Splitting the Sea

“At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood straight like a wall; the deep froze in the heart of the sea.” - Exodus 15:8

The 21st of Nisan marks the seventh day of Passover—an extraordinary day in Jewish history. On this day, the Yam Suf (Reed Sea) split, forming walls of water on both sides, enabling the twelve tribes of Israel to escape Pharaoh’s pursuing army. Jewish sources such as Seder Olam, the Talmud, and the Book of Josephus agree that the Israelites camped near the Reed Sea four days prior to this miraculous event. According to tradition and textual clues, the crossing occurred along the northern Gulf of Suez, not the Gulf of Aqaba, as some modern theories propose.

Establishing the Route: From Goshen to the Sea

On the 15th of Nisan, following the first Passover and the death of the Egyptian firstborn, the Israelites departed Egypt (Numbers 33:4). Within days, they had reached the shores of the sea opposite Migdol. According to Yalkut Shimoni, this was where they recovered a treasure Joseph had hidden generations earlier.

Rabbi Mattis Kantor, in Codex Judaica, provides a timeline based on the Jewish Chronology called Seder Olam relates how Pharaoh sent supervisors to observe and report on the camp of Israel. They returned to Pharaoh on the fourth day to report,

“Bnei Yisrael had no intention of returning. The Egyptians pursued them on the fifth and sixth days, and on that night (entering the seventh day, the 21st of Nisan), Bnei Yisrael crossed the sea.” (see Talmud Sotah 12b; Mechilta; Rashi on Shemot 14:5)

This consistent chronology, also reflected in works such as The Book of Our Heritage by Eliyahu Kitov and Me’am Lo’ez, confirms that the Splitting of the Sea took place on the seventh day of Passover.

Debunking the Gulf of Aqaba Theory

Some contemporary researchers propose that the crossing occurred at either Nuweiba Beach or the Straits of Tiran, both located along the Gulf of Aqaba. However, these theories are incompatible with both the Biblical text and Jewish tradition.

From Goshen to Nuweiba is roughly 250 miles as the crow flies, and closer to 275 miles when traveling by land through mountainous terrain. Even today, such a journey would be daunting. Comparatively, Alexander the Great’s army of 40,000 men marching 130 miles along coastal plains from Pelusium to Gaza—a relatively easy path—and still it took seven days.

Are we to believe that a group of over 600,000 Israelite men, along with their families and livestock, could traverse nearly twice that distance in less time?

Furthermore, if the crossing took place at the Gulf of Aqaba, Israel would have emerged directly into Midian—a claim contradicted by Exodus 15:22, which says they entered the Wilderness of Shur, a region on the opposite end of Egypt, near its eastern frontier and closer to the Gulf of Suez—not the Arabian Peninsula.

The Meaning of "Shur"

The Torah’s reference to the Wilderness of Shur is a crucial geographical clue. “Shur” means “wall,” likely referencing the massive defensive barrier built by the Egyptians to protect against invasions from the east. Archaeological discoveries at Tell Habua, just three kilometers from the modern Suez Canal, have uncovered remnants of this wall, believed to be the ancient border fortress of Tjaru on the road once called “The Way of Horus”. In many ways, Tell Habua could be Biblical Pithom, one of the so-called store cities built, literally by the blood, sweat and tears of the Children of Israel. This supports the traditional view that Israel’s crossing occurred at the Gulf of Suez, near northern tip of the gulf and much closer to Goshen, the area populated by Israel before their departure.

Hagar and the Road to Shur

Another clue comes to us in the story of Hagar, the handmaiden of Sarah. In Genesis 16:7, she flees the tent of Sarah in Beersheva and later found "on the road to Shur" Sources—including Genesis Rabbah and Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer—identify Hagar as a daughter of Pharaoh—returning to Egypt. Thus, it makes sense that she would take the shorter, direct “road to Shur”.

Placing the Shur in present-day Saudi Arabia—as required by the Gulf of Aqaba theory—would imply Hagar took a bizarre 250-mile detour through harsh terrain to return to Egypt, an implausible scenario for a lone runaway.

A Flawed Timeline for the Aqaba Crossing

Exodus 19:1 states that Israel arrived in the Wilderness of Sinai on the first day of the third month—forty-five days after the Exodus. If Israel crossed into Midian (via the Gulf of Aqaba) on the seventh day, what did they do for the remaining thirty-eight days before arriving at Mount Sinai? Moreover, if Mount Sinai were located in Midian, as some claim, there would be no need for Jethro (Yitro), Moses’ father-in-law, to “return to his own land” as stated in Exodus 18:27. And tellingly, Midian does not appear anywhere in the list of Israel’s encampments recorded in Numbers 33.

Conclusion: A Text-Based, Traditional Understanding

The Torah provides sufficient geographical markers and historical context to trace Israel’s route from Egypt and their path through Yam Suf. The Splitting of the Sea happened on the 21st of Nisan, the seventh day of the Exodus. The Israelites did not cross into Midian or make a 275-mile trek to the Gulf of Aqaba. Instead, they crossed at a location consistent with both the timeline and the terrain cited in the Torah and relevant Jewish sources, placing the site close to or on the northern Gulf of Suez, near Egypt’s eastern border.

The name Yam Suf itself, often translated as “Reed Sea,” can also be rendered as “End Sea”—aptly describing the terminus of the Sinai Peninsula and foreshadowing the end of Pharaoh’s empire. By closely reading the text and honoring the oral traditions preserved through the centuries, we uncover a coherent and historically grounded understanding of the Exodus saga that aligns with scripture.