Exodus 14:21 (WEB)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

Exodus 14:19 The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them.

Exodus 14:20 It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and one didn’t come near the other all night.

Exodus 14:21 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.

Exodus 14:22 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 14:23 The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the middle of the sea: all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "moses", "stretched", "hand", "over", "yahweh", "caused", "back", and "strong". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "moses" and "stretched", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "It came between the camp of Egypt..." into verse 22's "The children of Israel went into the...", so "moses" and "stretched" 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 "moses" and "stretched" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.