Exodus 14:21-22

14:21 Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Lord drove the sea apart ¹  by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided. 14:22 So the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the water forming a wall ²  for them on their right and on their left.

Exodus 14:27-28

14:27 So Moses extended his hand toward the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state ³  when the sun began to rise. ⁴  Now the Egyptians were fleeing ⁵  before it, but the Lord overthrew ⁶  the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. 14:28 The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that was coming after the Israelites into the sea ⁷  – not so much as one of them survived! ⁸ 

Psalms 66:6

66:6 He turned the sea into dry land; ⁹ 

they passed through the river on foot. ¹⁰ 

Let us rejoice in him there! ¹¹ 

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; ¹² 

the Jordan River ¹³  turned back. ¹⁴ 

114:4 The mountains skipped like rams,

the hills like lambs. ¹⁵ 

114:5 Why do you flee, O sea?

Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?

Psalms 136:13-15

136:13 to the one who divided ¹⁶  the Red Sea ¹⁷  in two, ¹⁸ 

for his loyal love endures,

136:14 and led Israel through its midst,

for his loyal love endures,

136:15 and tossed ¹⁹  Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,

for his loyal love endures,

Isaiah 63:11-13

63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. ²⁰ 

Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,

along with the shepherd of ²¹  his flock?

Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, ²² 

63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, ²³ 

who divided the water before them,

gaining for himself a lasting reputation, ²⁴ 

63:13 who led them through the deep water?

Like a horse running on flat land ²⁵  they did not stumble.

[14:21]  ¹ tn Or “drove the sea back” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV). The verb is simply the Hiphil of הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk, go”). The context requires that it be interpreted along the lines of “go back, go apart.”

[14:22]  ² tn The clause literally reads, “and the waters [were] for them a wall.” The word order in Hebrew is disjunctive, with the vav (ו) on the noun introducing a circumstantial clause.

[14:27]  ³ tn The Hebrew term לְאֵיתָנוֹ (lÿ’etano) means “to its place,” or better, “to its perennial state.” The point is that the sea here had a normal level, and now when the Egyptians were in the sea on the dry ground the water would return to that level.

[14:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “at the turning of the morning”; NASB, NIV, TEV, CEV “at daybreak.”

[14:27]  ⁵ tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav (ו) on the noun, signaling either a circumstantial clause or a new beginning. It could be rendered, “Although the Egyptians…Yahweh…” or “as the Egyptians….”

[14:27]  ⁶ tn The verb means “shake out” or “shaking off.” It has the significance of “throw downward.” See Neh 5:13 or Job 38:13.

[14:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “that was coming after them into the sea.” The referent of “them” (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “not was left among them as much as one.”

[66:6]  ⁹ sn He turned the sea into dry land. The psalmist alludes to Israel’s crossing the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).

[66:6]  ¹⁰ tn Because of the reference to “the river,” some understand this as an allusion to Israel’s crossing the Jordan River. However, the Hebrew term נָהָר (nahad) does not always refer to a “river” in the technical sense; it can be used of sea currents (see Jonah 2:4). So this line may also refer to the Red Sea crossing (cf. NEB).

[66:6]  ¹¹ tn The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here, as often in poetic texts, to point “to a spot in which a scene is localized vividly in the imagination” (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[114:3]  ¹² sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).

[114:3]  ¹³ 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.

[114:3]  ¹⁴ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh 3:13, 16).

[114:4]  ¹⁵ 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).

[136:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “cut.”

[136:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Reed Sea” (also in v. 15). “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See the note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.

[136:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “into pieces.”

[136:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “shook off.”

[63:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.

[63:11]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.

[63:11]  ²² sn See the note at v. 10.

[63:12]  ²³ tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”

[63:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”

[63:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in the desert [or “steppe”].”