John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 14:2
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn ,.... Not return to Egypt, or to the place, or towards the place from whence they came, but turn off, out of the road in which they were; for, as a late traveller says F1 Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 307. Ed. 2. ,"there were two roads, through which the Israelites might have been conducted from Cairo (which he supposes may be Rameses) to Pihahiroth. One of them lies through the valleys, as they are now called, of Jendily, Rumaleah, and... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 14:1-9
We have here, I. Instructions given to Moses concerning Israel's motions and encampments, which were so very surprising that if Moses had not express orders about them before they would scarcely have been persuaded to follow the pillar of cloud and fire. That therefore there might be no scruple nor dissatisfaction about it, Moses is told before, 1. Whither they must go, Exod. 14:1, 2. They had got to the edge of the wilderness (Exod. 13:20), and a stage or two more would have brought them to... read more