Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua addresses the assembled tribes of Israel at Shechem, recounting Yahweh’s past acts to demand a covenant choice. He speaks as Yahweh’s representative, recalling the Exodus event while the people stand before him to hear their history.
The words — The verb וָֽ/אוֹצִ֤יא (va./'o.Tzi') literally means "and I brought out," highlighting divine agency in the Exodus. The phrase וַ/יִּרְדְּפּוּ (va/i.yir.de.Fu) translates to "and they pursued," describing the Egyptian chariots and horsemen chasing the Israelites to the sea.
The thread — This Exodus confrontation echoes in Acts 7:36, which cites God’s wonders at the Red Sea, and Hebrews 11:29, which notes the Egyptians drowned when they followed. The same event is anchored in Exodus 12:37, which records the Israelites departing Rameses with six hundred thousand men.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that Yahweh initiated deliverance while Egypt actively opposed it, leaving the audience to account for their response to His past faithfulness. It requires the reader to weigh the historical reality of divine intervention against human rebellion without softening the confrontation.
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 I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.
Cross-references
- Acts 7:36 He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
- Hebrews 11:29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
- Exodus 12:37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth with about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children.
- Exodus 12:51 And on that very day the LORD brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.
- Exodus 14:1 Then the LORD said to Moses,
- Nehemiah 9:11 You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.
- Psalms 77:15 With power You redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
- Psalms 78:13 He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
- Psalms 136:13 He divided the Red Sea in two His loving devotion endures forever.
- Isaiah 63:12 who sent His glorious arm to lead them by the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to gain for Himself everlasting renown,