Go to Related Reading
About this book

Exodus

About this book

The Song at the Sea

Chapter 15

1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.⁠ 2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.⁠ 3 The Lord is a man of war10—⁠ the Lord is his name.⁠ 4 The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he has thrown into the sea,⁠ and his chosen officers were drowned in the Red Sea.⁠ 5 The depths have covered them; they went down to the bottom like a stone.⁠ 6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power; your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. 7 In the abundance of your majesty you have overthrown those who rise up against you. You sent forth your wrath; it consumed them like stubble.⁠ 8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up,⁠ the flowing water stood upright like a heap, and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.⁠ 9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’⁠ 10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?⁠ Who is like you—majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, working wonders? 12 You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them. 13 By your loyal love you will lead the people whom you have redeemed; you will guide them by your strength to your holy dwelling place. 14 The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, trembling will seize the leaders of Moab, and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake. 16 Fear and dread will fall on them; by the greatness of your arm they will be as still as stone until your people pass by, O Lord, until the people whom you have bought pass by. 17 You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,⁠ in the place you made for your residence, O Lord, the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.⁠ 18 The Lord will reign forever and ever! 19 For the horses of Pharaoh came with his chariots and his footmen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.” 20 Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a hand drum in her hand, and all the women went out after her with hand drums and with dances.⁠ 21 Miriam sang in response to them, “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.”⁠

Food, Water, and Conflict in the Wilderness

22 Then Moses led Israel to journey away from the Red Sea. They went out to the wilderness of Shur,⁠ walked for three days into the wilderness, and found no water.⁠ 23 Then they came to Marah, but they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. (That is why its name was Marah.) 24 So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What can we drink?”⁠ 25 He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When Moses threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink.⁠ There the Lord made for them a binding ordinance, and there he tested them. 26 He said, “If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.”⁠ 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water.

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 15:17 and 2 Maccabees 1:29

Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon

Share:

Summary

2 Maccabees quotes Exodus 15 to describe the sanctuary as the place established by God’s hands, reinforcing a connection to the tradition of being planted. The text depicts the Jerusalem temple in continuity with the site God chose for his presence.

Passages

Exodus 15:17

Hebrew Bible
15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, trembling will seize the leaders of Moab, and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake. 16 Fear and dread will fall on them; by the greatness of your arm they will be as still as stone until your people pass by, O Lord, until the people whom you have bought pass by. 17 You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, in the place you made for your residence, O Lord, the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established. 18 The Lord will reign forever and ever! 19 For the horses of Pharaoh came with his chariots and his footmen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

2 Maccabees 1:29

Deuterocanon
27 Gather together our scattered people, set at liberty those who are in bondage among the heathen, look upon those who are despised and abhorred, and let the heathen know that you are our God. 28 Punish those who oppress us and in arrogance shamefully entreat us. 29 Plant your people in your holy place, even as Moses said.” 30 Then the priests sang the hymns. 31 As soon as the sacrifice was consumed, then Nehemiah commanded that the rest of the liquid be poured on large stones.
160–63 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Maccabees

References

"... This city-temple is the new Jerusalem, appearing as a cube perhaps the size of the then known world (Revelation 21:16), an allusion to the holy of holies in the tabernacle and temple, with sufficient space for all people. The nations will stream to this city (21:24) from which all uncleanness is excluded (21:27). The river of the water of life flows from the throne of God, and the tree of life is there, further echoes of the primeval Eden temple. Thus, the new heaven and earth in their entirety are pictured as a temple. While the source of much heavenly temple symbolism seems to be Ezekiel’s visionary temple (Ezekiel 40–48), Exodus 15:17 is another important text ... Ninow notes that in 1 Kings 8:39, 43, 49; 2 Chronicles 6:30, 33, 39; Psalm 33:14; Daniel 8:11, מכון refers to God’s heavenly dwelling place. He concludes, “... the author of the song [Exodus 15:1–18] anticipated as well a fulfilment that is on a larger, cosmic level.” Apart from these texts and Exodus 15:17, מכון appears in Ezra 2:68 (the Jerusalem temple); Isaiah 4:5 (Zion); Psalm 89:14; 97:2 (the place of God’s throne); 1 Kings 8:13; 2 Chronicles 6:2 (YHWH’s earthly dwelling place); and Psalm 104:5 (the foundations of the earth). See also 2 Maccabees 1:29; 2:17–18. Propp notes that while Exodus 15 is now in a literary context, it was originally liturgical, and suggests that “wherever it is sung, there is Yahweh’s mountain.” He proposes that in its context in Exodus the referent is primarily Sinai; in the Hexateuch, Canaan; in the entire Hebrew Bible, Sinai, Canaan or Zion; and in early Jewish literature and the NT, the kingdom of heaven ..."
Philip Church, Hebrews and the Temple: Attitudes to the Temple in Second Temple Judaism and in Hebrews, NovTSup 171 (Leiden: Brill, 2017), 7–9.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Exodus 15:17 and 2 Maccabees 1:29

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library