Commento su Esodo 14:33

וישבו THAT THEY TURN backwards; all the third day they were moving nearer towards the Egyptians, in order to mislead Pharaoh, so that he should say: They have lost their way, as it is said, (v. 3) “so that Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, [They are entangled in the land]”.

דבר אל בוי ישראל וישובו, "speak to the children of Israel so that they will turn backwards, etc." Anyone who reads this verse cannot help wondering why G'd would give an order designed to trick Pharaoh into pursuit of the Israelites, when He has many other means at His disposal to bring about the same result?

וישובו ויחנו פי החירות, “they turned around and encamped at Pi Hachirot. G’d ordered the Israelites to turn around facing Egypt at Pithom renamed Pi Hachirot, seeing that this was the place where they had become free (from slave labour) according to Rashi. The Torah added the words “in front of Baal Tzefon,” as a further means of identification because that idol had survived destruction. All of these details were important to help Pharaoh persuade himself that the Israelites were worth pursuing. When the Torah reports that G’d said to Moses: “I will strengthen the heart of Pharaoh so that he will pursue them” (verse 4), He referred to three causes which would determine Pharaoh’s course of action. 1) Their non-stop day and night travel which would persuade Pharaoh that they were in fact escaping, not following his instructions. 2) Their turnabout convinced Pharaoh that the people were completely lost in the desert. 3) that they should make camp near Baal Tzefon which would give Pharaoh the impression that this deity had impeded the Israelites’ ability to journey forward. The term ”בעל something or other,“ is usually associated with a deity such as בעל זבוב, אלוהי עקרן, בעל פעור, and others. G’d allowed this deity to survive in order to mislead Pharaoh. This is an illustration of Job 12,23: “He causes nations to deceive themselves resulting in their destruction.” The additional words (verse 3) נכחו תחנו על הים, ”opposite it you are to make camp,” was to give Pharaoh the impression that this deity had used the desert to encircle the Israelites, to make them prisoner. This verse contains an allusion to what the Israelites would observe later at the sea.

Is Pisom. . . [Rashi knows this] because the verse comes to tell us at which border they encamped, yet we do not know of Pi Hachiros, for it is not mentioned in Scripture. Thus, it must be Pisom.

לפני בעל צפון, “before Baal Tzefon.” According to Rashi, this was the only idol that had remained intact of all the Egyptian deities. G–d had arranged this in order to mislead the Egyptians into believing that this deity was more powerful that He. Pharaoh thought that the deity had deliberately tricked the Israelites in order to enable him to destroy them by means of water. [as a previous Pharaoh had attempted when he drowned the male Jewish infants. Ed.] This is why the Torah wrote in verse 10 that ופרעה הקריב, instead of ופרעה קרב, “Pharaoh had presented an offering,” instead of “Pharaoh approached,” as this phrase is usually translated (Compare Mechilta B’shalach 2,2). An alternate interpretation: the use of the transitive form of the word קרב is meant to tell the reader that the Israelites were inspired to engage in penitence when they saw that they were being pursued.

וישבו, “so that they shall turn back;” G-d said that He did not want the Egyptians to be able to say that Moses and Aaron had deceived him when they said that all they had requested was to travel three days into the desert (Exodus 8,23).

ויחנו לפני פי החירת AND ENCAMP BEFORE PI-HAHIROTH — This is identical with Pithom (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:2:2), but now it obtained the name of פי החירת, because there they became בני חורין free-men (חירת is explained as חרות freedom). This was two high, precipitous rocks and the valley between them was called פי הסלעים the mouth (opening) of the rocks.

Because there they became free men. . . It is called Pisom, an acronym for “Peh sasum” (sealed mouth). This is because an idol was there which did not allow any slave to escape. But now they became free men there, because Hashem altered Egypt’s ruling star in the heavens. So now [the place] was called Pi Hachiros, named after their attaining freedom (cheirus). We need not ask: Why was it not now called Cheirus? And also, why was it not previously called Sasum, rather than Pisom? For Rashi explains: “They were two high, upright rocks and the valley between them was like a mouth (peh).”

In view of our awareness that G'd wants to try and put Israel in a favourable light so as to justify the favours He does for His people, it is even harder to understand how G'd devised a scheme which resulted in the Israelites expressing their dismay at the developments which followed in the most sarcastic manner when they accused Moses of leading them into the desert to die as if there were not enough burial grounds in Egypt (14,11). Actually, the arguments the Israelites used against Moses were not new ones as the Torah itself testifies. However, G'd displayed extreme wisdom here by luring Pharaoh into the kind of sin (pursuit of the Israelites) which would give Him an opportunity to demonstrate to Israel that He would exact true vengeance on Pharaoh. G'd did not want to spell out more detail than to say that the Israelites' action in turning backwards would encourage Pharaoh to pursue them, as a result of which G'd would deal with him severely. Having thus informed the Israelites of what to expect they should have been able to face these developments with calm. Unfortunately, even though the Israelites had been warned what to expect, G'd did not succeed completely as we observe from the reactions of various groups of Israelites in the verses following. Having read of the Israelites' reaction after G'd had given them advance notice of Pharaoh's pursuit you may imagine how much more violent their reaction would have been had this development taken them entirely by surprise.

נכחו תחנו, “and encamp facing it (the deity)!” Rabbi Yehudah found it difficult to understand why the Israelites had been instructed to encamp at that location facing the sea., He quoted the Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin, folio 13, where it is stated that it is forbidden to ask a friend to wait for him a few minutes so that he could take a closer look [or photograph] a certain idolatrous statue. Why would G–d have asked the Jewish people to face this statue while encamping nearby? I suppose the prohibition applies only to human beings, not to G–d Himself. After all, we are told that G–d judges the gentile nations every Sabbath and every Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Compare Rashi on the Talmud in tractate Rosha Hashanah folio 30.) In addition, seeing that the Torah had not been given as yet there is not really a problem.

לפני פי החירות, “facing a place called: Pee Hachirot, the entrance to Hachirot;” according to Rashi, this place was identical to the fortification of Pittom, one of the first two cities to have been built by the Israelite slaves. The reason why the Torah refers to it by a different name here was that it was the first town the Israelites encountered as free men. (חרות, freedom) The Egyptians had no cause to complain about the newly gained freedom of the Israelites as pointed out by Pessikta zutrata, (compare Torah schleymah, item 9 on this verse) where it is stated that it was the accepted practice of the Egyptians that if he succeeded in getting as far way as Pittom, he would have gained his legal freedom. An alternate exegesis: the words לפני פי החירות, mean that the reason why the Torah mentions that location is to mislead Pharaoh into thinking that the Israelites had gotten lost, as a result of which they had second thoughts about leaving Egypt, and the proof is that they encamped at that location, one familiar to them as they had built the fortifications in that town, it being known to them as Pittom.

לפני בעל צפון BEFORE BAAL-ZEPHON — It (the idol of this name) alone had been left by God of all the gods of Egypt and, this, too, in order to mislead them — that they should say that their god was a difficult one to overcome. It was with reference to this that Job expressly said, (Job 12:23) “He causes the nations to err (מַשְׂגִיא, is taken in the sense of מַשְׁגִיא from root שגה to err) and then destroyeth them” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:2:2; cf. Rashi on this passage).

It alone was left from all the gods of Egypt. . . I.e., this god was left even though it is written, “Against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments” (12:12).

נכחו, “it was opposite;” a place called פי החירות, “perhaps best translated as “gateway to freedom.”תחנו על הים, (Moses instructing the people in the name of G-d) “you will encamp alongside the shores of the sea.”

ואמר פרעה THEN PHARAOH WILL SAY — when he hears that they are turning back.

סגר עליהם המדבר. A reference to the Egyptian deity Baal Tzefon whom Pharaoh credited with this accomplish- ment of halting the Israelites.

ואמר פרעה…. נבוכים הם בארץ, "and Pharaoh will say 'they are entangled in the land, etc.'" This would be Pharaoh's reaction when his spies brought him up-to-date on Israel's travels.

נבוכים הם, the sea in front of them caused them to become confused, this is why they retraced their steps not knowing where to turn, seeing סגר עליהם המדבר, the desert is closed to them as a route due to the dangerous reptiles, etc., that abound there, and they also have to worry about the wild beasts behind them so that they decided for the moment to encamp along the shores of the sea near Eytam, at the edge of the desert so that they find themselves between Migdal and the sea, in a state of confusion. The word נבוכים, is to describe a state of hopeless confusion, lack of options. The expression is found in Job 38,16 as well as 28,11, once in connection with the sea, נבכי-ים, meaning “the recesses of the sea,” the other time in connection with “damming up deep rivers.” At any rate. it describes people faced by insurmountable obstacles to their continued progress.

Kap. 14. V. 3. נבוכים, der Form nach von נבך, nicht von בוך, sonst hätte es (Job 38, 16) die Tiefen des נבכי ים wie ,נבך .נכונים heißen müssen, wie נבוֺכים Meeres, daher נבוכים: versenkt sein, gefangen sein im Lande; sie können nicht hinaus, von einer Seite das Meer, über das sie nicht hinüber können, von anderer Seite die Wüste, welche der Typhonbaal, der Gott der Mitternacht, der Dunkelheit, der Öde, ihnen versperrt hat, weshalb sie wieder umkehren mussten. Vielleicht ist נבך verwandt mit נפק, chaldäisch: herauskommen, und נבכי ים wäre ähnlich wie אפיקי מים von פוק, die Ursprünge, die Urtiefen des Meeres, aus denen das Wasser flutet. Dann wäre vielleicht נבוכים הם בארץ: sie sind aus der Wüste wieder hineingespien, hineingeworfen ins Land.

לבני ישראל means על בני ABOUT THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. Similarly. (v. 14) “The Lord will fight לכם”, i. e. עליכם for you; (Genesis 20:13) “Say לי, he is my brother” i. e. say about me.

נבכים הם means, shut up and sunk deep. old French serrer. Of similar meaning are (Job 38:16) “the depths of (נבכי) the sea”; (Psalms 84:7) “in the vale of dejection (הבכא)”; (Job 28:11) “from the depths (מבכי) of the rivers.”

נבכים הם means THEY ARE SHUT UP in the wilderness — so that they do not know how to get out of it and whither they should go.

ואכבדה בפרעה AND I WILL BE HONOURED THROUGH PHARAOH — When the Holy One, blessed be He, takes vengeance on the wicked His name is magnified and honoured. Thus, too, it states, (Ezekiel 38:22, 23) “And I will plead against him [with pestilence and with blood etc.]”, and afterwards, “Thus I shall be magnified and sanctified etc.” And it states, (Psalms 76:3) “There He broke the fiery shafts of the bow”, and afterwards (after He has done this) (v. 2) “In Judah is God known. “Further it states, (Psalms 9:17) “The Lord is known because He executeth judgment” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:4:2).

AND I WILL HARDEN PHARAOH’S HEART, AND HE SHALL PURSUE AFTER THEM. Because Pharaoh feared them at the plague of the firstborn and he asked them and bless me also,²⁴Above, 12:32. he was not disposed to pursue after the Israelites even if they were to flee, and he would rather have Moses do with them as he pleases. Therefore, it was necessary to state that G-d hardened his heart to pursue after them. Further on, it says once more, And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them.²⁵Further, Verse 17. After the Egyptians saw that the sea had split before the children of Israel and that they walked in the midst of the sea upon dry land, which is the most outstanding wonder of all wonders, how could they be disposed to come in after them to harm them! This was indeed madness on their part. But it was He Who turned their counsel into foolishness²⁶See II Samuel 15:31. and strengthened their hearts to enter the sea.

וחזקתי את לב פרעה, “I shall stiffen the heart of Pharaoh;” seeing that Pharaoh lately had become so humiliated, unless G’d would give him back some self-confidence, he would not dare to pursue the Israelites whom he himself had not only chased out, but had begged to offer prayers on his behalf. Without such Divine intervention, even if Pharaoh should have reached the conclusion that the Israelites had fled, he would not, in his present state of mind, have the audacity to mount a pursuit.

ויעשו כן, “they did so.” The Torah compliments the Israelites for obeying what seemed an irrational command, i.e. making camp facing their erstwhile enemies and masters. They could have questioned such an order but did not do so. (Rashi).

To relate their praises that they listened to Moshe. . . Rashi is answering the question: Why is it not written, “They did just that,” for all mitzvos? Perforce, because it is obvious that they did just that. Therefore, it is obvious here as well! So Rashi explains, “To relate their praises.” I.e., Scripture testifies to their righteousness. But it seems to me [that Rashi is answering the question:] It says, “The Egyptians. . . overtook them as they were encamped by the sea. . . at Pi haChiros, facing Ba’al Tzephon” (v. 9). This proves they turned back. Therefore, “They did just that” is superfluous, and it is stated “to relate their praises. . .” (Nachalas Yaakov)

V. 4. וחזקתי, siehe Kap. 7, 3. 10, 1. 11, 9 u. 10, ואכבדה , ich möchte in der ganzen Wucht meiner Größe und Macht erkannt werden.

ורדף אחריהם, “he will pursue them;” when Pharaoh would engage them in battle they would attempt to flee, and he would pursue them. He would become guilty in the eyes of G-d for not allowing them to return to Egypt [as they had promised they would. Ed.] As a result of this they could not be blamed for not bringing back the valuables that they had “borrowed.” At any rate, the houses and fields that they had left behind amounted to more in value than the chattels they had taken with them.

בפרעה ובכל חילו THROUGH PHARAOH AND THROUGH ALL HIS FORCES — He began the wrongdoing and with him began the punishment (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:4:2; cf. Rashi on Exodus 7:28).

וידעו, “they will know, etc.” this refers to the Egyptians who had remained in Egypt.

ויעשו כן AND THEY DID SO — This is stated in order to tell their praise — that they hearkened to Moses and did not say, How can we move nearer to our enemies; we ought rather to flee,” but they said, ‘‘It is ours only to carry out the bidding of the son of Amram” (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:4:3).

ויגד למלך מצרים AND IT WAS TOLD THE KING OF EGYPT — He sent public officers with them, and as soon as they had reached the three days’ journey which he had fixed for them to go and return, and these perceived that they were not going back to Egypt, they came and told Pharaoh on the fourth day (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:5:1). On the fifth and sixth they pursued after them: on the night of the seventh day they went down into the sea and on the following morning they (the Israelites) sang the Song of Praise and this was the seventh day of Passover. And that is why we read “The Song” (Exodus 15:1 ff.) as the Scriptural lesson on the seventh day of the Festival (Megillah 31a; Seder Olam 5; cf. Sotah 12b).

AND IT WAS TOLD THE KING OF EGYPT THAT THE PEOPLE HAD FLED. “He sent guards with them, and as soon as they had reached the three days’ journey that was fixed for them to go and return, and [these guards] saw that they were not returning to Egypt, they went and reported to Pharaoh on the fourth day. On the fifth and sixth days, the Egyptians pursued after them. On the night of the seventh day, they went down into the sea, and on the following morning, the Israelites uttered the Song, and this was the seventh day of Passover. It is for this reason that [during the Synagogue service] on the seventh day of Passover, we read [the Scriptural portion containing] the Song at the Red Sea.” This is the language of Rashi. And so it is also explained in the Mechilta.²⁷Mechilta here on Verse 3. Ramban’s intent is that the Mechilta states the order of events as mentioned by Rashi. The established custom of reading during the Synagogue service on the seventh day of Passover the Scriptural portion containing the Song at the Red Sea is of later origin, as is evidenced by the fact that in the Mishnah (Megillah 30b) and in Tractate Sofrim (17:5) another reading is indicated. The reading is mentioned in the Gemara of Tractate Megillah 31 a, quoting a Beraitha. The reason why Rashi at this point mentioned the Synagogue custom for the reading of the Torah on the seventh day of Passover, was to show that it is in keeping with “the event of the day.”
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, the verse here is to be understood in the light of that which G-d said, And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel: They are entangled in the land.²⁸Verse 3. When the children of Israel [indicated that this was] so, and they turned back and encamped before Phi-hahiroth before Baal-zephon,²⁹Verse 2. this was reported to the king of Egypt. He said that the people were fled and entangled in the desert, and that they were not going towards a definite place to offer sacrifices for G-d. And this is the intent of the verse, and the children of Israel went out with a high hand.³⁰Verse 8. This means that they made themselves a flag and a banner for display, and they went out with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp,³¹Genesis 31:27. like people who are redeemed from bondage to freedom, and not like slaves who expect to return to their servitude. All this was told to Pharaoh.

כי ברח העם, they had not marched straight into the desert as they had maintained they would. In 8,23 all they had asked for was to be allowed to march into the desert a distance of three days’ journey. They had now departed from their planned route so that this could be interpreted as an attempt to flee. The new route made no sense, showing they did not know where they were headed, just as one would expect of a fugitive.

ויגד למלך…כי ברח העם, ויהפך לבב פרעה, "when the king was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh had a change of heart, etc." Why does the Torah speak about the Israelites "fleeing" instead of their "going?" If the words ויהפך לבב פרעה mean that Pharaoh now developed remorse about what he had done this would be very peculiar seeing that he had never "done" what he did voluntarily! He had dismissed the Israelites only as the result of having suffered extremely serious plagues, so much so that Egypt was in danger of total collapse. How could the Torah then ascribe Pharaoh's dismissal of the Israelites to something "he had done?" One can only change one's mind if one's mind had operated with balanced judgment, not if one acted under duress! Furthermore, what does the expression "what is this we have done" mean in this context? The people had no more acted voluntarily than had their king!

כי ברח העם; seeing they had turned back.

ויוגד למלך מצרים כי ברח העם, “The King of Egypt was informed that the people had fled, etc.” He was told that wherever the Israelites went they left a trail of destruction; this convinced the King that they had no intention of returning. Alternately, the King was told that the people marched in a disorderly fashion, did not have a definitive objective; this persuaded the King that they had fled rather than set out on a prearranged goal where to observe the ritual they had spoken of Still another possibility is that the King was told that the people marched proudly, like victors, had made flags for themselves as a symbol of their independence, and behaved generally like a well organized body of people, not like a bunch of undisciplined slaves who would be coming back to their former masters. According to the Midrash, the King had dispatched messengers (spies) at the time the Israelites left, whose task it was to monitor their movements. Rashi quotes that Midrash. As soon as the three days of which Moses had spoken were up, these messengers reported back to Pharaoh that the people had not turned around, but kept moving further away from Egypt. The difficulty with this explanation is that the Israelites did turn back on the third day, so how did these messengers know that they did not intend to come back to Egypt? This would presuppose that they had gone in one direction only for two days, and if so how could the messengers know that they had no intention of returning to Egypt? They were not far enough away from their starting point to allow such a conclusion to be drawn at the end of the second day! Moreover, the same Midrash claims that Pharaoh and his chariots covered a distance of six days’ march in a single day’s pursuit and that they then caught up with the rear of the Israelites, seeing that the splitting of the sea occurred on the seventh day (21st Nissan)? However, the Midrash adds that on the first day the Israelites miraculously covered a distance of approximately 120 kilometers. This represents the distance a people normally travel in three days. Accordingly, Pharaoh did not receive the report until the evening of the fifth day, spent the 6th day chasing after the people. He caught up with them on the evening between the 20th and the 21st of Nissan. This is when the Israelites descended into the bottom of the sea that split for them.

ויגד למלך מצרים, “The king of Egypt had been informed, etc.” Seeing that the end of the three days which was the period of time Moses had said they would be gone had passed and they had not returned, Pharaoh was told that obviously they had fled. Pharaoh had sent along spies. When, after non-stop marches, the Israelites made camp on the eve of the 17th-18th of Nissan, these spies returned to the capital and reported to Pharaoh on the Israelites’ movements. The Egyptians organised their pursuit, mobilising their forces on the 19th and the 20th, catching up with the Israelites at Pi Hachirot by nightfall on the twentieth. The night of the 20th-21st there was a stand off, i.e. the two camps did not come closer together (verse 20).
A Midrashic approach: The words “Pharaoh was told” mean that the prophecy (decree) made to Avraham in Genesis 15,13 that his descendants would be slaves in a country where they were strangers for 400 years had not been fulfilled as only 210 years had elapsed since the time the Israelites had come to Egypt. It therefore became clear to him that the people had fled.

He sent officials along with them. . . Rashi is answering the question: Pharaoh willingly sent B’nei Yisrael out. He knew himself that they left Egypt. Why then does it say he was “told”? Perforce, “He sent officials. . .”

V. 5. כי ברח העם. Aus mehrfachen Gründen kann dies nicht heißen, dass das Volk nicht wieder zurückkehren wolle. Wie wir oben gesehen, hat ja Pharao Israel mit vollem Bewusstsein auf Nimmerwiederkehr aus dem Lande gewiesen, und klagt er sich dessen ja auch hier selber an: כי שלחנו את ישראל מעבדנו. Sodann liegt ja in dieser Umkehr kein Beweis der Flucht, vielmehr höchstens das Gegenteil. Endlich ist ja oben V. 3 die Sinnesänderung Pharaos durch die, wie er meinte, verzweifelte Lage des Volkes motiviert, dem der Zug in die Freiheit abgeschnitten gewesen wäre. Es kann dieses ברח daher wohl nur von eben dieser Umkehr verstanden werden, die dem Pharao als eine Flucht vor der Macht des Baalzefon gemeldet wurde, welcher mit seinen Schrecknissen das Volk von dem beabsichtigten Eintritt in die Wüste zurückgetrieben habe. Pharao erkannte darin ein Unterliegen der Gottesmacht, die bisher Israel geführt, deren unwiderstehlich geglaubte Gewalt ihn und seine Diener zu dem, wie er nun glaubte, übereilten Entschluss gebracht hätte, das Volk gänzlich aus ihrem Dienst zu entlassen, ein Entschluss, den er nun bereute. Es scheint, dass die Gesinnung des Volkes dieselbe geblieben war.

