to God against them, since they had already been permitted to go out. And they thought they should easily overcome them, as they had no armour, and would be weary with their journey. So they made haste in their pursuit, and enquired of every one they met, which way they were gone? And indeed that land was difficult to be travelled over, not only by armies, but single persons. Now Moses led the Hebrews this way, that in case the Egyptians should repent, and be desirous to pursue after them, they might undergo the punishment of their wickedness, and of the breach of those promises they had made to them: he also chose this route on account of the Philistines, who had quarrelled with them, and hated them of old; that by all means they might not know of their departure, for their country is near that of Egypt: and thence it was that Moses led them not along the road that tended to the land of the Philistines, but he was desirous that they should go through the desert; and so, after a long journey, and after many afflictions, they might enter upon the land of Canaan. Another reason was, that God had commanded him to bring the people to mount Sinai; that there they might offer him sacrifices.

Now, when the Egyptians had overtaken the Hebrews, they prepared to fight them, and by their multitude they drove them into a narrow place: for the number that pursued after them was six hundred chariots, with fifty thousand horsemen, and two hundred thousand footmen, all armed. They also seized on the passages, by which they imagined the Hebrews might fly, shutting them* up between inaccessible mountains and the

* Take the main part of Reland's excellent note here, which greatly illustrates Josephus and the Scriptures in this history, with the small map thereunto belonging, as follows: A traveller," says Reland, "whose name was Eneman, when he returned out of Egypt, told me, that he went the same way from Egypt to mount Sinai, which he supposed the Israelites of old travelled, and that he found several mountainous tracts that ran down towards the Red Sea, as he delineated them to me. See A, B, C. He thought the Israelites had proceeded as far as the desert of Etham, (see Exod. xiii. 20.) when they were commanded by God to return back, (see Exod. xiv. 2.) and to pitch their camp between Migdol and the sea; and that when they were not able to fly, unless by sea, they were in the place here denoted by the letter B, where they were shut in on each side by mountains, and that on the part where stands D was the army of Pharaoh. He also thought we

sea, for there was on each side a ridge of mountains that terminated at the sea, which was impassable by reason of their roughness, and obstructed their flight; wherefore they there pressed upon the Hebrews, with their army, where the ridges of the mountains were close with the sea, which army they placed at the defiles of the mountains, that so they might deprive them of any passage into the plain.

When the Hebrews, therefore, were neither able to bear up, being thus, as it were, besieged, because they wanted provisions, nor saw any possible way of escaping; and if they should have thought of fighting, they had no weapons; they expected an universal destruction, unless they delivered themselves up voluntarily to the Egyptians: so they laid the blame on Moses, and † forgot all the signs that had been wrought by God for the recovery of their freedom, and this so far, that their incredulity prompted them to throw stones at the prophet, while he encouraged them, and promised them deliverance, and they resolved that they would deliver themselves up to the Egyptians; so there was sorrow and lamentation among the women and children, who had nothing but destruction before their eyes, while they were encompassed with mountains, the sea, and the enemies, and discerned no way of flying from them.

But Moses, though the multitude looked fiercely at him, did not relinquish the care of them, but despised all dangers, out of his trust in God, who, as he had afforded them the several steps already taken for the recovery of their liberty, which he had foretold, might evidently learn hence how it might be said that the Israelites were in Etham before they crossed the sea, and yet might be said to have come into Etham, after they had passed over the sea. Besides, he gave me an account how he passed over the river in a boat near the city Suez, which he said must needs be the Heroopolis of the ancients, since that city could not be situated any where else in that neighbourhood."

As to the famous passage produced here by Dr. Bernard, out of Herodotus, as the most ancient heathen testimony of the Israelites coming from the Red Sea into Palestine, Bishop Cumberland has shewn that it belongs to the old Canaanite, or Phoenician shepherds, and their retiring out of Egypt into Canaan, or Phoenicia, long before the days of Moses.

