Êxodo 14

ARC · Chapter 14/40

1Então fallou o Senhor a Moysés, dizendo:

2Falla aos filhos de Israel que tornem, e que se acampem diante de Pi-hahiroth, entre Migdol e o mar, diante de Baal-zephon: em frente d'elle assentareis o campo junto ao mar.

3Então Pharaó dirá dos filhos de Israel: Estão embaraçados na terra, o deserto os encerrou.

4E eu endurecerei o coração de Pharaó, para que os persiga, e serei glorificado em Pharaó em todo o seu exercito, e saberão os egypcios que eu sou o Senhor. E elles fizeram assim.

5Sendo pois annunciado ao rei do Egypto que o povo fugia, mudou-se o coração de Pharaó e dos seus servos contra o povo, e disseram: Porque fizemos isso, havendo deixado ir a Israel, que nos não sirva?

6E apromptou o seu carro, e tomou comsigo o seu povo;

7E tomou seiscentos carros escolhidos, e todos os carros do Egypto, e os capitães sobre elles todos.

8Porque o Senhor endureceu o coração de Pharaó, rei do Egypto, que perseguisse aos filhos de Israel: porém os filhos de Israel sairam com alta mão

9E os egypcios perseguiram-n'os, todos os cavallos e carros de Pharaó, e os seus cavalleiros, e o seu exercito, e alcançaram-n'os acampados junto ao mar, perto de Pi-hahiroth, diante de Baal-zephon.

10E, chegando Pharaó, os filhos de Israel levantaram seus olhos, e eis que os egypcios vinham atraz d'elles, e temeram muito; então os filhos de Israel clamaram ao Senhor.

11E disseram a Moysés: Não havia sepulchros no Egypto, que nos tiraste de lá, para que morramos n'este deserto? porque nos fizeste isto, que nos tens tirado do Egypto?

12Não é esta a palavra que te temos fallado no Egypto, dizendo: Deixa-nos, que sirvamos aos egypcios? pois que melhor nos fôra servir aos egypcios, do que morrermos no deserto.

13Moysés, porém, disse ao povo: Não temaes; estae quietos, e vêde o livramento do Senhor, que hoje vos fará: porque aos egypcios, que hoje vistes, nunca mais vereis para sempre:

14O Senhor pelejará por vós, e vos calareis.

15Então disse o Senhor a Moysés: Porque clamas a mim? dize aos filhos de Israel que marchem.

16E tu, levanta a tua vara, e estende a tua mão sobre o mar, e fende-o, para que os filhos de Israel passem pelo meio do mar em secco.

17E eu, eis que endurecerei o coração dos egypcios, para que entrem n'elle atraz d'elles; e eu serei glorificado em Pharaó, e em todo o seu exercito, nos seus carros e nos seus cavalleiros,

18E os egypcios saberão que eu sou o Senhor, quando fôr glorificado em Pharaó, nos seus carros e nos seus cavalleiros.

19E o anjo de Deus, que ia diante do exercito d'Israel, se retirou, e ia detraz d'elles: tambem a columna de nuvem se retirou de diante d'elles, e se poz atraz d'elles,

20E ia entre o campo dos egypcios e o campo d'Israel: e a nuvem era escuridade para aquelles, e para estes esclarecia a noite: de maneira que em toda a noite não chegou um ao outro.

21Então Moysés estendeu a sua mão sobre o mar, e o Senhor fez retirar o mar por um forte vento oriental toda aquella noite; e o mar tornou-se em secco, e as aguas foram partidas.

22E os filhos d'Israel entraram pelo meio do mar em secco: e as aguas foram-lhes como muro á sua direita e á sua esquerda.

23E os egypcios seguiram-n'os, e entraram atraz d'elles todos os cavallos de Pharaó, os seus carros e os seus cavalleiros, até ao meio do mar.

24E aconteceu que, na vigilia d'aquella manhã, o Senhor, na columna do fogo e da nuvem, viu o campo dos egypcios: e alvorotou o campo dos egypcios,

25E tirou-lhes as rodas dos seus carros, e fel-os andar difficultosamente. Então disseram os egypcios: Fujamos da face d'Israel, porque o Senhor por elles peleja contra os egypcios.

26E disse o Senhor a Moysés: Estende a tua mão sobre o mar, para que as aguas tornem sobre os egypcios, sobre os seus carros e sobre os seus cavalleiros.

27Então Moysés estendeu a sua mão sobre o mar, e o mar tornou-se em sua força ao amanhecer, e os egypcios fugiram ao seu encontro: e o Senhor derribou os egypcios no meio do mar

28Porque as aguas, tornando, cobriram os carros e os cavalleiros de todo o exercito de Pharaó, que os haviam seguido no mar: nem ainda um d'elles ficou.

29Mas os filhos d'Israel foram pelo meio do mar secco: e as aguas foram-lhes como muro á sua mão direita e á sua esquerda.

30Assim o Senhor salvou Israel n'aquelle dia da mão dos egypcios: e Israel viu os egypcios mortos na praia do mar.

31E viu Israel a grande mão que o Senhor mostrara aos egypcios; e temeu o povo ao Senhor, e creram no Senhor e em Moysés, seu servo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Pharaoh changes his mind and pursues the Israelites with his army; trapped at the Red Sea, the people cry out to God, who opens a dry path through the sea, allowing Israel to cross while drowning the Egyptian army.

Explanation

This is one of the most dramatic and symbolically rich moments in the entire Bible: trapped between the sea and the Egyptian army, the Israelites move from understandable panic ('Because there were no graves in Egypt...?', v. 11) to witnessing one of the greatest displays of divine power ever recorded. Moses' response, 'The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace' (v. 14), teaches a lesson in active trust: standing still before God does not mean complete passivity, but a confidence that allows one to move forward even without fully understanding how the solution will unfold. The parting of the waters, allowing passage on dry ground with walls of water on both sides, and the subsequent collapse of those waters upon the pursuing army, became the founding event of Israel's identity as a people saved by God, referenced repeatedly throughout the Old Testament as historical proof of God's power and faithfulness.