ויגד למלך מצרים, meanwhile the King of Egypt had received information, etc.” according to Rashi, he had received this information from the spies that he had sent along with the Israelites when they were leaving Ramses. They reported that after three days had passed the Israelites had not made any move indicating that they would return. According to Rashi, the Israelites had marched only a distance of a single day. On the next day they had marched from Sukkot to Eytam, and on the third day they had turned around, so that by that time they were only a day’s march away from the Egyptian border. All this is based on the words: “they turned around and they encamped.” According to Rashi, then, they had presented offerings to G-d while facing Egypt all day long on the third day. The spies reported that on the following day that they had not made any move in the direction of Egypt. This they interpreted as proof that they intended to flee. According to this, the Israelites would have remained stationary until Pharaoh caught up with them. This is based on the Torah writing that Pharaoh caught up with them while they were along the sea. (verse 9) According to this, the Egyptians engaged in pursuing them on the fifth and sixth day, even though the people had not moved further away at all. We would have to explain this by assuming that an army which travels with chariots, etc., as described, moves more slowly than an ordinary army or cavalry. Otherwise, it makes no sense that they did not face their adversary until the sixth or seventh day.

ויהפך [AND THE HEART…] WAS TURNED — it was turned (changed) from what it had been, because he had said to them (Exodus 12:31) “Arise, go out from the midst of my people”, and his servants’ hearts were changed because formerly they had said to him, (Exodus 10:7) “How long shall this man be a snare unto us? [let the men go etc.]”. Now, however, they (their hearts) were changed, prompting them to pursue them, because of the property that they had handed over to them (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:5:3).

ויהפך לבב פרעה, Pharaoh had concluded that the Baal Tzefon was an equal to G’d and could frustrate His designs.

מעבדנו, the letter ח has a chataf kametz vowel underneath it, so that the word means “from serving us.” We find a similar construction Deuteronomy 7,8 where the words ומשמרו את-השבועה, mean: “and due to His observing His oath.” Also Exodus 16,3 באלנו לחם לשובע, “when we ate as much bread as we wanted,” or Numbers 26,10 באכל האש, “when the fire consumed,” are similar constructions of verbs as a form of the present tense.

On the fifth and sixth days they pursued them. . . You might ask: B’nei Yisrael journeyed on the first and second days, but on the third day they turned back a day’s journey, as it is written: “Have them turn back” (v. 2). Thus, they were only a day’s distance from Egypt. Why then did it take Pharaoh two days to overtake them? The answer is: “Have them turn back” means they traveled at an angle. Although Rashi says (ibid), “They kept moving nearer to Egypt,” it does not mean they went straight back [via the same route they had taken]. They were heading back on an indirect path, which is not a true returning. It demonstrated that they were in a state of confusion, for they did not return the way they came. Had they not returned in a straying way, Pharaoh would not have pursued them, for he released them because he considered it Hashem’s will. But upon seeing them returning [in an apparently confused manner] convinced Pharaoh that if it was Hashem’s will, He would have led them on a straight path.

Perhaps we have to fall back on the Zohar's premise that every time the Torah speaks about העם what is meant is the new multitude of converts commonly known as ערב רב. Accordingly, the report Pharaoh received about "the people" having fled referred to the new converts whom Pharaoh sent along with the Israelites in order for them to bring about the Israelites' return to Egypt. These people had now decided to throw in their lot with the Israelites permanently. Inasmuch as they had been Egyptian subjects, their defection could properly be described as the flight of Pharaoh's people.

ויהפוך לבב פרעה, “Pharaoh experienced a change of heart;” the expression implies that he was sorry about what he had done. We have an example of this expression being used in that context in Lamentations 1,20: נהפך לבי בקרבי, “my heart is in anguish.”

מעבדנו means from serving us (i. e. the word is an infinitive with an objective suffix and not a noun signifying “from our service”, which would require מֵעֲבוֹדָתֵנוּ).

מה זאת עשינו כי שלחנו, what (a foolish thing) have we done in dismissing the Israelites, etc.! We should have consulted Baal Tzefon who would have helped us so that we would have had no need to let the Israelites depart.

In the morning they chanted the shirah and that was the seventh day of Pesach. . . You might ask: Did not Rashi say in Bamidbar 15:41 that they chanted the shirah on the eighth day? The answer is: [It is the eighth day] if you count from Erev Pesach, which is when the korbon Pesach was slaughtered and its blood sprinkled on the lintel and doorposts. [True,] Erev Pesach is not a complete day, for the night had already passed before the slaughtering, and is not counted with the day. Nevertheless, it is considered a full day regarding sacrifices. This is because for sacrifices, the night following is considered part of the day. So when counting from the day of slaughtering, the seventh day of Pesach is actually the eighth day. In Bamidbar, Rashi is counting from the day of slaughtering, and here he is not. But Re”m explains: Perhaps R. Moshe Hadarshan, who said it was the eighth day, disagrees with the Aggadah [cited here] which says they chanted the shirah on the seventh day.

ויהפך לבב פרעה, Pharaoh had a change of heart, etc. This means that Pharaoh was sorry now that he had sent these new converts along with the Israelites. He did not regret letting the Israelites go. When the Egyptians exclaimed: "what did we do?" this refers to the Egyptians' surprise at their own stupidity in having sent these converts along with the Israelites. They explained their stupidity as being the result of allowing the Israelites to depart as free men. (According to Yalkut Shimoni 208 Pharaoh had even executed a deed granting the Israelites the status as free men.) The words shilachnu me-ovdenu then are a reference to this document granting the Israelites their freedom. Even though it was conceivable that the Israelites would decide to return, they would do so as free and equal citizens, not as slaves. The Egyptian people's upset was very real for in the absence of the Israelites to perform slave labour all the work the Israelites had performed up to this point would now become something they had to do for themselves as well as for the government. The people who joined Pharaoh in the pursuit were concerned mostly with bringing back the new converts described as העם. G'd did not need to influence Pharaoh to make a decision concerning this pursuit at all. However, G'd influenced Pharaoh to also pursue the Israelites themselves by allowing him to think that the latter had become entangled in the land.

Now they changed. . . Some ask either way: If Pharaoh initially had in mind that B’nei Yisrael will leave Egypt and not come back, as Rashi explains that he now had a change of heart, why did he send along the officials? Rather, he must have had in mind that they will make a three-day festival in the wilderness and then come back, as the verse implies: “Go worship Hashem as you have said” (12:31). But if so, why does Rashi say he had a change of heart [if he thought all along that they will come back]? The answer is: Pharaoh initially sent B’nei Yisrael out regardless of whether or not they will come back. He sent the officers along with them so that if B’nei Yisrael were to decide to leave permanently, they should either give the officers the possessions, or come back and return what they had borrowed. This also explains why Rashi says they changed their minds “because of their property.” The officers saw that B’nei Yisrael intended to go away and flee, and they informed Pharaoh and his servants. Then Hashem gave them a change of heart, to bring B’nei Yisrael back to Egyptian slavery as before, although they initially did not have in mind that B’nei Yisrael will come back.

Pharaoh was also motivated by another consideration which I have already discussed in 10,7, namely that his whole obstinacy was based on the miscalculation that G'd was not all-powerful and that is why He resorted to deceptive tactics. Pharaoh and his servants had reasoned that if G'd were all powerful He would do things outright instead of achieving His aims by devious means. On the day G'd killed the firstborn the Egyptians finally admitted to themselves that G'd could indeed do whatever He wanted including destruction of the universe itself if He so desired. In view of this, the Egyptians concluded that the request of G'd transmitted through Moses to let the Israelites travel three days into the desert could be taken at face value and was not a scheme to leave and then not to return. They discounted Pharaoh's repeated concern that the fact that the Israelites were not prepared to leave anyone or anything behind was proof of their intent not to return, and they credited this to the Israelites' declared intent to celebrate a holiday, something that is best done in the midst of one's family and possessions. It was considerations such as these that prompted the Egyptians to "lend" the Israelites their valuables. They did not suspect G'd of having influenced their decision to lend these valuables to the Israelites as they reasoned that if G'd had wanted to He could have forced them to hand over all of their possessions to the departing Jews. Their reasoning was reinforced by the knowledge that the Israelites had become thoroughly familiar with all their valuables during the plague of darkness without exploiting their opportunity to steal these goods at a time when they could have done without fear of being discovered.

To pursue them. . . Question: How does Rashi know [that it was because of the property they lent them]? Perhaps it was as it is written in the verse: “How did we release B’nei Yisrael from serving us?” The answer is: Indeed, this was Pharaoh’s reason, that because of the slave labor, he never wanted to send Israel away. But his servants were always telling him, “How long will this man be a menace to us” (10:7), etc, and now they said, “What have we done? How did we release Israel from serving us?” Perforce, it was because of their property. Another answer: [Rashi knows this] because it is written “regarding the people,” implying: because of the people to whom they lent their property. (Maharshal)

When the informer told Pharaoh that "the people" had fled, he meant that the Jews had decided not to return at the end of three days as had been the commonly held belief at the time of their departure. Pharaoh and the Egyptians were now convinced that the Israelites under Moses' leadership had made this decision on their own, as their G'd would never have become a party to deception. Such considerations then all contributed to Pharaoh, his servants, and his people undergoing a change of heart in their attitude towards the Israelites. They never regretted having let them go at that time, as they had only let them go for a holiday. They regretted their stupidity in giving the people a letter releasing them from bondage. This had been an unpardonable stupidity because even their G'd had never demanded this. They reasoned that what they should have done in the first place was to send a military escort with the Israelites to assure their return at the end of the three days.

Another way of looking at what happened is this: When the news reached Pharaoh that the Israelites had "fled," Pharaoh reconsidered his premise that the Israelite G'd was all-knowing and all-powerful. This G'd apparently had been forced to use deception because He was not omnipotent. This is why He kept His intention that the Israelites should depart permanently a secret up until now.

The Torah advisedly speaks of the לבב, "a dual heart" of Pharaoh undergoing a change. Pharaoh's considerations were due to conflicting feelings (i.e. "two hearts"). Originally, He had thought that G'd was unable to orchestrate the Israelites' exodus otherwise He would not have had to almost beg him to let the Israelites go. As a result, he, Pharaoh had refused to let them go. Next, Pharaoh had convinced himself that G'd's love for the Jewish people might only be temporary. In the meantime Pharaoh had come to realise that his estimate of G'd liking the Jewish people only temporarily had also been wrong and as a result of both these considerations of telling him to let the Israelites go, he had done so in the firm belief that there was nothing he could do to stop this process. Now, in retrospect, he realised that he had been wrong after all, that G'd had lacked the power to orchestrate the Exodus without help from Pharaoh himself. This is why he decided to mount the pursuit.

ויאסר את רכבו AND HE MADE READY HIS CHARIOT — he himself (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:6:1)

ואת עמו לקח עמו, the choicest of his cavalry and chariots.

ואת עמו לקח עמו. "and he took his people with him. The Egyptian people had never been involved in the negotiations with Moses and Aaron. Pharaoh had to convince the Egyptians that what he was about to do had a chance to succeed as the people were greatly afraid The words לקח עמו in this context mean that "he convinced them."

He [Pharaoh] harnessed his chariot. Because he thought that B’nei Yisrael were confused and panic stricken and on the verge of returning to Egypt, he did not take a large army with him but only his special chariot and “his people,” i.e. his personal guard. He also took “all the chariots of Egypt,” but these were not very numerous because most of their horses died in the pestilence.

V. 6. Den ganzen Heereszug stellte er unter seinen unmittelbaren Befehl und zog voran. —

ויאסור את רכבו, “he harnessed his chariot;” according to Rashi, he did this personally, not ordering his servants to do so. This is interpreted as part of the psychology of people who are extremely angry. They give vent to their anger by involving themselves personally.

ואת עמו לקח עמו AND TOOK HIS PEOPLE WITH HIM — he drew them on by fine words, as follows: “We have been stricken and they have taken our money and yet we have let them go free. Come with me and I will not behave with you as other kings. It is the way of other kings that their subjects go in front of them into the battle, but I will go in front of you” — as, indeed, it is said, (v. 10) “And Pharaoh הקריב” (the Hiphil): which signifies he brought himself near and hastened in front of his army. — “It is the way of other kings to take the booty at the beginning as he chooses (to have first pick of the booty), but I will be equal to you in the division of the booty” — as, indeed, it states that he said, (Exodus 15:9) “I will divide the spoil”Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:6:2.

בחור means CHOSEN. The word בחור is singular number — the idea is: each and every chariot in that number was a selected one.

וכל רכב מצרים, the chariots of average quality of which there were many.

רכב בחור. armoured vehicles of the best category.

ויקח שש מאות רכב, “He took 600 chariots.” Rashi, basing himself on the Mechilta, in answering the question where Pharaoh took the horses from which pulled these chariots, seeing that all the livestock supposedly had been killed by the fifth plague of pestilence, points out that the Torah had reported that the livestock of the farmers who had heeded Moses’ warning, took their animals indoors, so that they survived that plague. This prompted Rabbi Shimon in Tanchuma Beshalach 8 to coin the phrase that טוב שבגויים הרוג, “that the only good gentile is a dead one.” The Jerusalem Talmud limits the applicability of this proverb to periods when the gentiles are at war with us. The version there is that “the gentiles are considered as irrelevant.” According to this approach, when Rashi commented on our verse (9,20) that “the people who heeded G’d’s warning took their animals indoors,” this is not an appropriate comment, as any animals which at the time had not been outdoors for any reason were also saved, without their owners being rewarded for heeding G’d’s warning. Horses and mules, which are used for transporting humans, are generally kept in stables indoors so as to be at hand when their owners need them, so that the whole question of whence these animals came from appears superfluous.

ויקח שש מאות רכב, “He took six hundred chariots, etc.” Rashi queries where these chariots, or better their horses came from seeing that the Torah had told us in 9,3-6 that all the domestic beasts of Egypt died during the plague of pestilence. Moreover, the Israelites had said that they would take all their livestock with them (10,26) so that Pharaoh could not have requisitioned animals belonging to the Israelites. Rashi, i.e. Mechilta, concludes that these animals must have belonged to the people described in 9,20 as having feared the word of G’d, i.e. the warning preceding the plague, and who had therefore taken their livestock indoors. This would demonstrate that G’d-fearing Egyptians could become a source of trouble for the Jews. It teaches the truth of what Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is quoted as saying in Massechet Sofrim chapter 15 that the best of the Egyptians were killed at the Sea and that the best of the snakes ought still to have their heads smashed. The statement is traced to our verse here. The meaning of the statement is that only in time of war is it permissible to kill such Egyptians seeing that by making war against you they have revealed their true attitude. Under such conditions we may apply the advice or instruction of Sanhedrin 72 that when someone signals that he is going to kill us we may take preemptive action and kill him first. During times of peace, however, it is not permissible to kill such people. We know this because even the seven Canaanite nations concerning whom the Torah demanded that we exterminate males, females and children (Deut. 20,16) unless they vacate the land of Canaan, were given an offer to emigrate before the Jewish people went to war against them.
On the other hand, when the hostility of such nations or individuals is directed against G’d Himself, such as the hostility of the Egyptians, it is permitted to kill such people even in times of peace (with the Jewish people) as this is considered a holy war, a war on behalf of G’d. Once the Egyptians had observed the killing of the firstborn, a punishment performed by G’d personally, not by agents of His who operate within nature all the time, their intent in pursuing the Jewish people was clearly directed against G’d. This is what prompted G’d to say to Moses (14,14): “G’d will fight on your behalf, you just remain silent.” G’d had become obligated to drown those people.

Selected. . . Rashi is answering the question: Why does it not say בחורים (plural form)? The answer is: Had it said בחורים we would think [it meant “young men,”] as in Devarim (32:25), “The young man ( בחור ) and the young woman ( בתולה )” — and it comes to exclude the elderly. Therefore it says בחור (singular form), which means “selected” — to convey that all the 600 chariots were select. And since בחור in fact refers to the 600, which is plural, Rashi writes [ נבחרים ] in the plural form.

V. 7. בחור ist überall die auserlesene Kriegsmannschaft. So:מאה ושמנים אלף בחור (Kön. I. 12, 21 und sonst). — וכל רכב מצרים, die ersten waren Kriegswagen; diese waren Transportwagen. Es galt vor allem, Israel so rasch als möglich wieder einzuholen, bevor es etwa aus der verzweifelten Lage, in welcher er es glaubte, wieder entkommen sein mochte. Er suchte daher so viel als nur immer möglich das ganze Heer auf Wagen zu transportieren.

וכל רכב מצרים signifies AND with these were ALL THE other CHARIOTS OF EGYPT. And whence came all these animals required for the chariots? If you say that they were from the cattle of the Egyptians — but you know it is stated, (Exodus 9:6) “And all the cattle of the Egyptians died”. And if you say that they were from the Israelites’ cattle — but is it not stated, (Exodus 10:26) “Our cattle, also, shall go with us”! Then whose were they? They were of those “who feared the word of the Lord” and saved their cattle by bringing them into their stables (Exodus 9:20). Deriving it from here (on account of this fact) R. Simeon said: The best amongst the Egyptians — kill him (otherwise he will afterwards devise evil against you); the best amongst the serpents — crush its brains (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:7:1).

ושלישים על כלו, Pharaoh appointed experienced officers even for the chariots of this second cadre. שלישים are officers who have battle experience to their credit. The aggressive ability of any army depends on its officer corps and the intelligence of the generals to devise schemes and battle plans which will lead to victory.

ושלשים, high ranking officers. We know this from the description of who was drowned in Moses’ song of thanks ומבחר שלישיו טובעו בים סוף, “and the pick of his officers are drowned in the Sea of Reeds.” (Exodus 15,4)

כל סוס רכב פרעה, “all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh.” Ibn Ezra says that the point made by the verse is that all these chariots traveled as a unit, not each one separately.

ושלישים על כלו, “with captains on all of them.” As per Onkelos, i.e. skilled warriors on each chariot. An alternative meaning could be that Pharaoh divided his army into three groups; this would account for the fact that we read about three separate parts of Pharaoh’s army drowning. The Torah mentions separately: “all the army of Pharaoh who had entered the Sea behind the Israelites” (14,28); in 15,4 the Torah speaks of the chariots being drowned in the Sea; in 15,19 the Torah adds that Pharaoh’s horse and its riders with its chariots had entered the Sea, etc.

And along with them, all the remaining chariots. Rashi is answering the question: First it is written that Pharaoh took only 600 chariots. Why then is it written afterward, “All the chariots of Egypt”? Furthermore, once it is written, “All the chariots of Egypt,” why does it need to say, “600 chariots”? Thus Rashi explains, “Along with them.” In other words, Pharaoh took only 600. But those 600 [chariot commanders] had servants [with their own chariots,] and they also went along with Pharaoh, of their own accord.

ושלשים על כלו means army-captains, as the Targum has it.

ויחזק ה׳ את לב פרעה AND THE LORD ALLOWED THE HEART OF PHARAOH TO BE HARDENED — the meaning is, that he was in doubt whether to pursue or not, and He hardened his heart to pursue (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:8:1).

ובני ישראל יוצאים ביד רמה, the meaning of the word רמה here is similar to the meaning of the same word in Deuteronomy 32,27 ידינו רמה, where it means: “our own hand has prevailed.” At the time of their departure they had been confident of their ability to defeat Pharaoh and his military machine as they were much stronger in numbers. The verse teaches that they were relying on their numbers instead of considering their total lack of experience in the art of war. They would have had every reason to fear the numerically inferior Egyptians who had all this experience going for them.

ויחזק ה׳ את לב פרעה, G'd hardened the heart of Pharaoh, etc. The Torah means that G'd needed to harden the heart of Pharaoh otherwise he would not have had the courage to face a nation which had recently left Egypt with their heads held high. The various considerations we described above were part of this process the Torah describes as "G'd hardened the heart of Pharaoh."

יצאים ביד רמה, they had not started to worry at all until they saw Pharaoh and his army pursuing them. At that point, וייראו מאד, they became very much afraid.

V. 8. Als König von Mizrajim hätte er das gewöhnliche Völkerrecht achten sollen. Israel war nicht mehr das ihm von seinen Vorfahren als Sklave überkommene Volk; ביד רמה als freie, selbständige, von ihm selbst freigelassene Menschen waren sie ausgezogen. Er hatte kein Recht mehr an ihnen, und wenn er sie jetzt wieder mit Gewalt in den Sklavendienst zurückzwingen wollte, so war das eine nach dem allgemeinsten Bewusstsein als Menschenraub zu verurteilende Gewalttat. הרים יד במלך (Kön. 1. 11, 26) heißt: sich gegen einen König empören; daher heißt יד רמה die volle, von niemandem abhängige Selbständigkeit. Das war der Rechtszustand, in welchen Pharao das Volk bei seinem Auszuge versetzt hatte. Sie wurden von ihm nicht etwa als Sklaven fortgelassen, denen ein dreitägiger Urlaub bewilligt war. Er hatte sie völlig entlassen, und ihre Hand war hoch, d. h. unabhängig geworden.

ביד רמה, “fully confident;” they thought that they had nothing to fear as they had left Egypt with permission.

ביד רמה WITH A HIGH HAND — with high and open daring (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:8:2).

וירדפו מצרים, after the ones who had departed with such high regard for their superiority.

The Egyptians pursued. This refers to the Egyptian masses.

(Exodus 14:9) "And Egypt pursued them" (This is ostensibly redundant.) We are hereby apprised that not one of them stumbled on the way, lest they resort to divination and turn back. For thus do we find, that these nations resorted to divination, viz. (Devarim 18:14) "For these nations that you are to inherit resort to soothsayers and diviners, etc.", and (Numbers 22:7) "And the elders of Moav and the elders of Midian went, with (instruments of) divination in their hands," and (Joshua 13:22) "And Bilaam the son of Beor the augur they slew by the sword," and the elders of Midian divined and turned back.

V. 9. Dass Israels Hinzug bis zur Wüste, Rückzug nach Pi Hachiroth, die Meldung an Pharao und Pharaos Heereszug nach Pi Hachiroth innerhalb sechs Tagen vollbracht worden ist, wird erklärlich, wenn man bedenkt, dass, wie es Kap. 13, V. 21, heißt, das Volk Tag und Nacht wandern, somit den sonst dreitägigen Weg bis in die Wüste in kürzerer Frist zurückgelegt haben konnte, und dass dagegen Pharaos Heereszug größtenteils zu Roß und Wagen zurückgelegt wurde und ihm das Volk ja auch bis Pi Hachiroth entgegengekommen war. Überall, wo dieses Zuges erwähnt wird, treten die Rosse in den Vordergrund. Denn eben durch sie waren sie Israel so gefährlich und war an ein Entrinnen durch die Wüste nicht zu denken. Israel hatte nur Rinder und Schafe und Esel, Tiere des friedlichen Berufes. Das kriegerische Roß fehlt in Israels Nationalerscheinung und sollte auch später nie einen bedeutenden Faktor in seiner nationalen Größe ausmachen.

