What historical events might Psalm 114:5 be referencing? Canonical Context Psalm 114 is a liturgical hymn celebrating Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and entry into Canaan. Verse 5 asks, “Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back?” . The “sea” is the Red Sea (Heb. Yam Suph) and “Jordan” refers to the Jordan River. Two distinct historical moments lie behind these poetic questions. Exodus and the Parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14) • Event. At dawn on Nisan 17, ca. 1446 BC, Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry ground (Exodus 14:21–22). The waters “stood like a wall on their right and on their left.” • Miraculous Character. Scripture presents the phenomenon as supernatural: “The LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind” (v. 21). • Purpose. The passage secured Israel’s liberation, judged Egypt, and publicly exalted Yahweh (Exodus 14:31). • Echo in Psalm 114. The psalmist personifies the sea, picturing it as fleeing in awe before its Creator-Redeemer. Crossing the Jordan River under Joshua (Joshua 3 – 4) • Event. Forty years later, in early April (harvest flood stage, Joshua 3:15), the Jordan “stood still and rose up in a heap” (Joshua 3:16) near Adam, allowing the nation to cross opposite Jericho. • Miraculous Character. Yahweh’s presence in the ark halted the river. Unlike seasonal sandbars, the water “was completely cut off” (v. 17). • Purpose. The sign authenticated Joshua’s leadership and inaugurated Israel’s conquest (Joshua 4:14, 24). • Echo in Psalm 114. The river is pictured as reversing its flow, retreating at God’s approach. Literary and Theological Parallels Both events transform chaotic waters into a pathway, recalling Genesis 1:2, 9 where God subdues the primeval deep. Psalm 114 thus frames the Exodus-Conquest sequence as a new creation. Archaeological and Textual Corroboration—Red Sea 1. Merneptah Stele (ca. 1208 BC) confirms Israel’s presence in Canaan within a generation of the proposed 1446 BC Exodus. 2. Papyrus Brooklyn 35.1446 documents large Semitic slave populations in Egypt’s eastern Delta during Dynasty 13, matching Exodus 1. 3. Avaris (Tell el-Dabʿa) excavations reveal abrupt abandonment and Asiatic artifacts consistent with a mass Semitic departure. 4. Underwater surveys at the Gulf of Aqaba’s Nuweiba crossing show a natural under-sea land bridge flanked by deep sinks (28°58' N, 34°30' E), fitting the biblical topography of walls of water (Exodus 14:22). 5. Late Bronze chariot parts—including wheel rims of Egyptian design—have been photographed encrusted in coral at that locale, lending physical plausibility to Exodus 14:25. Archaeological and Textual Corroboration—Jordan 1. Geologists note that on December 8 1267 AD, 1546 AD, and 1927 AD earthquakes triggered landslides at Damiya (biblical Adam) that dammed the Jordan for up to 21 hours—an analog to Joshua 3:16. 2. Tell es-Sultan (Jericho) shows Late Bronze walls toppled outward, not inward, burned (Joshua 6:24), and abruptly abandoned about 1400 BC (radiocarbon, garstang/gaeon chronology). The crossing precedes this conquest chronologically. 3. Twelve-stone monument unearthed at Gilgal (“foot-shaped” enclosure, Bedhat esh-Shaʿab) fits Joshua 4:20. Corporate Memory in Israel’s Worship The two crossings bracket the wilderness period; by pairing them, Psalm 114 leads post-exilic singers to relive redemption. The psalm’s a-b-a-b structure (sea, Jordan, mountains, earth) reinforces God’s mastery over all creation. Early Jewish and Christian Interpretation Second-Temple writings (Wisdom 19:5 – 7; Sirach 44:23 – 24) and the early church (1 Corinthians 10:1–2; Hebrews 11:29) cite both crossings as typology of salvation: passing through water under divine protection. Church fathers saw baptism prefigured here. Foreshadowing of the Resurrection As Israel moved from slavery to life, so Christ passed through death’s “waters” and emerged victorious (Romans 6:4). The historicity of the crossings undergirds the typological logic Paul employs. Practical Application Believers facing seeming impossibilities recall: the God who made the seas flee and the river turn back still intervenes. Unbelievers are confronted with events that resist naturalistic reduction, inviting them to seek the God of Scripture. Conclusion Psalm 114:5 poetically recalls two real, datable, and theologically charged events—the Red Sea crossing under Moses and the Jordan River crossing under Joshua—each authenticated by converging textual, archaeological, and geological lines of evidence, each designed to glorify Yahweh and prefigure the ultimate deliverance accomplished in the risen Christ. |
    |