. . . it is far from clear what the “Sea of
Reeds” (yam sûf) actually refers to:
is it an inland body of water bordering on the Mediterranean—here Lake Serbonis
seems the most likely candidate—or the Red Sea The account given in chapter 14
offers two versions of what happened, one better suited to the Red Sea, the
other to Lake Serbonis. According to the first version, the sea is “divided”
and the waters tower on either side of the passing Israelites like a wall (“and
the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left” [Ex
14:22]—one of the legendary special effects in Cecil B. DeMille’s film, The Ten Commandments). This scene brings
to mind the Red Sea, which is deep enough and is also affected by strong tides,
making it at least conceivable that the Israelites could ford across at low
tide and the Egyptians be caught out as the tide turned. According to the
second version, a strong wind blows from the east throughout the night to dry
out the sea, which then floods back over the Egyptians:
And Moses stretched out his hand over the
sea; and YHWH caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night,
and made the sea dry land (Ex 14:21)
This far more realistic variant could have
been seat at Lake Serbonis, a flat and treacherous body of water near the
Mediterranean coast that in ancient times is said to have swallowed up entire
armies (Thus, according to Diodorus, Ataxerxes III lost part of his army at
Lake Serbonis during his second campaign in 343 BCE [Diodorus, Bibliotheca historica 16.46.5].
According to the same source, a similar fate befell Antigonos Monophthalmos in
305 BCE [Diodorus 20.73-4). Textual criticism ascribes the more realistic
version to a pre-Priestly source, whereas the more miraculous version involving
the parting o the sea belongs to the Priestly Source. (Jan Assmann, The Invention of Religion: Faith and
covenant in the Book of Exodus [Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018],
147-48)
M.H. Woudstra on "Red Sea" as a Correct Translation of yām sûp
The Red Sea and the Book of Mormon
Jeff Lindsay, Feeling Blue about the Red Sea in the Book of Mormon? (Mormanity Blog)
