Bible Strands
Exodus 15:10
But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses and the Israelites address the LORD immediately after the Egyptian army is destroyed in the sea. The declaration follows Pharaoh’s boast in Exodus 15:9 and precedes the hymn of majesty in Exodus 15:11.
The words — The Hebrew verb נָשַׁ֥פְתָּ (na.Shaf.ta) means “you blew,” paired with בְּרוּחֲךָ (be./ru.cha./Kha), “with your breath.” These terms describe the divine wind that closes the waters over the Egyptians.
The thread — The motif of divine breath or wind moving waters appears in Exodus 14:21 and Exodus 14:27, where the east wind parts and restores the sea. The sinking imagery parallels Exodus 15:5, which describes the depths covering the enemy like a stone.
Why it lands — The text states that the sea’s movement is a direct response to divine command, not natural chance. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human pursuit meets divine judgment without evasion.
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
Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Cross-references
- 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,
- Exodus 14:27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea.
- Exodus 15:5 The depths have covered them; they sank there like a stone.
- Deuteronomy 11:4 what He did to the Egyptian army and horses and chariots when He made the waters of the Red Sea engulf them as they pursued you, and how He destroyed them completely, even to this day;
- Isaiah 11:15 The LORD will devote to destruction the gulf of the Sea of Egypt; with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates. He will split it into seven streams for men to cross with dry sandals.
- Matthew 8:27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey Him!”
- Genesis 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.
- Psalms 74:13 You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
- Psalms 135:7 He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
- Psalms 147:18 He sends forth His word and melts them; He unleashes His winds, and the waters flow.