Exodus 15:8

15:8 By the blast of your nostrils ¹  the waters were piled up,

the flowing water stood upright like a heap, ² 

and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.

Exodus 19:13

19:13 No hand will touch him ³  – but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; ⁴  he must not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast they may ⁵  go up on the mountain.”

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¹ sn The phrase “the blast of your nostrils” is a bold anthropomorphic expression for the wind that came in and dried up the water.

² tn The word “heap” describes the walls of water. The waters, which are naturally fluid, stood up as though they were a heap, a mound of earth. Likewise, the flowing waters deep in the ocean solidified – as though they were turned to ice (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 175).

³ sn There is some ambiguity here. The clause either means that no man will touch the mountain, so that if there is someone who is to be put to death he must be stoned or shot since they could not go into the mountain region to get him, or, it may mean no one is to touch the culprit who went in to the region of the mountain.

⁴ tn Heb “a man.”

⁵ tn The nuance here is permissive imperfect, “they may go up.” The ram’s horn would sound the blast to announce that the revelation period was over and it was permitted then to ascend the mountain.