Exodus 15:8

Exo 15:8 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.

Ver. 8. And with the blast.] In celebrating God’s favours, we must be punctual and particular.

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.

Exo 15:8. With the blast of thy nostrils — Or, of thine anger, as the Hebrew word is often rendered. He means that vehement east wind, (Exo 15:10, and Exo 14:21,) which was raised by God’s anger in order to the ruin of his enemies. The floods — Hebrew, the streams, or the flowing waters, whose nature it is to be constantly in motion; stood upright as a heap — This is wonderfully beautiful and majestic, as indeed the whole song is. The inspired writer ennobles the wind by making God himself the principle of it; and animates the waters by making them susceptible of fear. The frighted waters withdrew with impetuosity from their wonted bed, and crowded suddenly one upon another. The depths were congealed — Hardened, stood still as if they had been frozen in the heart, the midst, of the sea. So that here the imagination figures to itself mountains of solid waters in the very centre of the liquid element.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15:8 blast (literally nostrils): In other contexts, the same word may be translated “anger.” The hot breath from God’s nose is an image of God’s anger. • your breath: The Hebrew word translated as “breath” (ruakh) is the same one translated as “wind” in 14:21 and as “Spirit” in Gen 1:2. Nature is not God, but God is everywhere at work in nature.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, in the depth of the sea.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 8. The depths were congealed] The strong east wind (Ex 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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. the blast of thy nostrils] Fig. for the wind (v. 10), as Psa_18:15.

were piled up] The hyperbole, as Exo_14:22 (the ‘wall’). The Heb. word occurs only here. ‘Heap’ in Rth_3:7 is cognate.

floods] or streams, lit. the flowing ones. A poet. word; cf. Psa_78:16; Psa_78:44, Son_4:15, Isa_44:3.

an heap] Cf. Jos_3:13; Jos_3:16; Psa_78:13.

congealed] or, solidified (cf. Zep_1:12 RVm.,—the same word).

the heart of the sea] Cf. Psa_46:2, Eze_27:4.

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.

And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together,.... From the bottom of the sea, and divided and laid on heaps; and this by a strong east wind, called the blast of the nostrils of the Lord, because as easily brought by him as a man's breath or wind is drawn through his nostrils; and thus Christ with the breath of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming, will destroy antichrist, Th2 2:8.

the floods stood upright as an heap; though a fluid body, yet by the power of Christ were raised up and continued upright, firm and consistent; as things dry and solid may be laid and heaped up on one another, and remain firm and stable; and so did the waters of the sea, they stood like a wall, and were as firm as a rock; while the Israelites passed between them, they stood upright, and lift up their hands, as if they blessed them; or blessed God for the deliverance of them, or in admiration of it; see Exo 14:22,

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Together. "Congealed on either side," as the Chaldean and Septuagint express it. (Calmet)

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).

Of thy nostrils; or, of thine anger, to wit. that vehement east wind, Exo 15:10; 14:21, which was raised by thine anger in order to the ruin of thine enemies.

The floods, Heb. the streams, or the flowing waters, whose nature it is to be constantly in motion.

Were congealed, i.e. hardened, stood still, as if they had been frozen, and so they were a wall on both hands, Exo 14:22.

In the heart of the sea, i.e. the midst; as that word is used, Psa 18:16; 46:2; Eze 28:2.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

With the blast of thy nostril the waters were gathered together. Poetically, Moses describes the east wind which God set in motion as "the blast" or "breath of his nostrils." By means of it, he says, the waters were "gathered together," or "piled up;" then, growing bolder in his imagery, he represents the floods as "standing in a heap" on either side, and the depths as "congealed. No doubt, if these terms are meant to be taken literally, the miracle must have been one in which "the sea" (as Kalisch says) "giving up its nature, formed with its waves a firm wall, and instead of streaming like a fluid, congealed into a hard substance." But the question is, are we justified in taking literally the strong expressions of a highly wrought poetical description?

