Joshua 3:16

3:16 the water coming downstream toward them stopped flowing. ¹  It piled up far upstream ²  at Adam (the city near Zarethan); there was no water at all flowing to the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea). ³  The people crossed the river opposite Jericho. ⁴ 

Exodus 15:8

15:8 By the blast of your nostrils ⁵  the waters were piled up,

the flowing water stood upright like a heap, ⁶ 

and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.

Psalms 33:7

33:7 He piles up the water of the sea; ⁷ 

he puts the oceans ⁸  in storehouses.

Psalms 78:13

78:13 He divided the sea and led them across it;

he made the water stand in a heap.

Psalms 114:3-5

114:3 The sea looked and fled; ⁹ 

the Jordan River ¹⁰  turned back. ¹¹ 

114:4 The mountains skipped like rams,

the hills like lambs. ¹² 

114:5 Why do you flee, O sea?

Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?

Habakkuk 3:15

3:15 But you trample on the sea with your horses,

on the surging, raging waters. ¹³ 

¹ tn Heb “the waters descending from above stood still.”

² tn Heb “they stood in one pile very far away.”

³ tn Heb “the [waters] descending toward the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) were completely cut off.”

⁴ map For the location of Jericho see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.

⁵ sn The phrase “the blast of your nostrils” is a bold anthropomorphic expression for the wind that came in and dried up the water.

⁶ tn The word “heap” describes the walls of water. The waters, which are naturally fluid, stood up as though they were a heap, a mound of earth. Likewise, the flowing waters deep in the ocean solidified – as though they were turned to ice (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 175).

⁷ tn Heb “[he] gathers like a pile the waters of the sea.” Some prefer to emend נֵד (ged, “heap, pile”; cf. NASB) to נֹד (nod, “bottle”; cf. NRSV; NIV “into jars”), but “pile” is used elsewhere to describe water that the Lord confines to one place (Exod 15:8; Josh 3:13, 16; Ps 78:13). This verse appears to refer to Gen 1:9, where God decrees that the watery deep be gathered to one place so that dry land might appear. If so, the participles in this and the following line depict this action with special vividness, as if the reader were present on the occasion. Another option is that the participles picture the confinement of the sea to one place as an ongoing divine activity.

⁸ tn Or “watery depths.” The form תְּהוֹמוֹת (tÿhomot, “watery depths”) is the plural form of תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “great deep”; see Gen 1:2).

⁹ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).

¹⁰ tn Heb “the Jordan” (also in v. 5). The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh 3:13, 16).

¹² sn The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. This may recall the theophany at Sinai when the mountain shook before God’s presence (Exod 19:18).

¹³ tn Heb “the foaming of the mighty [or “many”] waters.”