Red Sea

The Red Sea was the body of water miraculously crossed by the Israelites in their escape from Egypt (Exo. 13:18; 15:4).

The Red Sea is significant in the Bible as the sea the Israelites miraculously crossed during the Exodus from Egypt. God parted the waters, allowing Israel to cross on dry ground, but drowned the pursuing Egyptian army when the waters closed back over them (Exo. 14-15). This event is remembered as a great act of divine deliverance (Jos. 2:10; Neh. 9:9; Psa. 106:7-9; 136:13-15). The Red Sea also marked the southern border of the Promised Land (Exo. 23:31). King Solomon later built a fleet of ships on the Red Sea at Ezion-geber (1Ki. 9:26). The Hebrew name Yam Suph means "Sea of Reeds", so the body of water was likely one of the shallow lakes along Egypt's eastern border rather than the main body of the Red Sea. Its exact location is debated.

The sea so called extends along the west coast of Arabia for about 1,400 miles, and separates Asia from Africa. It is connected with the Indian Ocean, of which it is an arm, by the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. At a point (Ras Mohammed) about 200 miles from its nothern extremity it is divided into two arms, that on the east called the AElanitic Gulf, now the Bahr el-‘Akabah, about 100 miles long by 15 broad, and that on the west the Gulf of Suez, about 150 miles long by about 20 broad. This branch is now connected with the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. Between these two arms lies the Sinaitic Peninsula.

The Hebrew name generally given to this sea is Yam Suph. This word suph means a woolly kind of sea-weed, which the sea casts up in great abundance on its shores. In these passages, Ex. 10:19; 13:18; 15:4, 22; 23:31; Num. 14:25, etc., the Hebrew name is always translated “Red Sea,” which was the name given to it by the Greeks. The origin of this name (Red Sea) is uncertain. Some think it is derived from the red colour of the mountains on the western shore; others from the red coral found in the sea, or the red appearance sometimes given to the water by certain zoophytes floating in it. In the New Testament (Acts 7:36; Heb. 11:29) this name is given to the Gulf of Suez.

This sea was also called by the Hebrews Yam-mitstraim, i.e., “the Egyptian sea” (Isa. 11:15), and simply Ha-yam, “the sea” (Ex. 14:2, 9, 16, 21, 28; Josh. 24:6, 7; Isa. 10:26, etc.).

The great historical event connected with the Red Sea is the passage of the children of Israel, and the overthrow of the Egyptians, to which there is frequent reference in Scripture (Ex. 14, 15; Num. 33:8; Deut. 11:4; Josh. 2:10; Judg. 11:16; 2 Sam. 22:16; Neh. 9:9-11; Ps. 66:6; Isa. 10:26; Acts 7:36, etc.).