† Exod. xiv. 11...

he would not now suffer them to be subdued || by their enemies; to be either made slaves, or be slain by them; and standing in the midst of them, he said, "It is not just for us to distrust even men, when they have hitherto well managed our affairs, as if they would not be the same men hereafter; but it is no better than madness, at this time, to despair of the providence of God, by whose power all has been performed which he promised, when you expected no such things: I mean all that I have been concerned in for your deliverance, and escape from slavery. Nay, when we are in the utmost distress, as you see we now are, we ought the rather to hope that God will succour us, by whose operation it is, that we are now encompassed within that narrow place, that he may deliver us out of such difficulties as are otherwise insurmountable, and out of which neither you nor your enemies expect you can be delivered, and may at once demonstrate his own power, and his providence over us; nor does God use to give his help in small difficulties to those whom he favours, but in such cases where no one can see how any hope in man can better their condition. Depend, therefore, upon such a Protector as is able to make small things great, and to shew that this mighty force against you is nothing but weakness; and be not affrighted at the Egyptian army; nor do you despair of being preserved, because the sea before, and the mountains behind, afford you no opportunity of flying; for even these mountains, if God so please, may be made plain ground for you, and the sea become dry land."*

CHAP. XVI.

OF THE MIRACULOUS DIVISION OF THE SEA FOR THE HEBREWS, WHEN THEY WERE PURSUED BY THE EGYPTIANS; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF THEIR ENEMIES.

W

HEN Moses had said this, he led them to the sea,† while the Egyptians look

* This speech is very short in our copies. Exod. xiv. 13, 14.

†The Red Sea, called by the ancients Sinus Arabicus, and now Gulfo de Mecca, is that part or branch of the southern sea which interposes itself between Egypt on the west; Arabia-Felix, and some parts of Petræa, on the east: while the northern bounds of it touch upon Idumea, or the coast of Edom. Edom, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies Red, and was the nickname given Esau for selling his

ed on, for they were within sight. Now these were so distressed by the toil of their pursuit, that they thought proper to put off fighting till the next day; but when Moses was come to the sea-shore, he took his rod, and made the supplications to God, and called upon him to be their helper and assistant: and said, "Thou art not ignorant, O Lord, that it is beyond human strength, and human contrivance, to avoid the difficulties we are now under; but it must be thy work altogether to procure deliverance to this army, which has left Egypt at thy appointment. We despair of any other assistance or contrivance, and have recourse only to that hope we have in thee: and if there be any method that can promise us an escape by thy providence, we look up to thee for it; and let it come quickly, and manifest thy power to us, and do thou raise up this people unto good courage, and hope of deliverance, who are deeply sunk into a disconsolate state of mind. We are in a helpless place; but still it is a place that thou possessest, for the sea is thine, and the mountains that enclose us are thine: so that these mountains will open themselves if thou commandest them; and the sea also, if thou commandest it, will become dry land: nay, we might escape by a flight through the air, if thou shouldest determine we should have that way of salvation."

When Moses had thus addressed himself to God, he smote with his rod upon the sea, which parted asunder at the stroke, and, receiving those waters into itself, left the ground dry as a road,‡ and a place of flight for the Hebrews. Now when Moses saw this appearance of God, and that the sea went out of its own place, and left dry land, he went first of all into it, and bid the Hebrews follow him along that divine road, and to rejoice at the danger their enemies, that followed them, were in; and gave thanks to God for this surprising deliverance which appeared from

him.

birth-right for a mess of pottage. The country which his posterity possessed was called after his name, and so was the sea which adjoined to it; but the Greeks, not understanding the reason of the appellation, translated it into their tongue, and called it εgudga Sahasra, thence the Latin, Mare Rubrum, and we, the Red Sea. The Hebrews call it the Sea of Suph, or Flags, by reason of the great abundance of that kind of weed, which grows at the bottom of it; and the Arabs at this day name it Bubr el

