Sea of Egypt
Sea of Egypt is a river mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Sinai in modern-day Egypt. Known today as Bitter Lakes. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
The Sea of Egypt is referenced in Isaiah 11:15, where the prophet envisions God's future deliverance of His people in terms that echo the original Exodus. Isaiah declares that the Lord "will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea" and "with a scorching wind will wave his hand over the Euphrates River," dividing it into seven channels so people can cross on foot. This powerful imagery deliberately recalls the parting of the Red Sea under Moses (Exodus 14-15), promising a second exodus that would surpass the first. The "Sea of Egypt" likely refers to the tongue of the Red Sea, possibly the Gulf of Suez or the marshy lake region between the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Suez. Isaiah's prophecy looks forward to a time when God would gather the remnant of His people from Assyria, Egypt, and the nations, removing every geographic obstacle to their return. This vision of cosmic-scale divine intervention became a template for later prophetic hope and finds its ultimate fulfillment in the new exodus accomplished through Christ.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The identification of the "Sea of Egypt" (Hebrew: leshon yam-Mitsrayim) remains debated among scholars. The most common proposals include the Gulf of Suez (the northwestern arm of the Red Sea), the Bitter Lakes region along the modern Suez Canal route, or the marshlands of the northern Sinai. The Bitter Lakes, situated along the isthmus of Suez, are saline bodies of water that in antiquity may have been more extensive and connected to the Red Sea. Egyptian records and geological studies indicate that the regional hydrology has changed significantly over millennia due to tectonic activity, silting, and the construction of the Suez Canal in the nineteenth century. The area remains strategically important today.
Verse Appearances (1)
Isa
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]