Exodus 13:18

But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
God	אֱלֹהִ֧ים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
led	וַיַּסֵּ֨ב vai.ya.Sev	H5437	to revolve · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
people	הָעָ֛ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
about	סָבַב çâbab	H5437	to revolve
way	דֶּ֥רֶךְ De.rekh	H1870	a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct
wilderness	הַמִּדְבָּ֖ר ha.mid.Bar	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Red	ס֑וּף Suf	H5488	a reed · noun, masculine singular absolute
sea	יַם yam-	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · noun, common masculine singular construct
children	בְנֵי ve.nei-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
up	עָל֥וּ 'a.Lu	H5927	to ascend · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
harnessed	וַחֲמֻשִׁ֛ים va.cha.mu.Shim	H2571	staunch · conjunction + verb, qal passive participle, masculine plural absolute
land	מֵאֶ֥רֶץ me.'E.retz	H776	the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Egypt	מִצְרָֽיִם mitz.Ra.yim	H4714	Mitsrajim · proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 14:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: befor…
Numbers 33:6-8 And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye…
Exodus 12:51 And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
Joshua 1:14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before y…
Psalms 107:7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 13:17–end

Here is, I. The choice God made of their way, Exo 13:17, Exo 13:18. He was their guide. Moses gave them direction but as he received it from the Lord. Note, The way of man is not in himself, Jer 10:23. He may devise his way, and design it; but, after all, it is God that directs his steps, Pro 16:9. Man proposes, but God disposes, and in his disposal we must acquiesce, and set ourselves to follow providence. There were two ways from Egypt to Canaan. One was a short cut from the north of Egypt to the south of Canaan, perhaps about four or five days' journey; the other was much further about, through the wilderness, and that was the way in which God chose to lead his people Israel, Exo 13:18. 1…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 13:18

God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, &c.--This wondrous expanse of water is a gulf of the Indian ocean. It was called in Hebrew "the weedy sea," from the forest of marine plants with which it abounds. But the name of the Red Sea is not so easily traced. Some think it was given from its contiguity to the countries of Edom ("red"); others derive it from its coral rocks; while a third class ascribe the origin of the name to an extremely red appearance of the water in some parts, caused by a numberless multitude of very small mollusca. This sea, at its northern extremity, separates into two smaller inlets--the eastern called anciently the Elanitic gulf, now…

Read the whole note in the console

Adam Clarke on Exodus 13:18

But God led the people about - Dr. Shaw has shown that there were two roads from Egypt to Canaan, one through the valleys of Jendilly, Rumeleah, and Baideah, bounded on each side by the mountains of the lower Thebais; the other lies higher, having the northern range of the mountains of Mocatee running parallel with it on the right hand, and the desert of the Egyptian Arabia, which lies all the way open to the land of the Philistines, to the left. See his account of these encampments at the end of Exodus. See Clarke's note on Exo 40:38. Went up harnessed - חמשים chamushim. It is truly astonishing what a great variety of opinions are entertained relative to the meaning of this word. After havi…

The Church Fathers

Just as the Jews were saved and extricated through the waters of the Red Sea, so we are delivered from the land of Egypt, that is, from the sins of the flesh, and reborn through regeneration by the sacred water. The very name of the Red Sea is not superfluous. Just as it is known as Red, so the baptismal water can be labeled red, for it came forth mixed with blood from the Lord Savior's side.
— Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 80.6

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Army — The Israelites marched out of Egypt in military order (Ex. 13:18, “harnessed;” marg., “five in a rank”). Each tribe formed a battalion, with its own banner and leader (Num. 2:2; 10:14). In war the…
Frontlets — Occurs only in Ex. 13:16; Deut. 6:8, and 11:18. The meaning of the injunction to the Israelites, with regard to the statues and precepts given them, that they should “bind them for a sign upon their…
Harness — (1.) Heb. ‘asar, “to bind;” hence the act of fastening animals to a cart (1 Sam. 6:7, 10; Jer. 46:4, etc.). (2.) An Old English word for “armour;” Heb. neshek (2 Chr. 9:24). (3.) Heb. shiryan, a coat…
Red Sea — The sea so called extends along the west coast of Arabia for about 1,400 miles, and separates Asia from Africa. It is connected with the Indian Ocean, of which it is an arm, by the Strait of…
Wilderness — (1.) Heb. midhbar, denoting not a barren desert but a district or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle (Ps. 65:12; Isa. 42:11; Jer. 23:10; Joel 1:19; 2:22); an uncultivated place. This word…
Armies · 2. March in ranks — 2. March in ranks
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Conducted with regularity — Conducted with regularity
Deserts · Mentioned in scripture: Of the Red Sea — Mentioned in scripture: Of the Red Sea
Red Sea · The wil — The wil
Sea, The · Seas mentioned in scripture: Red Sea — Seas mentioned in scripture: Red Sea

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 13:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 13:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 13:18

Adam Clarke on Exodus 13:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 13:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 13:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 13:18

Adam Clarke on Exodus 13:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Exodus 13:18

John Calvin on Exodus 13:17–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 13:17-19

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 13:18

Rashi on Exodus 13:18