“And you, raise your staff, and extend your hand over the sea, and split it; and the children of Israel will come into the midst of the sea on dry ground” (Exodus 14:16). “Raise your staff” – Moses said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘You are saying to me that I should split the sea and render the sea dry land, but isn’t it written: “I placed the sand as the boundary of the sea” (Jeremiah 5:22)?
You swore that you would never split it.’ Rabbi Elazar HaKappar said: Moses said to Him: ‘Didn’t You say that the sea would not be rendered dry land? As it is stated: “I placed the sand as the boundary of the sea,” and it is written: “He shut the sea with doors”’ (Job 38:8). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘You did not read from the beginning of the Torah.
What is written: “God said: Let the waters be gathered” (Genesis 1:9). It is I who stipulated with it, so, I stipulated with it from the beginning that I would split it, as it is stated: “The sea returned to its power [le’eitano] before the morning” (Exodus 14:27), to its stipulation [tena’o] that I stipulated with it from the beginning. Immediately, Moses heeded the Holy One blessed be He and went to split the sea.
When he went to split the sea, it was unwilling to take upon itself to split. The sea said to him: ‘I should split because of you? I am greater than you, as I was created on the third [day of creation] and you were created on the sixth.’ When Moses heard this, he went and said to the Holy One blessed be He: ‘The sea refuses to split.’
What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He placed His right hand on the right hand of Moses, as it is stated: “He caused [His glorious arm] to go to the right of Moses…” (Isaiah 63:12). Immediately, it [the sea] saw the Holy One blessed be He and fled, as it is stated: “The sea saw and fled” (Psalms 114:3). What did it see?
It saw that the Holy One blessed be He placed His right hand upon Moses. It could no longer resist, so it fled immediately. Moses said to it: ‘Why are you fleeing?’ It said to him: ‘From the God of Jacob, due to fear of the Holy One blessed be He.’
Immediately, when Moses raised his hand over the sea, it split, as it is stated: “The water divided” (Exodus 14:21). It does not say “the sea divided,” but rather, the water divided. This teaches that all the water that was in all the springs and the cisterns and everywhere divided, as it is stated: “The water divided.” Likewise, when they returned, all the water returned, and so it says: “The water returned” (Exodus 14:28).
All these miracles were performed by Moses, as it is stated: “Moses extended his hand over the sea” (Exodus 14:21). That is why the Holy One blessed be He praises him, as it is stated: “He remembered the days of old, Moses, His people: [Where is he who took them up from the sea, the shepherd of His flock?]” (Isaiah 63:11) and it is written: “He caused His glorious arm to go to the right of Moses” (Isaiah 63:12).