Exodus 15:8

15:8 By the blast of your nostrils ¹  the waters were piled up,

the flowing water stood upright like a heap, ² 

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

Exodus 30:33

30:33 Whoever makes perfume like it and whoever puts any of it on someone not a priest ³  will be cut off ⁴  from his people.’”

[15:8]  ¹ sn The phrase “the blast of your nostrils” is a bold anthropomorphic expression for the wind that came in and dried up the water.

[15:8]  ² 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).

[30:33]  ³ tn Heb “a stranger,” meaning someone not ordained a priest.

[30:33]  ⁴ sn The rabbinic interpretation of this is that it is a penalty imposed by heaven, that the life will be cut short and the person could die childless.