Exodus 15:8
in Exodus 15At 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were piled up, The floods stood upright as a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Exodus 15
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThe depths were congealed - The strong east wind (Exo 14:21) employed to dry the bottom of the sea, is here represented as the blast of God’s nostrils that had congealed or frozen the waters, so that they stood in heaps like a wall on the right hand and on the left.
This site's exposition
with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together
on Exodus 15:8-10
Chapter 14 called it a strong east wind and the song calls it the blast of thy nostrils, the same event told as breath. Verse 9 gives the enemy six short clauses in a row, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my lust shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them, and every one of them is a boast about what he will do next. Verse 10 answers the whole speech in one line, Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them. Psalm 33:7 and Psalm 78:13 both pick up the heap of waters from verse 8.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), under the weight of their own guilt and God's wrath. Their sin had made them hard like a stone, and now they justly sink like a stone. Nay, the earth itself swallowed them (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together,....
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבְר֤וּחַ | uveruach | and by [the] breath of | H7307 → | 378 times |
| אַפֶּ֙יךָ֙ | ʾapeikha | nostrils your | H639 → | 276 times |
| נֶ֣עֶרְמוּ | neermu | they were piled up | H6192 → | |
| מַ֔יִם | mayim | [the] waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| נִצְּב֥וּ | nitzevu | they stood up | H5324 → | 75 times |
| כְמוֹ־ | khemov- | like | H3644 → | 143 times |
| נֵ֖ד | ned | a heap | H5067 → | |
| נֹזְלִ֑ים | nozelim | streams | H5140 → | |
| קָֽפְא֥וּ | kafeu | they congealed | H7087 → | |
| תְהֹמֹ֖ת | tehomot | [the] deeps | H8415 → | |
| בְּלֶב־ | belev- | in [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| יָֽם׃ | yam | [the] sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
וּבְר֤וּחַand by [the] breath of
uveruachH7307 →378 times
אַפֶּ֙יךָ֙nostrils your
ʾapeikhaH639 →276 times
נֶ֣עֶרְמוּthey were piled up
neermuH6192 →
מַ֔יִם[the] waters
mayimH4325 →581 times
נִצְּב֥וּthey stood up
nitzevuH5324 →75 times
כְמוֹ־like
khemov-H3644 →143 times
נֵ֖דa heap
nedH5067 →
נֹזְלִ֑יםstreams
nozelimH5140 →
קָֽפְא֥וּthey congealed
kafeuH7087 →
תְהֹמֹ֖ת[the] deeps
tehomotH8415 →
בְּלֶב־in [the] heart of
belev-H3820 →595 times
יָֽם׃[the] sea
yamH3220 →396 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Job 4:9By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
it leads to
- Job 15:30
He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
- 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…
- Isaiah 30:33
For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a…
- Revelation 2:16
Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.
- Job 15:30
Through
Psalms 78:13He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
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…
- Exodus 14:21
Through
2 Samuel 22:16The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
it leads to
- Nahum 1:4
He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.
- Nahum 1:4
Through
Isaiah 37:7Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 32:21
and the LORD sent an angel who annihilated every mighty man of valor and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew to his own land in…
- 2 Chronicles 32:21
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.