13 Thou in thy mercy hast dled 14 The people shall hear, and forth the people which thou hast be afraid: g sorrow shall take redeemed: thou hast guided them hold on the inhabitants of Palesin thy strength unto ethy holy tina. habitation.

d Ps. 77. 15, 20. & 78. 52. & 80. 1. & 106. 9. Isai. 63. 12, 13. Jer. 2. 6. e Ps. 78. 54.

which does not regard the distinction of land and water. Thus Jon. 2. 6, 'I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me forever;' i. e. I was engulphed in the deep places of the earth.

f Numb, 14. 14. Deut. 2. 25. Josh. 2. 9, 10. 8 Ps. 48. 6.

'thou hast guided,' as if their destination had been actually reached, yet the meaning obviously is, that they were now being guided, that they were on the way which led toward the land of promise where they were to dwell, and where God was to dwell with them. Whether any thing more definite and precise than a peculiar residence or indwelling in the land of Canaan in general be intended, it is not perhaps possible to determine. This is called God's habitation simply because it was Israel's habitation, among whom he had en. gaged to tabernacle or dwell.

13. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth, &c. The poet here passes, by a sudden but natural transition, from the destruction of the Egyptians to the deliverance of the Israelites. This is very appropriate, as it places the two grand aspects of the event in strong and immediate contrast, the one that of justice, the other of mercy. How impressively are both presented before the mind in this transcendent song. While on the one hand thousands of wretched beings who knew not God, but had mocked him with their idolatries and provoked him with their rebellion, had been suddenly hurled into the embraces of death, they on the other had been graciously ex-ings upon the devoted nations of Ca empted from harm, rescued from bondage, restored to freedom! Great and manifold indeed were the mercies of God to his chosen, and richly were they worthy of the highest celebration.

14. The people shall hear and be afraid, &c. The high poetic afflatus under which this sublime triumphal song was composed is nearly akin to the spirit of prophecy, and the verse before us evidently points to the future results of this signal victory, in its bear

naan. The very tidings of such a tre mendous overthrow of the Egyptians would go so far towards terrifying and disheartening their other enemies, that it would render the conquest of them Thou hast guided them, &c. Heb. comparatively easy. Their spirits would nor nehalta. The original in its le- sink at the idea of grappling with such gitimate sense signifies to guide gently, a power as evidently fought for Israel, softly, and with care, as a good shep- and this secret misgiving, though it herd does his flock. It is the word used might not entirely preclude resistance, by the prophet, Is. 40. 11, 'He shall would yet so far weaken it, as to make gather the lambs with his arms, and them very little formidable in their warcarry them in his bosom, and gently fare. That this was a true prediction lead those that are with young. Very we see at once by referring to the subpertinent to this are the words of the sequent history. Josh. 5. 1, ‘And it Psalmist, Ps. 77. 20, 'Thou leddest thy came to pass, when all the kings of the people like a flock by the hand of Moses Amorites which were on the side of and Aaron.' The phrase in the present | Jordan westward, and all the kings of instance is indeed rendered in the past, the Canaanites which were by the sea,

15 h Then ithe dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.

16 m Fear and dread shall fall

h Gen. 36. 40. i Deut. 2, 4. k Numb. 22. 3. Hab. 3. 7. 1 Josh. 5. 1. m Deut. 2. 25. & 11. 25. Josh. 2. 9.

heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted; neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.'

The inhabitants of Palestina. That is, the Philistines, from whom, although they inhabited only a part of it, the land of Palestine is supposed to have derived its denomination. They were not of the prophetically accursed seed of Canaan, nor are they enumerated among the nations devoted to extermination, whose territory God assigned to the Hebrews. But they maintained a hostile attitude towards the Israelites, with whom they had many battles, and after a long series of struggles they were finally effectually subdued by David.

upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still nas a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, o which thou hast purchased.

n1 Sam. 25. 37. och. 19. 5. Deut. 32. 9. 2 Sam. 7. 23. Ps. 74. 2. Isai. 43. 1, 3. & 51. 10. Jer. 31. 11. Tit. 2. 14. 1 Pet. 2. 9. 2 Pet. 2.1.

the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt (yimmas), neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you.' Throughout the whole context the gradations of distress are strikingly mark. ed. First, there is to be fear among the people; then sorrow is to overtake the inhabitants of Palestine; next, the princes of Edom are to be amazed or painfully disturbed; then the Moabites shall tremble with terror; and, finally, the hearts of Canaan shall melt away with overwhelming dread of the coming disasters.

16. Fear and dread shall fall upon them, &c. This is but an expansion of the sentiment of the last clause of the preceding verse. They should be so utterly overcome with consternation that their energies should be paralyzed, and they should be unable to offer any ef fectual resistance. But let not Israel forget that 'it was not their own arm which would get them the victory.' It was to be by the greatness of God's arm, by the direct intervention of his power, that the inhabitants were thus to be rendered impotent in their alarm.

