What does Exodus 14:6 mean?

When Egypt released a nation of Hebrew slaves (Exodus 1:11–14), it was only because of a terrible plague (Exodus 11:4–6). Prior disasters had not convinced the Egyptian king, the pharaoh, to free the people (Exodus 5:2; 7:12, 14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34). Now that the Israelites have left (Exodus 12:33, 40–41), Pharaoh is having second thoughts (Exodus 14:5). This is nothing unusual—the king has often broken his own word (Exodus 8:15, 31–32; 9:34–35).

The more interesting aspect is that Pharaoh is not merely sending troops. He is bringing them "with him," meaning he is leading the army in this charge. This conflict has become intimately personal to Pharaoh (Exodus 4:22–23; 12:29–32). He is also suffering from God's judgment in the form of irrational stubbornness (Exodus 14:8). After so many rejections and refusals, the Lord had stopped offering mercy to Pharaoh and instead began using him (Exodus 14:4) as an object lesson in divine wrath (Exodus 4:21; 10:1–2).

Chariots were common military and travel vehicles of the time. A chariot usually consisted of one or two horses along with two people. One person served as a driver while the second person served as an archer or spearman. Six hundred chariots likely represented 1,200 soldiers. These were probably an elite group, since it seems a massive portion of the Egyptian military is being brought for this attack (Exodus 14:7).