Text: Isaiah 63:12
OT Text Referred to: Exodus 14:16
Subject: divided the sea
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Typology
Significance: Isaiah 63:12 recalls that God "divided the waters (בּוֹקֵעַ מַיִם, boqea mayim) before them" by Moses' glorious arm (זְרוֹעַ תִּפְאַרְתּוֹ, zero'a tif'arto), directly recalling Exodus 14:16 where Moses was told to "stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it (וּבְקָעֵהוּ, uvqa'ehu)." The same root בקע (baqa, "split/divide") connects both passages. Isaiah 63:12 sets this sea-splitting memory within a penitential prayer (63:7-64:12) that pleads for God to act again as He did at the exodus. The prayer uses the exodus vocabulary as both memorial and petition — remembering the divided sea to motivate God to intervene again with the same power for the current generation.