After them. That is, they followed after Pharaoh and his troops. When the Egyptian populace realized that B’nei Yisrael did not intend on returning, they too set out to recover their property.

And overtook them. The Egyptian masses overtook Pharaoh’s chariots and cavalry.

At (or “above”) Pi haChiros. The B’nei Yisrael camped before Pi haChiros (v. 2) while the Egyptians camped above Pi haChiros.

ופרעה הקריב — It should have written ופרעה קרב “and Pharaoh came near” — what is the force of the Hiphil הקריב, “He caused to come near”? He made himself come near — he forced himself to go in front of them as he had arranged with them (cf. Rashi on v. 6).

AND THEY WERE SORE AFRAID; AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL CRIED OUT UNTO THE ETERNAL. 11. AND THEY SAID UNTO MOSES: ‘BECAUSE WERE THERE NO GRAVES IN EGYPT, HAST THOU TAKEN US TO DIE IN THE WILDERNESS’? It does not appear logical that people who are crying out to G-d to help them, should at the same time protest against the deliverance He performed for them, and say that it would have been better if He had not saved them! The correct interpretation therefore is that there were conflicting groups,³²As stated in the Mechilta here on Verse 13: “The Israelites at the Red Sea were divided into four groups, etc.” In Rabbeinu Bachya’s rendition of this text of Ramban, it clearly reads: “Therefore we can rely upon the words of our Rabbis who say that these verses represent different groups” (Bachya’s Commentary on the Torah, Vol. II, p. 113, in my edition). Ramban, however, following the plain meaning of Scripture here, does not describe them as four groups but merely as ‘conflicting groups’ without enumeration. and Scripture relates what all of them did. Thus it narrates that one group cried to G-d [for help], and another denied His prophet and did not acknowledge the deliverance done for them. They said it would have been better for them had He not saved them. It is with reference to this group that it is written, They were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.³³Psalms 106:7. This is why Scripture here repeats in the same verse the term, the children of Israel, [saying: and ‘the children of Israel’ lifted up their eyes…] and ‘the children of Israel’ cried out unto the Eternal. It thus indicates that it was the better ones among the people that cried out to G-d; the remainder rebelled against His word. This is why Scripture says afterward, And the people feared the Eternal; and they believed in the Eternal, and in His servant Moses.³⁴Further, Verse 31. It does not say “and Israel feared the Eternal, and they believed,” but it says instead “the people,” for the term the children of Israel signifies the outstanding ones, while the people is a name for the multitude. Similarly, the verse, And the people murmured,³⁵Ibid., 15:24. [clearly indicates the usage of the term people in Scripture]. Our Rabbis have also mentioned it:³⁶Bamidbar Rabbah 20:22. “And the people began to commit harlotry.³⁷Numbers 25:1. Wherever it says the people, it is an expression of reproach, and wherever it says Israel, it is one of praise.”
Now the people did not say, “you have taken us away to die in war,” but [they said], hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness, and again they said, that we should die in the wilderness.³⁸Verse 12. This was due to the fact that long before they feared war,³⁹The Tur renders this passage thus thus: “They said that even if they would not experience any war, they did not want to go out to the desert.” they already did not want to go out to the desert lest they die there from hunger and thirst.
It is possible that they said so to Moses upon their going forth from the country while they were still in the land of Egypt, when G-d led them about by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea.⁴⁰Above, 13:18. Perhaps they said so to Moses at the beginning: “Where shall we go? If by the way of the Philistines, they will war against us, and if by the way of the wilderness, better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”⁴¹Verse 12.
It is also possible to say that the people did believe in G-d and prayed to Him to save them, but a doubt entered their hearts concerning Moses lest he took them out of Egypt in order to rule over them. Although they had seen the signs and wonders he did, they thought that he did them through some manner of wisdom. Perhaps G-d brought the plagues upon the Egyptians on account of their wickedness, [but not necessarily for the purpose of redemption of Israel, and Moses took them out of Egypt just to rule over them], for if G-d had desired their going out, Pharaoh would not have pursued after them.
And Onkelos here translated vayitz’aku (and they cried out) as uz’aku,⁴²Elsewhere Onkelos translates it v’tzalu (and they prayed). See Deuteronomy 26:7, vanitz’ak, which Onkelos renders v’tzaleinu (and we prayed). The word uz’aku, on the other hand, means “complaint,” as is explained in the text. thus making its purport to be “complaint,” meaning that they did not pray to G-d but that they complained to Him for having taken them out of Egypt. It is similar in usage to that in the verse, ‘vayitz’aku’ unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?⁴³Above, 5:15. [which does not mean “and they prayed,” but that they complained.] Similarly, Then there was a great ‘tza’akath’ of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews,⁴⁴Nehemiah 5:1. which means they were complaining against them with a great voice and outcry.
In the Mechilta we find;⁴⁵Mechilta on the verse before us. “They seized upon the occupation of their fathers, [i.e., at first they conducted themselves properly in that they prayed to G-d as their fathers had done]. And they said unto Moses: ‘Because were there no graves, etc.?’ After ‘they had added leaven into the dough,’⁴⁶Ramban will explain further on that this is a euphemism for the yeitzer hara (the evil inclination). In other words, after doubts had entered their minds and excitement was stirred up, they came to Moses and said to him, etc. they came to Moses and said to him, Is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt, etc.?”⁴¹Verse 12. The “leaven in the dough” is a reference to the evil inclination. Thus the Sages in the Mechilta intended to say that at first the people prayed to G-d to instill in Pharaoh’s heart the desire to turn back from pursuing them. However, when they saw that he was not turning back but instead was marching and drawing near them, they said, “Our prayers have not been accepted,” and an evil thought entered their hearts to find fault with Moses as they had previously done.

ופרעה הקריב, he had brought the entire Egyptian army right up close to the Israelites.

ופרעה הקריב….והנה מצרים נוסע אחריהם, when Pharaoh drew close the Israelites raised their eyes and saw that Egypt was marching after them, etc. Why was this whole line necessary? Would the words: "they caught up with them while they were encamped by the sea" not have sufficed to describe what took place? Why did the verse commence by telling us about what Pharaoh did and conclude by telling us what Egypt was doing? The Torah should have continued that "Pharaoh was marching after them;" Why is the word נסע "was marching" in the singular when many Egyptians are being described as marching?

וייראו מאד, “they were very much afraid.” Ibn Ezra expresses surprise that a body of 600,000 armed men such as the Israelites, should have displayed fear because an army of only 600 chariots pursued them. Why were these people not prepared to defend their lives and the lives of their children against this miniscule force of Egyptians? The answer is strictly psychological. All the Israelites had been raised from infancy to see in the Egyptians their natural masters, and to willingly bear the burden of being slaves to these masters. They had absolutely no knowledge of how to conduct a self defense. We have evidence from the encounter with Amalek, a small people. The Israelites who far outnumbered them, would have been lost if not for the support offered by the knowledge that Moses prayed for their victory. Eventually, this slave mentality caused the death of the whole generation who had left Egypt as adults, and only their children, who had not been slaves, could be relied upon to face the Canaanites in battle and not to run scared. If Ibn Ezra would have taken a look at the Midrash, which deals with the meaning of the words שלישים על כולם, he would have seen that the Israelites, at least according to that Midrash, were outnumbered by three Egyptians to each one of them. Some sages challenge Ibn Ezra, saying: “who told him that the Amalekites attacked with only a small army?”

An alternate explanation: And behold the Egyptian is coming. . . The angel is not called by a proper name but rather מצרים , because the guardian angel of Egypt is in fact named מצרים .

Pharaoh drew near. The B’nei Yisrael had not been frightened of Pharaoh because they saw how few troops he brought with him and assumed that he did not come to do battle. But afterwards they “looked up” and saw the Egyptian masses in the distance and then became very afraid. And the B’nei Yisrael cried out. They cried out in prayer asking Hashem to cause Pharaoh to retreat. Then when he continued drawing near they began casting aspersions upon Moshe, insinuating that Hashem had not told him to take them out of Egypt but only to ease their burdens.

V. 10. נשא עין, ist, wie schon oft bemerkt, ein absichtliches Ausschauen. Sie hatten das Geräusch des anrückenden ägyptischen Heeres gehört und wurden dadurch veranlasst, nach der Gegend hinzuschauen. Indem hier in ויצעקו וגו׳ das Subjekt בני ישראל wiederholt wird, ist damit dem Aufschrei zu Gott jede Missbilligung genommen. Ihre Furcht war eine natürliche, und ihr bei Gott Hilfe suchender Aufschrei des Israelcharakters nicht unwürdig.

והנה מצרים נוסע אחריהם, “and here the Egyptians are pursuing them!” The Torah uses the singular mode for describing all these Egyptian soldiers and their officers. We have found examples of this in Numbers 13,23: ויבא עד חברון, “he came as far as Chevron,” when actually the Torah speaks of 12 spies. Or, another example: Joshua 8,19: האורב קם מהרה ממקומו, “The people lying in ambush arose quickly from their place.” The word: ממקומו, means: “from its place.” There were actually only 5000 Egyptian soldiers.

נסע אחריהם [EGYPT] JOURNEYED AFTER THEM (נסע is singular) — the Egyptians journeyed after them with one mind and as one man (hence the use of the singular) (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:10:3). Another explanation of והנה מצרים נסע אחריהם is: the singular denotes that they saw, not the Egyptians, but the guardian angel of Egypt coming from heaven to assist the Egyptians. Thus is it explained in the Tanchuma (cf. Exodus Rabbah 21:5).

ויצעקו בני ישראל אל ה', “The Children of Israel cried out in supplication to Hashem.”

In order to understand this whole verse we must first understand the Israelites' comments to Moses: "did you take us out of Egypt because there are not enough burial places in Egypt? What did you do to us, etc.?" Looking at these words one gains the impression that the Israelites were surprised that the Egyptians pursued them. How could this be seeing that G'd had told them beforehand that their whole maneuver was designed to fool Pharaoh and cause him to pursue them? Why did they suddenly become afraid? Possibly they did not realise that Pharaoh had so much military capability left after all that happened. Even so, in view of the assurances the Israelites had from G'd that He would deal harshly with Pharaoh why did they display this mortal fear?

וייראו מאד, “They were very scared.” Why would 600000 male, able bodied, Israelites, be so scared of 5000 Egyptians? We had been told that they were all armed! Their fear was based on their slave mentality. Every slave is afraid of his master. These Israelites had not yet proven to themselves that they could fend for themselves.

ויצעקו AND THEY CRIED — they took to hand the handicraft of their fathers (they had recourse to prayer as their fathers had always done in times of trouble). In the case of Abraham it is said, (Genesis 19:27) “[And Abraham went] to the place where he had stood in prayer”. In the case of Isaac: (Genesis 24:63) “[He went out towards evening] to pray”. In the case of Jacob: (Genesis 28:11) “He prayed to the Omnipresent God” (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:10:4; Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 9, and Rashi on the texts quoted).

We must fall back on what our sages have taught as described in Shemot Rabbah 21,5 that when the Israelites noticed Pharaoh pursuing them they naturally turned their eyes heavenwards expecting G'd to manifest Himself and to smite the Egyptians. Imagine the Israelites' surprise when what they saw was the guardian angel of Egypt whose name is Mitzrayim flying through the air. It was then that they became afraid as they realised that this angel had now come out in order to help his protegees, the Egyptians. It is an accepted theory that the fortunes of these guardian angels are bound up with their charges. When the protegees of such guardian angels suffer a defeat so does the guardian angel himself. [In fact according to the Kabbalists when G'd wants to destroy a people, He first destroys their guardian angel. After that, even if the people appear still to be going strong, their fate has already been sealed. Ed.] We are told in Yuma 69 that Alexander the Great was in the habit of observing the guardian angel of Macedonia at work whenever he went into battle. It is customary for a minister to take up position on the right side of the king and not in front of the people. Normally, a king who travels into battle with his troops takes up his position behind the infantry. In this instance the Israelites had the impression that the guardian angel of Egypt was still going strong, far from being the first one to be defeated by G'd. The Torah also describes Pharaoh הקריב, as coming close, i.e. travelling ahead of his troops not behind them. The reason the Israelites were able to see the guardian angel of Egypt at all was because the guardian angel was positioned next to the king who travelled ahead of his troops. This unusual spectacle frightened the Israelites. They believed that celestial forces were now arraigned against them. In view of all this, the fact that G'd had told them that the Egyptians would pursue them and He would deal harshly with Pharaoh was no longer enough for the people to keep their cool.

There were two reasons why G'd had not interfered with the guardian angel at that time. 1) G'd was looking for a legal excuse to kill that guardian angel. The Zohar, section two, page 52 interprets 14,30 "Israel saw Mitzrayim dead on the beaches of the sea," as a reference to the guardian angel of Egypt. The second reason G'd allowed the guardian angel of Egypt to adopt such a visibly threatening posture was for Israel's benefit. G'd wanted Israel to do תשובה, to repent. They needed to acquire the merit of repentance in order to justify that G'd should perform the great miracle of splitting the Sea of Reeds on their behalf. This was something G'd had not promised them previously. Shemot Rabbah 21,5 also points out that the unusual form (causative) ופרעה הקריב "and Pharaoh caused himself to come close," instead of the usual ופרעה קרב, "and Pharaoh approached," is a clear indication of G'd's purpose being to cause the Israelites to do תשובה. In the event, G'd's expectations were fulfilled as the Torah reports that "the children of Israel cried out to G'd" (14,10).

המבלי אין קברים signifies, was it on account of lack of graves — because there were no graves in Egypt in which to be buried — that thou didst bring us out from there? old French si pour faillance de non fossés.

לקחתנו למות במדבר, even if Pharaoh and his army will not provoke a battle the mere fact that they block our path will result in our death in the desert from thirst and starvation.

המבלי אין קברים, another example of repeating the same thought in different words by adding the words:

ויאמרו אל משה המבלי אין קברים, “They said to Moses: ‘are there not enough burial places in Egypt, etc.?’” Nachmanides explains that it is clear that after the Israelites had pleaded for help to G’d, they would not immediately hereafter insult Him by the aforementioned cynical question, and by adding: ”what did You do to us by taking us out of Egypt?” We therefore must understand the verses here as reflecting the manner in which different groups of Israelites reacted to the imminent threat of annihilation which they faced. One group of Israelites resorted to prayer, another resorted to ridiculing the chance of a miracle being performed for them. Seeing that they did not believe in miraculous salvation they made peace with their impending death, but not before accusing Moses of instead of having been their redeemer having become their angel of death. It is this division among the people at that point in time to which the psalmist refers in Psalms 106,7 וימרו על ים בים סוף, “they rebelled at the sea, at the Sea of Reeds.” This is also why once the people are described as העם, “the people,” and once they are described as בני ישראל. The latter were the elite, few in number, who turned to G’d for help, the former were the masses whose attitudes were still not much different from what they had been while they were slaves and cynicism was the only weapon at their command. The people who were desperately afraid were therefore the “העם,” whom Moses told in verse 13 to stop acting so scared. This עם were the ones who are described after the event in verse 31 as “being in awe of Hashem, seeing that previously they had only made sarcastic remarks. The elite, i.e. the בני ישראל, did not need this education. In the Mechilta the sages explain that as a first step the people had prayed to G’d that Pharaoh should have a change of heart and should desist from pursuing them. When they noted that their prayer had not helped, they became heretical in their attitude, making above-mentioned sarcastic comments to Moses, blaming him for their present predicament.

Is it due to a lack of graves . . . [Rashi is answering the question:] Why did it not say המבלי קברים במצרים [without אין ]? Thus Rashi explains: “Is it due to. . .”

Were there not enough graves. Some nations love freedom to the point of preferring death to enslavement, while others would choose even a life of degradation over death. Thus the people said to Moshe, “Even if you thought we would prefer death to servitude, why was it necessary to take us out to the desert? Could we not have simply rebelled in Egypt and died there?” But then they added, “This is the thing that we told you”—that in truth they would prefer servitude over death.

(Exodus 14:11) "And they said to Moses: Is it for lack of graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert!" After they had placed "leavening in the dough" (i.e., after the evil inclination began to overcome them), they came to Moses and said (Ibid. 12) "Is not this the thing that we spoke to you in Egypt?" Now what did Israel say to Moses in Egypt? __ (Ibid. 5:19-21) "And they met Moses and Aaron … and they said to them: May the L rd reveal Himself to you and judge, etc." We were aggrieved over the subjugation of Egypt. The death of our brothers in the (plague of) darkness was more grievous to us than our subjugation to Egypt. We were aggrieved over the death of our brothers in the darkness. "Our death in the desert" is more grievous to us than the death of our brothers in the darkness. For our brothers (who died in the darkness) were mourned and buried, whereas for us — our corpses will be cast to the heat of day and to the cold of night! —

V. 11. An Mosche Sendung hatten sie Zweifel, in ihrer Lage und auf ihrem Standpunkte sehr erklärliche Zweifel. Wie konnten und durften sie sich so ohne weiteres der Annahme hingeben, es werde sie Gott auf eine so außerordentliche Weise, für welche bis dahin gar keine Erfahrung vorlag, ja in Widerspruch zu aller natürlichen Voraussetzung, zum Ziele führen. Diese andauernden Zweifel sind ein wichtiges Dokument für die Wahrhaftigkeit der Sendung Mosche, wie schon R. Jehuda Halewi im Kusri bemerkt. Er hatte ein Volk von hellem, klarem, durch phantastische Vorstellungen nicht umnebeltem Verstande vor sich, das sich nicht leichtgläubig dem ersten besten verkaufte. Und wenn denn schließlich doch eben dieses Volk für "die Lehre dieses Mosche" in den Kampf mit der Welt und in den Tod vor Jahrhunderten freudig gegangen, so ist dies eben der Beweis, dass sich die Sendung dieses Mosche durch die Gewalt der Tatsachen ihnen die durch nichts mehr zu erschütternde Überzeugung abgerungen. — המבלי אין וגו׳. Ists wohl aus Mangel, dass keine Gräber usw. Diese spitze Ironie selbst im Momente höchster Angst und Verzweiflung kennzeichnet ganz die witzige Ader, die dem hellen Jakobsstamm ureigen angestammt ist.

להוציאנו, “To take us out;” we have to understand this word as if the letter א, had the vowel tzeyreh under it. This would be the correct transitive form of this word at this place. (Compare Ibn Ezra) There are several examples of this in the Bible, also in the reverse use of the respective vowels. (Vocalization was provided by the teachers of the Torah. Moses did not write the Torah down with vowels. Ed.]

למות במדבר, “to die in the desert.”

לקחתנו למות במדבר, “have you taken us to die in the desert?” Remarkably, they did not accuse Moses of letting them become victims of a losing battle against the Egyptians, but of dying a meaningless death. This pattern repeated itself in verse 12, i.e. ממותנו במדבר. They recalled that they had always been afraid of dying in the desert even if they would not come under attack by hostile armies. Nachmanides explains that the people made it plain that even if there were no danger of war, etc. they were dead set against going into the desert. They were simply afraid that in the desert they would perish from the results of thirst and hunger. It is perfectly possible that they had already voiced their misgivings as soon as Moses did not lead them the route which was well traveled and which would have taken them via the land of the Philistines. They may even have told Moses that the route via the land of the Philistines presented unacceptable, risks, as did the route which led straight to the sea of Reeds, and that any route requiring them to travel trough the desert was perhaps the greatest risk of all. [they were understandably of the opinion that having neutralized their former masters, it was their turn to be the rulers in Egypt. Ed.] They may have preferred death followed by burial, to death in the desert where no trace of their bodies and graves would ever remain.

אשר דברנו אליך במצרים [THE WORD] THAT WE SPOKE UNTO THEE IN EGYPT — And where had they said this? (Exodus 5:21) “The Lord look upon you and judge!” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:11)

Where was it that they told him? “Let Hashem look. . .” Meaning: They said to Moshe, “Now we know that we then spoke correctly when we said, ‘Let Hashem look at you and judge’ (5:21). For according to what we see now, it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die now in the desert.” (Re”m)

V. 12. Es scheint, dass sie, in ganz natürlicher Berechnung, dem Hunger und dem Schwerte in der Wüste erliegen zu müssen gefürchtet hatten. Es muss notwendig auch das Schwert sie anfallender Horden vor dem Zuge durch die Wüste geschreckt haben, sonst hätten sie nicht beim Anblicke des ägyptischen Schwertes sagen können: Ist es dies nicht, was wir dir bereits in Ägypten gesagt haben usw. Es scheint demnach auch das חמושים welches uns oben erzählt worden, aus eigenem Antriebe der Vorsicht vom Volke geschehen zu sein. Gott hatte nur den Wanderstab ihren Händen angeordnet, sie aber hatten auch mit Waffen sich versehen zu müssen und zu dürfen geglaubt. Es gewinnt damit das zu V. 17 des vorigen Kapitels Bemerkte noch eine größere Begründung.

ממתנו means THAN THAT WE SHOULD DIE. If the word had been punctuated with a Melopum (our חולם i. e. מִמּוֹתֵנוּ) it would have to be explained “than our death” (מוֹתֵנוּ our death from the noun מָוֶת) but now that it is punctuated with a שורק (our Kibbutz) it must be explained by “than that we should die”. And similar is, (Exodus 16:3) “Would that מוּתֵנוּ” i. e. “that we should die”; similar is, (II Samuel 19:1) “Would that מוּתִי” in the history of Absalom, which means “that I should die”. It is an infinitive like (Zephaniah 3:8) “Until the day קוּמִי for ever”, and as (II Chronicles 18:26) “Until the day שׁוּבִי in peace” — which signify שאקום “that I shall arise”, and שאשוב “that I shall return”.

