Bible Strands
Exodus 14:9
The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes Pharaoh’s full military force pursuing the Israelites after the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart. They overtake the camped Israelites by the sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.
The words — וַ/יִּרְדְּפ֨וּ (va/yirdepu) and וַ/יַּשִּׂ֤יגוּ (va/yasi gu) mark sequential military action: “and they pursued” immediately followed by “and they overtook.” חֹנִים (chonim) specifies the Israelites’ precise condition as “encamped” when caught.
The thread — The pursuit and overtaking language reappears in Exodus 15:9 where the enemy vows to overtake and divide spoils, and in Joshua 24:6 which summarizes the same event with chariots and horsemen. The camp location directly fulfills the command in Exodus 14:2 to turn back and encamp by the sea near Pi-hahiroth.
Why it lands — The text records the immediate tactical crisis of a trapped camp, which triggers the Israelites’ terror and cry to the LORD. It establishes the sequence of divine hardening, human pursuit, and human desperation that precedes the forthcoming intervention.
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
But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi–hahiroth, before Baal–zephon.
Cross-references
- 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.’
- Joshua 24:6 When I brought your fathers out of Egypt and you reached the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea.
- Exodus 14:2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal-zephon.