Danielost posts #7
you still lose stuff in translation.
for instance the Hebrew words used for the Exodus means reed sea. but the Greeks translated it to red sea. now i don't know which is correct. but i think that the Hebrew would be more correct.
KFC POSTS:
If so, I think that could be the reason for the names and therefore are one in the same.
Danielost posts:
there used to be in egypt a sea of reeds. the greeks supposedly miss translated the hebrew word for reed to red. or maybe it was a miss spell.
KFC posts #11
As I said, I remember something about the reeds being red and quite possibly that's the reason for Reed Sea vs Red Sea.
Danielost posts:
except in this case they are two different bodies of water. or i should say were two different bodies of water. basically a lake with reeds in it.
i am getting this off of the history channel so i don't know if it is or isn't.
personnally i think it was the red sea.
Sodaiho posts #45
Exod 13:18 translates literally as 'sea of reeds'.
Danielost, Thanks for bringing this point about the Red (Reed) Sea into the discussion. It sent me on a most interesting search.
Both history and Sacred Scripture testify to well travelled trade routes between Egypt and Arabia which cut directly toward the Gulf of Suez. But one may only postulate as to the
exact route taken by the Israelites from the land of oppression toward the land of promise. For determining the route we'd have to mention places such as Etham, a site that lays at the northern tip of the Bitter Lakes, bordering the desert. Also, Rameses, Magdol and Soan. In Biblical times the Bitter Lakes was linked to the Gulf of Suez. Since the work on the Suez Canal, there have been many changes between the Gulf of Suez and the various lakes on the Mediterranean. Some have disappeared.
The Hebrew term
yam sup signifies "Reed Sea". Ancient texts relate that 2 bodies of water lay near Rameses-Soan. ONe is the "water of Horus" the Shihor of Is. 23:3 and Jer. 2"18 of the Masoretic text, and the other was "the Papyrus Marsh", an equivalent of the "Reed Sea".
The the actual place of the marshy area of the Reed Sea is up for discussion. Most say its north of the Bitter Lakes and some say Moses crossed south of the Bitter Lakes. Scripture tells us that once the Israelites arrived in the area of the Bitter Lakes, they learn they are being pursued by their erstwhile masters. They cry out in alarm to the Lord God and complain to Moses, a reaction that occurs frequently throughout Exodus and Numbers.
KFC posts #11
Regardless, I don't get your point about how this really messes us up with translation problems. The sea being called the Red or Reed Sea does not make a difference either way.
I agree. The point of the actual crossing whether it was the Red Sea or the Reed Sea is a concrete historical event of the deliverance of Israel which constitutes a fundamental dogma in Israelite faith.
Yes, granted over the years there have been interesting embellishments to the basic elements of Scripture. The point is was there actual intervention of God Himself? Yes, indeed. Could He have used natural phenonomena in that instance? Yes, indeed. We know of the winds that drove back the waters of the lagoon and enabled Scipio to capture New Carthage. The text itself tells us of the part the wind played in facilitationg this crossing for the Israelites.
Quite different is the Egyptian pursuit who didn't want to lose their valuable slave force. The author informs us that the Egyptians rushed into the Reed Sea in the blackness on night. Again, we may postulate the providential use of natural phenomena as the reason for the destruction of the Egyptian forces...As the wind that caused the tide in turn subsided, the waters of the Reed Sea flowed back.
But the bigger question is what's the point to the reader as far as salvation history? It's to further enhance the glory of God and the singular position of Israel as the people of His choice. The Red (Reed Sea) incident is to achieve the divinely intended result of making people conscious of God's intervention on their behalf. Numerous other passages give concrete testimony to this. The OT is fulfilled in the New Testament and in Christian times, St. Paul alluded to the Red (Reed Sea) narrative and saw in this phenomenon a type of the waters of Baptism wherein the Christian is delivered from the tyranny of Satan.
