Exodus 14:5-9

And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?

And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled. Since the intelligence must have been sent to him from Etham, which would occupy two days, and the muster, as well as the transit of his army, would require one or two more, it might be a week before he reached them. This seems to be a natural conclusion: for at Etham, 'which was on the edge of the wilderness,' the king's spies, who doubtless were employed to watch the movements of the Israelites, would expect them to engage in their intended solemnity. But observing that, instead of halting to make preparations for the sacred rites, they took this road, a suspicion that their secret purpose was flight was now confirmed. Sicard thinks that an expression so remarkable as this, "that the people fled," can be fairly interpreted only on the supposition that Moses had previously had a definite route prescribed to him by the king.

The heart of Pharaoh ... Alas! how soon the obduracy of this reprobate king re-appears. He had been convinced, but not converted-overawed, but not sanctified by the appalling judgments of heaven. He bitterly repented of what he now thought a hasty concession. Pride and revenge, the honour of his kingdom, and the interests of his subjects, all prompted him to recall his permission, to reclaim those runaway slaves, and force them to their accustomed labour. Strange that he should yet allow such considerations to obliterate or outweigh all his painful experience of the danger of oppressing that people. But those whom the Lord has doomed to destruction are first infatuated by sin. Verse 6. And he made ready his chariot, х waye'cor (H631); Septuagint, ezeuxe-and he bound, yoked the horses to the chariot (Genesis 46:29; 1 Kings 18:44); chariot х rekeb (H7393)], singular, used collectively. His preparations for an immediate and hot pursuit are here described: a difference is made between the "chosen," specially young warriors, as the word is used (Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 31:8; Jeremiah 18:21; Jeremiah 49:26; Jeremiah 51:3; Amos 4:10). So that these "chosen" chariots contained the flower and chivalry of Egypt.

Verse 7. Captains over every one of them, х shaalishiym (H7991), third men; Septuagint, tristatas] - literally, 'and (three) warriors upon each of them.' The principal military force of ancient Egypt consisted in war-chariots. Three men were generally assigned to each chariot, one for driving, and two for fighting. 'Each car contained two persons, like the difros of the Greeks. On some occasions it carried three, the charioteer or driver and two chiefs' (Wilkinson's 'Ancient Egypt.'). On this occasion-the pursuit of Israel-war-chariots were employed, as infantry would have been totally unsuitable for an expedition that required a rapid gallop across the desert. Since the frontier line on the east was constantly exposed to the attacks of Asiatic invaders, provision was made by the erection of fortified towns or military stations on the border for the permanent maintenance of a considerable number of chariots for the protection of the country. Besides, it is distinctly asserted by Herodotus (b. 2:, ch. 158) that the greater proportion of the military force was stationed in the Delta not far from Memphis, and that the whole standing army consisted of 410,000-namely, 250,000 Calasayries and 150,000 Hermotybes.

It could not, then, be difficult quickly to assemble a large force; indeed, that historian gives several instances of the hasty muster of a numerous army upon an emergency. So that, wherever Rameses was situated-whether at Heroopolis, according to the theory of Robinson, or at Basatin, as Niebuhr, Burckhardt, and others place it, it seems more than probable that a detachment of the Egyptian army must have been concentrated near the camp of the Israelites, in order to watch the movements near the capital.

It everywhere appears from the monuments that the Pharaohs headed their armies in person. The 600 chosen chariots, we have said, were most probably the royal guard, which, according to Herodotus (b. 2:, ch. 168) consisted of 2,000 men, selected by turns every year from the entire army. But they did not comprise the whole force which Pharaoh raised for pursuit of the Israelites. He likewise took "all the chariots of Egypt" -

i.e., as many as could in the urgency of the time be mustered.

Josephus says that, along with the 600 chariots, Pharaoh had 50,000 horsemen and 200,000 footmen; and a classical historian (Diodorus Siculus, b. 1:, ch. 54) represents the great Sesostris as bringing to the field 600,000 footmen, 24,000 horsemen, and 27,000 war-chariots. Compared with such evident exaggerations, the moderate number-in harmony with the suddenness of the muster-affords a minute, but strong attestation to the historical truthfulness of this narrative. As to "the chariots of Egypt," the common cars contained only two persons-one for driving and the other for fighting. Sometimes only one person was in the chariot, the driver lashing the reins round his body and fighting. As to the war-chariots employed, these were of light construction, open behind, and hung on small wheels.

Verse 9. And his horsemen х uwpaaraashaayw (H6571)]. This is a different word from that used, Exodus 14:7. Hengstenberg ('Egypt and Books of Moses,' p. 126), after Champollion, on the alleged evidence of the monuments, maintains that "horsemen," in the sense of cavalry, were not in use among the Egyptians; and also from the general testimony of historians, that although horses were employed in war at a very early period, it was not until long after the time of the Exodus that it became customary to fight on horseback, the horses of the Egyptians being, like those described in Homeric battles, attached to cars or chariots, mounted by one or more warriors. But Wilkinson ('Ancient Egypt,' vol. i p. 292) has shown that mention is made of the Egyptian horses in sacred (2 Chronicles 12:3; Isaiah 36:9) as well as profane history (Diodorus Siculus, b. 1:, ch. 54); nor are the hieroglyphics silent upon the subject; because we learn from them that the command of the cavalry was a very honourable and important post-generally held by the king himself, or by the most distinguished of the king's sons. (See also Havernick's 'Introduction to the Pentateuch,' p. 256).