תהלים, פרק ע״ז, פסוק כ׳

The miraculous crossing of the Red Sea reveals God's profound leadership as He paved a route through the depths for the Israelites without leaving a physical trace. The primary approach among commentators is that the focus is on the actual parting of the sea, which allowed the redeemed nation to pass safely. The imagery of a path in the deep waters serves as a poetic repetition to emphasize the magnitude of the event [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. While generally understood as a standard road [מצודת ציון], it is also described not as a wide highway, but as a narrow track designed for a single person walking alone [מלבי״ם].

Although the path is read as a singular route, the written form of the text hints at a plural meaning. This subtle detail reveals that there was not merely one crossing, but twelve distinct pathways created specifically for each tribe of Israel [רד״ק, מאירי]. Expanding on the scope of the miracle, a unique perspective suggests that the deep waters refer not only to the Red Sea, but to all the waters in the world. At the exact moment the Red Sea parted, every body of water globally split into a narrow path. This worldwide event was necessary to prove that the miracle was a deliberate act of God. Because a fierce east wind blew at the Red Sea, both the Israelites and the Egyptians might have mistakenly believed the parting was merely a natural weather phenomenon [אלשיך].

As the crossing concluded, the physical steps and footprints left behind completely vanished [מצודת ציון, מאירי]. Naturally, water does not retain the imprint of a footstep [רש״י]. Furthermore, as soon as the Israelites safely crossed, the waters crashed back to their original state, drowning the pursuing Egyptians. The sea returned to normal, erasing any physical sign or memory of the road that had existed just moments before [אבן עזרא, רד״ק, מצודת דוד, שטיינזלץ, מאירי]. This lack of visible footprints, combined with the initial confusion that the wind alone might have caused the sea to part, is exactly why God chose to split all the waters of the world. By doing so, He removed all doubt and made the truth of His divine intervention universally known [אלשיך].