ספר שמות

Exodus 15,8.“at the blast of Your nostrils ‎the waters piled up;” Onkelos translated the ‎words ‎נערמו מים‎ as: “the waters acted intelligently.” This ‎may be understood with the help of Proverbs 8,12: ‎אני ‏חכמה שכנתי ערמה‎, “I, wisdom, live with prudence;” we have ‎discussed that if a person wishes to gain an ‎understanding of the superior nature of G’d, he must ‎first of all divest himself of all the materialistic ‎‎“garments” that are part of his daily outfits. This is the ‎first step in approaching the degree of awe and ‎reverence. Having reached that degree, he may ‎consider himself as possessing some ‎חכמה‎, wisdom. ‎This is also the meaning of Job 28,28: ‎הן יראת אד-ני היא ‏חכמה‎ ‎וסור מרע בינה‎, ”See fear of the Lord is wisdom ; to ‎shun evil is understanding.” The root of the word ‎נערמו‎ ‎in the verse quoted at the beginning of this paragraph ‎is ‎ערום‎,” intelligent, smart, as in Genesis 3,1 where the ‎serpent is described as the smartest of all the ‎creatures of the field. The sea possessed awe and ‎reverence for G’d, being eager to fulfill the will of the ‎Creator; this is what Onkelos wished to convey when he ‎translated the “sea” as being intelligent, smart. ‎‎[Possibly, as opposed to the earth, which had ‎buried the blood of Hevel, thereby hiding a monstrous ‎sin by Kayin. Ed.]‎