Catholic Commentary on Exodus 15

"The LORD is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him." (Exodus 15:2)

The Song of the Sea

Moses and the Israelites sing the great song of deliverance. The LORD is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him. The song celebrates what God has done: the horse and rider thrown into the sea, the enemy drowned, the people redeemed and guided to the holy dwelling. It is the first great hymn of Scripture, the ancestor of the Psalms, of Mary's Magnificat, and of the song of Moses and the Lamb in Revelation 15. Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, takes a tambourine and leads all the women in dancing and singing: sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted; both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.

Then the Israelites move from the sea into the wilderness of Shur. Three days without water. They reach Marah, but the water is bitter. The people grumble against Moses: what are we to drink? Moses cries out to the LORD, who shows him a piece of wood to throw into the water; the water becomes fit to drink. The transition from the Song of the Sea to the grumbling at Marah takes three days. The Catechism notes this as the pattern of Israel's wilderness journey: moments of profound faith and worship followed quickly by complaint (CCC 2090). The human heart is not transformed by a single great deliverance. It requires the daily discipline of trust.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, from the Song of the Sea to grumbling at Marah took three days. The spiritual life is not a single ascending arc from deliverance to mature faith. It is a rhythm of worship and complaint, gratitude and grumbling, song and crisis. Do not be discouraged when Marah follows the sea. Cry out to the LORD who shows you the wood that sweetens the bitter water. He is the same God on both days.

Prayer

Lord God, you are our strength and our song and you have become our salvation. Let us sing when you have delivered us, dance when you have triumphed, and cry out to you when the water is bitter. You know the wood that sweetens every Marah. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

15
The Song at the Sea
(Judges 5:1–31)
1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:
 
“I will sing to the LORD,
for He is highly exalted.
The horse and rider
He has thrown into the sea.
2 The LORD is my strength and my song,
and He has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise Him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
 
3 The LORD is a warrior,
the LORD is His name.
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and army
He has cast into the sea;
the finest of his officers
are drowned in the Red Sea.* 15:4 Or the Sea of Reeds; also in verse 22
5 The depths have covered them;
they sank there like a stone.
 
6 Your right hand, O LORD,
is majestic in power;
Your right hand, O LORD,
has shattered the enemy.
7 You overthrew Your adversaries
by Your great majesty.
You unleashed Your burning wrath;
it consumed them like stubble.
8 At the blast of Your nostrils
the waters piled up;
like a wall the currents stood firm;
the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
 
9 The enemy declared,
‘I will pursue, I will overtake.
I will divide the spoils;
I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword;
my hand will destroy them.’
10 But You blew with Your breath,
and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
in the mighty waters.
 
11 Who among the gods is like You, O LORD?
Who is like You—majestic in holiness,
revered with praises,
performing wonders?
12 You stretched out Your right hand,
and the earth swallowed them up.
13 With loving devotion † 15:13 Forms of the Hebrew chesed are translated here and in most cases throughout the Scriptures as loving devotion; the range of meaning includes love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and mercy, as well as loyalty to a covenant. You will lead
the people You have redeemed;
with Your strength You will guide them
to Your holy dwelling.
 
14 The nations will hear and tremble;
anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.
15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed;
trembling will seize the leaders of Moab;
those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,
16 and terror and dread will fall on them.
By the power of Your arm
they will be as still as a stone
until Your people pass by, O LORD,
until the people You have bought pass by.
 
17 You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of Your inheritance—
the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling,
the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.
 
18 The LORD will reign forever and ever!”
 
19 For when Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.
 
20 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing. 21 And Miriam sang back to them:
 
“Sing to the LORD,
for He is highly exalted;
the horse and rider
He has thrown into the sea.”
The Waters of Marah
 
22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water. 23 And when they came to Marah,‡ 15:23 Marah means bitter. they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.)
 
24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” 25 And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened.
 
There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them, 26 saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
 
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters.

*15:4 15:4 Or the Sea of Reeds; also in verse 22

†15:13 15:13 Forms of the Hebrew chesed are translated here and in most cases throughout the Scriptures as loving devotion; the range of meaning includes love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and mercy, as well as loyalty to a covenant.

‡15:23 15:23 Marah means bitter.

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