Exodus 14:16 (WEB)

Passage

Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the middle of the sea on dry ground.

Nearby Context

Exodus 14:14 Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.”

Exodus 14:15 Yahweh said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward.

Exodus 14:16 Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the middle of the sea on dry ground.

Exodus 14:17 Behold, I myself will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.

Exodus 14:18 The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lift", "stretch", "hand", "over", "divide", "children", "israel", and "shall". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lift" and "stretch", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Yahweh said to Moses Why do you..." into verse 17's "Behold I myself will harden the hearts...", so "lift" and "stretch" belong inside that flow. In Exodus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "lift" and "stretch" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.