Exodus 15:8

And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.

And with the blast of thy nostrils - i:e., the strong east wind (Exodus 14:21: cf. Psalms 18:15).

The waters were gathered together, х ne`ermuw (H6192)] - were piled up. The floods stood upright as a heap. The translation of each one of these words is objected to by those whose theoretical views tend to diminish the magnitude of the miracle, and therefore it is necessary to examine into the strict and proper import of each of them. х nitsªbuw (H5324) is rendered "stood upright."] The same verb occurs in (Genesis 21:29; Genesis 37:7; Exodus 33:8, where it is contended that the word signifies standing apart." But a slight inspection of each of these passages will suffice to show that the idea of "standing upright" is included as much as that of "standing apart;" nay, more, that the word would not, of itself, express the separation, unless, as in Genesis 21:29, other words had been added; and consequently that the primary, as well as principal, import of the verb used in this verse is to "stand upright." х nozªliym (H5140) is rendered "floods."] This translation is found fault with, as giving a violent and a false idea of the storm, and, instead of it, 'flowing waters' is substituted, by which is meant, 'the upper tidal current'-the Israelites having passed over at the lowest ebb of the gulf. But this view appears manifestly inadmissible from the words that follow - "the floods stood upright as an heap" х kªmow (H3644) need (H5067)]. It is true, the meaning given to the word need (H5067) has also been called in question, which, it is alleged, signifies simply a removal or displacement of the waters, such as takes place in an ebb. But this term occurs only six times; here, and Joshua 3:13; Joshua 3:16; Psalms 33:7; Psalms 78:13; Isaiah 17:11 - in all of which passages it implies something more than motion. Gesenius and the Septuagint always render it "heap."

And the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea - not frozen, but curdled, condensed. It is a strong poetical figure, and there is a beautiful gradation observable in the description. The waters were first of all arrested in their ceaseless billowy agitation, and prevented from any further flow; then they were compressed on either side, so as to leave an intermediate space; they were next piled up as a heap; and, lastly, there was a congestion of the waters at the bottom, produced by the superincumbent mass. This is poetry, indeed; but the whole tenor of the description, as well of the images employed in this chapter (Exodus 15:5; Exodus 15:10) as in other parts of Scripture, conveys the impression that the destruction of the host of Pharaoh took place at a part of the sea where the water was sufficiently deep to correspond with the account given of its division and accumulation, as well as of its subsequent immersion of the impious and incorrigible rebels whom it was commissioned to overwhelm.