15:4 The chariots of Pharaoh 1 and his army he has thrown into the sea,
and his chosen 2 officers were drowned 3 in the Red Sea.
15:5 The depths have covered them, 4
they went down to the bottom 5 like a stone.
15:10 But 6 you blew with your breath, and 7 the sea covered them.
They sank 8 like lead in the mighty waters.
15:11 Who is like you, 9 O Lord, among the gods? 10
Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, 11 working wonders?
1 tn Gesenius notes that the sign of the accusative, often omitted in poetry, is not found in this entire song (GKC 363 §117.b).
2 tn The word is a substantive, “choice, selection”; it is here used in the construct state to convey an attribute before a partitive genitive – “the choice of his officers” means his “choice officers” (see GKC 417 §128.r).
3 tn The form is a Qal passive rather than a Pual, for there is not Piel form or meaning.
4 tn The verb form is יְכַסְיֻמוּ (yÿkhasyumu) is the Piel preterite. Normally a vav (ו) consecutive is used with the preterite, but in some ancient poems the form without the vav appears, as is the case frequently in this poem. That such an archaic form is used should come as no surprise, because the word also uses the yod (י) of the root (GKC 214 §75.dd), and the archaic suffix form (GKC 258 §91.l). These all indicate the antiquity of the poem.
5 tn The parasynonyms here are תְּהֹמֹת (tÿhomot, “deep, ocean depths, deep waters”) and מְצוֹלֹת (mÿtsolot, “the depths”); S. R. Driver says properly the “gurgling places” (Exodus, 134).
6 tn “But” has been supplied here.
7 tn Here “and” has been supplied.
8 tn The verb may have the idea of sinking with a gurgling sound, like water going into a whirlpool (R. A. Cole, Exodus [TOTC], 124; S. R. Driver, Exodus, 136). See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, “The Song of Miriam,” JNES 14 (1955): 243-47.
9 tn The question is of course rhetorical; it is a way of affirming that no one is comparable to God. See C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament, 22, 66-67, and 94-97.
10 sn Verses 11-17 will now focus on Yahweh as the incomparable one who was able to save Israel from their foes and afterward lead them to the promised land.
11 tn S. R. Driver suggests “praiseworthy acts” as the translation (Exodus, 137).