Now

Now while the Hebrews made no stay, but went on earnestly, as led by God's presence, the Egyptians supposed, at first, that they were distracted, and were going rashly upon manifest destruction; but when they saw that they were gone a great way without any harm, and that no obstacle or difficulty fell in their journey, they made haste to pursue them; and, hoping that the sea would be calm for them also, they put their cavalry foremost, and went down into the sea. the Hebrews, while these were putting on their armour, were before-hand with them, and got first over to the land on the other side, without any hurt, whence the others were encouraged, and more courageously pursued pursued them, as hoping no harm would come to them neither: but the Egyptians were not aware that they went into a road made for the Hebrews, and not for others; that this road was made for the deliverance of those in danger, but not for those that were earnest to make use of it for the other's destruction. As soon, therefore, as the whole Egyptian army was within it, the sea flowed to its own place, and Chaisem, i. e. the sea of Clysona, from a town situate on its western coast, much about that place where the Israelites passed over from the Egyptian to the Arabian shore. But as the word Clysona may denote a drowning or overflowing with water, it is not improbable that the town built in this place, as well as this part of the sea, might have such a name given it, in memory of the fate of the Egyptians, who were drowned herein. Well's Geography of the Old Testament, vol. ii. B.

Exod. xiv. 29. "The waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left." Diodorus Siculus relates that the Ichthyophagi, who lived near the Red Sea, had a tradition handed down to them through a long line of ancestors, that the whole bay was once laid bare to the very bottom, the waters retiring to the opposite shore, and that they afterwards returned to their accustomed channel with a most tremendous revulsion. (Bib. Hist. lib. iii. p. 174.) Even to this day the inhabitants of the neighbourhood of Corondel preserve the remembrance of a mighty army having been once drowned in the bay, which Ptolomy calls Clysma. (Shaw's Travels, p. 349.) The very country where the event is said to have happened, in some degree bears testimony to the accuracy of the Mosaical narrative. The scriptural Etham is still called Etti; the wilderness of Shur, the Mountain of Sinai, and the country of Paran, are still known by the same names. (Niebuhr's Travels, vol. i. p. 189, 191.) Marah's Elath, and Midian, are still familiar to the ears of the Arabs. The grove of Elim yet remains, and its twelve fountains have neither increased nor diminished in number since the days of Moses. B.

Exod. xiv. 21.

* These storms of wind, thunder, and lightning, at this drowning of Pharaoh's army, are almost wanting in our

came down with a torrent raised by storms of wind,* and encompassed the Egyptians. Showers of rain also came down from the sky, and dreadful thunder and lightning, with flashes of fire. Thunderbolts also were darted upon them: nor was there any thing which God sends upon men as indications of his wrath, which did not happen at this time; for a dark and dismal night oppressed them, and thus did all these men perish, so that there was not one man left to be a messenger of this calamity to the rest of the Egyptians.†

The Hebrews were not able to contain themselves for joy at their wonderful deliverance, and destruction of their enemies: now indeed, supposing themselves firmly delivered, when those that would have forced them into slavery were destroyed, and when they found they had God so evidently for their protector: and how having escaped the danger they were in, after this manner, and seeing their enemies punished in such a way as is never recorded of any other men, they were all the night employed in singing of hymns, and in mirth. Moses also composed

copies of Exodus, but fully extant in that of David, Ps. lxxvii. 16, 17, 18.

† Exod. xiv. 28.

What some have here objected against this passage of the Israelites over the Red Sea, in this one night, from the common maps, viz. that this sea being here about thirty miles broad, so great an army could not pass over it in so short a time, is a great mistake. Mons. Thevenot, an eye witness, informs us, that this sea, for about five days' journey, is no where more than eight or nine miles across; and in one place but four or five miles, according to De Lisle's map, which is made from the best authorities.

What has been farther objected against this passage of the Israelites, and drowning of the Egyptians, being miraculous also, viz. That Moses might carry the Israelites over at a low tide, without any miracle; while yet the Egyptians, not knowing the tide so well as he, might be drowned upon the return of the tide, is truly absurd. Yet does Artapanus, an ancient heathen historian, inform us, that this was what the more ignorant Memphites, who lived at a great distance, pretended, though he confesses, that the more learned Heliopolitans, who lived much nearer, owned the destruction of the Egyptians, and the deliverance of the Israelites to have been miraculous. And De Castro, a mathematician, who surveyed this sea with great exactness, informs us, that there is no great flux or reflux in this part of the Red Sea, to give a colour to the hypothesis; nay, that the elevation of the tide there is little above half the height of a man. So vain and groundless are these and the like evasions and subterfuges of our modern sceptics and unbelievers! and so certainly do thorough enquiries, and authentic evidence, disprove and confute such evasions and subterfuges upon all occasions!.