Bible Strands
Psalms 78:13
He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the gathered community of Israel, recounting a past deliverance immediately after detailing wonders in Egypt and before describing subsequent wilderness guidance. The speaker stands as a historical witness framing God's intervention between two phases of the Exodus journey.
The words — The Hebrew verb בָּקַע (Ba.ka') literally means "he split open," describing the rupture of the יָם (yam) or sea, while וַיַּצֶב (va/i.ya.tzev) translates to "he made to stand" or caused the waters to heap vertically. These terms record a physical division followed by a temporary suspension of the water's flow.
The thread — This crossing event parallels the east wind dividing the waters in Exodus 14:21, the piling of currents like a wall in Exodus 15:8, and the standing still of the Jordan's flow in Joshua 3:16. Each reference documents a moment where natural barriers are halted or parted for safe passage.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that divine action physically alters environmental obstacles to secure deliverance. It demands a clear-eyed assessment of historical intervention as the foundation for recognizing present guidance.
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
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.
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 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.
- 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.
- Psalms 66:6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.
- Psalms 106:9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
- Psalms 136:13 He divided the Red Sea in two His loving devotion endures forever.
- Psalms 38:7 For my loins are full of burning pain, and no soundness remains in my body.
- Isaiah 63:13 who led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble?
- Habakkuk 3:15 You trampled the sea with Your horses, churning the great waters.
- 1 Corinthians 10:2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.