Exodus 15:4
in Exodus 15Pharaoh’s chariots and army He has cast into the sea; the finest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea; And his chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.
KJV
Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
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This verse in Exodus 15
Commentary
6 notes on this versePharaoh’s chariots - his host - his chosen captains - On such an expedition it is likely that the principal Egyptian nobility accompanied their king, and that the overthrow they met with here had reduced Egypt to the lowest extremity. Had the Israelites been intent on plunder, or had Moses been influenced by a spirit of ambition, how easily might both have gratified themselves, as, had they returned, they might have soon overrun and subjugated the whole land.
This site's exposition
Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea
on Exodus 15:4-5
The chariots were Egypt's best arm, counted at six hundred chosen at 14:7, and the song reports them on the sea floor. They sank into the bottom as a stone here and as lead at verse 10, two weights given to the same fact. Egypt drowned Hebrew boys in a river at 1:22, and water is what closes over Egypt's own army.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
And the worldly pride and arrogance and the troops of innumerable sins which were fighting for the devil in us, he obliterated in baptism.
The devil had placed "teams of three" in each chariot, who were to terrorize us by haunting us with the fear of pain, the fear of humiliation, the fear of death. All these things were sunk in the Red Sea, because "together with him," together with the One who for our sakes was scourged, dishonored and slain, "we were buried through baptism into death." Thus he overwhelmed all our enemies in the Red Sea, having consecrated the waters of baptism with the bloody death which was utterly to consume our sins.
"The elite of his officers, who were standing three deep, he submerged in the Red Sea." Who are the elite of his officers? Surely those chosen by the devil for luxury, wickedness and pride, the source of all evil. Moreover, these, standing three deep, occupy …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Pharaoh's chariots and his hosts hath he cast into the sea,.... Which was done by the Angel of the Lord, who was Jehovah himself, our Immanuel, and man of war, as appears from Exo 14:17, an emblem of the destruction of antichrist, and all the antichristian states, of which Pharaoh and his host were types: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea: who were appointed over his chosen chariots, which all perished in the sea together.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַרְכְּבֹ֥ת | markevot | [the] chariots of | H4818 → | |
| פַּרְעֹ֛ה | paroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| וְחֵיל֖וֹ | vecheilo | and army his | H2428 → | 246 times |
| יָרָ֣ה | yarah | he has thrown | H3384 → | 80 times |
| בַיָּ֑ם | vaiyam | in the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| וּמִבְחַ֥ר | umivchar | and [the] choicest of | H4005 → | |
| שָֽׁלִשָׁ֖יו | shalishav | officers his | H7991 → | |
| טֻבְּע֥וּ | tubeu | they have been sunk | H2883 → | |
| בְיַם־ | veyam- | in [the] sea of | H3220 → | 396 times |
| סֽוּף׃ | suf | reed[s] | H5488 → | 28 times |
מַרְכְּבֹ֥ת[the] chariots of
markevotH4818 →
פַּרְעֹ֛הPharaoh
parohH6547 →274 times
וְחֵיל֖וֹand army his
vecheiloH2428 →246 times
יָרָ֣הhe has thrown
yarahH3384 →80 times
בַיָּ֑םin the sea
vaiyamH3220 →396 times
וּמִבְחַ֥רand [the] choicest of
umivcharH4005 →
שָֽׁלִשָׁ֖יוofficers his
shalishavH7991 →
טֻבְּע֥וּthey have been sunk
tubeuH2883 →
בְיַם־in [the] sea of
veyam-H3220 →396 times
סֽוּף׃reed[s]
sufH5488 →28 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 363.2; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 97.4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.