כי אשר ראיתם את מצרים וגו׳ means WHAT (the fact that) YE HAVE SEEN them (THE EGYPTIANS), is only היום THIS DAY — to-day it it that ye see them, BUT YE SHALL NEVER AGAIN see them.

FOR WHEREAS YE HAVE SEEN THE EGYPTIANS TODAY, YE SHALL SEE THEM AGAIN NO MORE. In the opinion of our Rabbis,⁴⁷Yerushalmi Succah V, 1. See Maimonides’ “The Commandments,” Vol. II, pp. 44-46, in my translation. this is a negative commandment for all times. If so, Scripture is stating: “Fear ye not, stand still in your places, and see the salvation of the Eternal in that He will save you today from their hands. Concerning the Egyptians you see today, G-d commands you to see them no more of your own free will henceforth and for ever.” It is thus a commandment by the mouth of Moses to Israel, even though it is not mentioned above [that G-d had said so to Moses]. Similarly, the verse, And he [the king] shall not cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses; forasmuch as the Eternal hath said unto you: Ye shall henceforth return no more that way,⁴⁸Deuteronomy 17:16. indeed constitutes a commandment, not just a promise.

התיצבו וראו "stand still and see!" Perhaps Moses suggested to the Israelites to stand still in prayer now just as they had stood and prayed in verse 10. We find the expression "standing still" also in connection with Hanna's prayer in Samuel I 1,26.

לא תוסיפו לראותם עוד, ”you will not ever again see the Egyptians in a threatening posture.” Nachmanides writes that according to our tradition it is a negative commandment applicable throughout the generations not to return to Egypt. Our verse must be understood as follows: “present yourself in an upright posture exuding confidence, and do not fear or appear to be afraid, for you will never again have reason to fear the Egyptians.”

This is the day that you saw them, but you will never again. Rashi means: [You see them today] but you will not see them any other day [because I will destroy them]. And therefore I command you not to see them again [i.e., there is a command not to return to Egypt]. This is why Rashi adds a ו [to the verse, and says:] ולא תוסיפו . Otherwise [it would mean: “Because you saw the Egyptians this day, you will never again see them.” This cannot be,] for how is seeing the Egyptians this day a reason [for the command?] (Re”m) Everything Re”m says seems contrary to logic. If “Never again see them” is a command, then the verse states two separate things. The first is that you have seen them only this day, and the second is the command not to see them again. Accordingly, there is no need to add a ו which means “and.” Rather, we must say it is not a command but a promise that “You will never again see them” because they will all drown in the sea. Also, most Poskim do not consider this to be among the negative mitzvos. (Nachalas Yaakov)

V. 13. התיצבו וראו, wahrscheinlich wie ותתצב אחותו (2, 4): stellt euch erwartungsvoll hin. Und zwar ganz so wie dort in dem Bewusstsein, nichts weiter tun zu können, als der rettenden Hand Gottes vertrauensvoll zu harren und abzuwarten, wie und wodurch Er die Rettung vollbringen werde. Die einzige Tätigkeit, die ein solcher großer Moment von uns fordert, ist eine innere, ist das התיצב ישב :״יצב״) mit צ-Laut), das sich selber zur Ruhe und in die still ausharrende Stimmung und Stellung bringen.

אשר יעשה לכם היום, "which He will work for you to-day." G'd emphasised the word "to-day" because He did not want the people to worry that Pharaoh's punishment would be as long delayed as it had been in Egypt when it took 12 months from the time they first heard the news that Moses would be the redeemer.

ישועה dürfte wohl von תשועה zu unterscheiden sein. ישועה ist von תשועה ,ישע von יֶשַע .שוע verwandt mit ישה, der Wurzel von יש, das wirkliche, wesenhafte Sein, bezeichnet die höchste Potenz der von Gott dem Menschen zu verleihenden Wesenhaftigkeit des Seins, und ישועה ist die Rettung eines bedrohten Daseins. שוע aber, verwandt mit שפע ,שבע, bezeichnet mehr eine Fülle von Gütern, daher auch שוע, der Begüterte. שוע, der begüterte Zustand steht somit mehr in Beziehung zu dem Bereiche, der Peripherie eines Wesens als zu diesem Wesen selbst. Der Gegensatz wäre der Begriff der Enge, der Beschränktheit, der Not: צרה, und תשועה wäre die Verleihung eines erweiterten Gebietes, Machtverleihung, Gebietsbefreiung. Daher ist תשועה vorzugsweise der Ausdruck für Siegesverleihung im Kriege, wo der Feind, der unser Gebiet bedrohte, zurückgeschlagen wird. Vielleicht heißt daher auch שַוֵעַ (das wir oben von שוע in der Bedeutung von שעה, wenden, abzuleiten versuchten, wofür es aber nur ein Beispiel, השע , gäbe): nach תשועה ringen, wie התחנן sich חן erringen heißt.

אשר ראיתם את מצרים, "the way you have seen Egypt, etc." G'd explained that the reason He had allowed the Egyptians to assume such a threatening posture was only because they would never again assume a threatening posture such as this. The Egyptians would soon collapse in spite of their fear-inspiring guardian angel.

ילחם לכם means He will fight on your behalf; similar is (v. 25) “For the Lord fighteth for them (להם)”; so too, (Job. 13:8) “will ye contend for God (לאל)?” and thus, too, (Genesis 24:7) “and who spoke on my behalf (לי)”, and so, too, (Judges 6:31) “Will ye plead for Baal (לבעל)?”

ה׳ ילחם לכם, "G'd will fight on your behalf, etc." Inasmuch as the reason the Israelites had been frightened had been that they saw themselves confronting celestial forces, G'd tells them that the most powerful celestial force, He Himself, will fight on their behalf. When G'd is involved personally, even a thousand celestial forces equal to the guardian angel of Egypt are nothing to be afraid of.

"the L rd will war for you": Not only now, but He will always war for you against your enemies. R. Meir says: The L rd will war for you when you stand still. How much more so when you accord praise to Him! R. Meir says: "the L rd will war for you": He will perform for you miracles and (acts of) strength, and you will stand still. Israel asked Moses our teacher: "What can we do?" He answered: You exalt Him and accord song, praise, grandeur and glory to the Master of wars, viz. (Psalms 149:6) "The praises of G d in their throats", and (Ibid. 57:6) "Be exalted over the heavens, O G d; over all the earth, Your glory", and (Isaiah 25:1) "O L rd, You are my G d. I will exalt You. I will praise Your name for You wrought wondrously. Counsels from afar, enduring in faith." At that time Israel opened their mouths in song, viz. (Exodus 15:1) "I shall sing to the L rd for He is exalted (over all the) exalted."

ואתם תחרישון, “you only have to keep silent!” Do not keep on complaining to me accusing me as being “guilty” of taking you out of slavery.

By emphasising the attribute השם i.e. the attribute of Mercy, the Torah suggests that even the attribute of Mercy concurred with the retribution G'd was about to exact from the Egyptians. The Torah writes ילחם לכם, "He will fight on your behalf," because from Israel's point of view this would be a manifestation of the attribute of Mercy. Moreover, the word ילחם implies much more than mere assistance. G'd was going to conduct the entire war single-handedly, hence ואתם תחרישו "you have to keep silent."

We find a comment in the introduction to Eychah Rabbati 30 according to which four different righteous people when in difficulties each asked something different from G'd. The one who represented the highest level of righteousness refrained from asking at all. The model for this approach quoted is King Chizkiyah who said (when facing the onslaught of Sancheriv): "I neither possess the strength to kill, nor to pursue, nor even to recite hymns of praise; hence I will sleep on my bed and You G'd will do what needs to be done." G'd did indeed kill the army of Sancheriv without any involvement of King Chizkiyah or his forces (Kings II chapter 19). When Moses told the people that all they had to contribute was their silence, he implied that their present state of righteousness was of the same calibre as that of King Chizkiyah. According to the interpretation we offered that the word התיצבו means to stand still in prayer, we have to understand the words: "but you shall remain silent," as addressed to the attribute of Justice. The Israelites were to offer prayers in order to silence the attribute of Justice which might otherwise appeal to G'd claiming that they were not worthy of the miracle about to be performed on their behalf.

מה תצעק אלי WHEREFORE CRIEST THOU UNTO ME? — there is no mention that he prayed to God concerning this, but this teaches us that Moses stood in prayer. Whereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “It is no time now to pray at length, when Israel is placed in trouble”. Another explanation of מה תצעק אלי (taking it in the sense of “Wherefore criest thou? אלי it is to Me — concerns Me”) — upon Me rests this matter and not upon thee. The idea contained in this explanation is similar to what is expressed elsewhere: (Isaiah 45:11) “Concerning My sons and concerning the work of My hands will ye command Me?” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:15:2)

AND THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO MOSES: WHEREFORE CRIEST THOU UNTO ME? Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented⁴⁹The difficulty is that there is no mention above of Moses’ praying. Rashi therefore comments that this verse itself — Wherefore criest thou unto Me? — teaches by implication that Moses had been praying. Ibn Ezra’s explanation is first in the text, and Ramban’s interpretation follows it. that Moses corresponds in function to all of Israel who were praying to G-d, as Scripture said, And the children of Israel cried out unto the Eternal.⁵⁰Above, Verse 10. In other words, the name Moses is here equivalent to all Israel. But Ramban questions this explanation of Ibn Ezra: “If so, etc.” But if so, why did G-d say, Wherefore criest thou? When it was indeed proper that they should pray! Perhaps [Ibn Ezra] will say that the sense thereof is: “Why do you let them pray? Speak to them so that they will go forward, for I have already told you, And I will be honored through Pharaoh.”⁵¹Above, Verse 4.
And our Rabbis have said⁵²In the Mechilta on the verse before us. that it was Moses who was crying and praying. This is the correct interpretation [and not, as Ibn Ezra said, that the reference here is to all of Israel]. Moses was at a loss concerning what he was to do. Although G-d had told him, And I will be honored through Pharaoh,⁵¹Above, Verse 4. he did not know how to conduct himself at that moment when he was at the edge of the sea and the enemy was pursuing and overtaking [them]. He therefore prayed that G-d should instruct him in the manner that he should choose.⁵³See Psalms 25:12. This then is the meaning of Wherefore criest thou unto Me? meaning: “You should have asked what to do, and there is no need for you to cry, since I have already informed you, And I will be honored through Pharaoh.”⁵¹Above, Verse 4. Now Scripture did not relate that Moses was crying out to G-d, because he is included among Israel, [of whom it was already written above in Verse 10: And the children of Israel cried out unto the Eternal].

מה תצעק אלי?; G’d’s question seems at first glance redundant, seeing that Moses’ outcry could have been perceived as part of the nation’s outcry in verse 10, i.e. ויצעקו בני ישראל וגו'.However, Moses’ outcry had nothing to do with being afraid of the pursuing Egyptians. He had already predicted the downfall and death of Pharaoh and his army as being so decisive that Egypt as a world power would never again pose a serious threat to the Jews. (verse 13-14) He had also told the people that G’d would do the fighting for them and that all they had to do was to remain silent. Moses’ outcry was one of concern with the rebellious attitude of the people who not only were afraid, something that could be forgiven, but who had dared to be sarcastic in their hour of danger, ridiculing Moses’ leadership to the point where he was afraid that they would refuse to enter the sea when told to. G’d told Moses that he had no right to assume such a thing, that in fact he was suspecting innocent people of lack of faith.

מה תצעק אלי, "why are you crying out to Me, etc.?" The word "to Me" is difficult. Who else was Moses supposed to cry out to if not to G'd? We find both in Jonah 2,3 and in Psalms 118,5 that in times of distress one is supposed to cry out to G'd as did both Jonah and David successfully. If G'd meant that Moses indulged in too much prayer that would seem an unjustified criticism as long as Moses' prayer had not yet been answered. Besides, we see from G'd's instructions in verse 16 that Moses was to raise his staff that G'd did answer his prayer. If so, why did G'd ask Moses: "why do you cry out to Me? What is G'd's answer "speak to the children of Israel so that they will move on" supposed to mean? Where were they supposed to move to? The Egyptians were behind them and the sea was in front! If G'd meant that they should move after they would observe the sea split, G'd should first have told Moses to raise his staff and afterwards have given the command that the Israelites were to move into the bed of the sea!

מה תצעק אלי?, “what is the good of your crying out to Me?” Ibn Ezra points out that Moses had not been crying out, seeing G’d had already told him that He would bring severe judgments on Pharaoh and all those with him (verse 4). G’d meant: “what is the point of the Israelites crying out to Me?” Moses, in this instance, is addressed as the representative of the whole people who had been crying out. Nachmanides points out that if Ibn Ezra were correct, the people, not having been given the assurance that Moses had been given, would have been entitled to cry out. Why does G’d then criticize them? Our sages comment that Moses was indeed crying out, i.e. offering an urgent prayer, something that was the appropriate thing to do under the circumstances. He prayed for guidance. As to the meaning of the line: מה תצעק אלי, G’d simply criticized the nature of the prayer Moses had offered. He told Moses that instead of uttering a sort of complaint, he should simply have asked G’d how to act in this new set of circumstances, a situation for which he had not been prepared. Seeing that I had given you an assurance that I would deal with Pharaoh, all you had to do was to ask for guidance how to act in this situation.

An alternate explanation: Why do you cry out? אלי — This thing depends on Me. . .” Explanation: The tropp under תצעק is a tipchah, showing that תצעק is not connected to אלי . This conveys that אלי means, “This thing depends on Me.” (Maharshal)

V.15. In dem Worte התיצבו V. 13 offenbart sich, in welcher Meinung Mosche hinsichtlich der zu erwartenden Rettung befangen war. Er glaubte — wie später einmal bei dem Heere Sanheribs — es werde Gott Pharao und sein Heer vernichten, ohne dass er und das Volk dabei irgend tätig zu sein haben werde. Indem er daher das Volk beruhigte, rief sein Gemüt zu Gott auf, Er möge die verheißene Hilfe bewirken. Darauf ward ihm die Erwiderung: מה תצעק אלי — דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו d. h. allerdings hängt die Rettung noch erst vom Volke ab, der erste Schritt muss erst vom Volk geschehen, es muss erst die Rettung verdienen: durch Betätigung eines mutvollen, furchtlos munteren Vertrauens in Gott. Lass sie erst aufbrechen und unbekümmert ins Meer hineinziehen, dann wird Gott schon die Rettungsbahn brechen.

?מה תצעק אלי, Why do you cry out to Me?” According to the plain meaning of the text Moses was quite sure that the Israelites would be helped and saved. Had G-d not told him: “I will deal very severely with Pharaoh? (verse 4) The question was addressed to the Israelites through Moses. The Torah is full of examples when G-d speaks to Moses, as representative of the whole Jewish nation. He is taking issue with the fact that the Israelites were complaining instead of displaying a little bit of faith by wading into the sea. G-d tells Moses to command them to get moving. He had already told them that He would fight on their behalf. (verse 14) They should therefore have been certain that G-d would not let the Egyptians defeat them.

דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL THAT THEY JOURNEY ONWARDS — There is nothing for them to do but to journey on, for the sea will not stand in their way: their ancestors’ merits and their own, and the faith that they placed in Me so that they left Egypt will suffice to divide the sea for them (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:15:1; Shemot Rabbah 21:8).

דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו, G’d is challenging Moses to issue the order to move forward, assuring him that he will see immediately that the people will respond positively.

Because the sea will not stand in their way. . . Explanation: If B’nei Yisrael moves on, you can make the sea split by raising your staff. But if they do not move on, the sea will not split, although you raise your staff over it. This is because [raising your staff does not split the sea. Rather,] “The merit of their ancestors. . . is effective to split the sea for them.” Accordingly, “Why do you cry to Me” means as follows: Do not think you can accomplish the splitting of the sea through your prayers. Rather, “Let them move on” [and this will effect it]. (Nachalas Yaakov; see there.)

We have to refer to Shemot Rabbah 21,7 where Samael is described as opposing the impending miracle claiming that until very recently the Israelites had worshiped idols with the same fervor as the Egyptians. In other words, the Israelites were subject to the attribute of Justice. G'd (i.e. the attribute of Mercy) told Moses that the Israelites (or he) were addressing themselves to the wrong attribute in their prayers for help. We have a tradition based on Deut. 32,18 צור ילדך תשי, "you have weakened the Rock which begot you," that G'd's respective attributes are "strengthened" or "weakened" in accordance with the deeds we perform or do not perform here on earth. While it was true that the attribute of Mercy was anxious to perform a life-saving miracle on behalf of the Israelites, they had not yet qualified for such a miracle by their deeds. G'd advised Moses "speak to the children of Israel to perform an act of faith such as entering the sea so that I can activate My attribute of Mercy and perform the miracle that I have in mind." Following such a demonstration of faith Moses was to raise his staff to enable G'd to perform the splitting of the Sea of Reeds. When G'd said to Moses: "why do you cry out to Me?," He meant: "the matter is altogether not in My hands." If and when Moses had spoken to the children of Israel and they had demonstrated the necessary mesasure of faith, only then: "raise your staff, etc., and divide the sea!" This is precisely what happened after Nachshon ben Aminadav of the tribe of Yehudah walked into the sea up to his neck before the sea had split. Sotah 69 reports concerning him that the waters of the sea were about to drown him. In view of the foregoing none of the verses present a problem, neither as to content nor as to their sequence. The principal reason the Israelites had been handed over to the attribute of Justice was that they had said they were better off serving Egypt than dying in the desert. This is why G'd (the attribute of Mercy) had declared that their appeal to Him at that stage was useless.

1 AND YOU [MOSES] RAISE UP YOUR STAFF AND STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND OVER THE SEA: In the Midrash (Shemot Rabah 21:9), they said: "Because the Egyptians would say that without the staff, [Moses] wasn't able to do all the miracles that he did, therefore G-d said: "Remove your staff and stretch out your hand because 'raise' is a word often used to mean remove." And I will now give a reason for the matter why, specifically at the Splitting of the Sea of Reeds, G-d commanded Moses to make the staff exemplify what was occurring above [in the Heavens]. For behold, all the Plagues were brought about through the Finger of G-d therefore down [on Earth] they were brought about through the staff of Moses, because the staff is comparable to a finger. But by the sea, [G-d] smote with the entire Hand. As it says, "And Israel saw the Great Hand etc." Therefore, G-d said to Moses that he should make the staff exemplify this and remove the finger-like staff and stretch out your [Moses's] entire hand, which exemplified the Strong Supreme Hand of God. Therefore, it was said that "Israel saw the Great Hand" and through this they saw that Moses did not act through the power of the staff in all of these great and mighty actions because he needed to stretch out his hand, it modeled the Strong Hand above therefore they [the Israelites] believed in G-d and Moses, His Servant. That they returned from their declarations when they said in the past that through the strength of the staff, [Moses] did all this.

הרם את מטך, in the direction of the east wind so that it will cause the sea bed to dry out.

ובקעהו, the letter ע with the vowel tzeyreh converts the intransitive mode, as does the tzeyreh in the word שמענו in Genesis 23,6; on the other hand, in the construction זכרני, zochreyni, based on the root זכר, the first letter of the root has the full vowel kametz. (Psalms 106,4)

הרם את מטך, “raise your rod!” Some commen-tators understand the word הרם as meaning the same as הסר, to remove, so that it would parallel the meaning of Ezekiel 21,31 הסיר המצנפת והרם העטרה, “remove the turban and lift off the crown!” G’d, according to this, told Moses to divest himself of his staff and to use his bare hand instead. i.e. to make it appear as hanging inactive by his side. This would also explain that in response (verse 21) Moses is described as ויט משה את ידו, “Moses inclined his hand.” Seeing that I have explained earlier that in most of the miracles Moses deviated somewhat from the literal meaning of the instruction he had received, unless the Torah writes ויעש כן, i.e. he did exactly as instructed, here too the line “he did as instructed” is missing. (compare Exodus 17, 6 and Numbers 8,3, the only time the Torah reports instructions as having been carried out precisely as given.) The Torah does not criticize Moses for departing slightly from the instructions received, [presumably because unless someone else had heard the instructions he had received, this would not be a desecration of the word of G’d. Ed]

ואתה הרם את מטך ונטה את ידך, “as for you, raise your staff and incline your hand.” We must not understand this verse as an instruction to Moses to raise his staff above the sea. After all, the Torah does not report Moses as raising his staff over the sea. He only raised his hand over the sea (verse 21). The meaning of the words “raise your staff” is that Moses was to divest himself of the staff. You find confirmation of this in Shemot Rabbah 21,9 where the Midrash quotes the Egyptians as saying that Moses’ entire strength lay in his staff, that he was unable to do anything without it. There were also some Israelites who did not believe that Moses would be able to perform such a miracle without the aid of his staff. G’d therefore told him to get rid of the staff and to perform the miracle with his hand. This is why we read subsequently that the people had faith in G’d and His servant Moses, seeing that he had been able to perform such a miracle merely with his hand (verse 31). Whereas previously the Torah had stated that the people did have faith in Moses (4,31), this faith had been shaken in the interval. It was therefore necessary for the Torah to write in connection with the splitting of the Sea that their faith in Moses had been completely restored.

"And you, raise your staff": Ten miracles were performed for Israel at the sea: The waters were split and became like a dome, viz. (Habakkuk 3:14) "You split (the sea) for his tribes; the summit of its scattering raged to scatter me"; the sea became dry land, viz. (Exodus 14:29) "and the children of Israel walked on the dry land"; it became like tar (where the Egyptians trod), viz. (Habakkuk, Ibid. 15) "You led your horses in the sea, in the mire of many waters"; it (the water) became like crumbs, viz. (Psalms 74:13) "You 'crumbed' the sea with Your might"; it became like rocks, viz. (Ibid.) "You broke the heads of serpents (the Egyptians) on the waters"; the sea split into sections, viz. (Ibid. 136:13) "You split the Red Sea into sections," viz. (Ibid. 15:8) "and with the breath of Your nostrils the waters piled up"; they became like a wall, viz. (Ibid.) "the waves stood up as a wall"; He extracted for them sweets from salts, viz. (Psalms 78:16) "and He brought forth streams from a rock and brought down waters as rivers"; He froze the sea for them and it became like vessels of glass, viz. (Exodus 15:8) "The depths froze in the midst of the sea."

