Isaiah 63:13
who led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble?
BSB
ASV
that led them through the depths, as a horse in the wilderness, so that they stumbled not?
KJV
That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
There can be no doubt that in refusing the accompaniment of an angel Moses was inviting God to lead them himself. God was making this promise, "This word that you have just spoken I shall accomplish, since you have found favor with me and I know you in preference to all the others." It is also said in Isaiah, "the one who made the shepherd of the sheep to ascend the earth?
That led them through the deep,.... The depths, the bottom of the sea; not through the shallow, but where the waters had been deepest, the descent greatest; and at the bottom of which might have been expected much filth and dirt to hinder them in their passage, yet through this he led them: as an horse in the wilderness; or rather, "in a plain", as the word (b) sometimes signifies; and so Kimchi renders it a plain land, and Jarchi smooth land.
As an horse - With as much ease and tenderness, as an horse led by the bridle. Not stumble - That, tho' the sea were but newly divided, yet it was dried and smoothed by the wind, that God sent, as it were to prepare the way before them.
That led them through the deep - They went through the deep on dry land - the waters having divided and left an unobstructed path. As an horse in the wilderness - As an horse, or a courser, goes through a desert without stumbling. This is a most beautiful image. The reference is to vast level plains like those in Arabia, where there are no stones, no trees, no gullies, no obstacles, and where a fleet courser bounds over the plain without any danger of stumbling. So the Israelites were led on their way without falling.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Psalms 106:9He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
leads to
The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
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.
He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His…
Was 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?
Through
Habakkuk 3:15You trampled the sea with Your horses, churning the great waters.
leads to
Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, but Your footprints were not to be found.
Through
Jeremiah 31:9They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am…
leads to
Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,
Have you not just called to Me, ‘My Father, You are my friend from youth.