'Sea' in the Bible

God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it.

Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”

And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it under your power]; and rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

The fear and the terror of you shall be [instinctive] in every animal of the land and in every bird of the air; and together with everything that moves on the ground, and with all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hand.

All of these [kings] joined together [as allies] in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Sea of Salt).

And You [Lord] said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper and make your descendants as [numerous as] the sand of the sea, which is too great to be counted.’”

Thus Joseph gathered and stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting it, for it could not be measured.

So the Lord shifted the wind to a violent west wind which lifted up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not one locust remained within the border of Egypt.

But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea; the sons of Israel went up in battle array (orderly ranks, marching formation) out of the land of Egypt.

“Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea.

The Egyptians chased them with all the horses and war-chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them as they camped by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the sons of Israel may go through the middle of the sea on dry land.

As for Me, hear this: I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in [the sea] after them; and I will be glorified and honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and his war-chariots and his horsemen.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all that night and turned the seabed into dry land, and the waters were divided.

The Israelites went into the middle of the sea on dry land, and the waters formed a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Then the Egyptians pursued them into the middle of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his war-chariots and his charioteers.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, on their war-chariots and their charioteers.”

So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal flow at sunrise; and the Egyptians retreated right into it [being met by the returning water]; so the Lord overthrew the Egyptians and tossed them into the midst of the sea.

But the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters formed a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, singing,“I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously;The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea.

“Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has thrown into the sea;His chosen captains are drowned in the Red Sea.

“With the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up,The flowing waters stood up like a mound;The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.

“You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them;[Clad in armor] they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

“You stretched out Your right hand,The sea swallowed them.

For the horses of Pharaoh went with his war-chariots and his charioteers into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the sons of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.

Miriam answered them,“Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously and is highly exalted;The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.”

Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went into the Wilderness of Shur; they went [a distance of] three days (about thirty-three miles) in the wilderness and found no water.

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].

I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines (the Mediterranean), and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will hand over the residents of the land to you, and you shall drive them out before you.

Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be collected for them to be sufficient for them?”

Now there went forth a wind from the Lord and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall [so they flew low] beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits (three feet) deep on the surface of the ground.

[The people descended from] Amalek live in the land of the Negev (South country); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the [Dead] Sea and along the side of the Jordan.”

Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valley; tomorrow turn and set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.”

But Moses said, “Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord, when it will not succeed?

Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the [branch of the] Red Sea [called the Gulf of Aqabah], to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient, because [of the challenges] of the journey.

They moved out from before Pi-hahiroth and passed through the midst of the [Red] Sea into the wilderness; and they went a three days’ journey in the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.

They moved out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).

They moved out from the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin.

your southern region shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern boundary from the end of the Salt (Dead) Sea eastward.

Then the boundary shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-arish), and its limit shall be at the [Mediterranean] Sea.

‘As the western boundary you shall have the Great [Mediterranean] Sea and its coastline. This shall be your western boundary.

‘And this shall be your north border: from the Great [Mediterranean] Sea mark out your boundary line to Mount Hor;

the [eastern] boundary shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and shall descend and reach to the slope on the east of the Sea of Chinnereth [the Sea of Galilee];

and the [eastern] boundary shall go down to the Jordan [River], and its limit shall be at the Salt (Dead) Sea. This shall be your land according to its boundaries all around.’”

These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel [while they were still] beyond [that is, on the east side of] the Jordan [River] in the wilderness [across from Jerusalem], in the Arabah [the long, deep valley running north and south from the eastern arm of the Red Sea to beyond the Dead Sea] opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab (place of gold).

But as for you, turn around and set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).’

“Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, just as the Lord had told me; and we circled Mount Seir for many days.

the Arabah also, with the Jordan as its boundary, from Chinnereth (the Sea of Galilee) as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea (Dead Sea), at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah on the east.

with all the Arabah (desert lowlands) across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea), at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.

and what He did to the army of Egypt, to its horses and its chariots, when He made the water of the Red Sea engulf them as they pursued you, and how the Lord completely destroyed them;

Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall become yours; your territory shall be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea (the Mediterranean).

Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?’

Of Naphtali he said,“O Naphtali, satisfied with favor,And full of the blessing of the Lord,Take possession of the sea [of Galilee] and the south.”

and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah to the western sea (Mediterranean Sea),

From the wilderness [of Arabia in the south] and this Lebanon [in the north], even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates [in the east], all the land of the Hittites (Canaan), and as far as the Great [Mediterranean] Sea toward the west shall be your territory.

