Exodus 14:29
But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator addresses the reader at the edge of the sea, noting that the Israelites had already completed their crossing before Pharaoh’s army perished.
The words — The verb הָלְכ֥וּ (ha.le.Khu) means “they walked” and carries a perfect tense, marking the action as finished. The noun חֹמָ֔ה (cho.Mah) translates literally as “wall,” denoting the standing waters that bordered the path.
The thread — The pattern of waters held back for passage recurs in Exodus 14:22, the Jordan crossing in Joshua 3:16, and God’s rhetorical question in Job 38:8.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that deliverance is presented as a completed reality, framing salvation as an accomplished fact rather than an ongoing event.
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
But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
Cross-references
- Exodus 14:22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
- Joshua 3:16 the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
- Job 38:8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
- Psalms 77:19 Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, but Your footprints were not to be found.
- Psalms 78:52 He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.
- Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze.
- 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?
- Isaiah 51:13 But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?
- 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,
- Psalms 66:6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.