Bible Strands
Exodus 14:21
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses stands at the edge of the sea while a cloud pillar separates the Israelite and Egyptian camps. He extends his hand at the precise moment Yahweh begins the parting.
The words — The text highlights וַיֵּט (va-yet, "he stretched out") for Moses' gesture and וַיּוֹלֶךְ (va-yolekh, "He drove") for Yahweh's action. These verbs track the sequence from human signal to divine execution.
The thread — Exodus 14:21 reappears in Isaiah 63:12, which attributes the water division to God and notes the right hand of Moses only as the means of guidance. It also surfaces in Exodus 15:8 and Psalms 66:6, where the waters pile up and become dry ground for passage.
Why it lands — The passage records Yahweh using an east wind to create a dry path while holding the opposing armies at a distance. It requires the reader to recognize that deliverance depends on divine timing and power rather than human capability.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 63:12 who sent His glorious arm to lead them by the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to gain for Himself everlasting renown,
- Exodus 15:8 At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
- Psalms 66:6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.
- Nehemiah 9:11 You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.
- Joshua 4:23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over.
- Psalms 74:13 You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
- Psalms 78:13 He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
- Isaiah 51:10 Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea for the redeemed to cross over?
- Exodus 14:16 And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
- Psalms 136:13 He divided the Red Sea in two His loving devotion endures forever.