Yahweh, who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters,
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh, who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters,
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Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
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Thus saith the LORD, who maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Isaiah 43:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 77:19 Your way was through the sea; your paths through the great waters. Your footsteps were not known.
- Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.
- Isaiah 51:10 Isn’t it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
- Jeremiah 31:35 Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar; Yahweh of Armies is his name, says:
- Nehemiah 9:11 You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of the sea on the dry land; and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters.
- Psalms 78:13 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through. He made the waters stand as a heap.
- Psalms 106:9 He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so he led them through the depths, as through a desert.
- Isaiah 51:15 For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. Yahweh of Armies is his name.
- Isaiah 63:11-13 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?” Who caused his glorious arm to be at Moses’ right hand? Who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name? Who led them through the depths, like a horse in the wilderness, so that they didn’t stumble?
- Exodus 14:21-22 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.
- Exodus 14:29 But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.
- Psalms 74:13-14 You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.
- Psalms 114:3-5 The sea saw it, and fled. The Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs. What was it, you sea, that you fled? You Jordan, that you turned back?
- Psalms 136:13-15 to him who divided the Red Sea apart; for his loving kindness endures forever; and made Israel to pass through the middle of it; for his loving kindness endures forever; but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea; for his loving kindness endures forever:
- Isaiah 11:15-16 Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind he will wave his hand over the River, and will split it into seven streams, and cause men to march over in sandals. There will be a highway for the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, like there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
- Revelation 16:12 The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise.
- Exodus 14:16 Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. Then the children of Israel shall go into the middle of the sea on dry ground.
- Joshua 3:13-16 It shall be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in one heap.” When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people, and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest), the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over near Jericho.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain When he delivered Israel from Pharaoh, Exod. 14:22.
When he delivered Israel from Pharaoh, Exod. 14:22.
When the Israelites passed through Jordan, Josh. 3:17.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 43:16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a…
Isa 43:16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
Ver. 16. Which maketh a way in the sea.] Or, That made a way in the sea, &c. - sc., When your fathers came out of Egypt. Why, then, should you doubt about deliverance?
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Who as he formerly made a pathway for his…
Who as he formerly made a pathway for his people through the Red Sea, so he will in no less wonderful manner remove all impediments or difficulties out of the way of his people, when they return from Babylon.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Which bringeth forth the chariot and the horse, the…
Which bringeth forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the power,.... Who brought forth the chariots and horses, and the mighty army of Pharaoh, out of Egypt, to pursue the Israelites into the Red sea, where they were drowned. The present tense is put for the future, as in the preceding verse; the future is put for the past tense in the next clause:
they shall lie down together, they shall not rise; they lay down in the Red sea, where they sunk to the bottom, and perished, and never rose more, at least to life, nor never will, till the general resurrection:
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they are extinct, they are quenched as tow; or flax, or as the wick of a candle (p), when put into water, is quenched at once; so the Egyptian, became extinct in the Red sea. Some observe an allusion to the commodity of flax, for which Egypt was famous. Kimchi interprets the whole of the army of Sennacherib, which was brought out of their own land to Jerusalem, and was destroyed in one night by an angel. Aben Ezra of the Chaldeans being brought out to fight with the Persians. But others rather of the army of the Medes and Persians being brought against them, by whom they became extinct as tow or flax.
(p) "ut ellychnium" Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gataker, Vitringa.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 43:16-17. Which maketh a way in the sea,…
Isa 43:16-17. Which maketh a way in the sea, &c. — Who, as he formerly made a way for Israel through the Red sea, will, in a no less wonderful manner, remove all impediments out of the way of his people when they return from Babylon. Which bringeth forth — Or, rather, who brought forth, the chariots, &c. — That is, Pharaoh and his chariots, horses, and army. They shall lie down, &c. They lay down together — In the bottom of the sea, whence they never rose again to molest the Israelites. They are quenched as tow — As the wick of a candle is extinguished when it is put into water.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Thus saith the Lord - This verse contains a…
Thus saith the Lord - This verse contains a reference to the deliverance from Egyptian servitude - the great storehouse of argument and illustration with the sacred writers; the standing demonstration of God’s merciful interposition in behalf of their nation, and proof that he was their God.
Which maketh - Whose characteristic it is to open a path of safety for his people even when deep and rapid floods are before them The standing roof of this which undoubtedly the prophet had in his eye, was the deliverance from Egypt. Still, I think, he did not mean to refer to that alone, but to that as an illustration of what God was, and had ever been to his people.
