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Exodus

About this book

The Song at the Sea

Chapter 15

1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.⁠ 2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.⁠ 3 The Lord is a man of war10—⁠ the Lord is his name.⁠ 4 The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he has thrown into the sea,⁠ and his chosen officers were drowned in the Red Sea.⁠ 5 The depths have covered them; they went down to the bottom like a stone.⁠ 6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power; your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. 7 In the abundance of your majesty you have overthrown those who rise up against you. You sent forth your wrath; it consumed them like stubble.⁠ 8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up,⁠ the flowing water stood upright like a heap, and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.⁠ 9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’⁠ 10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?⁠ Who is like you—majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, working wonders? 12 You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them. 13 By your loyal love you will lead the people whom you have redeemed; you will guide them by your strength to your holy dwelling place. 14 The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, trembling will seize the leaders of Moab, and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake. 16 Fear and dread will fall on them; by the greatness of your arm they will be as still as stone until your people pass by, O Lord, until the people whom you have bought pass by. 17 You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,⁠ in the place you made for your residence, O Lord, the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.⁠ 18 The Lord will reign forever and ever! 19 For the horses of Pharaoh came with his chariots and his footmen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.” 20 Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a hand drum in her hand, and all the women went out after her with hand drums and with dances.⁠ 21 Miriam sang in response to them, “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.”⁠

Food, Water, and Conflict in the Wilderness

22 Then Moses led Israel to journey away from the Red Sea. They went out to the wilderness of Shur,⁠ walked for three days into the wilderness, and found no water.⁠ 23 Then they came to Marah, but they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. (That is why its name was Marah.) 24 So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What can we drink?”⁠ 25 He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When Moses threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink.⁠ There the Lord made for them a binding ordinance, and there he tested them. 26 He said, “If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.”⁠ 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water.

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 15:8 and Onkelos Exodus 15:8

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Exodus 15 says the sea was parted by a blast of God’s nostrils. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos says it was by the “word” of God’s mouth and the water became “wise,” and stood still. This change removes the image of God acting like a human.

Passages

Exodus 15:8

Hebrew Bible
7 In the abundance of your majesty you have overthrown those who rise up against you. You sent forth your wrath; it consumed them like stubble. 8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up, the flowing water stood upright like a heap, and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Onkelos Exodus 15:8

Targum
7 And in the greatness of Your might You have broken down those who rose up against Your people. You sent out Your anger, and it destroyed them like stubble in the fire, 8 and by the word of Your mouth, the waters became wise and stood up like a wall; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the captured goods; my soul shall be satisfied with them; I will draw my sword, and my hand shall destroy them.
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Exodus

References

"... Rashi explains the biblical anthropomorphic metaphor 'with the breath of your nose,' to mean that God acted as an angry human Who breathes heavily through his nostrils. Our targumist replaces it ... Rashi translates ne'ermu as 'heaped,' contrary to the Targum. Onkelos' rendering is similar to the Mekhilta: 'The measure with which they meted, You meted (wisely) to them. They said: 'Come let us deal Wisely With them.'' In Other words, the Egyptians sentenced the Israelites to death by drowning; now God made the water 'wise' to destroy the Egyptians. Bachya ibn Pakuda suggests that 'wisely' implies that the water, although fluid, 'wisely' stood firm to allow the Israelites to pass and, subsequently, returned with wisdom to their liquid state to drown the Egyptians ... Our targumist prefers translating neid as 'wall,' to conform to the description in 14:22, rather than the less explicit 'heap,' which is its literal meaning ..."
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2006), 91.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Exodus 15:8 and Onkelos Exodus 15:8

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