Psalms 78:12

“Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, etc.] The Targum is, “before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes of their fathers, he did marvellous things;” but these were dead before this time; the Jews have a fancy, that these were brought to the sea, and placed upon it; and the Lord showed them what he would do for their children, and how he would redeem them; but this is to be understood of the plagues which were brought upon the Egyptians, and which are called wonders, (<021110>Exodus 11:10), and were so to the Egyptians themselves; and these were done by the hands of Moses and Aaron, and in their sight: in the land of Egypt; where the Israelites were in bondage, and…”

“Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers - Things suited to excite wonder and astonishment. Such were all the miracles that he performed, in effecting the deliverance of his people. In the land of Egypt - In delivering them from Pharaoh. In the field of Zoan - The Septuagint renders this ἐν πεδίῳ Τάνεως en pediō Taneōs” in the plain of Tanis.” So the Latin Vulgate. Zoan or Tanis was an ancient city of Lower Egypt, situated on the eastern side of the Tanitie arm of the Nile. The name given to it in the Egyptian language signified “low region.” See the notes at Isaiah 19:11. The Hebrews seem to have been located in this region, and it was in this part of Egypt - that is, in…”

“Field - In the territory. Zoan - An ancient and eminent city of Egypt. Psalms 78:15”

“78:12-16 The focus shifts from Ephraim (78:9-11) to Israel as a whole as the psalmist reflects on God’s power in Egypt (see 81:4-7) and in the wilderness. 78:12 The miracles are the ten plagues against Egypt that God performed during Israel’s captivity (Exod 7–12).”

“Marvellous: Psa 78:42-50, Psa 105:27-38, Psa 135:9; Exod. 7:1-12:51; Deu 4:34, Deu 6:22; Neh 9:10 Zoan: Zoan, the ancient capital of the Pharaohs, where Moses wrought so many miracles, is rendered by the Chaldee, Tanium, LXX Τανις, Vulgate, Tanis, and Coptic, Tane, from the Coptic, ten, plain, flat, level; being situated in the low ground of the Delta, on one of the eastern branches of the Nile, bearing its own name, near a large lake, now called the lake of Menzala, 44 miles west of Pelusium, and 169 miles east of Alexandria, according to the Antonine Itinerary, and three miles from the Mediterranean, according to the Geograph. Nubiens. Clim. 3, par. 3. There are ruins still remaining to…”

“It is now related how wonderfully God led the fathers of these Ephraimites, who behaved themselves so badly as the leading tribe of Israel, in the desert; how they again and again ever indulged sinful murmuring, and still He continued to give proofs of His power and of His loving-kindness. The (according to Num 13:22) very ancient Zoan (Tanis), ancient Egyptian Zane, Coptic G'ane, on the east bank of the Tanitic arm of the Nile, so called therefrom - according to the researches to which the Turin Papyrus No. 112 has led, identical with Avaris (vid., on Isa 19:11) (Note: The identity of Avaris and Tanis is in the meanwhile again become doubtful. Tanis was the Hyksos city, but Pelusium =…”