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Were the waters of the Red Sea parted instantly?

tonychanyt

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On the one hand, Exodus 14:

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea;
That started the parting of the sea.

and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.
The dividing of the waters took some time. It was not instantaneous.

22and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
On the other hand, in the next chapter in the Song of Moses and Miriam, Exodus‬ ‭15:

8 with the blast of Your nostrils the waters were gathered together;
The English word "blast" conveys a sudden, abrupt, instantaneous change. The actual Hebrew word is G7307 ruach (377 occurrences), meaning breath, wind, or spirit.

The floods stood upright like a heap; The depths congealed in the heart of the sea.” ‭‭‬ ‭
Literal Standard Version:

And by the wind of Your anger | Waters have been heaped together; Flowings have stood as a heap; Depths have been congealed | In the heart of a sea.
Ex. 14 narrates the real observations. The song depicts the supernatural view with a poetic flare.

Were the waters of the Red Sea parted instantly?

Not instantly but quickly.
 

St_Worm2

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Hello Tony (@tonychanyt), though there is no way to be sure, I doubt that it would have taken much time for God to divide the Red Sea. That said, for the bottom of the sea to become "dry land", I think that may have.

Just a thought as this is all conjecture on my part, of course.

God bless you!!

--David
 
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d taylor

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Exodus is addressing not only the dividing of the waters, but the crossing which i am sure took all night. It did not take all night to divide the waters, but it did take all night for the people cross over on dry land. All that night the wind blew, keeping the waters divided so the Hebrews could cross over.
 
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