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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 war—⁠ 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.

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Compare Exodus 15:3 and Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael, Shirata 4

Hebrew Bible · Rabbinic

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Summary

Exodus 15 calls God a man of war. Rabbinic tradition in the Mekhilta draws on this to explain that God looked like a young warrior at the sea but an old man full of mercy at Sinai, insisting these are one God and not two powers in heaven.

Passages

Exodus 15:3

Hebrew Bible
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 war— 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.
750–400 BCE Read in Exodus

Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael, Shirata 4

Rabbinic · Halakhic Midrash
1 (Exodus, Ibid. 3) "The L–rd is a man of war; the L–rd is His name." R. Yehudah says: This is a verse rich from (what is written) in many places. We are hereby apprised that He revealed Himself to them in the implements of war. He revealed Himself to them as a warrior girded with a sword, viz. (Psalms 45:4) "Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Hero. 2 He revealed Himself to them as a rider, viz. (Ibid. 18:11) "And He mounted a cherub and flew, etc." He revealed Himself to them in mail and helmet, viz. (Isaiah 59:17) "He donned righteousness as mail, and a helmet of salvation on His head." He revealed Himself to them with a spear, viz. (Habakkuk 3:11) "by the light of the flash of Your spear," and (Psalms 35:3) "and draw spear and (don) buckler, etc." He revealed Himself to them with bow and arrows, viz. (Habakkuk 3:9) "The nakedness of Your bow will be revealed," and (II Samuel 22:15) "And He sent forth arrows, etc." He revealed Himself to them with shield and buckler, viz. (Psalms 91:4) "Shield and bucker is His Your truth, and (Ibid. 35:2) "Take up buckler and shield." 3 I might think that He (actually) required one of all these appurtenances. It is, therefore, written "The L–rd is a man of war; the L–rd is His name. It is with His name that He wars, and not with any of these appurtenances. 4 Why, then, need each of them be singled out? For if Israel requires it, He makes war for them. And woe to the nations what they hear with their ears, that He who spoke and brought the world into being is destined to make war with them! 5 "the L–rd is a man of war': What is the intent of this? Because He revealed Himself at the sea as a hero waging war — "The L–rd is a man of war" — and He revealed Himself at Sinai as an elder full of mercy, viz. (Exodus 24:10) "And they saw the G–d of Israel … and under His feet as the work of a sapphire brick and as the appearance of the heavens in brightness" [[ see Rashi], and (Daniel 7:9) "I watched as thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days sat … (10) A stream of fire was flowing forth from before Him, etc." — So as not to give a pretext to the peoples of the world to say that there are two (i.e., numerous) deities, (it is written) "The L–rd is a man of war — the L–rd is His name. It was He upon the sea, He in Egypt, He in the past, He in the future, He in time to come, He in this world, He in the world to come. As it is written (Devarim 32:39) "See, now, that it is I, I, and there is no god with Me, etc.", and (Isaiah 41:4) "Who wrought and did? The Caller of the generations (into being) from the beginning. I, the L–rd, was the first (to perform wonders and to help,) and it is I (who will be) with (you,) the later (generations." 6 There is a warrior in a province, accoutered in all the weapons of war, but lacking power, strength, stratagem, and war (wisdom). Not so, the Holy One Blessed be He. He possesses all of these. As it is written (I Samuel 17:42) "For unto the L–rd is the war, and He will deliver you into our hands." And it is written (Psalms 144:1) ("A psalm) of David: Blessed is the L–rd, my Rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war." 7 There is a warrior, at the height of his power, forty years old, who is not like a sixty-year-old, nor a sixty-year-old like a seventy-year-old, but the older he grows the more his power wanes. Not so, He who spoke and brought the world into being — (Malachi 3:6) "I am the L–rd. I have not changed! 8 There is a warrior in a province, who may be so swayed by wrath and power s to vent his fury even upon his father and mother and close of kin. Not so, the Holy One Blessed be He. "The L–rd is a man of war — the L–rd ("yod-keh-vav-keh," signifying mercy) is His name. "The L–rd is a man of war" — who fought against the Egyptians. "The L–rd is His name — He compassionates His creations, viz. (Exodus 24:6) "The L–rd, the L–rd, the G–d (Kel) who is merciful and gracious, etc." 9 There is a warrior in a province. As soon as the arrow leaves his hand he cannot retrieve it. Not so, the Holy One Blessed be He. When Israel do not do His will, a decree goes forth from Him, viz. (Devarim 32:41) "When I whet the flash of My sword, etc." But if they repent, immediately he withdraws it, viz. (Ibid.) "My hand shall take hold of justice." I might think that He withdraws it in vain (i.e., unbloodied); it is, therefore, written (Ibid.) "I shall return (with that sword) vengeance to My adversaries." Against whom does He return it? The nations of the world, viz. (Ibid.) "and (with it) My haters shall I repay!" 