V. 16 u. 17. Nicht bloß ich habe dabei zu wirken: auch das Volk durch vertrauensvollen Mut; du als Gottgesandter mit dem das Ereignis als Gottestat dokumentierenden Stabe; Und endlich ich, indem ich den Vorgang so gestalte, dass Mizrajim die Kühnheit bewahrt, ihnen nachzufolgen. — ואכברה, das ה hier sowohl wie in V. 4 drückt aus: Pharaos Untergang ist zu Israels Rettung nicht unumgänglich. Er konnte ja, durch das Ereignis abgeschreckt, umkehren und für immer Israels Verfolgung aufgeben. Allein durch den Frevel, der in seinem ganzen Unternehmen lag, hatte er den Untergang verdient, und Gott wollte in der Vernichtung dieser riesigen Macht die ganze Wucht Seiner Größe offenbar werden lassen, die durch dasselbe Element die zu einem Frevel vereinte Menschenmacht vernichtet, das vor den Hilflosen, aber Schuldlosen, und nur in Gott ihre Rettung Suchenden, scheu und Rettung gewährend zurückweicht. — ברכבו וגו׳: trotz, eigentlich: mit, oder bei, wie בחרי אף (Jes.7, 4).

ויבואו בני ישראל, “the Children of Israel came;” this verse describes what happened on the seventh night of Passover. The problem with this interpretation is that Rashi states on Numbers15,41 that the eight strands of the tzitzit are to act as a reminder of the eight days the Israelites had to wait until they were able to break out in their famous song of redemption composed by Moses when they saw the dead bodies of the Egyptians being tossed back by the sea that had swallowed them. We would have to say that the day on which they prepared for the Exodus and offered the Paschal lamb is included in the days that Rashi referred to, seeing that they had been given notice of their impending departure. At any rate they had not prepared themselves with adequate provisions as the Torah tells us specifically in Exodus 12,39.

ואתה, הרם את מטך, “as far as you are concerned “raise your staff, etc,” Moses was not to lift his staff in order to orchestrate a miracle, but on the contrary, he was to raise his staff so that the people could see that the miracle was possible not only by means of striking the sea with his staff. G-d told Moses that all he had to do was make a threatening gesture and the waters would already split. Our author quotes examples of similar constructions, citing Daniel 8,11 הורם התמיד, “the daily communal offering was removed;” or Isaiah 57,14: הרימו מכשול מדרך עמי, “remove obstacles from the path of My people.” Verse 21 tells us that as soon as Mosesextended his staff G-d was making the sea respond to the east wind etc.

2 AND FROM THIS YOU WILL UNDERSTAND, THAT IN TRUTH, what was the sin of Moses by the Waters of Strife? Because here [by the splitting of the sea] the exact opposite was stated, because here it was stated: "Raise up your staff" which means 'Remove your staff' and "Stretch out your hands" and through this they [the Israelites] came to believe. And there [by the waters of tribulation] it was said: "And he [Moses] raised his hand and he struck the rock with his staff," [which implies] that he removed his hand because he had not done the action with his hand, but rather with his staff, and therefore returned the earlier remarks--[of the Israelites] who said that it was with the power of the staff that he did everything--to their place [i.e. the thoughts were believed again] and with this diminished the belief [of the Israelites] as it is written: "Because you did not [cause them to] believe in me." And this matter will be explained, G-d willing, better in its place in the Section (Chukat 20:8).

ונטה את ידך על הים, so that the waters will split to the two opposite sides of the shore, similar to what the prophet Elijah would do in Kings II 2,8.

ואני הנני מחזק את לב מצרים, "And I, behold I will harden the heart of Egypt, etc." G'd's attribute of Mercy informed the Israelites from a sense of compassion that they should not be worried when they saw that the sea did not close after they had crossed, but remained open for the Egyptian cavalry to descend into in hot pursuit. He explained that this was only the preamble of G'd dealing with the entire Egyptian army and wiping them out.

וידעו מצרים, the Egyptians who had remained at home, mostly the women and children and the aged, and they would practice penitence, seeing G’d is not interested in the sinner’s death but in his rehabilitation.

The Egyptians will know. Only then will they know because after B’nei Yisrael departed the Egyptians retracted from their initial acknowledgement and denied that it was Hashem who performed all the wonders they experienced.

V. 18. Diese Offenbarung der ganzen Wucht meiner Macht soll ein belehrendes und warnendes Exempel für die ägyptische Welt werden und für alle, die Pharao gleich in militärische Gewalt, mit Außerachtlassung alles sittlichen Momentes, die Größe und das Heil und den Sieg der Völker setzen. —

וילך מאחריהם AND WENT BEHIND THEM to divide the camp of Egypt from the camp of Israel and to receive the arrows and the missiles of the Egyptians. Everywhere it says “The Angel of the Lord (ה׳)” whilst here we have The Angel of God (אלהים).”! The name אלהים really denotes, wherever it occurs, “Judge” (lit., “judgment”). Therefore the use of this term here teaches us that Israel was, at that moment, arraigned in judgment, whether to be saved or to be destroyed together with Egypt (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:19).

AND THE ANGEL OF G-D JOURNEYED. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that the angel of G-d is the great prince [Michael],⁵⁴See Daniel 12:1. who went in the cloud. It is to him that Scripture refers when it said, And the Eternal went before them.⁵⁵Above, 13:21. See there towards the end, where Ramban mentions this explanation of Ibn Ezra, i.e., that the meaning thereof is that the angel of the Eternal went before them. When this angel, who went before the camp of Israel, journeyed and went behind them, the pillar of cloud journeyed with him. And there was the cloud and the darkness⁵⁶Verse 20. between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, but it gave light by night⁵⁶Verse 20. through the pillar of fire to Israel, as it did on other nights, in order to enable them to traverse the sea, for it was at night that they traversed it.
In my opinion, that which Scripture says, And the angel of G-d journeyed, occurred at the beginning of the night. The angel of G-d, who went before the camp of Israel alludes to the Celestial Court of the Holy One, blessed be He, which is known as the attribute of justice, [which is called]⁵⁷So clearly rendered by Rabbeinu Bachya (Vol. II, p. 115, in my edition). “angel” in certain places of Scripture. It was he who dwelled in the pillar of fire and went before them by night to give them light. Therefore Scripture here mentions [not the Tetragrammaton, which indicates the attribute of mercy, but] ha’Elokim (G-d), [the name which denotes the attribute of justice]. It is possible that [the word malach (angel)] is not in a construct state [meaning “the angel of”] but instead is in apposition.
Now I have seen in the Mechilta of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai:⁵⁸The standard Mechilta, a Tannaitic commentary of the Book of Exodus, is that of Rabbi Ishmael. There is another Mechilta, that of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, to which Ramban refers here. To distinguish it from the other, standard, work, Ramban therefore specifies it by name. For another example, see Vol. I, p. 603. The quotation mentioned here appears in Hoffman’s edition of that work on p. 49. The essence of this particular Midrash is also found here in Rashi. “Rabbi Yonathan the son of Yochai asked Rabbi Shimon the son of Yochai, ‘Why is it that in all places it is written, the angel of the Eternal,⁵⁹E.g., Genesis 16:7 and above, 3:2. and here it is written, the angel of ‘Elokim’ (G-d)?’ Rabbi Shimon answered him, ‘Elokim everywhere denotes “Judge” [literally: judgment], etc.’”⁶⁰“The verse thus teaches us that Israel at that moment was arraigned in judgment, i.e., whether to be saved or to be destroyed with the Egyptians” (Mechilta quoted, and also mentioned in Rashi here). The Rabbis thus alluded to that which we have said.
Thus [the angel] now journeyed in the pillar of fire from before the camp of Israel and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud from before them also journeyed and stood behind them. Thus the two pillars were behind the camp of Israel. Scripture then reverts [in Verse 20] to explain that the pillar of cloud came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, that is to say, the pillar of cloud did not intervene between the pillar of fire and the camp of Israel, but rather it interposed between the camp of Egypt and the pillar of fire.⁶¹Thus the order was as follows: First came the camp of Israel, followed by the pillar of fire. After that was the pillar of cloud, followed by the camp of Egypt. The two pillars thus intervened between the two camps (Bachya). And there was the cloud and the darkness between the two camps, with the pillar of fire giving light to Israel, even though it was behind them, because it was high, [thus illuminating the way for them to pass through the sea, as explained above.] The pillar of cloud did not obstruct the illumination from reaching them as it did to the Egyptians. This is the meaning of the verse, and it gave light by night, since the pillar of fire illuminated the night for them.
This was not as on all other nights, when its function was to lead them the way,⁶²Above, 13:21. for on that night it did not go before them, [but instead the pillar of fire remained stationary]. This was so because if the pillar of fire would have gone before Israel as on other nights [when they journeyed], and the pillar of cloud was between the two camps, then the Israelites would have passed through the sea quickly. Consequently, the Egyptians would not have seen them, and they would not have come after them. However, now [that the pillar of fire was stationary] the Israelites walked slowly, and since there was no great distance between the camps, the Egyptians saw the camp of Israel from the midst of the cloud, and they followed them. They saw the fire out of the midst of the cloud,⁶³“For he who sits in darkness can see light in the distance. But the Israelites did not see the Egyptians, for he who sits in an illuminated place cannot see one who sits in darkness” (Bachya). but they were not able to approach them because of the two pillars which interposed.
This is the sense of the verse, And the one [camp] came not near the other all the night.⁶⁴Verse 20. And it came to pass in the morning-watch, that the Eternal looked forth upon the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of cloud,⁶⁵Verse 24. meaning: He removed the pillar of fire from the camp of Israel, as was customary on all days, and today He put it [in a position] overlooking the camp of Egypt. It was thus between the Egyptians and the pillar of cloud which served Israel by day.⁶⁶In other words, although the pillar of fire was between Israel and the pillar of cloud during the night, in the morning watch G-d took the pillar of fire and placed it between the camp of Egypt and the pillar of cloud. With the pillar of fire heating the Egyptians, they fell into confusion. And He confounded the camp of Egypt⁶⁵Verse 24. by causing the pillar of fire to bear down upon them with its great heat reaching them, and the flame burned up the wicked.⁶⁷Psalms 106:18. Now I have already explained in the story of Creation⁶⁸Genesis 1:1. See Vol. I, p. 26. There the reason is given why the element of fire is designated as choshech (darkness). that the element of fire is called “darkness,” and the cloud and the darkness [mentioned in Verse 20] accordingly mean the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud. To all Israel, the pillar of fire had given light because of its high position [as explained above], but now it darkened for the Egyptians, because it came together with the pillar of cloud, which caused it to darken just as the sun when covered by a cloud. Thus He did everything by means of these two pillars. This is the correct interpretation of these verses.

ההולך לפני מחנה, in the column of fire.

ויסע מלאך האלוקים, The angel of the Lord travelled, etc. This verse is in perfect agreement with what we explained on 13,21 that the Israelites enjoyed the presence of three distinct clouds which accompanied them and served their specific needs. 1) The cloud which travelled ahead of them to serve as a moving pathfinder indicating the direction the Israelites were to take. 2) The cloud which protected them from the heat of the sun. 3) the pillar of fire which lit up the way for them at night. In our verse G'd informs us of what He did on that particular night (of the 21st of Nissan). The angel of the Lord referred to in our verse as "travelling" was the cloud which normally travelled ahead of the Israelites showing them the way and which is described in Deut. 1,33 as travelling in front of the Israelites. In this instance this cloud moved behind them. The Torah also informs us that the cloud whose daytime function it was to protect the Israelites from the sun's heat also now took up its position behind the camp of the Israelites. In other words the two clouds normally in front of the Israelites moved behind them. The reason the second cloud was needed in that position was in order to darken the atmosphere in front of the Egyptians so that they could not know exactly where the Israelites were encamped.; this is why the Torah says: "the cloud remained (in its position) and (the other cloud) lit up the night. Seeing that the camp of the Israelites was brightly illuminated by the pillar of fire, the other cloud had to blot out that light from in front of the Egyptians. [The term "angel of the Lord" is used to tell us that the angel assumed the form of a cloud, etc. Ed.]

ויסע מלאך האלוקים, the one that was guiding the pillar of cloud and the column of fire respectively in front of the marching columns of Israelites, changed positions and moved behind the columns of marching Israelites instead.

ויסע מלאך האלוקים ההולך לפני מחנה ישראל, “the angel of G’d who had been traveling in front of the camp of the Israelites, moved, etc.” Some commentators believe that the angel mentioned here was the one that manifested itself as the pillar of fire by night, in order to provide for the Israelites at night. The reason this pillar of fire is called “angel,” is that it descended from the celestial regions just as angels are in the habit of doing. During that night the angel took up position behind the Israelites, in order to protect them against the pursuing Egyptians who were closing in on them. As soon as the pillar of fire that had traveled ahead of them had changed position, the pillar of cloud also changed position on their account, taking up position behind them in order that the Egyptians would not be able to see exactly where the Israelites ahead of them were located. Instead of the pillar of cloud departing at night as it had been doing so far, on this occasion it remained “on duty,” but instead of in front of the people, behind them. It darkened the atmosphere making it harder for the Egyptians to see. Ibn Ezra describes the angel in question as the שר הגדול, the commander in chief of the celestial armies. He was usually accompanying the Israelites by “marching” in front of them. It is this angel that the Torah had had in mind when writing: “and the Lord was walking ahead of them by day, etc.” (verse 21)

To receive the arrows and the projectiles of the Egyptians. . . Re”m explains that the angel of Elokim moved [behind them] as soon as the Egyptians came upon them. This was to separate the Egyptian camp from the camp of B’nei Yisrael and to absorb the arrows and projectiles. But the pillar of cloud moving behind them and the moving of the angel were separate matters. The pillar of cloud was to make it dark for the Egyptians. Question: Why does Rashi later say in 19:4 that the cloud absorbed the arrows, etc? The answer is: As soon as the Egyptians came, the angel went behind them to separate and to absorb the arrows etc. But the cloud was still in front of them until it completed its tour over the camp and gave way to the pillar of fire. Then the pillar of cloud moved behind them to make it dark for the Egyptians, and the angel departed. But the Mechilta states that the cloud and the angel absorbed the arrows, etc. The commentators resolve this matter; see Kitzur Mizrachi.

(Exodus 14:19) "And the angel of G d, who went before the camp of Israel, etc.": R. Yehudah says: This verse is rich in allusions. An analogy: A man was walking on the road leading his son before him when robbers came to snare him, whereupon he took him and placed him behind him, when a wolf came to snatch him, whereupon he took him and placed him in front — whereupon robbers came before him and wolves behind him — whereupon he took him and placed him on his shoulders — whereupon his son was scorched by the sun — whereupon his father spread his garment over him. He hungered and he fed him; he thirsted and he gave him to drink. Thus, the Holy One Blessed be He, viz. (Hoshea 11:3) "And I pampered Ephraim, taking them on My arms, and they did not know that I had healed them." His son was scorched by the sun, whereupon He spread his garment over him, viz. (Psalms 105:39) "He spread a cloud for a cover and fire to light up the night." "He hungered and He fed him," viz. (Exodus 16:4) "I shall rain down bread for you from heaven." He thirsted and he gave him water to drink, viz. (Psalms 78:11) "And He brought forth nozlim from a rock," "nozlim" being living waters, as in (Song of Songs 4:15) "a garden spring, a well of living waters, and nozlim, etc." and (Mishlei 5:15) "Drink waters from your pit and nozlim from your well." R. Nathan asked R. Shimon b. Yochai: In all places you find "the angel of the L rd ("yod-keh-vav-keh") — (Genesis 16:7) "and an angel of the L rd found her" — (Ibid. 9) "and the angel of the L rd said to her" — (Exodus 3:2) "and an angel of the L rd appeared to him" — And here it is written "and the angel of G d (Elokim) turned." (Why is this so?) He answered: "elohim" in all places is a judge. We are hereby apprised that Israel were being judged at that time — whether to be rescued or to be destroyed with the Egyptians (for themselves having succumbed to idolatry.)

V. 19. Nicht vor dem Engel, vor dem Gott vertrauenden Menschen soll das Meer zurückweichen.

ויסע מלאך האלוקים, “G-d’s angel travelled, etc.” the Torah speaks of the angel that moves the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. (Compare comment on 13,21) Previously the Torah had simply spoken of Hashem walking ahead of the Israelites, without mentioning the word “angel.” Seeing that an angel is always a messenger of G-d, the Torah had simply referred to him a “G-d.”A different interpretation: whereas initially the Torah had not given us specifics about what medium G-d employed, it now gives us more detail. [Possibly, seeing we have been told that one angel normally is charged with only one task at a time, here the same angel performed what could be interpreted as more than one task. Ed.] At any rate, as a result of the angel’s activity there was absolute darkness between the camp of the Israelites and that of the Egyptian pursuers. This will be spelled out clearly in the verses following.

ויסע עמוד הענן AND THE PILLAR OF CLOUD WENT [FROM BEFORE THEM] — When it became dark and the pillar of cloud handed over the camp to the pillar of fire, the cloud did not go away as it was accustomed to go away altogether in the evening, but it went and betook itself behind them to make it dark for the Egyptians.

וילך מאחריהם, in order to (melt) dissolve the very chunks of water which had frozen in order to enable the Israelites to cross on a dry seabed, and to turn the seabed into a slimy mass which would spell doom for the Egyptians. At this juncture there was no need for the pillar of cloud to be at the head of the marching Israelites. The dry path in the water was their guide

ויעמד מאחריהם. behind the Israelites and behind the column of fire.

ויסע עמוד הענן מפניהם ויעמוד מאחריהם, this was the result of the angel repositioning himself. The purpose of the angel’s move now was to create a barrier between the Israelites and the Egyptians approaching from behind. The angel created a barrier of darkness, impenetrable to artificial means of lighting up the area in front of the Egyptians. (as described in Joshua 24,7). As a result, the Egyptians did not draw nearer to the Israelites during the entire night.

ויבא בין מחנה מצרים AND IT CAME BETWEEN THE CAMP OF EGYPT — A parable: it may be compared to one who is proceeding on a journey, his son walking in front of him. If, now, brigands come to capture him (the son), he takes him away from in front of him and places him behind himself. If a wolf then comes behind him he places him again in front. If brigands come in front of him and wolves behind him, he places him on his arm and fights against them. Thus did God do for Israel, as it says, (Hosea 11:3) “I led Ephraim — He took them upon His arms” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:19).

ויבא (המלאך) בין מחנה מצרים ובין ישראל; in order to guide the two pillars.

ויבא בין מחנה מצרים, and it came between the camp of Egypt, etc. It is possible that this cloud filled the entire space between the two camps and filled it with darkness. The Torah only had to write this verse to acquaint us with this detail seeing that the cloud which separated the two camps has already been mentioned in verse 19.

ויהי הענן והחושך, the cloud spread darkness for the Egyptians, whereas,

The pillar of fire. [The verse has an unstated word and] it is as if it said, “The light source lit up the night” — referring to the pillar of fire, not to the angel.

V. 20. Durch die zwischen die beiden Lager getretene Wolke blieb das ägyptische Lager auch da im Dunkel, als Gott durch die Feuersäule das Lager Israels erleuchtete.

ויבא בין מחנה, “he positioned himself between the camp, etc.” the Torah refers to the cloud that was controlled by the angel taking up position between the two camps. We encounter something similar in Joshua 24,7: וישם מאפל ביניכם ובין במצרים ויבא עליהם את הים, “He placed darkness between you and the Egyptians and He brought the sea upon them.” (Joshua’s parting speech to the people before they dispersed to their respective portions of the Holy Land.)

ויהי הענן והחשך AND THERE WAS CLOUD AND DARKNESS to the Egyptians.

ויהי הענן והחשך, the darkness of night together with the cloud was positioned behind Israel and the column of fire.

ויאר את הלילה, at the same time it lit up the night for the Israelites.

One camp to another. This explanation disagrees with the Midrashic explanation that ולא קרב זה אל זה refers to the angels, who did not recite shirah. (Maharshal)

ויאר את הלילה, “it lit up the night.” Rashi understands the word ויאר as being derived from אור, light, in the transitive mode of the verb. If you were to ask how it is that Rashi’s commentary on Psalms 139,11: ולילה אור בעדני, “night will provide me with cover” understands the word אור as meaning darkness, the correct interpretation of these verses therefore must be that the word חשך, darkness, refers to the Egyptian side of the pillar of cloud, whereas the reference to light refers to the Israelites’ side of that pillar of cloud. The Targum’s translation confirms this interpretation. ויאר את הלילה, the pillar of fire that had been travelling ahead of the marching Israelites did not change its function, for if it had positioned itself behind the Israelites it would have provided light for the Egyptians. However, the pillar of cloud which had up until then disappeared at dusk every day, instead took up a position behind the Israelites. This prevented the Egyptians from coming closer to the Israelites. A different interpretation: the meaning of the words: ולא קרב זה אל זה, “the one did not come closer to the other one,” does not refer to the camps of the Israelites and the Egyptians, but to the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. (during the night) Once morning dawned, they merged with one another, however, as we will explain shortly.

ויאר AND IT — the pillar of fire — ILLUMINATED the night for the Israelites, and went before them as was its way to go every night, whilst the darkness of the cloud was turned towards the Egyptians.

ויאר את הלילה, and the angel illuminated the night by means of the column of fire. By removing the darkness in that spot and forward only, the pillar of cloud still shielded the Israelites from being seen by the Egyptians.

ולא קרב זה אל זה כל הלילה, and the Egyptians were unable to come any closer to the Israelites during the entire night.

ולא קרב זה אל זה SO THAT ONE APPROACHED NOT ANOTHER — [This does not mean that one person did not approach another but]: this camp did not approach that camp (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:20:2).

ולא קרב זה אל זה כל הלילה. This was because the Egyptians who had previously had the advantage of speed over the Israelites who traveled only on foot, now were slowed down by having to move in darkness.

ברוח קדים עזה BY A POWERFUL EAST WIND — i. e. by the east wind which is the most powerful of the winds. This is the wind by which the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts punishment from the wicked, as it is said, (Jeremiah 18:17) “I will scatter them as with an east wind”; (Hosea 13:15) “An east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord”; (Ezekiel 27:26) “The east wind hath broken thee in the heart of the sea”; (Isaiah 27:8) “He hath removed her with His rough blast in the day of the east wind” (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:21:2).

