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.

Job 26:12

26:12 By his power he stills ³  the sea;

by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster ⁴  to pieces. ⁵ 

Psalms 74:13

74:13 You destroyed ⁶  the sea by your strength;

you shattered the heads of the sea monster ⁷  in the water.

Psalms 78:13

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

he made the water stand in a heap.

Psalms 106:9

106:9 He shouted at ⁸  the Red Sea and it dried up;

he led them through the deep water as if it were a desert.

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?

Isaiah 51:15

51:15 I am the Lord your God,

who churns up the sea so that its waves surge.

The Lord who commands armies is his name!

Isaiah 63:12

63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, ¹³ 

who divided the water before them,

gaining for himself a lasting reputation, ¹⁴ 

[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.

[26:12]  ³ tn The verb רָגַע (raga’) has developed a Semitic polarity, i.e., having totally opposite meanings. It can mean “to disturb; to stir up” or “to calm; to still.” Gordis thinks both meanings have been invoked here. But it seems more likely that “calm” fits the context better.

[26:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “Rahab” (רָהַב), the mythical sea monster that represents the forces of chaos in ancient Near Eastern literature. In the translation the words “the great sea monster” have been supplied appositionally in order to clarify “Rahab.”

[26:12]  ⁵ sn Here again there are possible mythological allusions or polemics. The god Yam, “Sea,” was important in Ugaritic as a god of chaos. And Rahab is another name for the monster of the deep (see Job 9:13).

[74:13]  ⁶ tn The derivation and meaning of the Polel verb form פּוֹרַרְתָּ (porarta) are uncertain. The form may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “break, shatter,” though the biblical Hebrew cognate of this verb always appears in the Hiphil or Hophal stem. BDB 830 s.v. II פָּרַר suggests a homonym here, meaning “to split; to divide.” A Hitpolel form of a root פָּרַר (parar) appears in Isa 24:19 with the meaning “to shake violently.”

[74:13]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text has the plural form, “sea monsters” (cf. NRSV “dragons”), but it is likely that an original enclitic mem has been misunderstood as a plural ending. The imagery of the mythological sea monster is utilized here. See the note on “Leviathan” in v. 14.

[106:9]  ⁸ tn Or “rebuked.”

[114:3]  ⁹ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).

[114:3]  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.

[114:3]  ¹¹ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh 3:13, 16).

[114:4]  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).

[63:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”

[63:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”