Plate 19. Israel’s Departure

Like the psalm, the illustration is filled with movement: hills dance like gazelles and lambs. Below, the sea parts as the Israelites pass through on the sandy sea bed. Midrashim offer various opinions about exactly how the water parted; this rendering follows the literal text from Exodus 14:29, “The waters were like a wall for them [the Israelites] to their right and to their left.” The transition from sea to hills to sky simultaneously evokes the themes of creation and separation.