AND MOSES STRETCHED OUT HIS HAND OVER THE SEA; AND THE ETERNAL CAUSED THE SEA TO GO BACK BY A STRONG EAST WIND ALL THE NIGHT. It was His will, may He be blessed, to divide the sea by a strong drying wind, making it appear as if the wind dried the sea, something like that which is written, An east wind shall come, the wind of the Eternal coming up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up.⁶⁹Hosea 13:15. He thus caused the Egyptians to err and then destroyed them,⁷⁰See Job 12:23. The verse however reads, masgi (He increases) the nations, etc. Ramban interprets it in the sense of mashgi (He causes to err.) A similar usage of this verse appears in Rashi above, Verse 2. The source of this rendition of the verse is in the Mechilta, ibid. for because of this, they thought that perhaps it was the wind which made the sea into dry land, but that it was not the power of G-d that did this for the sake of Israel. Although the wind does not split the sea into sections, they paid no attention even to this and they followed after the Israelites into the sea out of their desire to harm them. This is the intent of the expressions: and I will harden Pharaoh’s heart;⁷¹Above, Verse 4. and they shall go in after them.⁷²Verse 17. He hardened their hearts [so that each one] would say: “I will pursue my enemies and I will overtake them in the sea,⁷³Psalms 18:38. See also further, 15:9. and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.”⁷⁴Deuteronomy 32:39. They did not remember now [what they themselves had said], for the Eternal fighteth for them against the Egyptians.⁷⁵Further, Verse 25.

וישם את הים לחרבה, the east wind had frozen the mud on the bottom of the sea.

ויט משה את ידו, Moses inclined his hand, etc. Although the Torah reports that G'd made a strong east wind blow all night which dried out the sea, this referred only to the deep waters. G'd did not want the Israelites to have to descend to the very depths and to have to get tired by walking too far. This is why He first "froze" the deep parts of the sea by means of the east wind. If not for this consideration, G'd would have dispensed with the east wind altogether.

ברוח קדים, G’d used natural means, i.e. an east wind which always brings dryness and on occasions dries out ponds and rivers.

All the waters of the world. [Rashi knows this] because it already said, “He made the sea into dry land.” Alternatively, because it should have said, “The sea was divided.”

And the Lord drove back the Sea...: It is appropriate that you should know that when God does miracles, He makes efforts to find causes for them such that they will reduce some of [the miracles] divergence from nature - as was [discussed] earlier. And we have already explained this in the sixth [section] of the Wars of the Lord. And for the cause here, God found to put a strong easterly wind in the way of the miracle - which would dry up and displace the water to the western side, in such a way that a [dry] place would newly reveal itself to them. And the waters of the Sea were on its right and on its left, since that [dry] place was higher. And because of that, it became perfectly revealed, while water remained to its right and its left. And this is what was intended about them, when it stated (14:29), "and the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left" - not that the waters were high to their right and to their left, and that they [no longer] flowed. As if the matter were like that, He would not bring an easterly wind to create this miracle. And nevertheless, the waters were higher on the western side, since the wind displaced them there and would constantly prevent them from flowing. And that is why God brought a strong easterly wind the whole night. And behold, it called the waters, "a wall" - even though they were not high - because they prevented the Egyptians from coming against them from their right or left. And they could only go behind them. And the cloud was [similarly] a wall between them from behind [the Israelites].

V. 21. Der Ostwind peitschte das Wasser bis auf den Grund auseinander, so dass sich das Wasser zu beiden Seiten türmte und der bloßgelegte Grund durch den Wind trocken wurde. Es entstand dadurch ein Durchweg von West nach Ost, und in dieser Richtung hat Israel das Meer durchschritten.

ויבקעו המים, “the waters split vertically right down to the bed of the sea.” In Moses’ song of thanksgiving, one half of a verse speaks of the waters “freezing solid,” קפאו 15,8) ,תהומות) whereas the other half describes this as occurring בלב ים, “in the heart of the sea,” which appears to contradict the interpretation that the waters split vertically right to the bottom of the sea. We must understand that the sea at that point was flowing over its banks. (the sea in question was tonguelike, like a very wide river, say the Amazon river near its delta.) If the sea had not split all the way down to the bottom the Israelites would have literally have had to descend to that bottom on one bank and to climb out of it afterwards again. Therefore the process described occurred in three stages, so that near each bank (shore) the waters froze horizontally to facilitate the Israelites’ descending and subsequent ascending on the opposite side. The waters formed vertical walls for the Israelites from either side. The simile of לב ים, “heart of the sea,” used by Moses illustrated this as the human heart in a certain manner divides the torso from the head and shoulders above and the lower part including the legs below. As a result of this division, the Israelites could cross without having to descend or to ascend at all. The waters after freezing and becoming dry, were level with the two shores. This is illustrated by the author of a liturgical poem recited in most synagogues in the morning prayer of the last day of Passover, (in the repetition of the amidah on the quote: וברוח אפיך נערמו מים, commencing with the words: פנו כאן וכאן שליש רום מימות, “while one side of the highest waters reared themselves on each side the remainder became bound up to form a path for their footsteps.”Verses 19,20,21, each have 72 letters, each word starting a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the first and third verse has the first letter of each word in the normal sequence, whereas the second verse has as the first word the last letter of the alphabet proceeding in the reverse order. Rashi has explained in his commentary on the Talmud in tractate Sukkot, folio 45, on אנ׳י וה׳ו, how by reading the three verses when they are written one on top of the other in the order in which they appear in the Torah vertically when reading from the top down we get the 72 names of G-d (in a three lettered version each.) Moses employed these versions of the names of G-d as a means to split the sea. Seeing that at the beginning of this process Moses was mentioned in the Torah as initiating it, when we recite the hoshaanot on the seventh day of Sukkot when according to tradition the world’s water supply is determined in the heavenly regions. The second acronym is taken from the 37th word in the arrangement we discussed. We may learn from this mystical approach that the Torah credited both G-d and Moses with having had a share in this miracle. [Moses’ staff, and G-d’s East wind. Ed.]

ויבקעו המים AND THE WATERS WERE DIVIDED — all the waters in the world (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:2:2).

ויבקעו המים, when Moses inclined his hand at G’d’s command.

It is of interest to know whether Moses inclined his hand as a signal for the sea to split at the beginning of the night or at the end of the night. From the wording of the verse we may almost prove that it was close to morning. This is difficult, however, because if it was so how could one discern that the splitting of the sea was brought about by Moses' action? We therefore have to understand the verse thus: "Moses inclined his hand after G'd had already made an east wind blow during the whole night which dried out the (deeper) parts of the sea;" as soon as Moses inclined his hand the waters split. This would then be in line with my commentary on verse 15 that all this occurred after Nachshon had waded into the sea in response to G'd's challenge to demonstrate an act of faith. Moses had held off with inclining his hand until after Nachshon was in the sea. The Israelites then followed when the sea split. This also conforms to the way Shemot Rabbah 21 describes what happened. Another way of explaining the sequence of events is this: when the Torah writes "He turned the sea into dry land," all the waters of the sea crystallised in such a way that the Israelites did not need to descend into the bed of the sea, whereas the east wind had dried out all the waters of the sea. I consider the first explanation as more likely to be correct.

כל הלילה, all night long. The wind blew all night and the sea split at the end of the night causing the Israelites to begin marching through it.

הלכו ביבשה, seeing the deep parts under the sea had all become frozen from the east wind so that the Israelites were crossing on frozen mud.

בתוך הים ביבשה, in the midst of the sea on dry land. The words "in the midst of the sea" mean in the inner part of (what had formerly been) the sea; the word ביבשה means that the sea bed was not muddy but completely dry.

ויבאו בני ישראל בתוך הים, “the Children of Israel went into the midst of the sea;” the Israelites did not cross the sea by using it as a convenient crossing on their way to the land of Canaan, as it is well known that there is no sea separating Egypt from the land of Canaan. The only reason they had to enter the sea at all, was to give G-d a chance to lure the Egyptians to their death through pursuing the Israelites. This is why they turned back from the desert of Eytam to the sea.

והמים להם חומה, and the waters formed a wall for them, etc. This means that parts of the waters had not been blown aside by the wind. The words: "on their right and on their left" mean that those waters did not form an actual wall but merely that they surrounded the Israelites on either side.

בתוך הים, “into the midst of the sea;” even if they set half a foot inside the water this is already called: בתוך הים. We know this from Numbers 11,4 when the Torah in describing the riffraff amongst the Israelites, of whom surely there were only very few, as והאספסוף בתוך העם, “the riffraff in the midst of the people.” Surely they had been at the fringe of the people!

כל סוס פרעה (The word סוס is singular) — But was there only one horse? But the use of the singular teaches us that they were all accounted before the Omnipresent as only one horse (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 15:1:6).

וירדפו מצרים, Egypt pursued, etc. Even though the Torah says: "the cloud remained in place" (verse 20), what is mentioned here occurred in daylight already at a time when the cloud was not as impenetrable so that the Egyptians could begin to discern where the Israelites were positioned. This enabled them to start their pursuit.

Was there only one horse. . . [Rashi is asking:] כל indicates something that is two or more. Why then is סוס written in the singular form? Rashi did not ask this on כל סוס רכב פרעה (v. 9), because there, כל refers collectively to horse and chariot. But here the question arises, since it is written סוס , in the singular form. This resolves Re”m’s difficulty; see there.

ויבאו אחריהם, “they followed after them;” They might not have done so knowingly, but seeing that everything in front of them was darkness, they did not realise that they had done so until they were into what had been sea moments before.

באשמרת הבקר IN THE MORNING WATCH — The three divisions of the night are each called an אשמורה “a watch” (Berakhot 3b), and that which immediately precedes the morning is called “the morning watch”. I am of opinion that because the night is divided for the watches (משמרות) of the song of the ministering angels — company after company — into three divisions, therefore each division of the night is termed, for all purposes, an אשמרת (another form of משמר the angel’s watch), and this is what Onkelos has in mind when he translates אשמרת by מטרת.

וישקף ה' אל מחנה מצרים בעמוד אש וענן, the two pillars which were moving halfway between the Egyptians and the Israelites, He now brought much closer to the Egyptian camp.

ויהי באשמרת הבקר, It happened during the morning watch, etc. We need to know why G'd chose to perform this act of retribution in the morning and not during the night which is traditionally the time for the attribute of Justice to be active. I have seen in Yalkut Shimoni item 235 that this is exactly what the angel Gabriel argued before G'd. G'd answered him that he should wait until the hour during which the patriarch Abraham started out on the way to offer his son Isaac as an offering to G'd (we read in Genesis 22,3 that this occurred early in the morning). In other words, although the morning is not the time to exact vengeance G'd reversed His usual procedure for the sake of Abraham's descendants just as Abraham at the time had reversed his natural feelings of love and mercy towards his son in favour of obedience to G'd's request. Israel benefited in that G'd performed the miracle personally, to match the fact that Abraham had personally saddled his donkey at the time though he had hundreds of servants at his disposal to perform that task for him. The Torah writes: "G'd looked down on the camp of Egypt; this means that He Himself went into action. The fact that the Egyptians drowned in daylight enabled the Israelites to witness the death of their enemies.

בעמוד אש, at the column of fire as well as at the pillar of cloud accompanied by the sounds of hail and thunder as described in Samuel I 7,10.

וישקף ה' אל מחנה מצרים בעמוד אש וענן, “The Lord looked down at the camp of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and the cloud, etc.” The verse describes the removal of the pillar of fire that manifested itself daily at night in front of the Israelites, and, instead, positioned itself as an ”observer” over the camp of the Israelites, and the cloud was positioned in a manner that served the needs of the Israelites during the day.

It is for this reason that Onkelos translates it: מטרת . This word means waiting.

(Ibid. 24) "And it was in the morning watch": We find that the prayers of the righteous are heard in the morning. The "morning" of Abraham — (Genesis 22:3) "And Abraham rose early in the morning, etc." The "morning" of Isaac — (Ibid. 9) "and both of them went together, etc." — and both had risen early in the morning. The "morning" of Jacob — (Ibid. 28:18) "and Jacob rose early in the morning, etc." The "morning" of Moses — Exodus 34:4) "and Moses rose early in the morning, etc." The "morning" of Joshua — (Joshua 3:1) "And Joshua rose early in the morning and they journeyed from Shittim, etc." The "morning" of Samuel — (I Samuel 15:12) "and Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, etc." The "mornings" of the prophets that were destined to arise (for Israel) — (Psalms 5:4) "O L rd, in the morning shall You hear my voice; in the morning will I order (my prayer) before You, and I will hope." The "morning" of the world to come — |(Eichah 3:23) "New every morning; great is Your faith." And thus do you find that the Holy One Blessed be He is destined to exact punishment of the wicked in the world to come only in the mornings" — (Psalms 101:8) "In the mornings I will cut off all the wicked of the land to cut off from the city of the L rd all the workers of iniquity." Also Jerusalem, in time to come, every morning her judgment will come to light, viz. (Tzefaniah 3:5) "The L rd is righteous in its midst. He will do no wrong. Every morning He will bring His judgment to light. It will not fail. But the churl will not know shame." (Exodus 14:24) "And it was in the morning watch": This occurred at dawn. "and the L rd looked to the camp of Egypt with a pillar of fire and cloud, etc.": The Holy One Blessed be He heals all who enter the world, viz. (Exodus 15:26) "for I am the L rd who heals you", (Jeremiah 17:14) "Heal me, O L rd, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved.", (Ibid. 3:22) "Return, wayward sons; I will heal your waywardness." Come and see that the healing of the Holy One Blessed be He is not like the healing of flesh and blood. The healing of flesh and blood — With what he smites, he does not heal. He smites with a knife and heals with a plaster. Not so the Holy One Blessed be He. With what He smites, He heals. When He smote Iyyov, He smote him with a tempest, viz. (Iyyov 9:11) "He struck me with a tempest and multiplied my wounds in vain." When He healed him, He healed him with a tempest, viz. (Ibid. 38:1) "And the L rd answered Iyyov from the tempest." He answered him from the tempest and He healed him. And when the Holy One Blessed be He exiled Israel, He did so with clouds, viz. (Eichah 2:1) "How the L rd has beclouded in His wrath the daughter of Zion." And when He gathers them in, He does so with clouds, viz. (Isaiah 60:8) "Who are those who fly like a cloud, like doves to their dove-cotes?" When He scatters them, He scatters them like doves, viz. (Ezekiel 7:16) "And their fugitives will flee. They will be in the mountains, all of them moaning like the doves of the valleys, each man in his sin." And when He returns them, He returns them like doves, viz.: "like doves to their dove-cotes." When He blesses Israel, He blesses them with looking, viz. (Devarim 26:15) "Look down from Your holy abode, from the heavens, and bless Your people, Israel." And when He exacted punishment of Egypt, He did so with "looking," viz. "and the L rd looked to the camp of Egypt with a pillar of fire and cloud, and He confounded the camp of Egypt, etc." The pillar of cloud descended and made the sea-bed clay, and the pillar of fire made it so hot that the horses' hooves fell off. "and He confounded the camp of Egypt": He confounded them, He mixed them up, He removed their ensigns and they did not know what they were doing. Variantly: "Confounding" is plague, viz. (Devarim 7:23) "And He will confound them with a great confusion until they are destroyed."

V. 24. אשמרת, auch אשמורָה (Ps. 90, 4) ist eine Abteilung der Nacht. Vielleicht waren es die Zeitabschnitte, in welche die Nacht für die sich ablösenden Wächter geteilt war, ein jeder solcher Wächterzeitabschnitt hieß daher: אשמרת. Nach Berachoth 3 b. war die Nacht in drei oder in vier solcher "Wachen" eingeteilt. Die Morgenwache war der letzte Abschnitt der Nacht. — השקיף ist immer ein von oben Herabschauen. "Durch" eine "Feuer- und Wolkensäule": eine solche Säule war die Botin und Dienerin seines Blickes, sie vollstreckte seinen Willen. Wenn Ps. 77. 18, 19 dieser Übergang als von heftigen, erderschütternden Gewittern begleitet geschildert wird, so dürfte die verwirrende und, wie aus V. 25 ersichtlich, zerstörende Wirkung dieser Feuerwolkensäule vielleicht in jener Schilderung ihren Ausdruck finden. — ויהם, so auch ויהם ד׳ את סיסרא ואת כל הרכב וגו׳ Richter 4, 15) und) והמתי את כל העם (Schmot 23, 27).

באשמורת הבקר, “during the morning watch;” Rashi claims that seeing that the night is divided in accordance with the songs of the angels in heaven, these watches are called אשמורת. This word means “waiting for;” the angels have to be on time so as not to miss the turn allocated to them. We find the root שמר used in this context when Yaakov, hearing Joseph’s last dream is reported to have taken it seriously and he was waiting how that dream would play out. (Compare Genesis 37,11: ואביו שמר את הדבר, “his father kept track of the matter.”)

‎ וישקף means HE LOOKED, as much as to say, He turned towards them to destroy them (cf. Rashi on Genesis 18:16), and its rendering in the Targum, ואסתכי, is also an expression denoting looking, just as he translates (Numbers 23:14), “the field of the watchers (צפים)” by “the field of ,סכותא” which denotes “looking”.

ויהם, by means of a variety of diseases, similar to what G’d did to the Philistines who had captured the Holy Ark in Samuel I 5,9 where these afflictions, especially painful hemorrhoids are detailed. These afflictions are referred to in the Torah as מדוי מצרים הרעים, the terrible sicknesses of Egypt (Deut. 7,15). This was part of the היד הגדולה אשר עשה ה' במצרים, “the great hand which G’d employed against Egypt.” (verse 31 our chapter). In Deuteronomy 28,60 Moses recalls that the Israelites dreaded these illnesses. However, during the 10 plagues the details of which have been listed by the Torah, we find only a single such affliction infecting the bodies of the people seriously, i.e the 6th plague, שחין. The Torah refers separately to שחין מצרים and to מדוי מצרים.

ויהם, as the could not identify the precise nature and source of all these sounds.

ויהם את מחנה מצרים, “He caused confusion in the camp of the Egyptians.” They did not know how to cope with the heat radiated from the pillar of fire.

He gazed. . . [Rashi knows it was to destroy them] because every expression of השקפה in Scripture is for something bad, except for: “Gaze down ( השקיפה ) from Your Holy dwelling place” (Devarim 26:15). [There it is for the good] because giving gifts to the poor has such great power, [that it even changes Hashem’s anger to compassion].

באשמורת הבקר, in our domain: “close to morning.” It was an hour when people already look forward towards morning.

בעמוד אש וענן THROUGH THE PILLAR OF FIRE AND CLOUD — viz., the pillar of cloud descended and made it (the bed of the sea) like clay, and the pillar of fire made it boiling hot so that the horses’ hoofs fell off (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:24).

The pillar of fire heated it up. . . [Rashi says this] because in between the divided water standing on both sides was dry land, for B’nei Yisrael crossed the sea on dry land. Therefore, after B’nei Yisrael passed, the pillar of cloud moistened the land within the sea to make it like soft clay. Then the pillar of fire came and heated it up.

בעמוד אש וענן, “through a pillar of fire and cloud;” the time when the pillar of fire made way for the pillar of cloud. At this brief moment the two phenomena appeared as if mixed up with one another in front of the camp of the Egyptians. The Egyptians had not been used to see a pillar of fire, they had only faced darkness up to that moment. As soon as they saw the pillar of fire they took fright and wanted to reverse direction in order to flee. The Israelites meanwhile had no need to stop, so that from that moment on they put more and more distance between themselves and their pursuers. Seeing that the frozen waters on both of their sides were security, they could proceed undisturbed.

ויהם has the meaning of confusion. old French estordison. He cast them into confusion; He took away their ensigns. And we read in the Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Rabbi José, the Galilean: Wherever it speaks of מהומה (forms from the root המם) it signifies a thundering sound; and the following passage is the father of all of them (i. e. that from which this meaning is quite evident): (I Samuel 7:10) “And the Lord thundered with a great sound … upon the Philistines and discomfited them (ויהמם)”.

He took away their senses. סגניות means intelligence, as in: “One thought ( סגנון ) is presented to many prophets. . .” (Sanhedrin 89a)

‎ויסר את אפן מרכבותיו AND HE REMOVED THEIR CHARIOT WHEELS — Through the power of the fire of the pillar of fire the wheels were burnt and the chariots were thus dragged along and those who were sitting in them were thrown about and their limbs were all put out of joint (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:25).

ויסר את אופן, by means of the column of fire.

ויסר את אופן מרכבותיו, when the Egyptians saw that they were in a state of confusion, they tried to turn around the wheels of their chariots in order to flee; they found themselves unable to do this but all they could do with their utmost efforts was to turn around their chariots with difficulty seeing that those trying to turn around conflicted with those behind them still pressing forward. The reason they did all this was because they had come to the realisation אנוסה מפני ישראל כי ה' נלחם להם , that it was time to flee seeing that G’d Himself was fighting against them on behalf of the Israelites.

ויסר את אופן, “He removed the wheel, etc.” The reason why G’d removed only one wheel, i.e. אופן of each two-wheeled chariot, is that had He removed both wheels the chariot would have retained a balance though it could not have rolled. By removing only one of the wheels G’d created an imbalance that the riders found impossible to compensate for. Ibn Ezra writes that the meaning of the words ויסר אופן, is that G’d loosened the wheel from the crossbar it was attached to and the link between the chariot and the horses pulling it. This would enable the horses to flee more easily. G’d’s having created confusion in the minds of both riders and horses worked against the efforts of both to escape to the relative safety of the shore. Every motion required the overcoming of obstacles, i.e. בכבדות.

