Were the waters parted instantly?

Question

On the one hand we have the Exodus 14 account that reads

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭14:21‬

But then in the song that they sang the next chapter/day it reads

“And with the blast of Your nostrils The waters were gathered together; The floods stood upright like a heap; The depths congealed in the heart of the sea.” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭15:8‬ ‭

I understand that in the Hebrew the ruach of God’s nostrils could have gone all night as per chapter 14 and it wouldn’t be a contradiction.

But why would the translators use blast?

a sudden and violent gust of wind

(Additionally - Is it possible that this is intended to illustrate the immensity of God by showing that just one blast of God’s nostrils lasts ~8-12 hours? A hypothetical comparison of lung size for instance. I’m trying all kinds of explanations)

Answer 1

The Interpreter's Bible considers the "blast of his nostrils" to be a poetic hyperbole. If so it is not necessarily incompatible with an East wind that blows through the night.

I notice that Psalm 18 uses a similar image twice. In one case we certainly should not take it literally, unless we picture God as a Baal-like storm deity or Volcano god.

The earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth. There went up smoke out of His nostrils, and a devouring fire out of His mouth; coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also and came down; and darkness was under His feet. (7-9)

A few lines later a similar phrase could be interpreted to refer to the Sinai event, except the context is more like the story of story of Jonah than that of Moses:

Then the channels of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were uncovered at Thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils. He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. (15-16)

Since very similar phrases are used poetically elsewhere, we can presume that this is also how "the blast of his nostrils" used in Ex. 15:8

Answer 2

Re: the QUESTION asked was quote: "Were The Waters Parted Instantly?" As in EXODUS chapter 14:21 "And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea ; and the LORD caused the sea to go (back) note this word was added by the King James 1611 translaters and was not in the actual scriptures.Pls note.--to go (back) by a strong east wind all that, and made the sea dry (land) again another addition. That is the word -land. So the ANSWER is simple. Correction.Praise the LORD.With "REVELATION " one must thank Him for it .It's not us.The answer is a 'Blessing' like a window from from Heaven. Just believe. The answer is in front of you in your KJ bible if you have one so you really don't need me but suffice to say : (1) Answer is - "NO, no "instantly" here. (2) Let me please explain It's simple .Take a plastic cup.Now fill it with water.Now put it into the fridge / freezer section. Have you done that.Now take it out say in 5 minutes.Now is it frozen solid ."CONGEALED" see EXODUS 15:8 read and note.The answer is no as it will take time in the fridge ,even in the freezer section to go solid. Now when you apply a strong wind to water.What do you get ?. You are right .Ice (even SNOW at first but with this "strong east wind all that night," wow,it would have been cold.Exodus 14:21 it then made the water ---ICE (water hard).CONGEALED . THERE WAS NO PARTING.(REVELATION- not interpretation). The people walked across the Red Sea (crossing) on the sand which would have blown onto the top so they all crossed on the surface.There was no parting and one can clearly see that from the Bible. You will.Lets take out those two "ring-ins",namely,'back' and 'land' and re-read it .Can you now see the difference. The sea went to go by a strong east wind. See - it did not go back.He then made it dry. No land here now. "DIVIDED" that can.be explained too.Imagine a highway,hard CONGEALED water .Sand on.Here was their passage.But very wide.Now imagine either side the ordinary water/sea. Once the Israelites crossed the water then returned to normal temperature via God/Moses and the rest is history. Confirmation is found in EXODUS 15:5 "The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone." Well to sink you have to go from top to bottom. Read Exodus 15:10b they sank as lead in the mighty waters." Note SANK. So again the ANSWER is no the waters were not parted instantly and in fact were not parted at all. Blessings user 32276 Dennis