Fun facts

  • The crossing of the Red Sea (or 'Sea of Reeds,' an alternative translation of the Hebrew term Yam Suph) is the most cited event in Israel's entire history throughout the rest of the Old Testament, appearing in Psalms, Isaiah, Nehemiah, and other books as the supreme example of God's saving power.
  • The detail that God made the sea go back 'by a strong east wind all that night' (v. 21) describes a process that lasted hours, not an instant — suggesting that even biblical miracles often involve observable processes, though supernaturally directed and timed.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 14:1After the exodus from Egypt, God gives Moses a new instruction about which way to go, changing direction in a strategic way, as the next verse shows.
  2. Êxodo 14:2God orders the people to turn back and camp near the sea, in a position that looks like a wrong turn but is actually part of a trap set against Pharaoh.
  3. Êxodo 14:3God foresees that Pharaoh will read this strange position as the people being lost and trapped, which will drive the pursuit told next.
  4. Êxodo 14:4Once again appears the idea of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, this time so that he decides to pursue the people all the way to the sea, the trigger that sets up the final scene of the pursuit and the crossing. Some read this as God using a stubbornness that already belonged to the king; others, as part of a larger plan to publicly display His power.
  5. Êxodo 14:5As soon as he learns that the people have really left, Pharaoh regrets letting his slave labor go and changes his mind about letting them depart in peace.
  6. Êxodo 14:6Pharaoh personally prepares his war chariot to lead the pursuit, showing how urgently this decision was made.
  7. Êxodo 14:7The army gathered by Pharaoh includes an elite force of six hundred chosen chariots, plus the rest of the Egyptian fleet, a considerable military force.
  8. Êxodo 14:8Repeats that it is God who hardens Pharaoh’s heart at this specific moment, allowing the pursuit that will lead to the miracle at the Red Sea.
  9. Êxodo 14:9The Egyptian army catches up with the Hebrew people already camped by the sea, at the very spot God had directed beforehand, closing the trap.
  10. Êxodo 14:10Seeing the Egyptian army closing in, the people panic, trapped between the sea ahead and the Egyptians behind, and cry out to God for help.
  11. Êxodo 14:11The people react with bitter sarcasm, suggesting it would have been better never to have left Egypt than to die in the wilderness like this.
  12. Êxodo 14:12They recall having already warned, back in Egypt, that they would rather stay slaves than take this risk — a complaint that comes up again and again during the wilderness journey.
  13. Êxodo 14:13Moses tries to calm the people with a strong promise: that very Egyptian army now terrifying them will never be seen again after that day.
  14. Êxodo 14:14Moses sums up the expected attitude of the people: stay quiet and let God handle the situation Himself, without needing any military response from them.
  15. Êxodo 14:15God answers Moses directly, almost rebuking the outcry: instead of just praying, it is time to act and move forward.
  16. Êxodo 14:16God gives Moses the practical instruction for the miracle: use the same rod already used in the plagues to open a way through the sea.
  17. Êxodo 14:17Repeats the pattern of hardening the Egyptians’ hearts so they go in after the people into the sea, setting up the final defeat of the Egyptian army.
  18. Êxodo 14:18The stated goal of the whole scene is, once again, to make the Egyptians recognize God’s power, this time through the very defeat of their army.
  19. Êxodo 14:19The angel and the pillar of cloud, which until then had guided the people from in front, move behind the camp, acting as a barrier between the two armies.
  20. Êxodo 14:20The same cloud that had guided the people moves behind the camp and comes to separate the two groups: on the Egyptian side it is total darkness, on the Israelite side it lights up the night. It is this barrier that keeps the armies from reaching each other while the people cross the sea.
  21. Êxodo 14:21The text explains the miracle through a described mechanism: a strong east wind blowing all night long pushes back the waters and opens a dry path, not an instant, silent parting, but something that takes the whole night to happen. It is common to debate whether this wind is simply the means God used or the miracle itself described in terms that made sense to those who lived through it.
  22. Êxodo 14:22The people cross the sea on dry ground, with the waters forming a kind of wall on each side — the most famous image in the whole book of Exodus.
  23. Êxodo 14:23The Egyptian army follows the Hebrews right into the seabed itself, falling exactly into the trap God had prepared.
  24. Êxodo 14:24Still before dawn, God watches the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and begins to throw them into confusion.
  25. Êxodo 14:25The text says God took off “the wheels” of the Egyptian war chariots, making them drive with difficulty through the mud of the seabed. It is a very practical detail explaining why the army, even with horses and chariots, could not catch up with the people on foot before the waters returned.
  26. Êxodo 14:26God orders Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea again, this time so that the waters return and cover the Egyptian army.
  27. Êxodo 14:27Moses obeys the order at daybreak, and the sea returns to normal at the very moment the Egyptians were trying to flee back, and they are swept away by the water itself.
  28. Êxodo 14:28The waters completely cover the Egyptian army, chariots and horsemen, with not one of them surviving the pursuit.
  29. Êxodo 14:29Repeats, in contrast with the Egyptian destruction, that the Israelites crossed the whole sea safely, on dry ground between the waters.
  30. Êxodo 14:30Closes the account of the crossing with the confirmation of the outcome: the people see with their own eyes the bodies of the Egyptians on the shore, visible proof of their salvation.
  31. Êxodo 14:31The people’s final reaction is one of reverent fear and faith, both in God and in Moses’s leadership, after witnessing a miracle of that magnitude.

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