Psalm 136:13

To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

136:10-22 The great things God did for Israel, when he brought them out of Egypt, were mercies which endured long to them; and our redemption by Christ, which was typified thereby, endures for ever. It is good to enter into the history of God's favours, and in each to observe, and own, that his mercy endureth for ever. He put them in possession of a good land; it was a figure of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

To him which divided the Red sea into parts - More literally, "Parted it into parts;" made parts of that which before was unbroken and a whole. It was actually divided into two parts, so that the Hebrews passed between them: Exodus 14:21-22.

For his mercy ... - This, too, was an exercise of mercy, or a manifestation of benevolence toward them and toward the world, to be measured by all the good which would result from it in itself, and by all the power which was put forth to effect it.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. Compare similar expressions (Ex 3:20; De 4:34, &c.).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

To him which divided the Red sea into parts,.... Into two parts, so that the waters of it stood as a wall on the right and left hand of the Israelites, as they passed through; this was done by means of a strong east wind, Exodus 14:21. The Jews have a tradition, which Jarchi, Kimchi, and Arama, make mention of, that the sea was divided into twelve parts, according to the twelve tribes of Israel, and every tribe had a path by itself to walk in; but for this there is no foundation: however, the dividing it into parts was a wonderful work, and a rich display of mercy to Israel;

for his mercy endureth for ever; the children of Israel were encompassed about, and in the utmost distress: the rocks were on each side, Pharaoh and his host behind them, the Red sea before them; and so no visible way of escape; but the Lord cut a way for them through the sea, and saved them. The sea is an emblem of this world, which is like a tempestuous troubled sea; where everything is restless, fluctuating, and passing away; where the people of God are tossed with tempests; and where afflictions, like the waves and billows of the sea, come over them one after another; and through which they must pass and enter the kingdom: and God, that wills, orders, and appoints them, sets these proud waves of the sea their bounds, or makes them a calm; and, sooner or later, makes a way through them and out of them, which is owing to his enduring mercy, 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Geneva Study Bible

To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. O give thanks unto him that hath chosen Zion (Psalm 132:13), for &c.

13. into parts] R.V. in sunder. In two parts of P.B.V. is a printer’s error. The Great Bible of 1539 has into partes.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - To him which divided the Red Sea into parts; literally, into section - cut it, as it were, in two (see Exodus 14:21). For his mercy, etc. Psalm 136:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Up to this point it is God the absolute in general, the Creator of all things, to the celebration of whose praise they are summoned; and from this point onwards the God of the history of salvation. In Psalm 136:13 גּזר (instead of בּקע, Psalm 78:13; Exodus 14:21; Nehemiah 9:11) of the dividing of the Red Sea is peculiar; גּזרים (Genesis 15:17, side by side with בּתרים) are the pieces or parts of a thing that is cut up into pieces. נער is a favourite word taken from Exodus 14:27. With reference to the name of the Egyptian ruler Pharaoh (Herodotus also, ii. 111, calls the Pharaoh of the Exodus the son of Sesostris-Rameses Miumun, not Μενόφθας, as he is properly called, but absolutely Φερῶν), vid., on Psalm 73:22. After the God to whom the praise is to be ascribed has been introduced with ל by always fresh attributes, the ל before the names of Sihon and of Og is perplexing. The words are taken over, as are the six lines of Psalm 136:17-22 in the main, from Psalm 135:10-12, with only a slight alteration in the expression. In Psalm 136:23 the continued influence of the construction הודוּ ל is at an end. The connection by means of שׁ (cf. Psalm 135:8, Psalm 135:10) therefore has reference to the preceding "for His goodness endureth for ever." The language here has the stamp of the latest period. It is true זכר with Lamed of the object is used even in the earliest Hebrew, but שׁפל is only authenticated by Ecclesiastes 10:6, and פּרק, to break loose equals to rescue (the customary Aramaic word for redemption), by Lamentations 5:8, just as in the closing verse, which recurs to the beginning, "God of heaven" is a name for God belonging to the latest literature, Nehemiah 1:4; Nehemiah 2:4. In Psalm 136:23 the praise changes suddenly to that which has been experienced very recently. The attribute in Psalm 136:25 (cf. Psalm 147:9; Psalm 145:15) leads one to look back to a time in which famine befell them together with slavery.