The Red Sea was the body of water miraculously crossed by the Israelites in their escape from Egypt (Exo. 13:18; 15:4).
The Red Sea is significant in the Bible as the sea the Israelites miraculously crossed during the Exodus from Egypt. God parted the waters, allowing Israel to cross on dry ground, but drowned the pursuing Egyptian army when the waters closed back over them (Exo. 14-15). This event is remembered as a great act of divine deliverance (Jos. 2:10; Neh. 9:9; Psa. 106:7-9; 136:13-15). The Red Sea also marked the southern border of the Promised Land (Exo. 23:31). King Solomon later built a fleet of ships on the Red Sea at Ezion-geber (1Ki. 9:26). The Hebrew name Yam Suph means "Sea of Reeds", so the body of water was likely one of the shallow lakes along Egypt's eastern border rather than the main body of the Red Sea. Its exact location is debated.
Approximate location: 27.088, 34.772 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
The sea so called extends along the west coast of Arabia for about 1,400 miles, and separates Asia from Africa. It is connected with the Indian Ocean, of which it is an arm, by the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. At a point (Ras Mohammed) about 200 miles from its nothern extremity it is divided into two arms, that on the east called the AElanitic Gulf, now the Bahr el-‘Akabah, about 100 miles long by 15 broad, and that on the west the Gulf of Suez, about 150 miles long by about 20 broad. This branch is now connected with the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. Between these two arms lies the Sinaitic Peninsula. The Hebrew name generally given to this sea is Yam Suph. This word suph means a woolly kind of sea-weed, which the sea casts up in great abundance on its shores. In these passages, Ex. 10:19; 13:18; 15:4, 22; 23:31; Num. 14:25, etc., the Hebrew name is always translated “Red Sea,” which was the name given to it by the Greeks. The origin of this name (Red Sea) is uncertain. Some think it is derived from the red colour of the mountains on the western shore; others from the red coral found in the sea, or the red appearance sometimes given to the water by certain zoophytes floating in it. In the New Testament (Acts 7:36; Heb. 11:29) this name is given to the Gulf of Suez. This sea was also called by the Hebrews Yam-mitstraim, i.e., “the Egyptian sea” (Isa. 11:15), and simply Ha-yam, “the sea” (Ex. 14:2, 9, 16, 21, 28; Josh. 24:6, 7; Isa. 10:26, etc.). The great historical event connected with the Red Sea is the passage of the children of Israel, and the overthrow of the Egyptians, to which there is frequent reference in Scripture (Ex. 14, 15; Num. 33:8; Deut. 11:4; Josh. 2:10; Judg. 11:16; 2 Sam. 22:16; Neh. 9:9-11; Ps. 66:6; Isa. 10:26; Acts 7:36, etc.).
RED SEA, a long, narrow arm of the ocean separating Asia from Africa. It was called by the Hebrews "the sea," Ex 14:2, Gal 1:9, Ex 17:16, 2 Chr 11:21, Acts 20:28; Ex 15:1, Ex 6:4, 1 Kgs 15:8, 1 Kgs 16:10, Acts 1:19; Josh 24:6-7, etc.; the "Egyptian Sea," Isa 11:15, but especially the "Sea of Suph," apparently so named from the wool-like weeds growing in it.Ex 10:19; Gen 13:18; Ex 15:4, Ex 15:22; Eze 23:31; Num 15:25; Num 21:4, etc. The Greeks applied "Eruthra Thalassa" or "Red Sea" to it in common with the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean; in the N.T. it is applied to the western gulf, now known as the "Red Sea." Acts 7:36; Heb 11:29. This name is derived, perhaps, from the red coral or zoophytes in the sea, or, as some conjecture, from Edom, which signifies "red." The Egyptians called it the "Sea of Punt" or Arabia, and the Arabs "Bahr el Hejaz," or "El-bahr el-Ahmar." See Map of Sinai, at the end of this volume. Physical Features. - The Red Sea consists of a long, narrow arm of the Indian Ocean, projecting north-west inland a distance of 1450 miles. It is connected with the ocean by the narrow strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, only 18 miles wide. The sea, at its greatest breadth, is 221 miles; toward its northern end it gradually contracts, and then divides into two arms - the Gulf of Akabah on the east, and the Gulf of Suez on the west, the latter extending to within 70 miles of the Mediterranean. Between these two arms is the Sinaitic peninsula. The Red Sea covers an area of about 180,000 square miles, and is at some places 1000 fathoms deep, but its average depth is from 400 to 600 fathoms. The shores are flanked by a network of submerged coral-reefs and islands extending a long way from the coast and rendering the navigation of the sea perilous, especially in its…
RED SEA, PASSAGE OF. See Exodus, Route of, and Red Sea.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
26 verses in 11 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H5488
And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind that carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained anywhere in Egypt.
So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt arrayed for battle.
Pharaohʼs chariots and army He has cast into the sea; the finest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water.
And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
Now since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”
Then they set out from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, in order to bypass the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the journey
They set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.
They set out from the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin.
But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”
Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.
what He did to the Egyptian army and horses and chariots when He made the waters of the Red Sea engulf them as they pursued you, and how He destroyed them completely, even to this day;
For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction.
For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over.
When I brought your fathers out of Egypt and you reached the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea.
But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
King Solomon also assembled a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.
You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; You heard their cry at the Red Sea.
Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders or remember Your abundant kindness; but they rebelled by the sea, there at the Red Sea.
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
He divided the Red Sea in two His loving devotion endures forever.
but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea. His loving devotion endures forever.
At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; their cry will resound to the Red Sea.
He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.