Commentary - Exodus 15:1-19

Bird's-eye view

Exodus 15 contains the first great song of praise recorded in Scripture, the Song of Moses. It is the immediate, explosive, and necessary response of a redeemed people to a mighty act of salvation. Having just passed through the Red Sea on dry ground and witnessed the utter destruction of the Egyptian army, the people of Israel, led by Moses, erupt in worship. This is not a quiet, reflective hymn; it is a triumphant, roaring anthem that celebrates the character and power of Yahweh. The song serves three primary functions. First, it is a work of theology, interpreting the events of the Exodus and establishing Yahweh as the sovereign warrior God who is utterly unique. Second, it is a work of prophecy, looking ahead from the victory at the sea to the conquest of Canaan and the establishment of God's sanctuary. Third, it is a paradigm for all true worship, which is always a grateful response to God's saving acts. This song becomes a touchstone for the people of God throughout the Bible, echoed by prophets and psalmists, and finding its ultimate fulfillment in the song of the Lamb in the book of Revelation.

The song is structured beautifully. It begins with a declaration of intent to praise God for His triumph (v. 1). It then moves to a personal and corporate confession of who this God is: their strength, their salvation, and a mighty warrior (vv. 2-3). The central portion recounts the historical victory in vivid, poetic detail, contrasting the arrogance of the enemy with the effortless power of God (vv. 4-12). From this foundation of a past victory, the song pivots to a confident vision of the future, describing the terror that will fall on the surrounding nations and God's certain guidance of His people to their promised inheritance (vv. 13-17). It concludes with the ultimate theological point of the whole affair: Yahweh's eternal reign (v. 18). A brief prose summary then grounds the sublime poetry in the hard facts of the historical event (v. 19).

Outline

Context In Exodus

This chapter is the direct and logical sequel to Exodus 14. Chapter 14 is the narrative of God's deliverance; chapter 15 is the liturgical response to that deliverance. The terror of the Israelites, trapped between Pharaoh's army and the sea (Ex. 14:10-12), has been transformed into triumphant celebration. The mighty power of the Egyptian empire, which has dominated the story since chapter 1, has been definitively broken. This event is the climax of the redemption from Egypt. The ten plagues broke Pharaoh's will, but the victory at the Red Sea broke his power. This song, therefore, serves as a theological capstone to the entire exodus event. It looks back and interprets what God has just done, and it looks forward, setting the trajectory for the journey to Sinai and, ultimately, to the Promised Land. It is the anthem of a newly constituted nation, born in an act of divine warfare and redemption.

Key Issues

The Grammar of Gratitude

The first thing a man does when he is pulled from the raging sea is gasp for air. The second thing he does, if he has any sense, is thank his rescuer. The Song of Moses is the collective gasp of gratitude from a nation that was, just moments before, drowning in despair. They were as good as dead, and now they are alive, free, and standing on the far shore watching their enemies sink like stones. The only possible, logical, and sane response is worship.

This sets the pattern for all true worship. It is not something we gin up from within ourselves. It is not an attempt to get God's attention or curry His favor. True worship is a reaction. It is the reflex of a redeemed heart to the stunning reality of God's grace. We sing because He has saved. We praise because He is praiseworthy. We extol Him because He has acted. This song is not primarily about the feelings of the Israelites; it is about the glorious character and actions of Yahweh. This is the grammar of gratitude: God is the subject, His mighty acts are the verbs, and we are the grateful beneficiaries who get to sing the song.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to Yahweh and said, “I will sing to Yahweh, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.

The song begins immediately, "Then..." There is no delay. The response to deliverance is praise. Moses leads the nation, and the song begins with a personal declaration, "I will sing," which immediately becomes the voice of the whole people. The reason for the song is stated plainly: "for He is highly exalted." This is the central theme. The destruction of Egypt is not the main point; the exaltation of God is. The drowning of horse and rider is the evidence and the means of that exaltation. God has triumphed gloriously over the most fearsome military machine on earth, and He did it with a flick of His wrist.

2 Yah is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him.

The corporate praise becomes intensely personal. "Yah is my strength." The salvation accomplished for the nation must be owned by the individual. He is my strength, the power by which I live. He is my song, the subject of my praise. And He has become my salvation, the source of my deliverance. This leads to a twofold declaration. First, "This is my God," a statement of personal faith and allegiance, followed by the logical response, "I will praise Him." Second, "My father's God," a statement of covenant continuity. This is the same God who made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is a promise-keeping God, and because of this, "I will extol Him."

3 Yahweh is a warrior; Yahweh is His name.

This is one of the most foundational statements about God in the Old Testament. Our God is not a detached philosopher or a sentimental grandfather. He is a warrior, a man of war. He fights on behalf of His people. This is not an unfortunate characteristic that we have to explain away; it is central to His character as a redeemer. He wages war against sin, against death, against Satan, and against all the proud tyrants of this world who set themselves up against Him. To say "Yahweh is His name" is to say that this warrior nature is essential to who He is. His covenant name is bound up with His power to save and His will to fight for His own.

4-5 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are sunk in the Red Sea. The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone.

The song now turns to narrate the victory. The language is decisive and absolute. God "cast" them into the sea, as one would throw a piece of garbage. The elite, the "choicest of his officers," were not spared. They are "sunk." The deeps "cover them." They went down "like a stone," with no struggle, no hope of recovery. This is a picture of swift, total, and irreversible judgment. When God rises up to judge His enemies, there is no contest.

6-7 Your right hand, O Yahweh, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O Yahweh, shatters the enemy. And in the greatness of Your exaltation You pull down those who rise up against You; You send forth Your burning anger, and it devours them as chaff.