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A way in the sea - Referring to the path made through the waters of the Red Sea when the children of Israel were permitted to go on dry ground.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Waters. of the Jordan and the Red Sea, in…
Waters. of the Jordan and the Red Sea, in the latter of which Pharao perished, ver. 17.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Allusion to the deliverance of Israel and overthrow of…
Allusion to the deliverance of Israel and overthrow of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, the standing illustration of God's unchanging character towards His people (Exo 14:21-22, Exo 14:27-28).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 16, 17. A way in the sea… a path…
16, 17. A way in the sea… a path in the mighty waters — The Lord is to do here similarly to his doing at the Red Sea, in the exodus. And a similar destruction as at the Red Sea is likely to occur in the case of fleeing ones from Babylon. Then the pursuers were, here the pursued are, destroyed.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. Thus saith the Lord] The oracle itself begins…
16. Thus saith the Lord] The oracle itself begins at Isa_43:18; it is prefaced in Isa_43:16 f. by a vivid description of the mighty power of Jehovah, as illustrated once for all at the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 14 f.).
in the mighty waters] Cf. Neh_9:11.
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16–21. The sequel to the overthrow of Babylon is the deliverance of Israel, the method of which is compared with the greatest miracle in Israel’s past history, the exodus from Egypt.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) Which maketh a way in the sea .…
(16) Which maketh a way in the sea . . .—A distinct echo of Exo_14:16 and Psa_77:19. The return from Babylon is to be as a second Exodus from another house of bondage. In the one, as in the other, the “horse and his rider” are to be thrown into the sea.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The Lord, which maketh a way in the sea.…
The Lord, which maketh a way in the sea. The deliverance out of Egypt is glanced at, to prepare the way for the announcement of deliverance from the hand of Babylon. Then "a way was made in the sea", (Exo_14:21-29) "and a path in the mighty waters;" now it will be necessary to make "a way in the wilderness" (ver. 19).
Vers. 16-21. Three deliverances.
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In the past, Israel had had one great and unparalleled deliverance, that, namely
I FROM THE POWER OF EGYPT. With a "mighty hand and a stretched-out arm" God had saved them from the miserable fate of being bondservants, bound to task-work, and compelled to labour under the lash. He had effected their deliverance by a series of miracles, culminating in the death of the firstborn, and the passage of the Red Sea, whereby it might have been hoped that the nation would have been so impressed as to turn heartily to God, and become "a praise upon earth." But the result had not followed. Even in the wilderness they had set up idols. (Exo_32:1 Act_7:43) In the Holy Land they had gone from bad to worse, "walked in the statutes of the heathen; built them high places in all their cities, set them up images and groves, wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger, hardened their hearts, followed vanity and become vain"; (2Ki_17:8-15) "transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen, polluted the house of the Lord, mocked his messengers, and misused his prophets"; (2Ch_36:14-16) "shed innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon"; (2Ki_24:4) and thus rendered their first deliverance of no avail, since it was an outward deliverance only from an earthly oppressor, and not an inward deliverance from the bondage of sin. Now Israel is promised in the future a second and a third deliverance
II FROM THE OPPRESSION OF BABYLON. God will once more show forth his power, will chastise Babylon by the sword of Cyrus, will cause Cyrus to "perform all his pleasure", (Isa_44:28) will bring his people from the four winds of heaven (vers. 5, 6) and plant them again in their own land. (Isa_51:11) "The ransomed of the Lord will return, and come to Zion." This deliverance is, so far, a sort of duplicate of the deliverance from Egypt, only that it is effected by new means, without miracle, by God"s ordinary and secret action on the course of human affairs.
III FROM THE TYRANNY OF SIN. The second deliverance is to lead on to the third. Israel, redeemed from Babylon, and replanted in its own laud, is to "show forth God"s praise" (ver. 21). The unimpressible people is to be, to a certain extent, impressed. In point of fact, after the return to Palestine idolatry disappeared. The pest-Captivity Jews were faithful to Jehovah. Though not free from certain minor sins, (Ezr_9:1 Neh_13:1-25 Mal_1:7-14 Mal_2:8-17 Mal_3:8-15) they were never apostates. In the Maccabaean times large numbers showed a noble contempt for death, and were martyrs and confessors for the truth. When our Lord came, there was still a sound and healthy element in the nation. He was able to gather to himself a "little flock." The "little flock" expanded, and became the nucleus of the Christian Church. This Church, holy by its calling, holy by its profession, holy by the sanctified lives of so many of its members, is but an enlargement of that early "flock." Thus the final deliverance begun here, but not to be completed till the consummation of all things is a deliverance from sin. The final "Israel of God" will be "a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing". (Eph_5:27)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 who opened a way ... like a burning wick
who opened a way ... like a burning wick
In these verses, Isaiah speaks of the events following the exodus from Egypt, when Yahweh divided the sea to let the Israelites walk through on dry ground but then drowned the Egyptian army. The full meaning of this statement can be made clear. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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They fell down together; they will never rise again
Dying is spoken of as if it were falling down to the ground. AT: "They all died together; they will never live again" (See: Metaphor and Euphemism)
they are extinguished, quenched like a burning wick
The people dying is spoken of as if they were burning candle wicks that someone has extinguished. This can be stated in active form. AT: "their lives have ended, like a person extinguishes the flame of a burning candle" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
translationWords
Yahweh
might
water
chariot
horse
raise
quench
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.