2 Nephi 21:15-16

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Reference Search: 2 Nephi 21:15-16

15 And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind he shall shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry shod.

16 And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

Quotes for Discussion

Tongue, Highway

The word tongue should be translated “gulf.” This phrase recalls the occasion when Moses and the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry ground (Ex. 14:21-22), an event that anticipates the gathering in the last days, when no powerful nation, mortal tyrant, or army will stop the promised events of the gathering of the saints around God’s standard.

With his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river…and make men go over dryshod. Three elements in this passage, mighty wind, hand, and go over dryshod, recall the Israelites’ crossing of the Red Sea. “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land…And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground” (Ex. 14:21-22; emphasis added). The same powers that guided the ancient Israelites out of Egypt will guide modern Israel out of symbolic Egypt (the world) to their gathering places.

Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, [salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1998], 124

Various interpretations have been rendered for the term “tongue of the Egyptian sea” in verse fifteen. It might be the western arm of the Red Sea (or Gulf of Suez) near the Suez Canal. Another possibility is the delta (or tongue) of the Nile that protrudes into the Mediterranean Sea along Egypt’s north coast. The most likely explanation would be the large inland sea created late each spring as the Nile overflows its banks and floods a large part of the valley, like a tongue sticking far inland. Isaiah 19:5-10 describes this even in greater detail. This prophecy has been fulfilled since the building of the Aswan Dam and the destruction of the traditional way of life along the Nile.

The Lord will also divert “the river” (usually understood to be the Euphrates River) into seven streams so travelers can walk across without getting their feet wet. Verse sixteen says that a highway will be prepared for the remnant of Israel coming from Assyria (the land on the other side of the Euphrates). Isaiah 19:23-25 prophecies of a highway all the way from Assyria (through Israel) to Egypt. Other prophecies also describe a great highway for the righteous in the last days (Isa. 35:8-10; 51:9-11; D&C 133:27).

Although this highway could be a literal, physical road, it may represent any means of transportation, such as an airway or railroad. The Lord did not create a literal road for ancient Israel, but he did prepare the way for them so they would reach their destination. He will do the same for Israel in the last days, and they will recognize his hand I their return (Jer. 16:14-15; 30; 31).

Victor L. Ludlow, Unlocking the Old Testament [salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 159-60

Here are the ten tribes of Israel, we know nothing about them only what the Lord has said by His Prophets. There are Prophets among them, and by and by they will come along, and they will smite the rocks, and the mountains of ice will flow down at their presence, and a highway will be cast up before them, and they will come to Zion, receive their endowments, and be crowned under the hands of the children of Ephraim…They will receive their blessings and endowments, from under the children Ephraim.

Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 4:231-32

Isaiah…in an apparent reference to the joining of the continents, and using that prophetic imagery for which he has such great renown, says: “Thy land shall be married” (Isa. 62:4). Also in a setting relative to the Millennium and the gathering of Israel, Isaiah says, “There shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left.” That is, those who are left because they have abided the day of our Lord’s coming shall find a highway to lead them to their appointed gathering places. It shall then be, Isaiah says, “like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt” (Isa. 11:16). As the Lord provided a highway through the Red Sea for his people anciently, as they traveled to their promised land, so will he provide a way for them to travel in the latter days. Our latter-day revelation, after stating that the great deep shall be driven back into the north countries and that the continents shall become one land, states that “they who are in the north countries,” meaning the Ten tribes, shall return. “And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep” for them (D&C 133:23-27). Would we go too far astray if we were to suggest that the highway is created by the joined landmasses, and that as ancient Israel found a dry path through the Red Sea, so latter-day Israel will find a dry path where the Atlantic Ocean once was?

Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah [salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982], 624-25