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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 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 15:8 and Joshua 3:13

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Exodus describes the sea standing upright by God’s breath during Israel’s escape. Joshua echoes this image when the Jordan river stops as the people enter the land, presenting the crossing as a second deliverance shaped after the exodus.

Passages

Exodus 15:8

Hebrew Bible
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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Joshua 3:13

Hebrew Bible
11 Look! The ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth is ready to enter the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now select for yourselves 12 men from the tribes of Israel, one per tribe. 13 When the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the water of the Jordan, the water coming downstream toward you will stop flowing and pile up.” 14 So when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 When the ones carrying the ark reached the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the surface of the water—(the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest time)—
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Joshua

References

"... We have yet to consider the authorship of the Song of the Sea (15:1-18), the Song of Miriam (15:21) and their narrative frame (15:1, 19-21). I am unpersuaded that 15:1-18 itself is composite. Brenner makes a convincing case for the Song's unity. Most scholars consider the Song an older independent work incorporated by one of the Pentateuchal authors or editors, rather than a fresh composition. Assuming the Song once circulated independently, we must ask when it was inserted into the prose account and by whom. Apparently, it already stood in JE. Deuteronomy 2-3, which knows JE, but not JEP, seems familiar with the Song: compare Deuteronomy 2:25 with Exodus 15:14, and Deuteronomy 3:24 with Exodus 15:11, 16. Similarly, Joshua 2:9-10, 24 knows both the liquidation of the Canaanites and the drying of the Sea, themes from the Song and JE, respectively, but not P's split Sea. And Joshua 3:13, 16 describe the Jordan's waters as standing in a 'heap' (compare Exodus 15:8), while Joshua 4:23-5:1 knows the drying of the Sea, Yahweh's arm, the liquidation of the Canaanites and their fear before Yahweh. All these data indicate that, by the time of the Deuteronomist's composition, JE contained the Song of the Sea. How did it get there? ..."
William H. C. Propp, Exodus 1–18: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AB 2 (New York: Doubleday, 1999), 481–482.

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Exodus 15:8 and Joshua 3:13

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