The point at which they passed through the sea must be determined from the details of the Biblical narrative in connection with the physical features of the coast. The depth of the channel cannot be allowed to influence our decision ; nor can the tidal rise or fall, nor any supposed effect of an ordinary storm. The passage was opened by a miracle— that is, hy a direct exercise of divine power tem porarily overcoming the laws of gravitation and taising up the waters on each side. The mode in which the divine power operated is stated : The Lord caused the sea to go (75141) by a strong east wind (or perhaps a strong vehement wind,' rinz wip, cf. Ps. xlviii. 8 ; Ezek. xxvii. 26 ; Joh xxvii. 21) all that night, and made the sea dry, and the waters were divided, and the children of Israel wcnt through the sea upon dry ground, and the waters were a wall pvri) to them on the right hand and on the left' (ixod. XIV. 21, 22). With equal definiteness it is described in the song of Moses : 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' (xv. 8).
The action of the wind cannot be fully explained. It appears to have swept across the gulf in a narrow track, with such tremendous violence as to cut a way through, forcing the water back on each side. No natural tempest could have done this. It was a mighty agent in God's hand, acting as he \tilled, not merely clearing a passage, but keeping up 'the wall' of waters on each side during the entire night. This miraculous element must be fully admitted, or else the narrative must be rejected altogether as a fable.
The place of passage is minutely described.
They had encamped in front of (4J6) Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of 06) Baal Zeplion.' These places, however, are now un known. It is even uncertain whether the names are Egyptian or Hebrew, so that no argument can be based on thcii signification. One thing is clear ; the position of the Israelites was such as to cause their enemies to say, 'They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in' (Exod. xiv. 3). This appears to signify that, besidcs having the sea in front, they were so hemmed in by moun tain and desert as to make escape impossible.
The head of the gulf is a channel less than a mile wide and about four miles long, running from north to south. At its southern end, on a low promon tory, stands the town of Suez. South of the town the shore trends westward, and sweeping round, forms a spacious bay, bounded on the south by the low rocky promontory of Atakah. The bay has a broad margin well adapted for a camp. It is shut in on the west by the lofty precipitous ridge of Jebel Atakah ; while on the south, beyond the promontory, is a barren desert. This bay appears to correspond in all respects to the station of the Israelites between Migdol (perhaps Jebel Atakah) and the sea.' Pharaoh, following them from the north, would see the impassable heights of Atakah on the one side, and the wilderness beyond, and might, therefore, well say, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness bath shut them in.' From the low promontory of Atakah to the op posite shore of the gulf is just seven miles. This
distance could easily be traversed by the Israelites in a night ; and it would leave sufficient room for the opening of the miraculous passage, and the sub sequent overthrow of the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, when the waters returned in their strength. At this spot, therefore, we feel inclined to fix the passage.* 2. The Rea' Sea to Sinai.—On reaching the Asiatic shore Moses and Miriam sang their songs of triumph. The people, turning their eyes to the sea, saw the Egyptians dead upon the shore ;' and doubtless, according to Eastern custom, they took their spoils. They would obtain in this way a large supply of arms and armour.
Their first experience of Asia was a painful one : —` They went three days in the wilderness, and found no water' (Exod. xv. 22). It was the wilderness of Shur, which appears to have emhraced the whole region from the shores of the Gulf of Suez, and the frontier of Egypt to the borders of Canaan (Gen. xvi. 7 ; xxv. t8). The name Shur (` wall') may have been derived from the wall-like ridge of Jebel et-Tih. This same region was also I called the Wilderness of Etham' (Exod. xv. 22 ; Num. xxxiii. 8) ; a fact which strengthens the view advocated above as to the position of Etham.
It may be objected to the foregoing view of the place of passage that the Fountains of Moses' G4y4n IlitIsa) are within tvvo miles of the shore where the Israelites must have landed. The ob jection has no weight. The fountains are very small, and could not have supplied the wants of such a multitude. Besides, they may not have been seen, for the people seem to have turned im mediately toward Sinai. It is worthy of note that the mountain-chain which bounds the plain in front of where the people crossed is called yebel Rdhah, the mountain of rest ;' while that on the African side behind is called 7ebel A/Oak, the mount of deliverance.' Can these names have arisen from the passage of the Israelites ? The plain between Jebel Wallah and the gulf is bare and waterless. The surface is undulating, and intersected by shallow wadys. The greater part has a barren flinty soil ; but near the shore are mounds and ridges of drift sand. After three days' travel through this thirsty land, they came to the fountain of Marah, but its waters were bitter,' as the name implies. Just eighteen hours' march, or about thirty-eight English miles, from Ayfin Masa is the fountain of Hawarah (` destruction '). Its water is salt and bitter ;' and there can be little doubt that this is that very Marah where the people murmured, saying, What shall we drink ?' and where Moses was ordered to sweeten the waters by throwing a desert shrub into them (xv. 23-26).* Elim, the next station, was a desert paradise, with its numerous fountains (not wells' but 'living springs,' Exod. xv, 27) and palm groves. Five miles from Hawarah is a broad deep valley called Ghurundel, fringed with bushy palm trees, and thickets of tamarisk and acacia. It contains several copious fountains, which supply a perennial stream, one of the very few in the peninsula of Sinai. This is surely Elim.