15. The dukes of Edom shall be amazed. Heb. 17 alluphë Edom. On the import of the Heb. term 'alluph' see Note on Gen. 36. 15, 16.-¶ All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Heb. 1 namogu; a term to be understood rather of the mental despondency, the sinking away of courage and hope, than of the physical wasting and consumption of the Canaanites before the victorious arms of Israel. How accurately this depicts the result that actually occurred is evident from the parallel language, Josh. 2. 9-11, 'And she said unto the men, I know that the -T They shall be as still as a stone. Lord hath given you the land, and that Gr. anodi0w0nrwoav, let them be turned your terror is fallen upon us, and that into stones, equivalent to the English all the inhabitants of the land faint phrase of being petrified with fear, grief, (namogu) because of you. For astonishment, &c.- - Till thy people we have heard how the Lord dried up pass over. That is, till the Israelites

17 Thou shalt bring them in, and Pplant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for

P Ps. 44. 2. & 80. 8.

thee to dwell in; in the q sanctuary, O LORD, which thy hands have established."

q Ps 78. 54.

earth cannot without the greatest diffi. culty be plucked up. It predicts, there

pass over the desert and the limits of the land of Canaan, and enter upon their inheritance. The Jordan, how-fore, a permanent and stable mode of ever, is probably more especially in- life, in opposition to the roving and mitended, as the spirit of prophecy per-gratory habits of a people who are ever vades the poem. Thus the Chal. Un- on the move. See the similitude beautil the people, O Lord, shall have passed tifully expanded, Ps. 80. 8-16, no doubt over Arnon and the Jordan.' This was in direct allusion to the expression of only a less miracle than the passage of the present text; "Thou hast brought a the Red Sea, inasmuch as the channel vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out is narrower, and the transit unattend- the heathen and planted it. Thou preed by the destruction of enemies. paredst room before it, and didst cause Which thou hast purchased. Heb. it to take deep root, and it filled the kanitha, hast gotten, acquired, be- land. The hills were covered with the come possessed of. The original signi- shadow of it, and the boughs thereof fies to obtain either by purchase, by gen- were like the goodly cedars. She sent eration, or by any other mode of acqui- out her boughs unto the sea, and her sition, but more especially the former. branches unto the river.' By the 'moun. Thus, Deut. 32. 6, 'Is not he thy father tain of thine inheritance' is doubtless that hath bought thee?' Ps. 74. 2, 'Re- meant the mountainous country of Camember thy congregation which thou naan, with, however, a more especial rehast purchased of old ;' and the Apostle, ference to Mount Zion, the site of the 2 Pet. 2. 1, speaks of such as 'deny the Temple. The term 'mountain' is plainLord that bought them.' Chal. 'Whichly applied to the whole land of promise thou hast redeemed.' Gr. bv Extnow, which thou hast possessed.

17. Thou shalt bring them in. This glorious beginning of God's favor to them was of such a nature, as to afford an earnest of the full accomplishment of all his purposed mercy. If notwithstanding their unworthiness and all the difficulties that lay in the way of their escape, he had thus with a high hand brought them out of Egypt, might they not be assured that he would bring them into Canaan? For having so begun would he not make an end?- - Plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance. That is, thou shalt give them a settled and firmly fixed inheritance; a metaphor taken from trees which when their roots are struck deeply into the

in the following passage: Deut. 3. 25,
'Let me go over, and see the good land
that is beyond Jordan, the goodly moun
tain, and Lebanon.' Comp. Ps. 78. 54,
'And he brought them to the border of
his sanctuary, even to this mountain,
which his right hand had purchased.'
The three clauses rise in striking gra.
dation, according to the genius of He.
brew poetry. First we have the moun-
tain, or the land of Canaan generally;
it is then restricted to the place, the
particular spot, upon which the temple
of the Lord's habitation was built; and
lastly we have the sanctuary itself,
the seat and centre of that economy
which was so certainly to be ' establish.
ed,' that it is spoken of as if already
done.

18

The LORD shall reign for dren of Israel went on dry land in ever and ever. the midst of the sea.

19 For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and t the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them: but the chil

r Ps. 10. 16. & 29. 10. & 146. 10. Isai. 57. 15. ch. 14. 23. Prov. 21. 31. t ch. 14. 28, 29.

18. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. This sublime pean is here concluded with a burst of rapturous exultation in view of God's universal and everlasting dominion. Though they had seen an end of Pharaoh's reign, and were assured of the final extinction of those hostile powers with which they would yet have to contend, there was no period to be put to the ever-during reign of the blessed and only Potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords. This appears to have been a sort of chorus in which all the people joined.