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan [on the east], to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

the waters which were flowing down from above stopped and rose up in one mass a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan. Those [waters] flowing downward toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed [the river] opposite Jericho.

For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed;

Now it happened when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted [in despair], and there was no [fighting] spirit in them any longer because of the Israelites [and what God had done for them].

Now when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland [at the western edge of the hills of Judea], and all along the coast of the Great [Mediterranean] Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of this [army and its victories over Jericho and Ai],

and the Arabah [plain] as far as the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) eastward, and as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt (Dead) Sea, eastward toward Beth-jeshimoth, and southward to the foot of the slopes of [Mount] Pisgah;

and in the valley, Beth-haram and Beth-nimrah and Succoth and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, with the Jordan as a border, as far as the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) east of the Jordan.

Their southern border was from the lower end of the Salt (Dead) Sea, from the bay that turns southward.

It continued along to Azmon and proceeded to the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish), and the border ended at the [Mediterranean] sea. This was their southern border.

The eastern border was the Salt (Dead) Sea, as far as the mouth of the Jordan. The northern border was from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan.

The border proceeded to the slope [of the hill] of Ekron northward, then curved to Shikkeron and continued to Mount Baalah and proceeded to Jabneel. Then the border ended at the [Mediterranean] sea.

The western border was at the Great Sea, with its coastline. This is the border around the tribe of the sons of Judah according to their families.

from Ekron even to the sea, all that were beside Ashdod, with their villages;

Ashdod, with its towns and its villages; Gaza, with its towns and its villages; as far as the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish) and the Great [Mediterranean] Sea with its coastline.

It went down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the outskirts of lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ended at the sea.

Then the border went westward at Michmethath on the north, and turned eastward to Taanath-shiloh and continued beyond it to the east of Janoah.

The border continued from Tappuah westward to the Brook Kanah, and it ended at the [Mediterranean] sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families (clans),

Then the border went down to the brook of Kanah, south of the brook (these cities belonged to Ephraim, among the cities of Manasseh), and Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the brook and it ended at the sea.

The land on the south side belonged to Ephraim and that on the north side was Manasseh’s, and the sea was their border; they reached to [the territory of] Asher on the north and to [the territory of] Issachar on the east.

The border continued along to the north of the slope of Beth-hoglah; and the border ended at the northern bay of the Salt (Dead) Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

Then the border turned to Ramah, [reaching] to the fortified city of Tyre; and it turned to Hosah, and it ended at the [Mediterranean] sea at the region of Achzib.

See, I have allotted to you these nations that remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan [on the east] to the Great [Mediterranean] Sea toward the setting sun.

Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.

When they cried out to the Lord [for help], He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time (forty years).

For when they came up from Egypt, Israel walked through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh;

But I advise that all [the men of] Israel be summoned to you, from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], like the sand that is by the sea in abundance, and that you personally go into battle.

“The channels of the sea appeared,The foundations of the world were uncoveredAt the rebuke of the Lord,At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

[The people of] Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is in abundance by the sea; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the [Mediterranean] sea, and I will have them made into rafts to go by sea to the place (port) that you direct me; then I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then you shall return the favor by providing food for my household.”

Now he made the Sea (basin) of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, five cubits high and thirty cubits in circumference.

Under its brim were gourds encircling it ten to a cubit, completely surrounding the Sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast in one piece with it.

It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three west, three south, and three east; the Sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts pointed inward.

Then he placed the bases, five on the right [or south] side of the house and five on the left [or north] side; and he set the Sea [of cast metal] on the right side of the house toward the southeast.

one Sea (basin), and the twelve oxen under the Sea;

King Solomon built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), in the land of Edom.

And Hiram [king of Tyre] sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.

For the king had at sea the [large cargo] ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.

and he said to his servant, “Go up, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” Elijah said, “Go back” seven times.

And at the seventh time the servant said, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.” And Elijah said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the rain shower does not stop you.’”

Jeroboam restored Israel’s border from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah (Dead Sea), in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath-hepher.

Then King Ahaz cut away the frames of the basin stands [in the temple], and removed the basin from [each of] them; and he took down the [large] Sea from the bronze oxen which were under it, and put it on a plastered stone floor.

Now the Chaldeans (Babylonians) smashed the bronze pillars which were in the house of the Lord and their bases and the bronze sea (large basin) which were in the house of the Lord, and carried the bronze to Babylon.

The two pillars, the one sea (large basin), and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these articles was incalculable.

Let the sea roar, and all the things that fill it;Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.

We will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you on rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.”