Exodus 15:9
in Exodus 15The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
KJV
The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 15
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThe enemy said - As this song was composed by Divine inspiration, we may rest assured that these words were spoken by Pharaoh and his captains, and the passions they describe felt, in their utmost sway, in their hearts; but how soon was their boasting confounded? “Thou didst blow with thy wind, and the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters!”
This site's exposition
with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together
on Exodus 15:8-10
Chapter 14 called it a strong east wind and the song calls it the blast of thy nostrils, the same event told as breath. Verse 9 gives the enemy six short clauses in a row, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my lust shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them, and every one of them is a boast about what he will do next. Verse 10 answers the whole speech in one line, Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them. Psalm 33:7 and Psalm 78:13 both pick up the heap of waters from verse 8.
This site's exposition
I will divide the spoils
Adam Clarke takes these as words Pharaoh and his captains truly spoke, known to the singer by inspiration. The pursuers planned to divide the spoils, and at 12:36 Israel had already plundered the Egyptians. This boast is the only quoted speech in the song.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The enemy does not understand the power of the Lord's sacrament, which is available in saving baptism for those who believe and hope in him. He still thinks that sins can prevail even over the baptized, because they are being tempted by the frailty of the flesh. He doesn't know where and when and how the complete renewal of the whole person is to be perfected, which is begun and prefigured in baptism and is already grasped by the most assured hope.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), under the weight of their own guilt and God's wrath. Their sin had made them hard like a stone, and now they justly sink like a stone. Nay, the earth itself swallowed them (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
The enemy said,....
Secondly, Great cruelty--nothing but killing, and slaying, and destroying, and this will satisfy his lust; and a barbarous lust that is which so much blood must be the satisfaction of. Note, It is a cruel hatred with which the church is hated; its enemies are bloody men.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that nashaphta is derived from the root nesheph (twilight), 153 “For there are two kinds of nesheph (twilight): the nesheph after sundown, and the nesheph before sunrise” (Ibn Ezra)! Here the nesheph before sunrise is referred to.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָמַ֥ר | ʾamar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אוֹיֵ֛ב | ʾoyev | [the] enemy | H341 → | 282 times |
| אֶרְדֹּ֥ף | ʾerdof | I will pursue | H7291 → | 143 times |
| אַשִּׂ֖יג | ʾasig | I will overtake | H5381 → | |
| אֲחַלֵּ֣ק | ʾachalek | I will divide | H2505 → | |
| שָׁלָ֑ל | shalal | [the] plunder | H7998 → | |
| תִּמְלָאֵ֣מוֹ | timlaemov | it will be full of them | H4390 → | 249 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֔י | nafshi | self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| אָרִ֣יק | ʾarik | I will draw | H7324 → | |
| חַרְבִּ֔י | charbi | sword my | H2719 → | 413 times |
| תּוֹרִישֵׁ֖מוֹ | torishemov | it will dispossess them | H3423 → | |
| יָדִֽי׃ | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
אָמַ֥רhe said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אוֹיֵ֛ב[the] enemy
ʾoyevH341 →282 times
אֶרְדֹּ֥ףI will pursue
ʾerdofH7291 →143 times
אַשִּׂ֖יגI will overtake
ʾasigH5381 →
אֲחַלֵּ֣קI will divide
ʾachalekH2505 →
שָׁלָ֑ל[the] plunder
shalalH7998 →
תִּמְלָאֵ֣מוֹit will be full of them
timlaemovH4390 →249 times
נַפְשִׁ֔יself my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
אָרִ֣יקI will draw
ʾarikH7324 →
חַרְבִּ֔יsword my
charbiH2719 →413 times
תּוֹרִישֵׁ֖מוֹit will dispossess them
torishemovH3423 →
יָדִֽי׃hand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 53:12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the…
it leads to
- Luke 22:37
For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about Me is reaching its fulfillment.”
- Hebrews 9:28
so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
- Mark 15:27
Along with Jesus, they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left.
- Luke 23:32–34
Two others, who were criminals, were also led away to be executed with Jesus.
- 1 John 2:12
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven through His name.
- Luke 22:37
Through
Luke 11:22But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted, and then he divides up his plunder.
it leads to
- Isaiah 49:24–25
Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?
- Isaiah 53:12
Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the…
- 1 John 3:8
The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the…
- Isaiah 49:24–25
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 363.2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.