The crossing of the sea EXO 14:22

Pharaoh's chariots caught up with Israel camped against the water, leaving them trapped with no way forward or back. Moses stretched out his hand, a strong east wind blew all night, and the people walked across on dry ground with the water standing like a wall on either side. When the Egyptians followed at dawn their wheels clogged in the seabed, and the water returned over them.

The passage does not explain his reasoning in detail, only that he reconsidered and sent his army after the people. This fits a pattern seen throughout the exodus story, where Pharaoh's resolve repeatedly hardens and then breaks. His pursuit here becomes the last and most costly reversal, since it leads his own chariots into the seabed.

Many translations call it the Red Sea, but the Hebrew phrase is sometimes rendered Sea of Reeds, and scholars and translators disagree about exactly which body of water is meant. The passage itself simply calls it the sea without naming it further. This question does not change what the text describes: a crossing on dry ground followed by the return of the water over the pursuing army.

Once the people reach the far shore safely, Miriam takes a tambourine and leads the women in song, turning the moment into an act of worship rather than just a narrow escape. It shows the crossing being remembered and celebrated right away, not only told as a story afterward. This closing scene balances the danger of the chariots and the night crossing with communal rejoicing over what had just happened.