וְנִבְחַ֥ר מָ֙וֶת֙ מֵֽחַיִּ֔ים לְכֹ֗ל הַשְּׁאֵרִית֙ הַנִּשְׁאָרִ֔ים מִן־הַמִּשְׁפָּחָ֥ה הָֽרָעָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את בְּכָל־הַמְּקֹמ֤וֹת הַנִּשְׁאָרִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הִדַּחְתִּ֣ים שָׁ֔ם נְאֻ֖ם יְהוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת׃ (ס)
Y escogeráse la muerte antes que la vida por todo el resto que quedare de esta mala generación, en todos los lugares á donde los arrojaré yo á los que quedaren, dice SEÑOR de los ejércitos.
Ramban
AND THE KING OF EGYPT DIED, AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SIGHED BY REASON OF THE BONDAGE. “He was stricken with leprosy [and hence may be considered as dead], and he was wont to slaughter Israelitic babes and bathe in their blood.” Thus the words of Rashi. This is a Midrash of the Sages.123Shemoth Rabbah 1:41.
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, [it is to be explained that] the custom of all subjects of a wicked tyrant is to hope for and look forward to the day of his death. But when the Israelites saw that the king died, they wailed bitterly lest a godless man may come to reign,124Job 34:30. who will be more wicked than the preceding king. They said, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost,125Ezekiel 37:11. and thus they chose death rather than life.126See Jeremiah 8:3. This is the sense of the word na’akatham (their groaning),127Verse 24. for they groaned with the groanings of a mortally-wounded man.128Ezekiel 30:24.
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, [it is to be explained that] the custom of all subjects of a wicked tyrant is to hope for and look forward to the day of his death. But when the Israelites saw that the king died, they wailed bitterly lest a godless man may come to reign,124Job 34:30. who will be more wicked than the preceding king. They said, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost,125Ezekiel 37:11. and thus they chose death rather than life.126See Jeremiah 8:3. This is the sense of the word na’akatham (their groaning),127Verse 24. for they groaned with the groanings of a mortally-wounded man.128Ezekiel 30:24.