And he shall pass through the sea with affliction
Either the people of the Jews, as Israel of old did, when they came out of Egypt, to which the allusion is; or the wind shall pass through the sea, as Aben Ezra supplies it, and it shall become dry; that is, the river of Egypt: or "affliction" F18, as many supply it, shall pass through the sea; the nations, which are many as the sea, as Kimchi interprets it; and so may design that hour of temptation that shall come upon all the earth, ( Revelation 3:10 ) or with which the kingdom of the beast, who rose up out of the sea, and consists of many waters, people, tongues, and nations, will be afflicted, ( Revelation 13:1 ) ( Revelation 17:1 Revelation 17:15 ) ( 16:3 ) ( 18:21 ) which the Lord shall pass through and smite; or it may in general denote the sea of this world, and the afflictions of it, which the Lord causes his people to pass through, and brings them out of them: and shall smite the waves in the sea:
that is, the Lord shall smite them; repress afflictions, which are like the proud waves, not suffering them to proceed further than is for his glory and his people's good, and remove all obstacles in their way; see ( Isaiah 11:15 Isaiah 11:16 ) or destroy their enemies, which are like the proud waters, that otherwise would go over their souls, and overwhelm them; and particularly the antichristian states, at the pouring out of the vials, signified by the sea, and by fountains and rivers, ( Revelation 16:3 Revelation 16:4 ) . Kimchi explains it of the multitude of the people: and all the deeps of the river shall dry up;
not Nile, the river of Egypt, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra F19, but the river Euphrates; see ( Revelation 16:12 ) the drying up of which signifies the destruction of the Turkish empire; and the Targum paraphrases it,
``all the kings of the people shall be confounded:''and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down;