Bible Strands
Exodus 14:23
And the Egyptians chased after them—all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen—and followed them into the sea.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses narrates the immediate aftermath of the Israelites' crossing, describing Pharaoh’s army pursuing them into the parted waters at the moment the sea floor is exposed.
The words — The Hebrew verbs וַ/יִּרְדְּפ֤וּ (yirdəfū) and וַ/יָּבֹ֣אוּ (yāḇōʾū) literally render "they pursued" and "they entered," emphasizing the physical movement of every horse and chariot of Pharaoh after the Israelites.
The thread — This pursuit fulfills the divine declaration in Exodus 14:17 that God would harden the Egyptians to follow, and it sets the stage for the reversal recorded in Exodus 15:19 where the waters return over the same forces.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human military escalation into a divinely parted space operates under sovereign permission, requiring the reader to observe the boundary between pursuit and destruction without moralizing the event.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
Cross-references
- Exodus 14:17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen.
- Exodus 15:19 For when Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.
- Exodus 15:9 The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
- 1 Kings 22:20 And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one suggested this, and another that.
- Ecclesiastes 9:3 This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
- Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.