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Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/The Red Sea
< Book of Mormon | Anachronisms
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Contents
Criticism
Critics cast doubt on the miracle of Moses parting the Red Sea by asserting that it is a mistranslation of the Hebrew phrase yam sûp. They say it should read "the Reed Sea," and that the Israelites actually just crossed a marshy inlet while the Egyptians' chariots got stuck in the mud.
Response
According to an article in Biblical Archaeology Review, the popular idea that the Hebrew phrase yam sûp actually means "Sea of Reeds" is erroneous and unsupported by linguistic evidence. Other passages use the term to clearly mean the body of water we call today the Red Sea, such as 1 Kgs. 9:26:
- And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.
The author, Bernard F. Batto, does agree that yam sûp does not literally mean "Red Sea" (that would be yam adam). Rather, he believes that it is related to the Hebrew root sûp, meaning "to cease to exist," or the word sôp, meaning simply "end." Thus, the literal translation would be "the Sea at the End of the World." The phrase yam sûp is used in Jewish extra-biblical literature to refer to the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean; i.e., "all those connecting oceans to the south of the known world."[1]
Conclusion
There is no reason to rewrite the text of Exodus. The parting of the Red Sea was a literal, miraculous event as traditionally understood and as confirmed by the statements of modern prophets.
Endnotes
[note] Bernard F. Batto, "Red Sea or Reed Sea?: How the Mistake Was Made and What Yam Sûp Really Means," Biblical Archaeology Review 10:4 (July/August 1984), p. 56–63.