After the children of Israel had landed on the other side of the sea, the Lord said unto Moses:
"Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horse-men. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength. . . . And the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horse-men, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. . . . And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses."[51:1]
The writer of this story, whoever he may have been, was evidently familiar with the legends related of the Sun-god, _Bacchus_, as he has given Moses the credit of performing some of the miracles which were attributed to that god.
It is related in the hymns of Orpheus,[51:2] that Bacchus had a _rod_ with which he performed miracles, and which he could change into a _serpent_ at pleasure. _He passed the Red Sea, dry shod, at the head of his army._ He divided the waters of the rivers Orontes and Hydaspus, by the touch of his rod, and passed through them dry-shod.[51:3] _By the same mighty wand, he drew water from the rock_,[51:4] and wherever they marched, the land flowed with wine, milk and honey.[51:5]
Professor Steinthal, speaking of Dionysus (Bacchus), says:
Like Moses, he strikes fountains of wine and water out of the rock. Almost all the acts of Moses correspond to those of the Sun-gods.[51:6]
"Among the different miracles of Bacchus and his Bacchantes, there are prodigies very similar to those which are attributed to Moses; for instance, such as the sources of water which the _former_ caused to sprout from the innermost of the rocks."[51:7]
In Bell's Pantheon of the Gods and Heroes of Antiquity,[51:8] an account of the prodigies attributed to Bacchus is given; among these, are mentioned his striking water from the rock, with his magic wand, his turning a twig of ivy into a snake, his passing through the Red Sea and the rivers Orontes and Hydaspus, and of his enjoying the light of the Sun (while marching with his army in India), when the day was spent, and it was dark to others. All these are parallels too striking to be accidental.