Exodus 15:11

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.

Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?.... For the perfections of his nature, for the blessings of his goodness, and for the works of his hands; and especially for the greatness and excellency of his power, seen in the salvation of his people, and the ruin of their enemies: there is none like him "among the mighty ones", as it may be rendered; among the mighty angels, who excel in strength, and are sometimes called gods; or among the mighty ones on earth; or the sons of the mighty, kings, princes, judges, and civil magistrates of every rank and order; especially for the following things: who is like thee, glorious in holiness?

Exodus 15:11 . Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? — So called; the idols or princes. To the wonderful relation above mentioned, succeeds a wonderful expression of praise. And how, indeed, could the writer possibly avoid being transported, and carried, as it were, out of himself at the sight of such a wonder? Well might he describe Jehovah, that performed it, as glorious in holiness — In justice, mercy, and truth; fearful in praises — A Being that ought to be praised with the deepest reverence, and most exalted adoration.

(11, 12) Stanza 3 is a short one, entering into no details—simply summing up the entire result in two sentences: one, parallel to Exodus 15:2-3 ; Exodus 15:6-7 , setting forth the glory of God, as shown in the occurrences; the other emphasising the great fact of the occasion, and stating it in the briefest possible terms: “Thou stretchedst out thy right hand; the earth swallowed them.” This second clause is parallel to Exodus 15:4-5 ; Exodus 15:8-10 . It concentrates into four words the gist of those two passages. (11) Who is like unto thee . . . Among the gods ?—This is undoubtedly the true meaning. It had been a main object of the entire series of miraculous visitations to show that Jehovah was “exalted far above all other gods.” (See Exodus 7:5; Exodus 14:4; Exodus 14:18.) Moses now emphasises the contrast by adducing three points on which Jehovah is unapproachable—holiness, awefulness, and miraculous power. God is (1) “glorious in holiness,” exalted in this respect far, far above all other beings; (2) “fearful in praises”—the proper object of the profoundest awe, even to those who approach Him with praise and thanksgiving; and (3) one who “doeth wonders,” who both through nature, and on occasions overruling nature, accomplishes the most astonishing results, causing all men to marvel at His Almighty power. The gods of the heathen were, in fact, either nonentities or evil spirits.

So far as they were the former, they could come into no comparison at all with Jehovah; so far as they were the latter, they fell infinitely short of Him in every respect. Of holiness they possessed no remnant; in awfulness they were immeasurably inferior; in the ability to work wonders they did not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. “Among the gods,” as the Psalmist says, “there is none like unto thee, O Lord; there is none that can do as thou doest” (Psalm 86:8).

Amongst the gods , so called and esteemed; or prince or potentates , as Psalm 29:1 Ezekiel 32:21 . Glorious in holiness, or, righteousness : thy power is great and glorious; but thou dost not abuse it to unrighteous and unworthy purposes, but to holy and honourable designs; to the punishment of wicked tyrants, and to the vindication of thy oppressed and holy people. Fearful in praises; in praise-worthy actions; the act being put for the object, as fear is put for a thing to be feared, as Psalm 14:5 1 Peter 3:14 . Or, to be feared or had in reverence when thou art praised; to be both loved and feared at the same time.

Verses 11, 12 contain the third stanza of the first division of the ode. It is short compared to the other two, containing merely a fresh ascription of praise to God, cast in anew form; and a repetition of the great fact which the poem commemorates - the Egyptian overthrow. We conceive that Miriam's chorus (ver. 21) was again interposed between verses 10 and 11. Verse 11. - Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? It was one great object of the whole series of miraculous visitations whereof Egypt had been the scene, that the true God, Jehovah, should be exalted far above all the gods of the heathen. (See Exodus 7:5 ; Exodus 14:4, 18 .) Moses therefore makes this one of his topics of praise; and at the same time notes three points in which God has no rival - 1. Holiness; 2. Awfulness; and 3. Miraculous power. Compare Psalm 86:8 ; "Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like thy works." Fearful in praises - i.e. , "to be viewed with awe even when we praise Him." Exodus 15:11

Among the gods - Compare Psalm 86:8 ; Deuteronomy 32:16-17 . A Hebrew just leaving the land in which polytheism attained its highest development, with gigantic statues and temples of incomparable grandeur, might well on such an occasion dwell upon this consummation of the long series of triumphs by which the "greatness beyond compare" of Yahweh was once for all established.

11 . No god is comparable to Jehovah, whether among the gods of Egypt or those of any other country. Cf. Exodus 18:11 ; Psalm 71:19 c, Psalm 77:13 , Psalm 86:8 , Psalm 89:6 ; Psalm 89:8 , Psalm 95:3 , Psalm 96:4 , Psalm 97:9 ; Jeremiah 10:6 . glorious ( v. 6) in holiness ] i.e. in loftiness, greatness, unapproachableness,—in a word in all the transcendent attributes which combine to constitute the idea of supreme Godhead ; the ethical ideas which we associate with ‘holiness’ seem hardly to be thought of in passages like this. Cf. 1 Samuel 6:20 ; and Skinner in DB. ii. 396 f.; Davidson, OT. Theol. pp. 145 ff., 155; and below, on Exodus 22:31 . Fearful in praises ] i.e. in praiseworthy attributes; so Psalm 9:14 ; Psalm 78:4 , Isaiah 60:6 ; Isaiah 63:7 . Cf. Psalm 66:5 ‘fearful in operation.’ doing wonders ] The Heb., as Psalm 77:14 (with allusion to the Exodus), Psalm 78:12 (‘In the sight of their fathers he did wonders ’), Isaiah 25:1 . 11–17 . Jehovah, the Incomparable One, thus saved Israel from its foes ( vv. 11–12); and afterwards, in His goodness, led His people whom He had redeemed to their promised home, while the nations of Canaan and surrounding regions looked on, awestruck and powerless to arrest their advance.

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.