2. Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and
encamp--The Israelites had now completed their three days' journey,
and at Etham the decisive step would have to be taken whether they
would celebrate their intended feast and return, or march onwards by
the head of the Red Sea into the desert, with a view to a final
departure. They were already on the borders of the desert, and a short
march would have placed them beyond the reach of pursuit, as the
chariots of Egypt could have made little progress over dry and yielding
sand. But at Etham, instead of pursuing their journey eastward with the
sea on their right, they were suddenly commanded to diverge to the
south, keeping the gulf on their left; a route which not only detained
them lingering on the confines of Egypt, but, in adopting it, they
actually turned their backs on the land of which they had set out to
obtain the possession. A movement so unexpected, and of which the
ultimate design was carefully concealed, could not but excite the
astonishment of all, even of Moses himself, although, from his implicit
faith in the wisdom and power of his heavenly Guide, he obeyed. The
object was to entice Pharaoh to pursue, in order that the moral effect,
which the judgments on Egypt had produced in releasing God's people
from bondage, might be still further extended over the nations by the
awful events transacted at the Red Sea.
Pi-hahiroth--the mouth of the defile, or pass--a description
well suited to that of Bedea, which extended from the Nile and opens on
the shore of the Red Sea.
Migdol--a fortress or citadel.
Baal-zephon--some marked site on the opposite or eastern
coast.
JFB.
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