10 A king of flesh and blood goes out to war and (emissaries of) neighboring lands come and request sustenance form him. He tells them angrily that he is going to war. When he returns victorious, they come and request sustenance form him. "The L–rd is a man of war" — He wars against Egypt. "the L–rd is His name" — (At the same time) He hears the outcries of all who enter the world. As it is written (Psalms 65:3) "Heeder of prayer — to You does all flesh come. 11 A king of flesh and blood, whilst at war, cannot supply all of his soldiers. Not so, the Holy One Blessed be He. "The L–rd is a man of war" — He wars against Egypt. "The L–rd is His name" — He sustains all who enter the world. As it is written (Psalms 136:13) "He divides the sea into strips" (twelve strips for twelve tribes) — (Ibid. 25) "He gives bread to all flesh." (Ibid. 147:10) He gives the beast its food, the raven's young, what they call for." 12 "The L–rd is a man of war": Is it possible to say this (i.e., to refer to Him as "a man")? Is it not written (of His transcendent majesty) (Jeremiah 23:24) "Do I not fill heaven and earth, sys the L–rd"? And (Isaiah 6:3) "And one (seraph) would call to another and say: Holy, Holy, Holy, etc." And (II Chronicles 6:14) "O L–rd, G–d of Israel, there is none like You, etc." And (Ezekiel 43:2) "And, behold, the glory of the G–d of Israel, etc." What, then, is the intent of "a man of war"? Because of your love (i.e., the love He has for you) and because of your holiness, I shall sanctify My name through you. For it is written (Hoshea 11:9) "For I am G–d, and not a man, etc." 13 "the L–rd is His name": It is with His name that He wars, and He has no need of any of these (military) appurtenances. And thus did David say (I Samuel 17:95) "You come to me with sword, and spear, and javelin; but I come to you with the name of the L–rd of hosts, etc." And (Psalms 20:8) "These with chariots and these with horse, but we with the name of the L–rd our G–d, etc." And thus did Assa say, viz. (II Chronicles 14:10) "And Assa called out to the L–rd his G–d and said: O L–rd, there is none besides You, etc." 14 (Exodus 15:4) "the chariots of Pharaoh and his host": "As one measures, so is it meted out to him." They (the Egyptians [i.e., Pharaoh]) said (Ibid. 5:2) "Who is the L–rd that I should hearken to his voice?" And You meted it out to him accordingly, viz. "The chariots of Pharaoh, etc." One verse (here) states "yarah" (He cast into the sea"), and, another (Ibid. 1) "ramah" ("He lifted into the sea"). How are these two verses to be reconciled? "Yarah" — they descended to the depths; "ramah" — they rose to the heights. 15 Variantly: "The chariots of Pharaoh, etc." They (the Egyptians [i.e., Pharaoh') said (Ibid. 1:22) "Every son that is born into the Nile shall you thrown him, You, likewise, meted it out to him accordingly, viz.: "The chariots of Pharaoh, etc." 16 They (Ibid. 14:7): "And he took six hundred chosen chariots." You, likewise (Ibid. 15:4): "and the élite of his officers were mired in the sea. They placed (Ibid. 14:7) "officers upon all of them"; You, likewise, (Ibid. 17:5) [He mired them there] "so that the waters should [return and] cover them." 17 They (Ibid. 1:14) "embittered their lives with hard toil, with mortar"; You, likewise, made the water like slime for them, and they sank in it. Thus (15:4) "They were mired in the Red Sea," "mired" connoting slime, as in (Psalms 69:3) "I am sunk in the slime of the depths," and (Jeremiah 38:6) "and Jeremiah sank in the slime." Thus, "they were mired in the sea."
250–300 CE Read in the Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael

References

... I am YHWH your God: Why is this said? Because When He appeared to them at the sea, He appeared to them as a mighty hero making war. As it is said, YHWH is a man of war. He appeared at Sinai like an old man, full of mercy, as it is said: And they saw the God of Israel ... I beheld ‘til thrones were set down (Daniel 7:9) ... Scripture would not give an opportunity to the nations of the world to say ‘there are two powers’ but declares I am YHWH your God. (Exodus 20:2). ...
Alan F. Segal, Two Powers in Heaven: Early Rabbinic Reports About Christianity and Gnosticism, SJLA (Leiden: Brill, 1977), 33.

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Exodus 15:3 and Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael, Shirata 4

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