Exodus 15:7

And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Exodus 15:7. In the greatness of thine excellency — Thy great and excellent power. Excellency, or highness, (as the word גאון, here used, properly means,) belongs in the most eminent and unqualified sense to Jehovah, who is superlatively high and excellent in all his attributes.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:1-21 This song is the most ancient we know of. It is a holy song, to the honour of God, to exalt his name, and celebrate his praise, and his only, not in the least to magnify any man. Holiness to the Lord is in every part of it. It may be considered as typical, and prophetical of the final destruction of the enemies of the church. Happy the people whose God is the Lord. They have work to do, temptations to grapple with, and afflictions to bear, and are weak in themselves; but his grace is their strength. They are often in sorrow, but in him they have comfort; he is their song. Sin, and death, and hell threaten them, but he is, and will be their salvation. The Lord is a God of almighty power, and woe to those that strive with their Maker! He is a God of matchless perfection; he is glorious in holiness; his holiness is his glory. His holiness appears in the hatred of sin, and his wrath against obstinate sinners. It appears in the deliverance of Israel, and his faithfulness to his own promise. He is fearful in praises; that which is matter of praise to the servants of God, is very dreadful to his enemies. He is doing wonders, things out of the common course of nature; wondrous to those in whose favour they are wrought, who are so unworthy, that they had no reason to expect them. There were wonders of power and wonders of grace; in both, God was to be humbly adored.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thy wrath - Literally, Thy burning, i. e. the fire of Thy wrath, a word chosen expressly with reference to the effect.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 15

Ex 15:1-27. Song of Moses.

1. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel—The scene of this thanksgiving song is supposed to have been at the landing place on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, at Ayoun Musa, "the fountains of Moses." They are situated somewhat farther northward along the shore than the opposite point from which the Israelites set out. But the line of the people would be extended during the passage, and one extremity of it would reach as far north as these fountains, which would supply them with water on landing. The time when it was sung is supposed to have been the morning after the passage. This song is, by some hundred years, the oldest poem in the world. There is a sublimity and beauty in the language that is unexampled. But its unrivalled superiority arises not solely from the splendor of the diction. Its poetical excellencies have often drawn forth the admiration of the best judges, while the character of the event commemorated, and its being prompted by divine inspiration, contribute to give it an interest and sublimity peculiar to itself.

I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously—Considering the state of servitude in which they had been born and bred, and the rude features of character which their subsequent history often displays, it cannot be supposed that the children of Israel generally were qualified to commit to memory or to appreciate the beauties of this inimitable song. But they might perfectly understand its pervading strain of sentiment; and, with the view of suitably improving the occasion, it was thought necessary that all, old and young, should join their united voices in the rehearsal of its words. As every individual had cause, so every individual gave utterance to his feelings of gratitude.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In the greatness of thine excellency; by thy great and glorious power.

As stubble; as easily, and as speedily, and as irrecoverably.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And in the greatness of thine excellency,.... Christ has an excellency in him, a greatness of excellency, a superlative one; he has a more excellent name and nature than the angels, being a divine Person; and a more excellent ministry, as man and Mediator, than any of the sons of men, as prophet, priest, and King; and is superlatively excellent in his operations, has wrought out a most excellent righteousness, offered up a more excellent sacrifice than ever was offered, and obtained a great, glorious, and excellent salvation for his people; in consequence of which is what is next asserted:

thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee; against his person and his people, who are in such strict union with him as to be reckoned as himself; and those that rise up against them, he reckons as rising up against him, or as his enemies; and both the one and the other are overthrown by him, as were those that rose up against him in person when on earth, as Herod, Pontius Pilate, the people of the Jews, with the Gentiles, and as will be antichrist and his followers, and all the spiritual enemies of the people of God:

thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble; the wrath of the Lord God Almighty is like fire, and wicked men are as chaff and stubble; and as those cannot stand before fire, but are suddenly and quickly consumed with it; so neither can the wicked, the enemies of Christ and his people, stand before the wrath of the Lamb, when the great day of it is come, but must be presently destroyed by it; see Isaiah 51:20.

Geneva Study Bible

And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against {e} thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.

(e) Those who are enemies to God's people are his enemies.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. in the greatness of thy majesty] cognate with ‘risen up majestically’ in v. 1: cf. Isaiah 2:10; Isaiah 2:19; Isaiah 2:21; Isaiah 24:14, where the same word (gâ’ôn) is rendered majesty in both AV. and RV. The retention of excellency in RV. is unfortunate. It is true, in 1611, when the AV. was made, it still had the etymological force (Lat. excello, to rise up out of) of surpassingness, pre-eminence; but even that is an imperfect rendering of the Heb. here; and now the word suggests little more than a mild type of superiority, just as the cognate ‘excellent’ has been weakened into a term of mild commendation, superior, meritorious. See the note on both ‘excellency’ and ‘excellent’ in the writer’s Joel and Amos (in the Camb. Bible), p. 238 f., or (with a fuller synopsis of their occurrences, including those in the N.T.) in his Daniel, p. 33 f.

thou didst break down them that rose up against thee] viz. like a wall or building (Jdg 6:25 ‘throw down’; Ezekiel 26:4; Ezekiel 26:12; and frequently): the solid, compact masses of the foe are represented as broken to pieces, and thrown in ruins on the earth. The figure is more forcible than when we speak of an army being ‘overthrown.’ The word is quite different from the one rendered ‘overthrew’ in Exodus 14:27.

Thou sentest forth thy wrath, it consumed (or devoured: lit. ate) them as stubble] God’s wrath is pictured as a fire, consuming the foe as quickly as if they were dry stubble (cf. Isaiah 5:24, Obadiah 1:18, Nahum 1:10).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - Thou hast overthrown, etc. Here again the verbs are future. Translate - "thou wilt overthrow," or "thou overthrowest them that rise up against thee; thou (wilt send) sendest forth thy wrath, which consumes them as stubble." The metaphor in the last clause was one known to the Egyptians. Exodus 15:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Jehovah had not only proved Himself to be a true man of war in destroying the Egyptians, but also as the glorious and strong one, who overthrows His enemies at the very moment when they think they are able to destroy His people.

Exodus 15:6-7

"Thy right hand, Jehovah, glorified in power (gloriously equipped with power: on the Yod in נאדּרי, see Genesis 31:39; the form is masc., and ימין, which is of common gender, is first of all construed as a masculine, as in Proverbs 27:16, and then as a feminine), "Thy right hand dashes in pieces the enemy." רעץ equals רצץ: only used here, and in Judges 10:8. The thought it quite a general one: the right hand of Jehovah smites every foe. This thought is deduced from the proof just seen of the power of God, and is still further expanded in Exodus 15:7, "In the fulness of Thy majesty Thou pullest down Thine opponents." הרס generally applied to the pulling down of buildings; then used figuratively for the destruction of foes, who seek to destroy the building (the work) of God; in this sense here and Psalm 28:5. קמים: those that rise up in hostility against a man (Deuteronomy 33:11; Psalm 18:40, etc.). "Thou lettest out Thy burning heat, it devours them like stubble." חרן, the burning breath of the wrath of God, which Jehovah causes to stream out like fire (Ezekiel 7:3), was probably a play upon the fiery look cast upon the Egyptians from the pillar of cloud (cf. Isaiah 9:18; Isaiah 10:17; and on the last words, Isaiah 5:24; Nahum 1:10).