and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
Parallel translations
- WEB The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.
- KJV And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
- NKJV So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
- NASB So the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left.
- NLT So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel walked through the sea on dry ground with the waters standing as walls on either side.
Overview
The central miracle of the exodus: God's people pass safely through the very waters that will destroy their enemies. The walls of water frame a corridor of grace prepared by God alone. The New Testament treats this passage as a type of baptism and of salvation through judgment (1 Cor 10:1-2).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Heb 11:29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
- Exod 15:19For when Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.
- Ps 66:6He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.
- Ps 78:13He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
- Exod 14:29But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
- Exod 15:8At 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.
- Isa 63:13who led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble?
- Neh 9:11You 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.
- 1 Cor 10:1I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.
- Num 33:8They set out from Pi-hahiroth and crossed through the sea, into the wilderness, and they journeyed three days into the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.
- Zech 2:5For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’”
- Hab 3:8–10Were You angry at the rivers, O LORD? Was Your wrath against the streams? Did You rage against the sea when You rode on Your horses, on Your chariots of salvation?
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 14:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.