BIBLE VERSE STUDY
Exodus 14:26 — The Command to Return the Waters
God instructs Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea so that the waters will return and cover the Egyptian army.
Scripture
26And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.
What this passage means
Verse 26 is a divine command that triggers the final act of the Red Sea deliverance. After the Egyptians have entered the divided sea and have been thrown into confusion (vv. 24–25), the LORD tells Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea so that the waters will come back upon the chariots and horsemen. The verse is the hinge between the Israelites' safe crossing and the destruction of Pharaoh's army, and it makes clear that the people's salvation and the Egyptians' downfall are two sides of a single act.
The phrasing 'that the waters may come again' uses language of reversal. What had been divided (vv. 16, 21) is now commanded to return to its normal course, and the return is intentionally aimed at the Egyptians. The verse names three groups — the Egyptians themselves, their chariots, and their horsemen — echoing the threefold description of the pursuers in v. 23 and showing that the entire military force is in view, not merely a part of it.
Theologically, the passage presents Moses as an agent who acts only at the LORD's word. Just as the sea was split by the rod of Moses at God's command (v. 16), now the same hand, stretched out again at God's word, brings the waters back. The passage thereby presents Moses as the human instrument who carries out, but does not originate, the saving and judging work of the LORD.
Context
Exodus 14 is structured around the LORD's stated purpose in v. 4: 'the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah.' The chapter opens with Israel trapped by the sea and Pharaoh's army closing in (vv. 1–12), records Moses' reassurance that the LORD will fight for them (vv. 13–14), and then narrates the dividing of the sea (vv. 15–22). Verse 26 sits at the climax of the second half, where the sea that had made a path now becomes a trap.
The verses that frame v. 26 are essential to its meaning. In v. 25 the Egyptians already confess, 'Jehovah fighteth for them against the Egyptians,' and in v. 27 Moses stretches out his hand and the sea returns 'to its strength.' Verse 28 then reports the result: the waters cover the army so that 'there remained not so much as one of them.' Together, vv. 23–28 form a tight literary unit in which the pursuit, the divine disclosure, the command of v. 26, and the execution are deliberately sequenced.
Key words in the original
- H5186 The verb נָטָה (nāṭāh), 'stretch out,' appears in vv. 16 and 26 with the same object — Moses' hand over the sea. The repetition binds the two events into a matched pair: the same outstretched hand that parts the water (v. 16) is now ordered to bring it back (v. 26). The gloss notes the verb's broad range, but within Exodus 14 it is used specifically for a gesture of authority that acts at the LORD's command.
- H7725 The verb שׁוּב (šûb), rendered here 'come again / come back,' carries the basic sense of turning back. In v. 26 it depicts the waters returning to their former state, undoing the division of vv. 21–22. The same root will appear in v. 28 ('the waters returned'), tying the command of v. 26 to its outcome.
- H6571 The noun פָּרָשׁ (pārāš), 'horsemen,' refers to riders or cavalrymen, often paired with chariots as a single military force. In Exodus 14 it appears in vv. 23, 26, and 28, forming part of the recurring three-element list — Egyptians, chariots, horsemen — that names the whole army being judged.
Related verses
- Exodus 14:16 This verse contains the earlier command for Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea, this time to divide it. Read with v. 26, the two commands form a deliberate pair: the same gesture, performed at the LORD's word, first opens a path of safety and then becomes the instrument of judgment on the pursuers.
- Exodus 8:5 Earlier in Exodus, the LORD instructs Moses or Aaron to stretch out a hand or rod over a body of water, and the action produces a plague effect. The pattern of a divine 'stretch out' command followed by an effect on water prefigures the greater 'stretch out' of Exodus 14, where the same kind of language now delivers, not plagues, but rescue and destruction.
- Matthew 8:27 The disciples marvel that even the winds and the sea obey Jesus. Exodus 14 displays the same conviction at an earlier stage: the sea obeys the voice of the LORD spoken through Moses, parting and then returning. The cross reference invites the reader to see continuity between the LORD's authority over the sea in Exodus and the authority claimed and exercised by Jesus.
Common questions
Why does the LORD command Moses to stretch out his hand again in v. 26?
The repeated gesture deliberately links the opening of the sea (v. 16) with its closing. The same outstretched hand that made a path for Israel now becomes the instrument by which the sea returns to cover the Egyptians. The repetition underscores that both acts — rescue and judgment — are carried out under the same divine authority and through the same human agent.
Who is meant by 'the Egyptians, their chariots, and their horsemen'?
The threefold list names the components of Pharaoh's army that pursued Israel into the sea (cf. v. 23). It is a comprehensive description of the pursuing force rather than a distinction between separate units: the Egyptians as the people, the chariots as the vehicles, and the horsemen as the riders. The repetition across vv. 23, 26, and 28 emphasizes that the entire pursuing force is the target of the returning waters.
Does v. 26 imply that Moses initiates the destruction of the Egyptians?
No. The verse presents Moses as the recipient of a command, not as the originator of the act. The sequence is: the LORD speaks, Moses responds, and the sea returns. The same pattern is already established in v. 16, where the parting of the sea is itself a response to the LORD's prior word. Moses' hand is the instrument; the LORD's word is the cause.