Exodus 13:17-18

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 13:17-22

Here is, I. The choice God made of their way, Exod. 13:17, 18. He was their guide. Moses gave them direction but as he received it from the Lord. Note, The way of man is not in himself, Jer. 10:23. He may devise his way, and design it; but, after all, it is God that directs his steps, Prov. 16:9. Man proposes, but God disposes, and in his disposal we must acquiesce, and set ourselves to follow providence. There were two ways from Egypt to Canaan. One was a short cut from the north of Egypt to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 13:17

And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go ,.... Gave them leave to depart out of Egypt, and even urged them to be gone in haste upon the death of his firstborn: that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near ; the land of the Philistines was the Pentapolis, or five cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath, which lay between Egypt and Canaan; and their way through it to Canaan, out of Egypt, was the nearest they could... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 13:18

But God led the people about ,.... Instead of their going to the west, or northwest, towards Gaza, &c.; and the Mediterranean sea, the Lord going before them in a pillar of cloud and fire, as after related, directed them to turn off to the right, between the east and south, to the southeast: through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea : the wilderness of Etham, by the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt or "girt" F13 חמשים ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 13:17

God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, etc. - Had the Israelites been obliged to commence their journey to the promised land by a military campaign, there is little room to doubt that they would have been discouraged, have rebelled against Moses and Aaron, and have returned back to Egypt. Their long slavery had so degraded their minds that they were incapable of any great or noble exertions; and it is only on the ground of this mental degradation, the infallible... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 13:18

But God led the people about - Dr. Shaw has shown that there were two roads from Egypt to Canaan, one through the valleys of Jendilly, Rumeleah, and Baideah, bounded on each side by the mountains of the lower Thebais; the other lies higher, having the northern range of the mountains of Mocatee running parallel with it on the right hand, and the desert of the Egyptian Arabia, which lies all the way open to the land of the Philistines, to the left. See his account of these encampments at the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 13:17

Verse 17 17.And it came to pass when Pharaoh. Moses here assigns the reason why God did not immediately lead His people by the more direct way into the land of Canaan, which would have been just as easy to Him, but preferred to bring them round through the desert, by a long and difficult and dangerous journey; viz., lest, if perhaps they had met with enemies to contend against, a ready means of return would have encouraged them to go back into Egypt. We know how great was the supineness and... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 13:18

Verse 18 18.The children of Israel went up harnessed. The word חמשים, (148) chemishim, is derived from “Five,” from whence some have explained it, that they were furnished with five kinds of arms, but this is too absurd. The Hebrews, because they could conjecture nothing better or more probable, almost with one consent would understand it, that they were armed under the fifth rib. But whence were there so many military corselets ready for the Israelites? But I reject so forced and improbable a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 13:1-17

The sanctification of the first-born. This command has its basis in the fact that on the night when God executed his tremendous judgment against Egypt, the first-born of Israel was spared. Because this great mercy had been shown to Israel, the first-born of man and beast were ever afterwards to be reckoned as specially belonging to Jehovah. The first-born of the generation then living was his by direct purchase; all later first-borns were to be his by grateful dedication. It was required,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 13:17

Although that was near . Rather "because it was near" ( ὅτι ἐγγὺς ἧν , LXX .)— i.e. ; " God did not, because it was near, lead them this way, but a longer one." Lest peradveature the people repeat when they see war . The Philistines were a powerful and warlike race half a century after this, in the time of Joshua, and were masters of the five important cities of Gaze, Ascalon, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron, which seem to have formed a confederacy ( Joshua 13:3 ). It would appear... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 13:17-20

Moses, at this point of his narrative, being about to trace the onward march of the Israelites from Succoth to Etham, in the direction of the Red Sea, anticipated, it would seem, an objection on the part of his reader, who would naturally ask, Why was not the direct route eastward taken and Canaan entered on the south-west after some half-dozen marches? In Exodus 13:17 , Exodus 13:18 , he gives the reply— 1 . God led them, they did not determine their own route; and 2. God... read more

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