Exodus 14:14

The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

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

Ye shall contribute nothing to the victory, neither by your words nor by your deeds; for this Hebrew word signifies a cessation not only from speech, but from action too, as 2 Samuel 19:11 Psalm 83:1 Isaiah 42:14,15. Or rather, do you hold your peace, the future tense for the imperative, as it is very frequent; cease your murmuring against the Lord and me.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Lord shall fight for you,.... By commanding the wind of the heavens, and the waves of the sea, and employing them against their enemies, and on their behalf; they being unarmed, and so not in a condition to fight for themselves, as well as they had no heart or spirit for it:

and ye shall hold your peace; be still, and quiet, and easy in your minds, and forbear saying or doing anything; "be silent"; and neither express the fear and distress of their minds, by any mournful sounds, nor their joy of faith by shouts and huzzas; as they could not draw a sword, they were not so much as to blow a trumpet, and break a pitcher, and cry the sword of the Lord, and of Israel as they after did on another occasion, at least their posterity.

Geneva Study Bible

The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall {h} hold your peace.

(h) Only put your trust in God without grudging or doubting.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. shall fight for you] Cf. v. 25. Hence often in Dt. (Deuteronomy 1:30, Deuteronomy 3:22, Deuteronomy 20:4), and the Deuteronomic sections of Joshua (Joshua 10:14; Joshua 10:42, Joshua 23:3; Joshua 23:10).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - Ye shall hold your peace - i.e., "do nothing, remain at rest."

CHAPTER 14:15-18 Exodus 14:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"Jehovah will fight for you (לכם, dat comm.), but you will be silent," i.e., keep quiet, and not complain any more (cf. Genesis 34:5).