גאה גאה, victory in war is called גאות on several occasions. For instance, Moses says in Psalms 94,2 השב גמול על גאים, “give the victors their just deserts.” We find the expression בית גרים יסח ה' in Proverbs 15,25 where it means: “G’d will tear down the house of the victors.” [The author quotes a few more such examples, but I have not been able to find proof in this that the verses speak of “victors in war,” rather than arrogant people in whatever vocation. Ed.]

רמה בים, another way of saying השליך, “He flung (into the sea).” Psalms 78,9 speaking of רומי קשת, also uses the root רמה as “throwing, flinging.”

. עזי וזמרת י-ה; the power, the glory and the fame of the Jewish people are only G’d. It was He Who became our ישועה, salvation. The chataf kametz followed by the letter י which is not part of the word is similar to a similar construction in Lamentations 1,1 רבתי בגוים as well as in Psalms 123,1 הישבי בשמים, and in Jeremiah 49,16 שוכני בחגוי סלע. On the other hand, when we encounter the construction עוזי as in Psalms 59,10 uzzi eleycha eshmorah, the meaning of עוזי is: “”My strength.”

וזמרת, the letter ת at the end of this word is similar to the letter ת at the end of the word שכורת instead of שכורה in Isaiah 51,21 or the letter ת at the end of the word שערות inתסמר שערות בשרי in Job 4,15. It is part of a repetition of the beginning of the verse i.e. the words ורוח על פני יחלוף, “a wind passed me by.” This is also how Rav Yoseph translated it. The word וזמרת is spelled defectively just as are the words שכורת and שערות in the verses quoted. [the author means that the letter ו, indicating a sound, is only read for the vowel cholem but not spelled out in the text. Ed.]

זה א-לי, even though G’d remained, of course, invisible to the human eye, it is order to describe the experience witnessed with the word זה, “this,” just as we find the word זה “this,” used by the Torah (describing an utterance by the people about to make the golden calf) in the line כי זה האיש משה, “for this man Moses, etc.” (Exodus 32,1) It is clear that they did not “see” Moses at the time, as the reason for what they were about to do was precisely Moses’ “invisibility,” i.e. he had not returned from the Mountain as promised.

ואנוהו, “I will describe His beauty in poetical terms.” We find something parallel to this in Jeremiah 6,2 הנוה והמעגנה, “the lovely and delicate one.” (a description of בת ציון, the concept of “Daughter of Zion.”) It is not to be compared to Isaiah 27,10 כי עיר בצורה בדד נוה משלח, “for the fortified city lies desolate, a homestead deserted, etc.” The proof lies in the repetition of the prophet’s theme at the end of his verse. [had he introduced a new thought, instead of the repetition of the same thought in different words, we could have erred in understanding his meaning. Ed.]

In our context both the words ארומממנה and אנוהו are clearly expressions of glorifying G’d.

ה' שמו, compare Psalms 9,17 נודע ה' משפט עשה, “He is known as Hashem because of the justice He worked.”

ירה בים, the verb is a variation of זרק or השליך, meaning: “he threw, flung with force.” It is used as such an alternate in Samuel II 11,24.

יכסיומו, we would have expected the vowel cholem on the letter ו at the end of this word, i.e. “covered it” (the Egyptian army). However on account of the vowel kubutz under the letter י in the same word the vowel shuruk was chosen for poetical considerations. We find a similar anomaly in Ezekiel 43,11 מוצאיו ומובואיו, where there appears to be no justification at all for the letter ו after the letter מ in the word ומובאיו. The letter was added to maintain a certain poetical meter. [I am far too ignorant of Hebrew poetry either classical or modern, to offer any opinion on this. I do know, however, that the root בא from a grammatical aspect does not require the additional letter ו. Ed.]

ימינך ה', Your “right” which is glorious with might, was the one that shattered the enemy.

The word ימין actually is of the feminine gender, as are all parts of the body which appear in multiples, and moreover the same word appears in the feminine gender in Psalms 118,16 ימין ה' רוממה. Why then does it appear in the masculine gender here? [the implied question is not answered, but it seems clear that when we describe the “power” of G’d as represented by His hand, we cannot at the same time use a grammatical mode applicable to the “weak” gender. In the verse quoted from Psalms, G’d is not described as active at the time. Ed.]

Our verse has to be compared to such verses as Psalms 93,3 נשאו נהרות ה' נשאו נהרות קולם, “the mighty river raised their voices; the mighty rivers made thundering sound.” Or look at Psalms 94,3 עד מתי רשעים ה' עד מתי רשעים יעלוזו, “how long shall the wicked, O Lord, how long shall the wicked exult?” In these various verses (all poetry, of course) the first sentence has not even been completed before the composer begins with the verse following. However, he mentions the subject of whom he speaks in the first half of the verse.

תהרס קמיך, the word תהרס describes the “removal,” הסרה of something, lowering or moving something sideways from where it used to be. One example of the use of the word in this sense is found in Exodus 19,21 פן יהרסו אל ה', “so that they should not move closer to Hashem, etc.” In that instance, the purpose would have been to draw close in order to see better. Psalms 52,7 also employs the word in this sense.

וברוח אפיך, by means of the east wind which You made blow all night long. (14,21)

נערמו, they moved upwards. We know the word as a “pile” from ערימת חטים, “a high heap of wheat.”

נד, another word describing height. We find it in connection with the waters of the Jordan river backing up when the Israelites crossed (Joshua 3,16).

קפאו, similar to the hardening of cheese described in Job 10,10 as וכגבינה תקפיאני, “You congealed me like cheese.”

