Having been brought up in a fishing community where all too many men were lost at sea, this phrase has no puzzlement whatsoever. The answer is yes, many dead husbands, fathers and brothers are in the sea. Hades, or the world of the dead, may be metaphysical, but the sea is cold, hard fact.
That said, there is a power in the verse that speaks strongly of resurrection. Relatives may go to the graveside to mourn, but they cannot do so on the seabed. Graves opening is imaginable, but the resurrection reaches to the unreachable places.
That said, I do agree with what you say about the imagery of the sea representing chaos. I don't see "the sea was no more" as literal. And I once knew a Fishermen's Missioner who, when conducting a fishermen's funeral, would omit "the sea was no more" from the reading - wisely, IMO. Despite its dangers, these were men whose lives revolved around the sea. No sea to them would be like saying no land to a farmer.
(And in a less serious vein, I once read a comment by an atheist that the Bible says heaven has no sun, no sea and no sex, which didn't sound like heaven to him!)
Having been brought up in a fishing community where all too many men were lost at sea, this phrase has no puzzlement whatsoever. The answer is yes, many dead husbands, fathers and brothers are in the sea. Hades, or the world of the dead, may be metaphysical, but the sea is cold, hard fact.
That said, there is a power in the verse that speaks strongly of resurrection. Relatives may go to the graveside to mourn, but they cannot do so on the seabed. Graves opening is imaginable, but the resurrection reaches to the unreachable places.
That said, I do agree with what you say about the imagery of the sea representing chaos. I don't see "the sea was no more" as literal. And I once knew a Fishermen's Missioner who, when conducting a fishermen's funeral, would omit "the sea was no more" from the reading - wisely, IMO. Despite its dangers, these were men whose lives revolved around the sea. No sea to them would be like saying no land to a farmer.
(And in a less serious vein, I once read a comment by an atheist that the Bible says heaven has no sun, no sea and no sex, which didn't sound like heaven to him!)
Thanks! Helpful.