(Exodus 14:25) "And He removed their chariot wheels": R. Yehudah says: Because of the fire on high, the wheels below were broken, the yokes and the chariots ran of themselves, being filled with vessels of silver and gold and precious gems and pearls for Israel to take as spoil. R. Nechemiah says: Because of the thunders on high, the pivots below flew off, viz. (Psalms 77:19) "The rumble of your thunder caught the wheel; lightings lit the world", and the yokes and the chariots ran of themselves. In the past, the mules would pull the chariots. Now, the chariots were pulling the mules. "and He led them with hardness": R. Yehudah says: As they meted it out, so did He mete it out to them. (Exodus 5:9) "Let the labor be hard on the men" — "and He led them with hardness." "And Egypt said: 'I shall flee from before Israel'": The wicked and the fools among them said: "Shall we flee these toils and tempests?" The sober among them said: "I shall flee from before Israel, for the L rd wars for them against the Egyptians." They realized that He who wrought miracles for them in Egypt was doing so at the sea. R. Yossi says: Whence do you derive that with the plagues that these were plagued at the sea, the others were plagued in Egypt and that they saw each other (at the time)? From "And Egypt said: "I (at the sea) shall flee from before Israel; for the L rd is warring for them in Egypt (too)!" And (this obtains) not with Egypt alone, but with all who afflict Israel throughout the generations. As it is written (Psalms 78:66) "And He beat back His foes. Eternal disgrace did He inflict upon them, viz. (Psalms 81:15-16) "In a moment I would humble their foes … and their time (of punishment) will be eternal", and (Isaiah 14:25) "to break Ashur in My land, etc." And thus, throughout the generations, viz. (Ibid. 26) "this is the counsel for all of the earth, and this is the hand stretched forth against all the nations" (that afflict Israel). Why so? (Ibid. 27) "For the L rd of hosts has counseled, and who will annul it? And His hand is stretched forth, and who will turn it back?" Not Egypt ("Mitzrayim") alone, then, (is intended), but all who afflict ("meitzarim") them, throughout the generations. Thus — "for the L rd wars for them against Mitzrayim (- "meitzarim").

ויסר, “the Egyptian tried to remove;”את אופן מרכבותיו, “the wheel of his chariots;” the root יסרis used here as in Judges 4,18 when the fleeing general Sisera of the Canaanites tried to find refuge in the tent of Yael. Here the Egyptians tried to reverse the wheels of their chariots but could not manage to do this. וינהגהו בכבדות, “He forced them to move with difficulty;” the principal difficulty of turning around chariot was the chariot following which was in the way so that most forward chariot could not even turn around. Eventually, every chariot driver became a hindrance to his colleagues. ויאמר מצרים אנוסה, Egypt’s commander now decided to flee on foot and to abandon the chariots. מפני בני ישראל, “from the Children of Israel;” even this did not help them as we know from verse 26 where G-d ordered Moses to extend his hand over the sea, so that the frozen waters of the sea would revert to their normal state and drown the Egyptians in the process.

וינהגהו בכבדות signifies: And He treated them with a treatment that was hard and harsh to them. In the measure that they (the Egyptians) had meted out to the Israelites was it meted out to them, for (9:34) “He hardened his heart, he and his servants”, and therefore here: “He treated them (the Egyptians) in a hard manner” (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:25).

בכבדות, due to the heavy mud in which they were sunk.

נלחם להם במצרים FIGHTETH FOR THEM במצריים — means against the Egyptians. Another explanation of במצרים is: in the land of Egypt, for just as these were smitten at the Sea so, too, were smitten those who remained in Egypt (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:25).

כי ה' נלחם להם, they were hoping that once G’d saw them fleeing He would desist from fighting them.

וישבו המים means THE WATERS that were standing erect as a wall SHALL RETURN to their places and form a cover over the Egyptians.

נטה את ידך..וישובו המים, "Incline your hand so that the waters may come back, etc." Why was it necessary for Moses to incline his hand in order to make the waters come back? Surely, the division of the waters was only for the time it took for the Israelites to cross? G'd had not revised the laws of nature permanently! In fact Shemot Rabbah 22 states that when the last of the Israelites ascended from the sea, the last of the Egyptians entered the sea, implying that the sea would come back by itself.

נטה את ידך, as soon as the last Israelite had completed crossing to the far shore of the Sea of Reeds.

The waters that were standing erect. . . Rashi explains this because וישובו seems to imply that the waters will come back again over the chariots and cavalry, while in truth the waters were still standing erect until Moshe extended his hand over the sea.

(Exodus 14:26) "And the L rd said to Moses: Stretch forth your hand over the sea": It will not stand against you and it will not deviate from your command. "and the waters will turn back upon Egypt, upon its chariots, and upon its riders": The "wheel" will turn back upon them. For with the counsel that they thought to destroy Israel, I will destroy them. They thought to destroy Israel by water, and it is by water that I will exact punishment of them, viz. (Psalms 7:16) "He has dug a pit and he has deepened it, and he will fill in the pit he has wrought", (Koheleth 105:8-10) "He who digs a hole will fall in it; he who breaches a fence will be bitten by a snake. He who quarries stones will be saddened by them; he who splits timbers will be imperiled by them", (Mishlei 26:27) "The digger of a pit will fall in it, etc." And thus Solomon says (Ibid. 12:14) "From the fruit of a man's mouth, he will be sated with good, and the payment of a man's hands will revert to him." And thus, Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 59:18) "As with reward (for good), so will He return wrath to His enemies, payment to His foes — to (distant) isles will He bring retribution." And it is written (Ibid. 65:7) "And I will measure out (retribution for) their deeds, etc." And thus did Jeremiah the prophet say (Jeremiah 32:19) "Wondrous in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of man, to give each man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds." And thus is it written (Ibid. 50) "Summon many against Bavel, all who draw the bow. Encamp against her roundabout. Let there be no escape for her. Repay her according to her deeds. According to all that she has done, do to her. For she has acted insultingly against the L rd, against the Holy One of Israel." And thus did Yithro say to Moses (Exodus 18:11) "Now I know that greater is the L rd than all the gods." I recognized Him in the past, and now, even more so, His name having been magnified in the world. (Ibid.) "For (they were destroyed) by the (very) thing (water) whereby they devised evil against them."

Perhaps the sea reasoned that the area where the Jews had crossed was meant to remain a crossing and that just as the Israelites could cross so could the Egyptians. Actually, G'd had decreed that the waters should not close immediately behind the Israelites in order to lure the Egyptians into pursuit. This is something the sea was not aware of. The sea did not concern itself with this, having kept its original promise to G'd at the creation to split when the time came. When Moses inclined his hand this was a signal to the sea that it had completed its task.

We have a rule in Masechet Yom Tov 5 that if a collegium of judges has made a ruling of even a temporary nature, this decree remains in force until a collegium of at least an equal number of judges declares the original ruling as void. This is also what happened here.

Another reason why it was necessary for Moses to incline his hand was simply that though the waters of the sea would indeed come back on their own, this would occur at such a slow speed that the Egyptians would be able to escape. Indeed, we have an opinion that some of the Egyptians who were close to shore were able to save themselves. As a result of Moses inclining his hand the waters returned with a rush as indicated by the word לאיתנו. Alternatively, seeing Moses had been the agent who struck the sea it was only fitting that it should be he who restored the sea to its original position. We find support for this view in Isaiah 63,12.

Still another reason why G'd asked Moses to incline his hand prior to the waters returning was to give the sea a signal not to allow a single rider or chariot of the Egyptians to escape. Not even those who were close to the shore should be given a chance to save themselves. We know that the waters complied as the Torah writes that "the waters covered them and that not a single Egyptian survived."

לפנות בקר AT THE TURNING OF THE MORNING at the time when the morning turns to come).

לאיתנו, the waves returning into the trough created by the waters having been split.

לאיתנו, to its original position. Shemot Rabbah 21,6 understands this expression as לתנאי הראשון, to its original condition or contract which was made between the waters and G'd at the time G'd said in Genesis 1,9 that the waters should gather to one place. Why does the Midrash describe this as the "first condition," when the first condition of the waters was its state of being divided, not possessing molecular adhesion. The directive that the waters should congregate i.e. adhere to each other was the "second condition!" Perhaps what is meant by our verse is that after the waters had returned to their original state they realised that Moses had not destroyed their cohesion but that he had now allowed them to again resume their previous cohesion. It is possible that although the waters knew about the agreement made at the time with G'd, they had not imagined that when the time came to honour this agreement that the result would be so radical i.e. that they would literally form walls of stone (frozen water). When things went back to normal the waters realised that what had transpired was only part of the original agreement, and that G'd had not added new conditions. We must try and understand this agreement in depth, seeing that according to the Midrash the waters first refused to part at Moses' request, claiming that inasmuch as they had been created before man they did not have to take orders from a human being. G'd had to incline His right hand together with the right hand of Moses (Isaiah 63,12 "who made His glorious arm march at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them, etc."). Another problem with the verse is that we know that selected individuals did experience that the waters were split on their behalf; an example is the sainted Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair (Chulin 7). If G'd's contract with the waters at the time had been restricted to the sea splitting for the Jews at the time of the Exodus, by what power did Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair accomplish such a miracle?

ומצרים נסים לקראתו, when they were turning around the wheels of their chariots in order to escape, the waves of the Sea hit them before they had completed their turnaround completely so that at that point it appeared as if they were fleeing in the direction of the onrushing sea. ובני ישראל הלכו ביבשה בתוך הים, all this while the Israelites had already completed crossing the sea while its bed was completely dry.

ויט משה את ידו על הים, “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.” Nachmanides writes that it had been G’d’s will to split the sea by means of a strong easterly wind which would create the impression that the wind’s heat had dried out the sea. The result would be to deceive the Egyptians into thinking that they were facing a natural rather than a supernatural phenomenon, i.e. that the wind had dried out the sea. Rabbi Joseph Kimchi writes that these two verses appear to contradict one another, seeing that one verse makes it appear that the splitting of the sea was G’d’s doing, whereas the other verse makes it appear as if it had been a natural phenomenon. One can reconcile these two verses by positing that initially Moses split the sea by means of a miracle when he stretched out his staff, whereas the hot easterly wind blowing, dried out the bottom of the sea to make it passable. If that natural phenomenon, i.e. the wind, had not aided in the matter, the Israelites would likely have drowned in the bottom of the sea, as it was too muddy after so short a period to have dried out sufficiently. The correct interpretation of the verse therefore is as follows: “G’d made a powerful easterly wind blow across the sea all night long in order to dry out the mud at the bottom of the sea, seeing that the waters themselves had already been split by Moses.”

(Exodus 14:27) "And Moses stretched forth his hand upon the sea, and the sea returned towards morning to eithano. "eithano" signifies "His strength" as in (Numbers 24:21) "Eithan is your dwelling." R. Nathan says: "Eithan" signifies "hardness," as in (Jeremiah 5:15) "Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, house of Israel, says the L rd, a nation that is eithan, an enduring nation." "And Egypt fled towards it": to apprise you that wherever Egypt fled, the sea pursued it. An analogy: A dove, fleeing a hawk, enters a king's palace, whereupon the king opens the eastern window for her, whence she escapes. The hawk, following, the king closes all the windows and begins shooting arrows at it. Similarly, when the last of the Israelites ascended from the sea, the first of the Egyptians entered it, whereupon the ministering angels began shooting arrows at them, and hailstones, fire, and sulphur, as it is written (Ezekiel 38:22) "And I will punish him (Gog) with pestilence and with blood, and with torrential rain, and hailstones, fire, and sulphur will I rain upon him and upon his wings, and upon the many peoples that are with him." "And the L rd shook out Egypt": as one shakes out a pot, its bottom ascending, and its top, descending. Variantly: "Vayenaer the L rd, Egypt, etc.": The L rd "invigorated" Egypt in order to (be able to) receive the punishment. Variantly: "Vayenaer the L rd, Egypt, etc.": He delivered them into the hands of "young," cruel angels, viz. (Mishlei 17:11) "And a cruel messenger will be sent against him," and (Iyyov 36:14) "Their souls will expire by youth" ("noar").

V. 27. איתן ,לאיתנו von אתן (mit verlängertem נח, wie קיטור von קטר) Wurzel von אתון, das Lasttier, und verwandt mit אדן, der Säulenfuß, bezeichnet einen festen, unveränderten, aus der Urzeit angewiesenen Grund. Gegen seine Natur war das Wasser auf Wasser festgetürmt. Jetzt kehrte es zu seinem natürlichen Stande auf Meeresgrund zurück. — וינער. In dem folgenden "Gesang am Meere" wird der Flutentod der Ägypter wiederholt wie das Versinken von Stein und Blei in Wasser geschildert, ein Bild, das, dem Anscheine nach, dem hier erzählten Vorgange nicht entspräche. Die Ägypter stürzten ja nicht von oben herab ins Meer. Sie befanden sich vielmehr auf Meeresgrund und die Fluten stürzten von oben herab auf sie hin. Das Wort וינער dürfte aber die Lösung bieten. נער heißt wesentlich abschütteln, ausschütten, überhaupt: leer machen. Wie bereits bemerkt, war der größte Teil des Heereszugs zu Wagen. Die Wagen wurden durch das Wasser gehoben und umgestürzt, so dass ihre Insassen ins Wasser geschüttet wurden und ohne auch nur den Versuch zu machen, sich schwimmend zu retten, vor Schrecken starr, wie Stein und Blei in die Tiefe sanken.

לפנות בקר לאיתנו, “when the morning had approached to becoming noon;” (B‘chor shor)

לאיתנו means TO ITS ORIGINAL STRENGTH (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:27).

ומצרים נסים לקראתו, since the morning watch of the day the hand of G’d had been actively deployed against them to confuse them. That is when they first articulated the decision to flee. (verse 28) They kept fleeing along the trough created by the splitting of the waters until morning. At that time the waters began to reverse themselves meeting the Egyptians who were now near the wrong end of this trough, head on.

We must perceive the condition or contract implied in the word איתנו, as an overriding condition applying to the work of creation as a whole, namely that all creatures, be they inert or alive submit to the requirements of the Torah and the people who are its carriers. In fact the authority of the Torah scholars in this respect equals that of the Creator Himself. This is the reason that individuals such a Joshua could order the moon and the sun to suspend their motion in the sky, etc. The statement we just made is the mystical dimension of Isaiah 43,1: "Jacob your creator, Israel who has formed you;" In commenting on this verse in Vayikra Rabbah 36,4 our sages claim that G'd asked the universe a rhetorical question: "who has created you, who has fashioned you if not Israel, and all this by means of the power contained in Torah." I have dealt with this also in my commentary on the word בראשית at the beginning of the Torah.

נסים לקראתו, “fleeing toward it;” at the beginning the waters of the sea had frozen; when the Egyptians saw that the solidity of the water offered them a chance for escape they tried to use it as a route of escape seeing that climbing to the shore was too strenuous. When the waters started to melt, they realised that they had been fleeing in the direction of where the waves came from.

נסים לקראתו FLED TOWARDS IT — because they were thrown into confusion and were bewildered and on that account ran towards it.

וינער ה' את מצרים, G’d tossed Egypt, King and all from all the chariots to the bottom of the sea. The verb נער occurs in the same sense as here in Nechemyah 5,13 חצני נערתי, “I shook out my garment.” We also find this term used in this sense in Isaiah 52,2: התנערי מעפר, “arise and shake off the dust!”

At the time of the Exodus the Israelites had not yet received the Torah therefore the decree that Torah scholars could dictate to the forces of nature did not apply as yet. This is why the sea's consent was needed for it to split at the behest of Moses, and the sea was able to argue that Moses had no authority seeing he (man) had been created only on the sixth day of creation and was therefore junior to it which had been created on the third day. The sea simply hinted that Moses could not claim to order it around by reason of his mastery of the Torah. If he had truly possessed mastery of Torah which had been created prior to the universe, he himself could have claimed to be senior to the sea. G'd therefore had to resort to a stratagem by extending His own right hand alongside that of Moses' right hand. This was a sophisticated way of telling the sea that Moses did indeed possess mastery of the Torah and therefore was entitled to order the sea about. The significance of the right hand in this respect is anchored in the Torah itself in Deut. 33,2: "from His right hand He flashed lightning at them." As soon as the sea noticed G'd's right hand, it split without further ado. Henceforth every צדיק who lived after the Israelites had received the Torah at Mount Sinai could present "a copy" of the agreement G'd had made with His creation to submit to instructions issued by those who represented mastery of Torah. Such people possessed not only the power to effect changes in the laws of nature, but they could inflict penalties on nature if it chose to disobey them.

'וינער ה AND THE LORD OVERTHREW (or, shook out or emptied out) — as a person empties out a pot, turning what is on top underneath and what is underneath on top: thus they were emptied out of their chariots and they rose and fell till at last they were broken to pieces in the sea, and the Holy One, blessed be He, put vitality (strength) in them so that they could bear the pain (and thus their agony was protracted) (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:27).

ומצרים נסים לקראתו, “and the Egyptians were fleeing towards it.” We would have expected the Torah to write that the Egyptians were fleeing מפניו, “on its account,” or “from it.” However, the meaning of the words is that they were fleeing on account of the sea in order to escape it. The water kept coming at them in spite of their attempts to run away from it. This is what the Torah means when it wrote: ”G’d poured the Egyptians into the sea.” Our sages understood this verse as “He poured them into the sea as one pours meat into a pot.”

ומצרים נסים לקראתו, while the Egyptians were fleeing towards it. Although the Egyptians were fleeing from the onrushing waters, they found that the sea was coming towards its original place. As a result they found themselves fleeing towards the waters regardless of which direction they were headed for. We find something similar in Bamidbar Rabbah 18 and Sanhedrin 110 describing the descent of Korach and his supporters into the bowels of the earth. The "mouth" of the earth is described as following the direction where any one of Korach or his companions happened to be standing.

וינער — Onkelos renders this by ושניק which is an expression for confounding in Aramaic, and there are many examples of it in the Agadic expositions.

וינער ה׳ את מצרים בתוך הים, G'd hurled Egypt into the sea. This statement is necessary seeing there are expert swimmers who are often able to stay above the waves even during a storm. The Torah says that G'd hurled such expert swimmers into the sea so that they too had no chance to survive. According to Shemot Rabbah 21 the reference to מצרים as distinct from מצריים, the Egyptians, means that G'd hurled the guardian angel of Egypt into the sea by pouring strong rain upon him.

ויכסו את הרכב ... לכל חיל פרעה AND COVERED THE CHARIOTS … AND ALL THE FORCES OF PHARAOH — in regard to the ל of לכל, this is the way of Scripture verses (of Biblical Hebrew) to write a redundant ל, as in (Exodus 27:3) “all (לכל) its vessels shalt thou make of copper”.. So, too, (Exodus 27:19) ‘‘all (לכל) the vessels of the dwelling in all the service thereof”; (Numbers 4:32) “and their pins and their cords and all (לכל) their vessels”. It is only an elegancy of style.

AND THE WATERS RETURNED, AND COVERED THE CHARIOTS, AND THE HORSEMEN, ‘L’CHOL’ (TO ALL) THE HOST OF PHARAOH. “[The word l’chol should really have been kol without the letter lamed. However], it is the normal manner of expression of many verses to write a redundant lamed, as for example: ‘l’chol the instruments of the Tabernacle;⁷⁶Ibid., 27:19. Literally: ‘to all’ the instruments of the Tabernacle, but the meaning is “‘all’ the instruments.” ‘l’chol’ the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass;⁷⁷Ibid., Verse 4. Literally: ‘to all’ the vessels, but the meaning is “‘all’ the vessels thereof.” It is only an elegance in Scriptural style.” Thus the language of Rashi.
But it is not so in this place.⁷⁸Ramban understood Rashi as explaining the chariots and horsemen as being in apposition to all the host. Therefore Rashi had written that the lamed of l’chol is redundant, since the expression all the host is added by way of explanation. But Ramban interprets all the host to mean the people Pharaoh took with him besides the chariots and the horsemen. Therefore the lamed is not an idiomatic form here and is a necessary part of the verse, as is explained further in the text. Instead its meaning is as follows: “And the waters covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the⁷⁹The letter lamed in the word l’chol thus indicates the object, and is as if it were written “v’eth (and the) host of Pharaoh.” See my Hebrew commentary, p. 352. host of Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea.” The host is not identical with the chariots and the horsemen, [as is suggested by Rashi’s explanation], but rather they are his people that Pharaoh took with him,⁸⁰Above, Verse 6. just as it is said above: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his host.⁸¹Ibid., Verse 9. Here it is clear that the host is separate from the chariots and horsemen, since it says “and the host.” A similar usage of the letter lamed in connection with the term “covering” is found in these verses: As the waters cover ‘la’yam;’⁸²Isaiah 11:9. Literally: ‘to’ the sea, but the meaning is “the sea.” And thou shalt make a covering ‘la’ohel.’⁸³Further, 26:14. Literally: ‘to’ the tent, but it means “and thou shalt make ‘the tent’ a covering of….” The term “covering” also appears [in conjunction] with the word al, e.g., The fat that covereth ‘al’ the inwards.⁸⁴Leviticus 4:8. Literally, that covereth ‘upon’ the inwards, but the word al is understood as eth, a word which indicates the direct object. There are many cases like this.

וישובו המים in great waves to the newly created trough,

לכל חיל פרעה, Pharaoh's entire army, etc. This refers to the fact that the chariots and their riders who were unable to speed up slowed down the infantry which was marching behind the cavalry. The waters simply covered them wherever they were so that not a single one of them escaped.

לכל חיל פרעה, “of Pharaoh’s entire army;” according to Rashi these words are superfluous, however, this is not an uncommon occurrence in our Scriptures. Nachmanides writes that in this instance these words are not superfluous, but that the meaning of the words לכל חיל פרעה is that part of the army described thus was the infantry, as opposed to the cavalry who were riding in chariots. The latter Pharaoh had taken with him immediately he heard about the Israelites having made a U turn at Baal Tzefon, whereas the infantry took longer to catch up with the cavalry.

