Exodus 14:21

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Moses	מֹשֶׁ֣ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
out	וַיֵּ֨ט vai.Yet	H5186	to stretch or spread out · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
hand	יָדוֹ֮ ya.Do	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
sea	הַיָּם֒ hai.Yam	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
LORD	יְהוָ֣ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
sea	הַ֠יָּם Hai.yom	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
go	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
strong	עַזָּה֙ 'a.Zah	H5794	strong · adjective, feminine singular absolute
east	קָדִ֤ים ka.Dim	H6921	the fore or front part · noun, common masculine singular absolute
wind	בְּר֨וּחַ be.Ru.ach	H7307	wind · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
night	הַלַּ֔יְלָה ha.Lay.lah	H3915	properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
made	וַיָּ֥שֶׂם vai.Ya.sem	H7760	to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sea	הַיָּ֖ם hai.Yam	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
dry	לֶחָרָבָ֑ה le.cha.ra.Vah	H2724	a desert · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
waters	הַמָּֽיִם ha.Ma.yim	H4325	water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
divided	וַיִּבָּקְע֖וּ vai.yi.ba.ke.'U	H1234	to cleave · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Isaiah 63:12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
Exodus 15:8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in…
Psalms 66:6 He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him.
Nehemiah 9:11 And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwe…
Joshua 4:23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, whi…
Psalms 74:13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
Psalms 78:13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.
Isaiah 51:10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 14:21–end

We have here the history of that work of wonder which is so often mentioned both in the Old and New Testament, the dividing of the Red Sea before the children of Israel. It was the terror of the Canaanites (Jos 2:9, Jos 2:10), the praise and triumph of the Israelites, Psa 114:3; Psa 106:9; Psa 136:13, Psa 136:14. It was a type of baptism, Co1 10:1, Co1 10:2. Israel's passage through it was typical of the conversion of souls (Isa 11:15), and the Egyptians' perdition in it was typical of the final ruin of all impenitent sinners, Rev 20:14. Here we have, I. An instance of God's almighty power in the kingdom of nature, in dividing the sea, and opening a passage through the waters. It was a bay,…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 14:21

Moses stretched out his hand, &c.--The waving of the rod was of great importance on this occasion to give public attestation in the presence of the assembled Israelites, both to the character of Moses and the divine mission with which he was charged. the Lord caused . . . a strong east wind all that night--Suppose a mere ebb tide caused by the wind, raising the water to a great height on one side, still as there was not only "dry land," but, according to the tenor of the sacred narrative, a wall on the right hand and on the left [Exo 14:22], it would be impossible on the hypothesis of such a natural cause to rear the wall on the other. The idea of divine interposition, therefore, is impera…

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Adam Clarke on Exodus 14:21

The Lord caused the sea to go back - That part of the sea over which the Israelites passed was, according to Mr. Bruce and other travelers, about four leagues across, and therefore might easily be crossed in one night. In the dividing of the sea two agents appear to be employed, though the effect produced can be attributed to neither. By stretching out the rod the waters were divided; by the blowing of the vehement, ardent, east wind, the bed of the sea was dried. It has been observed, that in the place where the Israelites are supposed to have passed, the water is about fourteen fathoms or twenty-eight yards deep: had the wind mentioned here been strong enough, naturally speaking, to have d…

The Church Fathers

We find that arms have always needed faith, but faith has never needed arms. The rod of faith parted the sea which submerged the army bereft of faith together with its wicked leader.
— Paulinus of Nola, POEM 26.150

Note how the teachers of the Old and New Testaments differ in their deeds but are paired in glory, for the one Wisdom issued twin laws in the two Testaments, so equal distinction gives the same weight to differing powers. Peter did not divide the sea with a rod, but then Moses did not walk on the waters. However, both have the same bright glory, for the one Creator inspired both the cleavage of the waters with a rod and the treading of the waves underfoot.
— Paulinus of Nola, POEM 26.366

The Jews under the guidance of Moses passed over the Red Sea, but that case is widely different from this. He did all with prayer and as a servant, but Christ with absolute power. There when the south wind blew, the water yielded so as to make them pass over on dry land, but here the miracle was greater. For the sea retaining its proper nature so bare its Lord upon its surface, thus testifying to the Scripture which saith, "Who walketh upon the sea as upon a pavement."
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 43

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Red Sea — The sea so called extends along the west coast of Arabia for about 1,400 miles, and separates Asia from Africa. It is connected with the Indian Ocean, of which it is an arm, by the Strait of…
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Red Sea divided — Red Sea divided
Egypt · .Army of — .Army of
Egyptians · Pursue Israelites, and the army of, — Pursue Israelites, and the army of,
Meteorology And Celestial Phenomena · .The east wind that divi — .The east wind that divi
Miracles Wrought Through Servants Of God · Moses and Aaron: The red-sea divided — Moses and Aaron: The red-sea divided
Readings, Select · THE — THE
Water · Red Sea divi — Red Sea divi
Wind, The · Miracles connected with: Red sea divided by — Miracles connected with: Red sea divided by

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 14:21

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 14:21–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 14:21

Adam Clarke on Exodus 14:21

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 14:21

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 14:21–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 14:21

Adam Clarke on Exodus 14:21

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Exodus 14:21

John Calvin on Exodus 14:19-25

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 14:21-24

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 14:19-25

Rashi on Exodus 14:21