Psalms 77:15-20

77:15 You delivered¹ your people by your strength² –

the children of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah)

77:16 The waters³ saw you, O God,

the waters saw you and trembled.⁴

Yes, the depths of the sea⁵ shook with fear.⁶

77:17 The clouds poured down rain;⁷

the skies thundered.⁸

Yes, your arrows⁹ flashed about.

77:18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;

the lightning bolts lit up the world;

the earth trembled and shook.¹⁰

77:19 You walked through the sea;¹¹

you passed through the surging waters,¹²

but left no footprints.¹³

77:20 You led your people like a flock of sheep,

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

¹tn Or “redeemed.”

²tn Heb “with [your] arm.”

³tn The waters of the Red Sea are here personified; they are portrayed as seeing God and fearing him.

⁴tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

⁵tn The words “of the sea” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

⁷tn Heb “water.”

⁸tn Heb “a sound the clouds gave.”

⁹tn The lightning accompanying the storm is portrayed as the Lord’s “arrows” (see v. 18).

¹⁰tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

sn Verses 16-18 depict the Lord coming in the storm to battle his enemies and subdue the sea. There is no record of such a storm in the historical account of the Red Sea crossing. The language the psalmist uses here is stereotypical and originates in Canaanite myth, where the storm god Baal subdues the sea in his quest for kingship. The psalmist has employed the stereotypical imagery to portray the exodus vividly and at the same time affirm that it is not Baal who subdues the sea, but Yahweh.

¹¹tn Heb “in the sea [was] your way.”

¹²tn Heb “and your paths [were] in the mighty waters.”

¹³tn Heb “and your footprints were not known.”