Isaiah 51:10
in Isaiah 51Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea for the redeemed to cross over?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Is it not thou that driedst up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that madest the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
KJV
Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
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This verse in Isaiah 51
Commentary
3 notes on this verseFor it is you who struck down the proud, wounded the dragon, the king indeed of Egypt Pharaoh, who is also called the great dragon in Ezekiel (Ezek. XXIX). You dried up the Red Sea, so that through the raging waters and deep sea, your people could find a way and escape the pursuing Egyptians. Therefore, you who did these things: now also bring back those redeemed and liberated by your blood to Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem, or to the Church which you prepared for yourself with your blood.
This site's exposition
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord
on Isaiah 51:9-10
The prayer cries out for the arm of the Lord to wake as it worked in the ancient days, in the generations of old, art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon, naming the same power that broke Egypt at the exodus in the language of a defeated sea monster, a figure the bench reads as poetic personification of Egypt and the sea rather than a separate myth borrowed whole. Verse 10 makes the reference plain, art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep, that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over, the exodus itself and the creation language of the deep fused into one appeal. Delitzsch reads Rahab and the dragon as Isaiah's own poetic names for Egypt at the Red Sea, the same event named twice, once in myth-shaped language and once in plain historical language.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Art thou not it - Art thou not still the same? The ground of the appeal is, that the same arm that dried up the sea, and made a path for the Jewish people, was still able to interpose and rescue them. Which hath dried the sea - The Red Sea when the children of Israel passed over Exo 14:21. This is the common illustration to which the Hebrew prophets and poets appeal, when they wish to refer to the interposition of God in favor of their nation (compare Ps. 105; see the notes at Isa 43:16).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Was it not for thy sake, O congregation of Israel, that I dried up the sea, the water of the great deep, I made the depth of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And the redeemed of the Lord shall return This is an expression of prayer, and it is connected to “Awaken, awaken.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲל֤וֹא | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אַתְּ־ | ʾat- | [are] you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הִיא֙ | hi' | she | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הַמַּחֲרֶ֣בֶת | hamacharevet | who dried up | H2717 → | 40 times |
| יָ֔ם | yam | [the] sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| מֵ֖י | mei | [the] water of | H4325 → | 581 times |
| תְּה֣וֹם | tehom | [the] deep | H8415 → | |
| רַבָּ֑ה | rabah | great | H7227 → | 454 times |
| הַשָּׂ֙מָה֙ | hasamah | who <she> made | H7760 → | 584 times |
| מַֽעֲמַקֵּי־ | maamakei- | [the] depths of | H4615 → | |
| יָ֔ם | yam | [the] sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| דֶּ֖רֶךְ | derekh | a way | H1870 → | 707 times |
| לַעֲבֹ֥ר | laavor | to pass over | H5674 → | 556 times |
| גְּאוּלִֽים׃ | geulim | redeemed [people] | H1350 → | 104 times |
הֲל֤וֹא¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
אַתְּ־[are] you
ʾat-H859 →1094 times
הִיא֙she
hi'H1931 →1879 times
הַמַּחֲרֶ֣בֶתwho dried up
hamacharevetH2717 →40 times
יָ֔ם[the] sea
yamH3220 →396 times
מֵ֖י[the] water of
meiH4325 →581 times
תְּה֣וֹם[the] deep
tehomH8415 →
רַבָּ֑הgreat
rabahH7227 →454 times
הַשָּׂ֙מָה֙who <she> made
hasamahH7760 →584 times
מַֽעֲמַקֵּי־[the] depths of
maamakei-H4615 →
יָ֔ם[the] sea
yamH3220 →396 times
דֶּ֖רֶךְa way
derekhH1870 →707 times
לַעֲבֹ֥רto pass over
laavorH5674 →556 times
גְּאוּלִֽים׃redeemed [people]
geulimH1350 →104 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
Isaiah 50:2Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:1
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
- Isaiah 66:4
So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and…
- Numbers 11:23
The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”
- Joshua 3:16
the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was…
- Genesis 18:14
Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
- Isaiah 59:1
Through
Exodus 15:13With loving devotion You will lead the people You have redeemed; with Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling.
it leads to
- Psalms 77:20
You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
- Psalms 77:20
Through
Isaiah 43:16Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the surging waters,
it leads to
- Psalms 77:19
Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, but Your footprints were not to be found.
- Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched;…
- Psalms 77:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.