אמר אויב, when they saw the sea turn into dry ground

אריק חרבי, I will empty my sheath by drawing forth my sword. This round about description of someone drawing his sword is not unique. We find something similar in connection with bows and arrows. In Psalms 38,3 כי חציך נחתו בי, literally: “for Your arrows have landed on me,” the meaning is, obviously, “Your arrows have struck me.” David, using poetic language, describes that when the bow has been placed flat on a solid surface in preparation for the arrow to be shot after the bow has been tensed sufficiently, it is aimed and shot so that its arrival at the target represents a “landing.” Psalms 18,35 uses similar language to describe the action of a bow and arrow.

צללו כעופרת במים, they sank quickly like lead although the waters were so turbulent [which usually delays the sinking even of objects of heavy specific weight such a lead. Ed.]

מי כמוך בא-לים ה' מי כמוך נאדר בקודש!; this is another example of the poetic repetitions we have been remarking on previously in connection with the line ימינך ה' וגו. The meaning of the verse therefore is: “who among the divine powers which are exalted can compare to You in this respect?”

נורא תהלות, the praises that have been heaped upon You by them are based on the reverence and awe of the people extending them. (compare 14,31 וייראו העם את ה', “the people were in awe and reverence of the Lord”).

נטית ימינך, a reference to when G’d said to Moses: נטה, “extend your hand over the sea and the waters will return, etc.” (14,26).

נהלת בעזך, You are guiding the Israelites now in order to bring them into the Holy Land to give it to them as an ancestral possession. The land of Canaan will then be called נוה קדשך, “residence of Your Holiness.”

יושבי פלשת, אלופי אדום, אילי מואב, all the aforementioned are neighbours of the land of Israel.

עד יעבור, the reason this is repeated is because it refers not only to the crossing of the Sea of Reeds but also to the crossing of the Jordan. This could also be considered as the reason for the repetition of the words עד יעבור.

בגדול זרועך, as if the Torah had written: בזרוע גדלך, “with the arm of Your Greatness.” We encounter a similar formulation in Psalms 65,5 קדוש היכלך where it means the same as היכל קדשך, “the Sanctuary of Your Holiness.”

מקדש, the letter ק in this word has a dagesh, whereas the letter ד is “weak,” i.e. without a dagesh. We encounter similar construction in Exodus 2,3 hatzfino, (the letter צ has the dagesh, whereas the letter פ following it does not) as well as in Judges 16,28 משתי עיני מפלשתים, where the letter ש has the dagesh, whereas the letter ת immediately afterwards does not have a dagesh. The reason is that the dagesh in the letter converts the vowel beneath it into an abbreviated sound after which the consonants ב,פ,ד,כ,ג,ת are never in a “strong” mode.

ימלוך לעולם ועד. will be king forever.

כי בא סוס פרעה, and He tossed them into the sea הלכו בתוך הים ביבשה, after the Israelites had crossed the sea on dry ground

ותקח מרים הנביאה, the author lists a number of verses which appear to commence in the middle and without forming a continuation of what preceded them. Examples given are: Exodus 16,34 commencing with the wordsכאשר ציוה ה' את משה, “as G’d had commanded Moses.” Another example quoted is Jeremiah 37,16-17. כי בא ירמיהו וגו'. [While these examples make the beginning of verse 19 less unique, they still do not explain the reason for this type of syntax. Ed.]

הנביאה, the term נביא or נביאה is accorded to people who either are held in high esteem by their peers for their eloquence or their ability to admonish their peers.

אחות אהרן, seeing that he was her older brother the Torah describes her as Aaron’s sister rather than as Moses’ sister. I have explained this in connection with Genesis 28,9 about אחות נביות as well as in connection with אחות לוטן in Genesis 36,22.

ויסע, a causative construction, hiphil. When the Torah writes, as it does most of the time, vayisa, this is in the intransitive active mode, meaning “he journeyed,” instead of “he made (someone) journey,” as is the case here. Similar constructions involving both the kal mode and the hiphil mode of the verse are: vayagesh את פר החטאת, “he presented, brought near, the bull of the sin offering,” (Leviticus 8.14) as distinct from vayigash, “he approached (himself).” Similarly, a construction such as vayipol is in the intransitive active mode, meaning: “he fell, or he prostrated himself deliberately,” whereas the transitive mode of the same word (root) would be “vayapel,” “he threw down.”

. ויורהו, a word meaning “He instructed, taught,” similar to Deuteronomy 33,10 יורו משפטיך ליעקב, “they (the Levites) will teach Your laws to Yaakov.”

שם שם לו חק ומשפט, there, at Marah, as a result of the complaints and the resolution of the crisis, G’d taught the people that it would pay them to accept G’d’s laws, as failure to do so might result in G’d withdrawing His vital support from them. They were to learn that G’d was not only willing but also able to provide all of their needs. This is why the experience is referred to as a נסיון, a trial. G’d Himself spelled out the lesson after having supplied them with water, “to see if they would listen to His instructions and carry out His ordinances.” (verse 26) He added the assurance that if the people would take the lesson to heart, כל המחלה אשר שמתי במצרים, all the diseases which He had brought upon Egypt, commencing with turning the source of life, the waters of the Nile, into blood, G’d would not afflict the Israelites with. We know from Exodus 23,25 that blessing one’s food and water is equivalent to keeping away disease from people. וברך את לחמך ואת מימיך והסירותי מחלה מקרבך.

(1) ANY OF THE DISEASES THAT I BROUGHT UPON THE EGYPTIANS. That I turned their waters into blood (Ps. 105:29), and they did not have water to drink.

(2) I WILL NOT BRING UPON YOU, FOR I THE LORD AM YOUR HEALER. In that I have "healed" the waters, as this expression is written with respect to Elisha, who "healed" the water. (II Kings 2:21)

(3) ANY OF THE DISEASES. It refers to [those of] water, as it is written (Ex. 23:25), "He will bless your bread and your water. And I will remove sickness from your midst."