Did Moses part the Red Sea or the Reed Sea?

[Spyridon]

Some translators have that Moses parted the Red Sea, while others say that he parted the Reed Sea. Are both legitimate renderings or is one faulty?

[Stephen Silver]

Some translators have that Moses parted the Red Sea, while others say that he parted the Reed Sea. Are both legitimate renderings or is one faulty?

Shlama:
Moses parted the Yam Suf/End Sea. The name Red Sea is traditional but not related to the actual name that is first mentioned in Exodus 10:19, 13:18, 15:4. The word suf or sof means seaweed, as in Exodus 2:3, 5, Jonah 2:6 (Hebrew text) but generally in the T"NK it means end. The Aramaic cognate appears in Luke 1:33.

"And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

soop

There is some evidence of chariot wheels encrusted with coral in the Red Sea in the Gulf of Aqaba.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33168">http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33168</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://users.netconnect.com.au/~leedas/redsea.html">http://users.netconnect.com.au/~leedas/redsea.html</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bibleplus.com/discoveries/redsea.htm">http://www.bibleplus.com/discoveries/redsea.htm</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/bb971126.htm">http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/bb971126.htm</a><!-- m -->

Pi Hakhirot seems to be Neweveh, at the Gulf of Aqaba.

Moreover, Israel gave the Sinai Peninsula back to the Egyptians because it has never been sacred to the Jews. Sinai is in Arabia as the apostle Paul wrote. (Galatians 4:25) This being so, then the crossing must have been through the Gulf of Aqaba.

Shlama,
Stephen
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.dukhrana.com">http://www.dukhrana.com</a><!-- m -->

[Christina]

Definitely the Red Sea, although the Tanakh doesn't literally read that way. The "Sea of Reeds", is thought by most scholars to be either a lake or swamp somewhere near the Red Sea coast, either is way too shallow to drown Pharaoh & his army. The point is it's a sea not a lake or swamp, and since Mt. Sinai (according to both Josephus & Paul) is in Arabia the only sea that "yam suf" can possibly be implying is the Red Sea.

[Spyridon]

If we are to take the Hebrew literally, then it was the Reed Sea? Orthodox Jews, if I'm not mistaken, believe it was the Reed Sea.

[Christina]

I have some interesting news on that regard by the way (on Sinai actually being in S.Arabia not in Egypt): the Saudi Goverment KNOWS this and they block people from going there. Seems that they want to prevent people from finding out some Quran damning details in Sinai.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised, the Saudis don't want archaeologists to dig in the Hijaz because they don't want us to find more proof which will further verify the authenticity of our Scriptures which they claim we corrupted. They know something, I'm sure of it, and even if they don't we can be sure that HaSatan certainly does. Also because they won't allow archaeologists to dig in Mecca we cannot verify the true age of the Kaaba, hmm...surely they wouldn't mind if they had nothing to hide. I've also heard that 2 or 3 of the oldest mss of the Quran are housed in the Topkapi museum in Istanbul and NO ONE is allowed to see them, why?

Back to Mt. Sinai being in Arabia, the context of Exodus further supports this because Moshe fled to Midian and every reputable scholar agrees that Midian is northern KSA which includes the Hijaz (Muhammad's turf where Mecca & Medina are located). When YHWH appeared to Moshe, in the burning bush incident, Moshe was pasturing Jethro's flock, surely Moshe wouldn't have gone all the way to Egypt, that's impractical & absurd, Mt. Sinai had to be nearby, it couldn't have been further north than the border of modern Jordan. Note also that the Ishmaelite kings of Midian (Zebah & Zalmunna) had crescents on their camels' necks in Judges 8:21-26, nothing has changed at all, its same old, same old.

[Spyridon]

Ultimately, I don't belive it matters which sea Moses crossed. I do prefer, however, keeping to the original Hebrew.