Exodus 14:13

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13, 14) Fear ye not, stand still.—There are times when all our strength must be “in quietness and confidence” (Isaiah 30:15). So long as we have means of resistance put in our power, with a reasonable prospect of success, it is our duty to use them—to exert ourselves to the uttermost, to make all possible efforts. God, for the most part, “helps those who help themselves.” But there are occasions when we can do nothing—when all must be left to Him. (Comp. 2Chronicles 20:17.) Under these circumstances, our duty and our true wisdom is to wait patiently, quietly, courageously. Moses, probably, did not yet know how God would effect Israel’s deliverance, but he was confident that, in one way or another, it would be effected.

The Egyptians whom ye have seen . . . —Heb., As ye have seen the Egyptians to-day, ye shall see them no more for ever: i.e., never again shall ye see them in the pride of power, haughty, menacing, terrible. When next you behold them they will be stiff and lifeless—pale corpses strewing the Red Sea shore (see Exodus 14:30). The reference is to the present time only, not to the future relations of the two peoples.

Benson Commentary

Exodus 14:13-14. Moses said, Fear ye not, stand still — Hebrew, make yourselves to stand. Let not your hearts fail, or sink, or stagger, through unbelief: but with quiet minds look up to God. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace — Ye shall contribute nothing to the victory, neither by your words nor by your deeds. A remarkable instance this of the composure of Moses’s mind, and the sedateness of his temper, and how well he deserved the character given him Numbers 12:3, of being one of the meekest of men. He did not answer these fools according to their folly: he does not chide, but comforts them; and with an admirable presence of mind, not in the least disconcerted or disheartened, either by the approach of Pharaoh, or the tremblings of Israel, he stills their murmurings, calmly exhorting them to take heart and trust in God. It is our duty when we cannot get out of our troubles, yet to get above our fears, so that they may only serve to quicken our prayers and endeavours, but may not prevail to silence our faith and hope.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:10-14 There was no way open to Israel but upward, and thence their deliverance came. We may be in the way of duty, following God, and hastening toward heaven, yet may be troubled on every side. Some cried out unto the Lord; their fear led them to pray, and that was well. God brings us into straits, that he may bring us to our knees. Others cried out against Moses; fear set them murmuring as if God were not still able to work miracles. They quarrel with Moses for bringing them out of Egypt; and so were angry with God for the greatest kindness ever done them; thus gross are the absurdities of unbelief. Moses says, Fear ye not. It is always our duty and interest, when we cannot get out of troubles, yet to get above our fears; let them quicken our prayers and endeavours, but not silence our faith and hope. Stand still, think not to save yourselves either by fighting or flying; wait God's orders, and observe them. Compose yourselves, by confidence in God, into peaceful thoughts of the great salvation God is about to work for you. If God brings his people into straits, he will find a way to bring them out.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For the Egyptians whom ... - The true sense is, ye shall never see the Egyptians in the same way, under the same circumstances.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13, 14. Moses said, … Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord—Never, perhaps, was the fortitude of a man so severely tried as that of the Hebrew leader in this crisis, exposed as he was to various and inevitable dangers, the most formidable of which was the vengeance of a seditious and desperate multitude; but his meek, unruffled, magnanimous composure presents one of the sublimest examples of moral courage to be found in history. And whence did his courage arise? He saw the miraculous cloud still accompanying them, and his confidence arose solely from the hope of a divine interposition, although, perhaps, he might have looked for the expected deliverance in every quarter, rather than in the direction of the sea.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Stand still; Heb. make yourselves to stand; let not and your hearts fail and sink, or stagger through unbelief, but with quiet minds look up to God. It notes the frame of their minds, not the posture of their bodies. Whom ye have seen; or, as ye have seen them, to wit, alive and armed, ready to devour you; for otherwise they did see them dead, and disarmed, Exodus 14:30.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Moses said unto the people,.... Not in wrath and anger, but very coolly and sedately, agreeably to his character of the meekest man on earth; though what they had said to him was very insulting and provoking:

fear ye not; Pharaoh and his numerous host, do not be dismayed at them or possess yourselves with a dread of them, and of destruction by them:

stand still; do not stir from the place where you are, do not offer to run away, or to make your escape by flight (and which indeed seemed impossible), keep your place and station, and put yourselves in such a situation as to wait and observe the issue of things:

and see the salvation of the Lord which he will shew to you today; which is expressive of great faith in Moses in the midst of this extremity, who firmly believed that God would save them from this numerous and enraged army, and that very quickly, even that day; at least within twenty four hours, within the compass of a day; for it was the night following that salvation was wrought for them, and their eyes beheld it: and it may be called the salvation of the Lord, for it was his own hand that only effected it, the Israelites not contributing anything in the least unto it, and was typical of the great salvation which Christ with his own arm, and without the help of his people, has wrought out for them:

for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever; that is, in such a posture or manner, no more armed, nor alive, and the objects of their fear and dread; for otherwise they did see them again, but then they were on the sea shore dead; for it should be rendered, not "whom", but "how", or "in what manner" (w).

(w) , Sept. "quemadmodum", Piscator; "quomod o", Noldius, p. 107. No. 544.

Geneva Study Bible

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. stand still] rather, stand firm, without fleeing; cf. Deuteronomy 7:24; Deuteronomy 11:25, 2 Samuel 21:5. Comp. the quotation in 2 Chronicles 20:17 (EVV. set yourselves [not ‘stand still’]).

salvation] The Heb. word is used here in its original etym. sense—which, as Arabic shews, was properly breadth, spaciousness, freedom—of a material deliverance; so Exo 1 Samuel 14:45, Psalm 3:2 (EVV. help), 8 (see RVm.), Psalm 18:50, Psalm 28:8, Job 30:15 (EVV. welfare), Isaiah 26:18, &c. Elsewhere in the prophets and Psalms the word often implies spiritual blessings as well. Cf. the writer’s Parallel Psalter, p. 455 f.

13b. The marg. gives the correct meaning.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - And Moses said... fear ye not. Moses knew that the pursuit of Israel by the host of the Egyptians was a part of the counsel of God, and was to tend in some way or other to the promotion of God's honour and glory (ver. 4). He had sufficient faith to believe in a deliverance the nature of which it is not likely that he could anyway conjecture. Whether hail would fall from heaven and destroy them (Joshua 10:11); or the earth gape and swallow them up (Numbers 16:32); or the angel of death smite them all in the night (2 Kings 19:35); or any other strange form of destruction come upon them, he did not know; but he concluded from what had been revealed to him, that God was about to vindicate his own honour without the aid of man. Hence his words - Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord - which assigned to the Israelites a mere passive attitude of expectation. For the Egyptians, etc. The order of the words in the original favours the marginal rendering, which is to be adopted with one slight change. Translate - "For, as ye have seen the Egyptians to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever," i.e., ye shall see them no more alive, vigorous and menacing, but still and lifeless upon the Red Sea shore (ver. 30). There is no reference to any other Egyptians than those with Pharaoh in the camp, nor to any later relations between Egypt and the chosen people. Exodus 14:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Moses met their unbelief and fear with the energy of strong faith, and promised them such help from the Lord, that they would never see again the Egyptians, whom they had seen that day. ראיתם אשׁר does not mean ὅν τρόπον ἑωράκατε (lxx), quemadmodum vidistis (Ros., Kn.); but the sentence is inverted: "The Egyptians, whom ye have seen to-day, ye will never see again."