20 ¶ And Miriam u the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, y took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her, z with timbrels, and with dances.

u Judg. 4. 4. 1 Sam. 10. 5. x Numb. 26. 59
y 1 Sam. 18. 6. z Judg. 11. 34. & 21. 21. 2 Sam
6. 16. Ps. 68. 11, 25. & 149. 3. & 150. 4.
from her having lived with him in Egypt
while Moses was absent in Midian. The
character of 'prophetess' is ascribed to
her probably from the fact that she in
common with Moses and Aaron, and like
Deborah, Huldah, and Anna, was made
in some degree the organ of divine com-
munications, as it is said, Mic. 6. 4, 'I
sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Mi
riam,' where the three appear to be
placed in co-ordinate rank.
So also,
Num. 12. 1, Aaron and Miriam are rep-
resented as saying together, 'Hath the
Lord spoken only by Moses? hath he
not spoken also by us?' It is supposed,
however, by some to mean here no more
than a woman eminently skilled in mu-
sic, as it is plain that the word 'pro-
phesy' is in several instances in the
Scriptures employed to denote the act
of singing or of playing upon musical

19. For the horse of Pharaoh, &c. This verse, if a part of the song, contains what the Greeks call the epiphonema, which includes the whole subject of the piece like the first chorus. It is obvious that it is a mere iteration in condensed terms of the general theme of the ode, such as might easily be re-instruments. Thus David, 1 Chron. 25. tained in the memory of each individual, and by him transmitted along the line of his descendants to the latest posterity. But we decidedly prefer to adopt the opinion of Rosenmuller, who supposes that the triumphal hymn properly closes with v. 18, and that this is to be joined to the two succeeding verses as a brief recapitulation in simple prosaic narrative of the grand incident which gave occasion to the song.

1, set apart the sons of Asaph and others, 'Who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals.' The word 'prophesy' is also supposed to be used in the sense of singing the praises of God, 1 Cor. 11. 5, But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head; for that it cannot here signify to communicate instruction is to be inferred from 1 Cor. 14. 34, 'Let your women keep silence in the churches; for it is not per mitted unto them to speak.' Probably both senses are to be included in the term. Took a timbrel. Heb. 1 toph, from a root signifying to strike, smite, beat. The original word occurs about twenty times in the Heb. Bible,

21. Miriam answered them. The whole song was probably, as suggested above, sung alternately by the men and women ranged into two bands, and by Miriam's 'answering' the men (for the original for 'them' is masculine) is meant, un

leader of the choir to the women, as Moses was to the men; or, as the words immediately following, 'Sing ye to the Lord, &c.' appear to indicate that which formed the 'answer of Miriam' and her companions, it is not unlikely that these words constituted a kind of chorus which was repeated at the end of each of the preceding verses, as in Ps. 136, the words, 'For his mercy endureth for ever,' are repeated throughout the whole psalm.

but our translators, with a disregard of uniformity which too often mars their version, have in about one half the cases rendered it by timbrel, and in the other by tabret, and in only one instance, Jer. 31. 4, does the margin present a choice of renderings. The instrument thus de-doubtedly, that she was precentrix, or nominated is with great probability supposed to have been constructed of a hoop, sometimes furnished with pieces of brass to make a jingling noise, over which a membrane of parchment was stretched like the head of a drum; it was beat with the fingers, and answered very exactly to the tambourins of modern times. In allusion to this mode of playing upon the instrument, the prophet, Nah. 2. 7, compares women's beating upon their breasts in deep anguish to their 'tabering,' or playing upon the timbrel, where the epithet is to be understood not of 'doves,' but of 'maids,' in a preceding part of the verse. For a more particular account of this instrument see Note on Gen. 31. 27.-¶ With dances. Of the eastern mode of dancing Lady M. W. Montagu says; 'Their manner of dancing is certainly the same that Diana is said to have danced on the banks of the Eurotas. The great lady still leads the dance, and is followed by a troop of young girls, who imitate her steps, and if she sings, make up the chorus. The steps are varied according to the pleasure of her that leads the dance, but always in exact time.' Accordingly Miriam here led the dance, whose movements regulated the steps of her female associates. In like manner it is prob-numerous hillocks, mark the landward able that David, 2 Sam. 6. 24, 25, when the ark was removed, danced not alone before the Lord, but led the dance in the same authoritative kind of way.

22. So Moses brought Israel, &c. From the opinion already expressed respecting the place where the Israelites encamped, and at which they entered the sea, it is evident that we regard Ain Mousa as the place, on the eastern shore, where they came up from the bed of the waters, and where they wit nessed the overthrow of their oppressors. It is certain that the local traditions of the inhabitants of Sinai confirm this view of the subject; and although undue weight should not be attached to such traditions, yet neither should they be entirely disregarded when they support conclusions otherwise probable. Travellers who have explored the locality inform us, that a number of green shrubs, springing from

approach to this place. Here are also a number of neglected palm-trees, grown thick and bushy for want of pruning. The springs which here rise out of the