## who opened a way...like a burning wick ##

In 43:16-17 Isaiah speaks of an event that happened in the past. God saved the people of Israel from the Egyptian army by separating the waters of the Red Sea so the people of Israel could walk across, but God drowned the army of Egypt. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]])

## they are extinguished, quenched like a burning wick ##

This means God brought the lives of the soldiers to an end. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-simile]])