The sea observed and fled; the Jordan turned back;
Parallel translations
- WEB The sea saw it, and fled. The Jordan was driven back.
- KJV The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
- NKJV The sea saw it and fled; Jordan turned back.
- NASB ¶The sea looked and fled; The Jordan turned back.
- NLT The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way! The water of the Jordan River turned away.
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
The sea fled and the Jordan turned back before God's people. Creation itself yielded to make a way for His redemption.
Overview
This verse poetically joins two miracles: the parting of the Red Sea at the exodus (Exodus 14) and the Jordan's stopping at the entry to Canaan (Joshua 3). Together they frame Israel's journey from bondage to inheritance. The waters' retreat displays God's sovereign power over creation in the service of saving His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Exod 14:21Then 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,
- Ps 77:16The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You and swirled; even the depths were shaken.
- Hab 3:8–9Were 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?
- Josh 3:13–16When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will stand up in a heap.”
- Hab 3:15You trampled the sea with Your horses, churning the great waters.
- Isa 63:12who 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,
- 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.
- Ps 106:9He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
- Ps 104:7At Your rebuke the waters fled; at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away—
- Ps 74:15You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 114:3 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.