“Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”
My Notes
What Does Exodus 15:1 Mean?
Exodus 15:1 opens the Song of the Sea — the oldest extended poem in the Bible and Israel's first act of corporate worship as a free nation. "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel" — 'az yashir Mosheh. The timing is crucial: then. After the sea closed. After the horses and riders sank. After salvation was complete. They didn't sing during the crisis. They sang after the deliverance.
"I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously" — ga'oh ga'ah, literally "he has been highly exalted" or "he has risen magnificently." The doubling of the verb intensifies it — this isn't mild praise. It's explosive, awed, speechless-then-singing worship. "The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea" — the most powerful military force in the ancient world, Pharaoh's cavalry, dismantled by the God who parts water.
This song becomes the template for all biblical victory hymns. Deborah's song (Judges 5), Hannah's prayer (1 Samuel 2), Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), and the song of the redeemed in Revelation 15:3 ("the song of Moses... and the song of the Lamb") all echo this moment. Israel's first song after freedom is the DNA of every song that follows — the pattern of God's people looking back at what He did and erupting in praise.
Reflection Questions
- 1.When was the last time you stopped after a deliverance and actually praised God — instead of immediately moving on to the next worry?
- 2.What's your 'Red Sea' story — the time God did something impossible that you should celebrate more than you do?
- 3.Why do you think Israel's first act as a free nation was singing? What does that say about worship's role in your life?
- 4.What song would you sing right now if you let yourself fully feel what God has brought you through?
Devotional
They had just walked through a sea on dry ground. The water that should have killed them killed their enemies instead. And what's the first thing they do as free people? They sing.
Not strategize. Not debrief. Not immediately start worrying about what comes next in the desert. They sing. Because when you've seen God do the impossible — when the thing that should have destroyed you becomes the thing that destroys what was chasing you — the only adequate response is a song.
"He hath triumphed gloriously." The Hebrew doubles the verb for emphasis: He has risen, risen. He has triumphed, triumphed. The praise is so big that one word can't hold it. "The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea" — the mightiest army in the world, the machinery that terrorized an entire nation for generations, tossed like toys into the water. By a God who didn't even break a sweat.
When was the last time you sang? Not performed. Not listened. Sang — from the gut, from the place where relief and awe and gratitude all crash together. If you've been delivered from something — and if you're honest, you have — maybe the problem isn't that you don't have a song. Maybe it's that you haven't stopped long enough after the deliverance to sing it. The desert is coming. There will be plenty to worry about later. But right now — then — is for singing.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord,.... Which is the first song recorded in Scripture,…
With the deliverance of Israel is associated the development of the national poetry, which finds its first and perfect…
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song - Poetry has been cultivated in all ages and among all people, from…
Having read how that complete victory of Israel over the Egyptians was obtained, here we are told how it was celebrated;…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture