Exodus 13:18

18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.^[a] The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.

Exodus 13:18 in Other Translations

18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.

18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.

18 So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.

18 So God led the people on the wilderness road, looping around to the Red Sea. The Israelites left Egypt in military formation.

18 but God led the people about, by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea: and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.

18 So God led the people around the other way, on the road through the desert toward the Red Sea. The Israelites were ready for battle when they left Egypt.

18 So He led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation.

18 So God led the people toward the Red Sea by taking them on a road through the desert. The Israelites were prepared for battle when they went up out of Egypt.

Exodus 13:18 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 13:18

But God led the people about
Instead of their going to the west, or northwest, towards Gaza and the Mediterranean sea, the Lord going before them in a pillar of cloud and fire, as after related, directed them to turn off to the right, between the east and south, to the southeast: through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea:
the wilderness of Etham, by the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt
or "girt" ^F13 about the loins under the fifth rib; not with armour, as some ^F14 understand it, for it is not likely that they could, or that Pharaoh would suffer them to be furnished with armour, but their garments were girt about them, and so fit for travelling; or they went up "by fives" ^F15, as it may be rendered, either by five in a rank, or rather in five bodies or squadrons, and so marched out, not in a disorderly and confused way, but in great order and regularity. The latter is much more reasonable to suppose, for five in a rank is too small a number for an army of 600,000 men to march in; since allowing the ranks to be but three feet asunder, and a mile to consist of about two thousand yards, the front and rear of the army would be sixty miles distant from each other ^F16.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (Myvmx) "accincti", Fagninus, Vatablus, Cartwright; so Onkelos, Aben Ezra.
F14 Kimchi & Pen Melech.
F15 "Quintati", Montanus: "quini", Piscater, Rivet.
F16 See the Bishop of Clogher's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible, p. 272.

Exodus 13:18 In-Context

16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.

19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”

20 After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 15:22; Psalms 136:16; Ezekiel 20:10
• 2. Joshua 1:14; Joshua 4:13

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "the Sea of Reeds"