The cause of this victory is identified: the "right hand" of Yahweh, a metaphor for His active, intervening power. That hand is "majestic in power," and its action is to "shatter the enemy." The song reiterates the theme of verse 1: God's "exaltation," His supreme greatness, is the very thing that pulls down His foes. His anger is not a capricious rage but a holy and righteous judgment, a "burning anger" that consumes His enemies as easily as fire consumes dry stubble.

8 And at the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, The flowing waters stood up like a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.

Here the poetry soars in its description of the miracle itself. The parting of the sea was accomplished by the "blast of Your nostrils," a picture of divine contempt and effortless power. The mighty waters, a symbol of chaos, became obedient. They were "piled up," they "stood up like a heap," they were "congealed." The forces of nature were held in suspended animation by the mere will of their Creator.

9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be fulfilled against them; I will draw out my sword, my hand will dispossess them.’

The song brilliantly cuts away to the mindset of the enemy just before his destruction. This verse is a cascade of arrogant pride, a string of "I will" statements. The enemy sees the Israelites as helpless prey and is already anticipating the victory and the loot. This is the voice of godless autonomy, convinced of its own power and destiny. This hubris serves to magnify the totality of God's victory in the next verse.

10 You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

The contrast with the previous verse is stark and devastating. The enemy's multiple boasts are answered by a single, simple action from God: "You blew with Your wind." That is all it took. The result was instantaneous and final. The sea "covered them." They "sank like lead", heavy, fast, and straight to the bottom. The mighty waters that had been their path of pursuit became their grave.

11 Who is like You among the gods, O Yahweh? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Fearsome in praises, working wonders?

This is the theological apex of the song. The historical event leads to a doxological conclusion. The rhetorical question "Who is like You?" demands the answer: No one. Yahweh is utterly unique and incomparable. His attributes are listed: He is "majestic in holiness," meaning His essential nature is one of glorious, separate, and pure otherness. He is "fearsome in praises," meaning the praise offered to Him is awesome, and this very praise strikes fear into the hearts of His enemies. And He is a God who is active, "working wonders."

12 You stretched out Your right hand, The earth swallowed them.

The narration of the enemy's destruction is summarized one last time. God's power, His "right hand," was extended, and the result was annihilation. "The earth swallowed them" is a poetic parallel to the sea covering them, emphasizing the finality of their burial and their return to the dust from which they came.

13 In Your lovingkindness You have guided the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have led them to Your holy habitation.

The song now pivots from the past act of judgment to the ongoing act of salvation. The same God who destroyed Egypt is the God who tenderly guides His people. He has "redeemed" them, bought them out of slavery. And He guides them not with sentiment, but in His "strength." The goal of this journey is already in view: "Your holy habitation." The redemption from Egypt is not an end in itself; it is for the purpose of bringing His people into His presence.

14-16 The peoples have heard, they tremble; Anguish has seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; The leaders of Moab, trembling seizes them; All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them; By the greatness of Your arm they are still as stone; Until Your people pass over, O Yahweh, Until the people pass over whom You have purchased.

This section is purely prophetic. The news of the Red Sea victory will travel faster than the Israelites, acting as an advance spiritual airstrike. The nations that lie between them and the promised land are named: Philistia, Edom, Moab, and Canaan. Their reaction is one of terror, anguish, and dismay. They "melt away" in fear. This fear is a direct result of the "greatness of Your arm." God's power paralyzes them, making them "still as stone," until His redeemed and "purchased" people have passed by on their way to the inheritance.

17 You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O Yahweh, which You have made for You to inhabit, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.

The final destination is described. God will not just lead them to the land; He will "plant them" there, a word that implies security and permanence. The land is defined as the "mountain of Your inheritance," specifically the place of God's own dwelling, His "sanctuary." This is a clear prophecy of Mount Zion and the temple. The ultimate goal of redemption is for God to dwell in the midst of His people in the place He has established.

18 Yahweh shall reign forever and ever.”

The song ends with the grand, overarching conclusion. The exodus, the conquest, and the sanctuary all serve this one ultimate reality: the eternal kingship of Yahweh. He is not a temporary tribal deity; He is the sovereign King whose reign has no end. This is the final confession of faith for a redeemed people.

19 For the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, and Yahweh brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea.

A final sentence in prose anchors the whole song. It is a summary of the foundational event, a reminder that the soaring poetry is based on a concrete historical fact. It presents the great contrast one last time: destruction for the Egyptians in the water, salvation for the Israelites on dry land. This is the gospel in miniature: judgment for God's enemies, deliverance for His people, through the same event.

Application

The Song of Moses is not a museum piece. It is a script for our own worship. We too have been redeemed from a slavery far worse than Egypt, the slavery of sin and death. We have been rescued by a warrior far greater than Moses, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Red Sea is the cross and the empty tomb, where the power of our ultimate enemy was shattered forever. Our baptism is our passage through those waters, dying with Christ and being raised to new life.

Therefore, our worship should have the same rugged, God-centered, triumphant character as this song. We do not sing to a weak or sentimental God. We sing to Yahweh the Warrior, who has triumphed gloriously. Our songs should recount His mighty acts. They should declare our personal allegiance to Him as our strength and our salvation. And our worship should be prophetic. As we sing of Christ's victory, the nations of the earth hear, and the demonic powers that rule them tremble. Our praise is spiritual warfare.

Finally, this song teaches us that the goal of our redemption is to be brought into God's presence, to be planted in His inheritance, the new heavens and the new earth. Every Sunday when we gather, we are singing a song that looks back to the cross, celebrates our present deliverance, and anticipates that final day when we will stand on the shores of the ultimate sea of glass and sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb, proclaiming forever and ever that Yahweh reigns.