15. Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters. 15. Viam fecisti in mari equis tuis per acervum aquarum magnarum. Some read, "Thou hast trodden thy horses in the sea;" but it is a solecism, that is quite evident. Others, "Thou hast trodden in the sea by thy horses." But what need is there of seeking such strained explanations, since the verb drk, darek, means to go or to march? The Prophet's meaning is by no means doubtful -- that God would make a way for himself in the sea, and on his own horses. How? even when great waters were gathered into a mass. The Prophet again refers to the history of the passage through the Red Sea; for it was a work of God, as it has been said, worthy of being remembered above all other works: it is therefore no wonder that the Prophet dwells so much in setting forth this great miracle. Thou then didst make a way for thy horses -- where? in the sea; which was contrary to nature. And then he adds, The heap of waters: for the waters had been gathered together, and a firm and thick mass appeared, which was not according to nature; for we know that water is a fluid, and that hardly a drop of water can stand without flowing. [65] How then was it that he stopped the course of Jordan, and that the Red Sea was divided? These were evidences of God's incomprehensible power, and rightly ought these to have added courage to the faithful, knowing, as they ought to have done, that nothing could have opposed their salvation, which God was not able easily to remove, whenever it pleased him. It follows -- Footnotes: [65] The word is [chmr], which many have rendered acervus--heap; but there is no clear instance in which it has such a meaning. It is without a preposition, and the Septuagint render it by a participle, tarassontas, which agrees with "horses." It is singular in Hebrew, and, if a participle, it agrees with the nominative case to the preceding verb, [drkt], "thou didst guide" or direct. The two lines might then be rendered thus,-- Thou didst guide through the sea thy horses, Disturbing mighty waters. Both Marckius and Henderson think that the passage through the Red Sea is not what is meant; but the subjugation of the Canaanites, conveyed in a language derived from that event.--Ed. |
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