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

With the blast of thy nostrils - By thine anger: The depths were congealed - Stood still, as if they had been frozen: In the heart of the sea - The midst of it.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

וברוח אפיך AND WITH THE BREATH OF THY NOSTRILS — the breath that issues from both nostrils. Scripture speaks — if this were at all possible (i. e. if one may be permitted to speak so of God) of the Shechina (God) in the same manner as it does of a human monarch, in order to make peoples’ ears hear the facts in accordance with what usually happens to that they may understand the matter: when a man is angry the breath issues from his nostrils (and Scripture attributes this to God, also, when He is in anger). A similar idea is: (Psalms 18:9) “Smoke rose up in His nostril”, and also, (Job. 4:9) “By the breath of his nostril they are consumed”. And this is the meaning of what He said, (Isaiah 48:9) “For My name’s sake אאריך I will make long My אף”: when one’s anger subsides his breathing becomes long, whilst when one is in anger his breathing is short (consequently אאריך אפי signifies “I will not be angry”). The text continues ותהלתי אחטם לך which means “for the sake of My praise I will place a nose-ring in My nose to close up the nostrils against the anger and the breath so that they should not issue forth”. The word לך, for thee, in this text, means “for thy sake”, אחטם has the same meaning and root as in “a wild camel with a nose-ring (חֹטֶם)” which occurs in Mishna Treatise Sabbath (Mishnah Shabbat 5:1). Thus does the explanation appear to me. And wherever אף and חרון (i. e. where אף and words formed from the same root as חרון) occur in the Scriptures I say that it has the following sense: In the phrase חרה אף the first word is the same as (Job 30:30) “My bone is חרה with heat”, where חרה denotes burning and glowing, and this metaphor is used because the nostrils become hot and burning in a time of anger. The noun חרון is a derivation of חרה, just as רצון is a derivation of רצה, and therefore signifies “burning”. In the same way, חַמה which also signifies wrath really denotes heat (from a root יחם, not חמם, since the מ of חַמָה has no Dagesh. חַמָה is formed from יחם as עֵדָה, congregation, from יעד). That is why Scripture says, (Esther 1:12) וחמתו בערה בו “his wrath burned in him”, and when one’s wrath subsides one says, “his mind has become cooled” (נתקררה from קר cold).

נערמו מים THE WATERS WERE HEAPED UP — Onkelos translated this in the sense of ערמימות, subtlety (the waters showed themselves clever); (cf. ערום Genesis 3:1); but it is more in accordance with the elegance of Biblical style to take it as the noun of the same root as in (Song 7:3) “a stack of (ערמת) wheat”, and the following words, “the floods placed themselves like a mound”, prove that this is so (cf. Mekhilta). נערמו — Through the burning heat of the breath that issued from thy nostrils (וברוח אפיך) the waters were dried up and they became like heaps and piles of gain-stacks (ערמה) which are high.

כמו נד — Render this as the Targum does: like a שור, i. e. a wall.

נד is an expression for anything heaped up and gathered together, as, (Isaiah 17:11) “a heap (נד) of boughs in the day of grief”; (Psalms 33:7) “He gathereth as a heap (כַּנֵד) [the waters of the sea]”. It is not written “He gathereth כנאד”, but כנאד”, and if כנד, were the same as כנאד “like a water-skin”, and כונס were an expression for “bringing a thing in”, it should have written: “He gathered in (מכניס and not כונס) the waters of the sea as in a water-skin”, (כבנאד and not כנד), but כונס denotes gathering together and heaping up. And this must also be the meaning of נד in (Joshua 3:16) “[the waters] rose up as one נד”, and (Joshua v. 13) “and they shall stand in one נד”; for the expressions “rising up” and “standing up” cannot be used in reference to water in water-skins but only to water that stands up as walls and heaps (and this must therefore be the meaning of כמו נד in our text also). And, then again, we find the word נֹאד punctuated only with a Melopum (חולם), as, (Psalms 56:9) “Put thou my tears into thy bottle (נֹאדֶךָ)” and (Judges 4:19) “the bottle of (נֹאד) milk”.

קפאו WERE CONGEALED, like (Job 10:10) “thou hast curdled me (תקפיאני) like cheese”; the meaning is that the depths were hardened and became like stones, and the waters cast the Egyptians against the stony wall with force and battled against them with every harsh means (cf. Mekhilta).

בלב ים means IN THE VERY STRENGTH OF THE SEA. It is the way of Scripture-verses to speak thus (to use לב in a metaphorical sense); e. g., (Deuteronomy 4:11) “unto the very midst of (לב) heaven”; (II Samuel 18:14) “in the midst of (בלב) the terebinth”. It is an expression denoting the essence and strength of a thing.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.