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Exodus 14:16

in Exodus 14

And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.

KJV

But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

This verse in Exodus 14

Commentary

10 notes on this verse
But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it,.... Even the same rod with which so many wonders had been done in Egypt; and Artapanus, the Heathen, says (x), that Moses being bid by a divine voice to smite the sea with his rod, he hearkened to it, and touched the water with it, and so it divided, as it is said it did, Exo 14:21. and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea; and so they did, Exo 14:22. (x) Apud Euseb. Praepar.

This site's exposition

Wherefore criest thou unto me

on Exodus 14:15-16

The answer to the prayer is an order to move, and the only rebuke in the chapter falls on Moses rather than on the people who complained. The instrument is the shepherd's stick from Horeb, the rod that became a serpent at 4:3, swallowed the magicians' rods at 7:12, turned the river to blood at 7:20, and strikes the rock at 17:6. Israel is told to go forward while the water is still in front of them.

This site's exposition

lift up your staff and stretch out your hand

The order joins the staff to the outstretched hand, and verse 21 records only the hand. Adam Clarke holds that the power was God's alone, and that Moses had to be seen using it so Israel would know God had chosen him. Verse 31 records the result, faith in His servant Moses.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Caesarius of Arles

SERMON 112.4 · Written before 542.

proposed

Moses performed no sign without the mysterious wood, for he received from the Lord a rod to work wonders and prodigies in Egypt. Moreover, as a sign that he had heard things divinely, it was said to him, "Lift up your staff." God, of course, …

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bonaventure

Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 7 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

Whoever looks upon this mercy seat with full turning of the countenance, gazing upon him who hangs upon the cross through faith, hope, and charity, devotion, admiration, exultation, appreciation, praise, and jubilation, makes the Passover, that is, the passing over, with him, so as to …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The same power could have congealed the waters for them to pass over; but Infinite Wisdom chose rather to divide the waters for them to pass through; for that way of salvation is always pitched upon which is most humbling. Thus it is said, with reference to this ( Isa. lxiii.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Lines that could not be forced are set between the camp of Israel and Pharaoh's camp, ver. 19, 20. By the divine power the Red-sea is divided, ver. 21. and is made, 1.

quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-21-anchored-15-18

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

God designs, not only to deliver the Israelites, but to destroy the Egyptians; and the plan of his counsels is accordingly. (1.) He will show favour to Israel; the waters shall be divided for them to pass through,
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Lift thou up thy rod - Neither Moses nor his rod could be any effective instrument in a work which could be accomplished only by the omnipotence of God; but it was necessary that he should appear in it, in order that he might have credit in the sight of the Israelites, and that they might see that God had chosen him to be the instrument of their deliverance.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? &c.--When in answer to his prayers, he received the divine command to go forward, he no longer doubted by what kind of miracle the salvation of his mighty charge was to be effected.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְאַתָּ֞הand you

    veatahH8591094 times

  • הָרֵ֣םraise

    haremH7311190 times

  • אֶֽת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • מַטְּךָ֗staff your

    matekhaH4294252 times

  • וּנְטֵ֧הand stretch out

    unetehH5186214 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • יָדְךָ֛hand your

    yadekhaH30271618 times

  • עַל־over

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • הַיָּ֖םthe sea

    haiyamH3220396 times

  • וּבְקָעֵ֑הוּand divide it

    uvekaehuH1234

  • וְיָבֹ֧אוּso they may go

    veyavouH9352568 times

  • בְנֵֽי־[the] people of

    venei-H11214930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לIsrael

    yisraelH34782507 times

  • בְּת֥וֹךְin [the] middle of

    betokhH8432418 times

  • הַיָּ֖םthe sea

    haiyamH3220396 times

  • בַּיַּבָּשָֽׁה׃on the dry ground

    baiyabashahH300414 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Exodus 4:17

    But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”

    it leads to

    • Exodus 4:2

      And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Isaiah 10:26

    And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them, as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise His staff over the sea, as He did in Egypt.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 9:4

      For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor.

    • Judges 7:25

      They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. So they pursued the Midianites and brought…

  • Through

    Exodus 4:2

    And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.

    it leads to

    • Exodus 4:17

      But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”

    • Exodus 4:20

      So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

    • Isaiah 11:4

      but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the…

  • Through

    Exodus 4:20

    So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

    it leads to

    • Exodus 17:9

      So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.”

  • Through

    Exodus 7:19

    And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers and canals and ponds and reservoirs—that they may become blood.’ There…

    it leads to

    • 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…

Where this verse is studied

About Exodus

The Egyptians Drown in the Sea — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Egyptians Drown in the Sea — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 7; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 112.4; Chuck Missler, Learn the Bible in 24 Hours; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.