Why does the Lord say, “I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass?”
The sea often symbolizes a threatening, chaotic force in the world. In certain Canaanite religions the sea was seen as Yam, the god of chaos.1 But the Lord has placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass.” The Lord is the all-powerful creator who controls the whole of his creation, even those parts of it that Judah may have feared. It is he who controls the waves that toss
and roar
but cannot pass
the barriers he has set for them. Judah has failed to perceive the Lord as creator; instead they have turned to the false gods of the Canaanites for hope and protection.
22 Ne me craindrez-vous pas, dit l'Eternel, Ne tremblerez-vous pas devant moi? C'est moi qui ai donné à la mer le sable pour limite, Limite séculaire qu'elle ne doit pas franchir; Ses flots s'agitent, mais ils sont impuissants; Ils mugissent, mais ils ne la franchissent pas.