Keluaran 14:21

14:21 Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Lord drove the sea apart ¹  by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided.

Mazmur 18:16

18:16 He reached down ²  from above and took hold of me;

he pulled me from the surging water. ³ 

[14:21]  ¹ tn Or “drove the sea back” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV). The verb is simply the Hiphil of הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk, go”). The context requires that it be interpreted along the lines of “go back, go apart.”

[18:16]  ² tn Heb “stretched.” Perhaps “his hand” should be supplied by ellipsis (see Ps 144:7). In this poetic narrative context the three prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects.

[18:16]  ³ tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see v. 4 and Ps 144:7).