peninsula, south of Midian, along the Gulf of Aqaba, perhaps extending all the way south to the Straits of Tiran at the northern end of the Red Sea.
In the next verse a place called Marah is mentioned as having 'bitter water'. Which is odd, as that is exactly what the word means. And it is also no help at all at pinpointing where it is on the map. Many springs and waterways in the region, with the northern extension of the African Rift running just offshore, are either saline, mineral, or alkaline. And while a geothermal spring, liked the one linked below, may be therapeutic if you have a sore back, it isn't pleasant for drinking, and sometimes, it can be undrinkable.
24
"way" (and / so) "luwn" (grumbled / murmured) "an" (people) "al" (against / because of) Moses, "amar" (said / saying), "mah" (what) "shathah" (to drink).
Like we said in a previous chapter, Moses might as well get used to the complaints.
25 Summary:
Moses cried out to GOD, YHWH showed him a "ets" (tree / wood), that when cast into the water made it sweet. God made an "choq" (decree / law / regulation) "mishpat" (ordinance / law) for them there, and He "nasah" (tested / proved) them.
There has been a lot of ink spent by others going on about the symbolism of the 'tree' and the water of life, so we needn't do that here and now. However, we will make a statement about the 'bitter water' and the wood that was put in it.
It was a miracle.
That's it, we have no idea chemically what is meant by the statement that the water was 'bitter'. And we also do not know what sort of wood was used to make it drinkable. And it doesn't matter, even if the spring was natural, and is perhaps even still there today, the freshening of it was a miracle. God did it, and that's good enough.
26 Summary:
Moses makes a speech about listening to the voice of God, and doing what is right to Him - listen and keep all his commandments, and none of the "machaleh" (sickness / disease) He put on Egypt will come to you, for I AM YHWH who "rapha" (heals) you.
27 Summary:
And they came to Elim, with a dozen wells, and seventy palm trees, and camped there.
There are a couple of traditional sites of these wells and trees, both in Sinai and elsewhere. Nothing is certain of its location.
End Chapter 15
Selected Resources:
All links will open in a new tab/window, all were working as of original date of posting:
Interlinear English / Hebrew: Chapter 15 https://biblehub.com/interlinear/exodus/15.htm
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611_Exodus-Chapter-15/
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2015&version=ASV
The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women: Miriam https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/miriam-bible
"Ain Al-Harrah hot spring, a therapeutic destination in Makkah....
"The spring’s flowing hot water contains dissolved sulfurous minerals in its composition, bubbling up from the ground through rocks that make up the village’s topography."
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2015076/saudi-arabia
NOTE: The Bible Study Lesson presented above is posted as a reference document to begin a conversation of the topic. And that's it. Please accept it at such.
http://centralparkchurchofchrist.org
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