The Meaning of Psalms 78:13 Explained

Psalms 78:13

KJV: He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

YLT: He cleft a sea, and causeth them to pass over, Yea, He causeth waters to stand as a heap.

Darby: He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; and made the waters to stand as a heap;

ASV: He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; And he made the waters to stand as a heap.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He divided  the sea,  and caused them to pass through;  and he made the waters  to stand  as an heap. 

What does Psalms 78:13 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 78:13-24 - "a Table In The Wilderness"
Throughout this wonderful recital there is a perpetual contrast between God's unswerving goodness and the incessant backsliding of His people; and as we read it, we learn that sin is not simply the violation of the divine law, but a source of pain and trouble to our Heavenly Father's heart. For us He cleaves the seas, leads us in the daytime, builds His watch-fires around us at night, and brings streams of blessing from the rocks. But we tempt Him by our incessant unbelief. We say, He certainly did thus and thus, but can He, will He, do this or that? "Can God furnish?" "Can God give bread?"
When shall we dare to believe in our Lord's assurances; first, that "with God all things are possible;" and second, that "all things are possible to him that believeth"? But we must live habitually in fellowship with God before we are able to exercise this faith. As we nourish our souls by feeding on the promises, and studying what He has done in the lives of others, out faith removes all the boundaries with which it had limited the Holy One, and cries, "Thou canst and thou wilt!" [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 78

1  An exhortation both to learn and to preach, the law of God
9  The story of God's wrath against the incredulous and disobedient
67  The Israelites being rejected, God chose Judah, Zion, and David

What do the individual words in Psalms 78:13 mean?

He divided the sea and caused them to pass through and He made stand up the waters like a heap
בָּ֣קַע יָ֭ם וַיַּֽעֲבִירֵ֑ם וַֽיַּצֶּב־ מַ֥יִם כְּמוֹ־ נֵֽד

בָּ֣קַע  He  divided 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בָּקַע  
Sense: to split, cleave, break open, divide, break through, rip up, break up, tear.
יָ֭ם  the  sea 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: יָם  
Sense: sea.
וַיַּֽעֲבִירֵ֑ם  and  caused  them  to  pass  through 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular, third person masculine plural
Root: עָבַר 
Sense: to pass over or by or through, alienate, bring, carry, do away, take, take away, transgress.
וַֽיַּצֶּב־  and  He  made  stand  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: הֻצַּב 
Sense: to stand, take one’s stand, stand upright, be set (over), establish.
מַ֥יִם  the  waters 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: מַיִם  
Sense: water, waters.
כְּמוֹ־  like 
Parse: Preposition
Root: כְּמֹו  
Sense: like, as, the like of which conj.
נֵֽד  a  heap 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: נֵד  
Sense: heap.