13, 14. What is pictured by the expressions “Rahab” and “the sea monster,” and how is it ‘broken in pieces’ and “pierced”?

¹³ As if calling Jehovah to action in behalf of His captive people, Isaiah says: “Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O arm of Jehovah! Awake as in the days of long ago, as during the generations of times long past. Are you not the one that broke Rahab to pieces, that pierced the sea monster?

Isaiah 51:9,

The expressions “Rahab” and “the sea monster” refer to Egypt under her Pharaoh who opposed Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. (Psalm 74:13; 87:4; Isaiah 30:7) With its head at the Nile Delta and its elongated body stretching hundreds of miles up the fertile Nile Valley, ancient Egypt resembled a monstrous serpent. (Ezekiel 29:3) But this monster was cut to pieces when Jehovah poured out the Ten Plagues upon it. It was pierced, sorely wounded, and enfeebled when its army was destroyed in the waters of the Red Sea. Yes, Jehovah showed the power of his arm in his dealings with Egypt. Will he be any less ready to fight for his people exiled in Babylon?