הבאים אחריהם בים, “who were coming behind them in the sea.” The rule for writing a Sefer Torah stipulates that six words must be written at the beginning of a page. The easy way to remember these six words is by their respective first letters, הי'ה שמ'ו. The words in question are ב-ראשית, י-הודה (אתה יודוך)-באים (אחריהם) ש-מור ושמעת מ-וצא (שפתיך) ו-אעידה (בם) .ה- It is possible that the reason that just these six words need to be written at the beginning of a page is that they contain an allusion to a renewal of the whole process of creation which the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt represented. G’d was “riding in the highest heaven, בערבות.” The two words formed by the acrostic of the six words we mentioned are taken from Psalms 68,5: שירו לאלו-הים זמרו שמו סלו לרוכב בערבות ביה שמו ועלזו לפניו, “Sing to G’d, chant Hymns in His name; extol Him Who rides the clouds.” It is interesting to observe how the allusion in the letter ה of the acrostic בי''ה ties in with what Moses sang in his song עזי וזמרת יה. This is why he repeated the words מי כמוכה ה' twice. The letter ה in the word ביה in Psalms (68,5) and the extra letter ה at the end of the word כמוכ-ה (15,11) allude to the first and last letter ה in the tetragram respectively. The first one is at the same time the last one in the list of the ten emanations, a reference to the attribute of Justice, referred to in מי כמוכה באלם, i.e. a defective spelling of אלהים in 15,11. Moses referred to the מלאך האלו-הים who had taken up position behind the Israelites. We have discussed this in detail on 14,19. He is referred to here also as הבאים אחריהם בים, meaning that G’d’s salvation of the Israelites at the sea occurred by means of that attribute, that angel.
According to our sages in Menachot 29 the word ב-הבראם in Genesis 2,4 is equivalent to the Torah having written ב-ה בראם, that G’d created the universe with the letter ה of the tetragrammaton. Another explanation is that the re-arrangement of the word בהבראם results in the word באברהם, meaning that the merit of Avraham (in the future) was responsible for G’d creating the world. [Just as the eventual existence of Yaakov was the reason G’d saved Avraham from Nimrod’s furnace (compare Isaiah 29,22) although Yaakov had not yet been born, so G’d found it worthwhile to create the world in order for a human being of Avraham’s caliber to come into existence. Ed.] You will find that in the previously mentioned six words of the Torah which must always be written at the beginning of a page, the second letter in each of the first five of these words when read as an acrostic forms the name אברהם. The sixth word, i.e. ואעידה is used to symbolize the 6 directions in the universe, i.e. north, south, east, west, up, and down. In other words: these six directions came into existence due to the merit of Avraham. The entire concept is a brilliant illustration of the words of the psalmist (Psalms 89,3) עולם חסד יבנה, that the whole universe was founded on the concept of חסד, i.e. Avraham’s outstanding virtue.

(Exodus 14:28) "And the waters returned and covered the chariot, etc.": even that of Pharaoh. These are the words of R. Yehudah, it being written (Ibid. 15:4) "the chariots of Pharaoh and his host, etc." R. Nechemiah says: except for that of Pharaoh, it being written (Ibid. 9:16) "But, because of this I have preserved you." Others say: Pharaoh descended last and he drowned, viz. (Ibid. 15:19) "For the horse of Pharaoh came with its chariot and its riders into the sea, and the L rd turned back upon them the waters of the sea."

V. 28. Das ל vor לכל, statt dessen, wenn es nur Ergänzung des את הרכב ואת הפרשים sein sollte, es כל חיל oder וכל חיל hätte heißen müssen, sowie die Wiederholung im V. 29. ובני ישראל וגו׳ von dem, was bereits V. 22 gesagt war, lässt uns in diesen beiden Versen eine Zusammenfassung dieses einzigen Ereignisses in seinem großen, Gott offenbarenden Kontraste erblicken. Das לכל heißt: für das ganze Heer usw. Für das ganze Heer der Ägypter, die ihnen auf die Ferse folgten, stürzte das Wasser zusammen und begrub sie, und für die Söhne Israels, die ihnen unmittelbar vorangingen, blieben die Wasser rechts und links aufrecht und gewährten ihnen trockenen Durchzug; ja, es dürften beide Ereignisse gleichzeitig stattgefunden haben, während noch im Osten Israel seinen Durchzug vollendete, stürzte schon hinter ihrem Rücken im Westen das Wasser über die Ägypter zusammen!! Das ist die יד הגדולה, das ist die Größe der Gotteshand, die in diesem Ereignis offenbar wurde und die ganze physische Natur im Dienste des sittlichen freien Gottesgerichts zeigt.

לא נשאר בהם עד אחד, “not a single one of them remained.” The word עד is sometimes used as inclusive statement whereas other times it is used as exclusion, i.e. in this instance the meaning is that only a single Egyptian survived this drowning. The survivor was Pharaoh himself. We read in Psalms 106,11: אחד מהם לא נותר, “not one of them was left.” How do we reconcile this? The Torah refers to all of Pharaoh’s soldiers having perished. He himself was forced to survive and bear the disgrace of his defeat.

ויכסו את הרכב, after having shaken off the riders who had been driving these chariots.

לא נשאר בהם עד אחד, “not a single one of them survived.” Ibn Ezra explains this verse as he had explained in 9,7, i.e. “not even a single one.”

לא נשאר מהם עד אחד, “not a single one of them remained alive.” This is what David recorded in Psalms 106,11: אחד מהם לא נותר, “not a single one of them remained.”

ואת הפרשים, the riders of the cavalry.

לכל חיל פרעה הבאים אחריהם, the main body of chariots, foot- soldiers, etc, all who were not the elite but who had taken part in this war.

That is that He commanded us to burn a fire on the altar every day continuously. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "A continual fire shall be kept burning on the altar, not to go out" (Leviticus 6:6). And this is only possible with His having commanded to place fire continually on the wood in the morning and in the afternoon, as it is explained in the second chapter of Yoma and in Tractate Tamid. And in the explanation, they said that even though the fire descends from the heavens, it is a commandment to bring it from the commoners (humans). And the laws of this commandment - meaning the arrangement of the fire which they are to do every day on the altar - have already been explained in Yoma and in Tamid (See Parashat Tzav; Mishneh Torah, Daily Offerings and Additional Offerings 2.)

ובני ישראל הלכו ביבשה, all the while the Egyptians experienced all these problems and were drowning, the Israelites had been walking trough the sea as if it were dry land. The areas still being traversed by Israelites were not affected by the sea reverting to its originals state.

ובני ישראל הלכו ביבשה בתוך הים, but the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground. The reason the Torah states this fact a second time is merely to tell us that the Egyptians were aware of this fact and also of the fact that the sea had formed a wall for the Israelites, whereas they themselves went down deeper into the earth. This was fulfilment of the prophecy in verse 18 that the Egyptians would become aware of the true nature of G'd. It is worth reading Ibn Ezra's commentary on verse 27 where he lambasts the commentators who tried to explain away the miracle. He debunks the theory that Moses was well informed about the times of low tide and high tide respectively, whereas Pharaoh was ignorant of this and this is why he drowned with his army. The fact that the Israelites marched on dry land as described and did not merely wade through mud which had recently been covered by the sea, plus the fact that the Egyptians observed the waters forming a wall on either side of the Israelites made it clear that all of this had nothing at all to do with high tides and low tides.

ובני ישראל הלכו, all this while the Israelites had already completed crossing the sea while its bed was completely dry.

ובני ישראל הלכו ביבשה בתוך הים, “and the Children of Israel walked in the midst of the sea on dry land.” Ibn Ezra writes that the Torah writes this a second time in order to inform us that while some Israelites were still in the dried out sea, at a location quite nearby, Pharaoh was already drowning in that same sea. This is a great miracle in itself, seeing that the easterly wind was still blowing on the part of the sea the Israelites were in the process of walking across on the dried out bed of the sea. At the same time, another wind was blowing melting the frozen waters so that they collapsed on top of the Egyptian army which was struggling, and the waters reversed their course and drowned them. Some of these events are reflected in the song of thanks by Moses and the Israelites in the chapter following.

And the ministering angels were astounded (at Israel's survival), saying: "Idolators walking on the dry land in the midst of the sea!" And whence is it derived that the sea, too, was filled with fury against them? From (Ibid. 14:22) "And the water was to them a wall (chomah), on their right and on their left." Read it not "chomah" but "cheimah" (wrath). What is it that rescued Israel? "on their right and on their left." "on their right" — in the merit of the Torah that they were destined to receive, viz. (Devarim 33:2) "From His right hand, the fire of the Law for them." And "on their left" — (in the merit of) prayer. Variantly: "on their right and on their left": "on their right" — (the mitzvah of) mezuzah that Israel is destined to observe. "and on their left" — tefillin (worn on the left hand). Pappus expounded (Song of Songs 1:9) "to a mare in the chariots of Pharaoh, etc.": Pharaoh rode on a stallion — the Holy One Blessed be He revealed Himself, as it were, on a stallion, viz. (Habakkuk 3:15) "You made Your stallion tread the sea." Pharaoh (also) rode on a mare, which can endure a long stretch better than a stallion — the Holy One Blessed be He revealed Himself on a mare, viz. "To a mare in the chariots of Pharaoh, etc." R. Akiva: "Enough, Pappus!" Pappus: How, then, do you understand "to a mare" ("lesusati")? R. Akiva: Understand it as "lesasti" ("to My joy"), the Holy One Blessed be He saying: "Just as I rejoiced in destroying Egypt, so I would have rejoiced in destroying Israel (for their idolatry). What prevented Me from doing so? "on their right and on their left" (see above). Pappus expounded (Iyyov 23:13) "And He is one, and who can turn Him back? Whatever He desires, He does": He is the sole judge of all who enter the world, and no one can contest His words. R. Akiva: "Enough Pappus!" Pappus: "And how do you understand it?" R. Akiva: The words of Him who brought the world into being are not to be contested, for all of them are in accordance with truth and justice. R. Pappus expounded (Genesis 3:22) ("and the L rd G d said:) Behold, the man has become like one of us" — as one of the ministering angels. R. Akiva: "Enough Pappus!" Pappus: "And how do you understand it?" R. Akiva: The Holy One Blessed be He gave him two options: one of life and one of death, and he chose the one of death. R. Pappus expounded (Psalms 106:20) "And they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that feeds on grass": I might think, for the "ox" on high (i.e., Taurus); it is, therefore, written "that feeds on grass." R. Akiva: "Enough Pappus!" Pappus: "And how do you understand it?" R. Akiva: As referring to the terrestrial ox. I might think, that it refers to the mundane ox; it is, therefore, written "that feeds on grass." There is nothing more revolting and detestable than an ox (in the act of) eating grass.

והמים להם חומה, “and the waters were like a wall for them.” The word חמה, wall, is usually spelled with the letterו after the first letter. Here this letter is missing. The reason is that at first the same waters had been a terrible threat חימה, for them until the angel Gavriel came and made the waters pile up as if frozen solid, forming a wall of ice. The angel informed the waters on their right that the Israelites would shortly accept the Torah. Seeing that the Torah had always been on the right side of the Almighty, as we know from Deuteronomy 33,2: אש דת למו, “the fire of the law at His right hand,” this served as a warning to the waters. The angel then turned to the waters on the left side of the Israelites, warning the waters that the Israelites were going to wear phylacteries on their left arms. He also warned the waters behind the Israelites that these would be draped in garments equipped with fringes. When the waters heard all this they turned into solid walls. They divided themselves into 12 lanes. There were walls of frozen water between the 12 tribes so that one tribe could see members of any other tribe through windows in those walls. This enabled members of one tribe to keep in touch with members of the adjoining tribe. This is based on the line: “the waters became a wall for them.” (Yalkut Shimoni section one 247 and 234) According to this Midrash, it would appear that when putting on one’s Tallit, prayer shawl one should throw the tzitzit, fringes, backwards over one’s shoulder. Our author feels that there is no need to do this. He feels that when enveloping oneself in the tallit, the fringes will be thrown backwards as part of that process. How else could the process be called “enveloping oneself?”

ובני ישראל הלכו ביבשה, “meanwhile the Children of Israel had walked on dry land.” This verse is inseparably linked to the previous one, as it contrasts the experiences of the Israelites and those of the Egyptians at one and the same time. If we had to explain this scientifically, we would say that two winds each blowing in opposite directions had been at work during that period. The wind described in Moses’ song in 15,8, served the interests of the Israelites, whereas the words: נשפת ברוחך, “You blew with Your wind,” served to lure the Egyptians to their destruction.

וירא ישראל את מצרים מת AND ISRAEL SAW THE EGYPTIANS DEAD — because the sea threw them out on its shore in order that the Israelites should not say: “Just as we have come up from out of the sea on this part, so they have come up on another part of this shore, but far away from us, and they will pursue us” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:31:1; Pesachim 118b; Arakhin 15a).

ויושע ה' ביום ההוא את ישראל, by the death of those who had cruelly abused them. Those who had previously been in bondage to the Egyptians were now free. Until the Egyptians died they had been comparable to slaves running away from their masters.

ביום ההוא, on that day, etc. The Torah simply means that the salvation only occurred on that day, not previously; even though the Exodus had occurred, the Israelites had not yet acquired much confidence in themselves vis-a-vis the Egyptians.

וירא ישראל, the ones on the far shore of the Sea of Reeds, את מצרים, dying and drowning על שפת הים, while they themselves were safely on the beaches of the sea. As soon as the last Israelite had climbed out of the bed of the sea, they saw that the sea had turned back to engulf the pursuing Egyptians and that these were drowned in it. This is in line with the plain meaning of the verse, something I already explained in connection with Genesis 3:8 on the expression וישמע את קול ה', that the perception by the Israelites of Egyptians dying was more of an aural kind than a visual kind. [the fact that on occasion the ear can be as powerful and reliable an instrument of perception as the eye, has been proved in Exodus 20,14 where רואים את הקולות means that the noise was as convincing as if a visual image had been seen. Ed.]

ויושע ה' ביום ההוא, “on that day the Lord saved Israel, etc.” until that point in time they had not really been saved, seeing that they were still in awe of Pharaoh.

The sea expelled them onto its shore. . . Otherwise, how could Yisrael see them? They drowned in the sea!

(Exodus 14:30) "and the L rd saved Israel on that day": As a bird held in a man's hand, so that if he pressed its hand but a little he would choke it, as it is written (Psalms 124:6-8) "Our soul (at the splitting of the sea) escaped as from the hunter's snare. The snare broke and we escaped. Our help is in the name of the L rd, Maker of heaven and earth." Or: As a man releasing a fetus from a cow's womb, as it is written (Devarim 4:34) "Or has a G d ever done miracles to come and take for Himself a nation from the midst of a nation, etc."? Why "a nation from the midst of a nation"? __ As a man releasing a fetus from a cow's womb, viz. (Ibid. 20) "and you did the L rd take, and He brought you forth from the iron furnace, etc."

V. 30. Der trennende Akzent auf את מצרים läßt das על שפת הים auf Mizrajim und nicht auf Israel beziehen. Es muss somit das Meer die Leichen an das Ufer geworfen haben.

ויושע ה' ביום ההוא, “on that day the Lord delivered;” this verse testifies to G-d’s having kept His promise of “'התיצבו וראו את ישועת ה, “stand firm and watch the deliverance orchestrated by Hashem!” This day was one of complete deliverance, as from that day on the Israelites did not see any more Egyptians in their lives [that generation. Ed.]) את מצרים מת, the Torah refers to all of them in the singular mode. We find other examples of this construction in the Holy Scriptures, the most recent one being in verse 10 of our chapter: והנה מצרים נוסע אחריהם, “and here Egypt was travelling behind them.”

וירא ישראל את מצרים מת על שפת הים, “Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shores of the sea.” The Torah does not speak here of the individual Egyptians whose bodies had not been swept back to shore by the waves of the sea. The word תבלעמו ארץ (15,12) means that the earth beneath the waves had swallowed those Egyptians once and for all. Rather the Torah refers to the Israelites standing on the shore of the sea witnessing the death of the Egyptians by drowning. While this is the plain meaning of the text, it does not conform with the interpretations offered by our sages.

וירא ישראל את מצרים מת, Israel observed Egypt dead, etc. Why did the Torah have to tell us that the Egyptians were dead? How could they be alive after they had drowned? The Mechilta explains this verse by saying that the Israelites observed the death of the Egyptians. Accordingly, the Egyptians did not finally die until they were washed up on the beaches. G'd arranged this in such a way that either party should clearly observe what was happening to their adversaries. The Egyptians' last emotion before they died should be one of shame vis-a-vis the Israelites. We have to read the words מת על שפת הים as belonging together.

על שפת הים, “on the beach of the sea;” it is usual for the sea to disgorge its corpses on the beach; we know this from: Isaiah 57.20: ויגרשו מימיו רפש וטיט, “its waters tossed up mire and mud.”Some commentators understand this verse as being a condensation, the full text should have been: “the Israelites saw that on the beach of the sea Egyptians were dead from having drowned.”

את היד הגדלה denotes THE GREAT power which the HAND of the Holy One, blessed be He, had exercised. There are many meanings that are appropriate to the expression יד, hand, but all of them really signify the actual hand, and he who is explaining it must adapt the language according to the meaning of the passage.

AND ISRAEL SAW THE GREAT HAND. “I.e., the great power which the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, had exercised. There are many meanings that are appropriate for the word yad (hand), but all of them signify the actual hand, and the interpreter must adapt the meaning according to the theme of the subject discussed.” Thus the language of Rashi. But Onkelos did not explain the great hand as referring to power, for he translated: “the might of the great hand.” And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that it means “the great blow.” And so it also says, Behold, the hand of the Eternal is upon the cattle,⁸⁵Above, 9:3. [which means that a great plague will overtake them]; The hand of G-d was very heavy there,⁸⁶I Samuel 5:11. [which means that a great calamity befell the Philistines].
By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the verse is stating that the great hand, which is the attribute of justice that G-d exercised upon the Egyptians, became revealed to them, since it was there inflicting punishment upon the Egyptians. This is like the verse, And upon earth He made thee to see His great fire.⁸⁷Deuteronomy 4:36. This is the right hand which dashes in pieces the enemy,⁸⁸See further, 15:6. and it is the arm of the Eternal, concerning which Scripture says, Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Eternal;⁸⁹Isaiah 51:9. Art thou not it that dried up the sea?⁹⁰Ibid., Verse 10.

היד הגדולה אשר עשה ה' במצרים; a reference to the מדוי מצרים in Deuteronomy 7,15 which described afflictions suffered by the Egyptians while at the Sea of Reeds.

וייראו העם את ה׳… ואת משה עבדו The people feared the Lord …and they believed in His servant Moses. This was not fear of punishment but awe of the Majesty of G'd. The fear of punishment they had possessed already prior to the Exodus. According to what we explained on 12,43 that the Israelites did not accept the commandment of the King (G'd), they did not even fear to be punished by G'd otherwise they would not have remained uncircumcised until that time. At any rate the fear described in this verse is that they stood in awe at G'd's Majesty. When the Torah describes the Israelites as "believing," this was the reward for their fear of G'd's Majesty.

'ויאמינו בה, they believed that they would also not die from starvation in the desert.

את היד הגדולה, “the great hand, etc.” Ibn Ezra understands the words as meaning “the great plague,” and refers us to Exodus 9,3 where the plague of pestilence is introduced as being יד ה'.

ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו. Belief consists of 4 different parts.
There is belief in the Lord, as we know from Chronicles II 20,20 האמינו בה' אלוקיכם ותאמנו, “believe absolutely in the Lord your G’d and you will be able to stand firm!” This is the kind of belief that our verse speaks of when it reports the Israelites as ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו, they believed in the Lord and in Moses His servant.”
The second type of belief is the belief in the authenticity of His prophets which implies the duty to accept the prophet’s instructions. We find a direct reference to this in Isaiah 53,1 מי האמין לשמועתנו? “Who does believe in our assurances?”
The prophet speaks about the promise of there being an hereafter, demanding that we must believe in this as well as the fact that the reward for performing good deeds in this life will be forthcoming in this afterlife. This is also what David spoke of when he said in Psalms 27,13: לולא האמנתי לראות בטוב ה' בארץ חיים, “Had I not the assurance that I would enjoy the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, etc.”
There is the obligation to believe in the eventual arrival of a redeemer. This is a cornerstone of Judaism. This is also what is meant by Isaiah 28,16 הנני יסד בציון אבן, אבן בוחן פנת יקרת מוסד מוסד המאמין לא יחיש, “Behold I will found in Zion, stone by stone, a tower of precious cornerstones, exceedingly firm; he who believes need not fear.” All those who believe in this assurance will acquire numerous merits.
We know that G’d Himself cited Avraham’s belief in the promises He made to him for the far distant future as an act of righteousness as documented in Genesis 15,6והאמין בה' ויחשביה לו צדקה, “He believed G’d’s promise, and He accounted it for him as an act of righteousness.”
People believing in this promise of a rosy future will also wind up in Gan Eden as we know from Isaiah 26,2 פתחו שערים ויבא גוי צדיק שומר אמונים. “Open the gates, and let a righteous nation enter, a nation that keeps faith.” Such a person will experience the life in the world to come as we know from Chabakuk 2,4 וצדיק באמונתו יחיה, “and the Just will live (eternally) due to his faith.”
Anyone who does not believe in these precepts of Judaism falls into the category of people of whom we read in Job 15,22: לא יאמין שוב מני חושך וצפוי הוא אלי חרב, “he is never sure he will come back from the dark; a sword stares him in the face.” He will not participate in the redemption when it comes. We know this from the prophet Ezekiel 20,38אברותי מכם המורדים והפושעים בי, “I will remove from you those who rebel and transgress against Me.“ It is also written in Psalms 31,24: אמונים נוצר ה' ומשלם על יתר עושה גאוה, “the Lord guards and requites the loyal, and more than requites him who acts arrogantly.” The meaning of the verse is clear: G’d rewards the ones who have displayed faith in Him, whereas the ones who have failed to believe in Him He will punish for having acted so arrogantly. They will not be granted life in the future. This is implied by the first part of the verse from Chabakuk 2,4 we quoted already in which the prophet states הנה עופלה לא ישרה נפשו בו,; “Lo his spirit is puffed up within him not upright; but the righteous man is rewarded with life for his fidelity.”

V. 31. יראה und אמונה, das sind die beiden Grundzüge, welche für immer im jüdischen Gemüte Gott gegenüber lebendig und wach sein sollen. Es gibt nur Einen, den wir zu gleicher Zeit fürchten und ihm vertrauen sollen, und das ist Gott, der Eine Einzige, der so liebevoll als gerecht, so gerecht als liebevoll, und ebenso unbeschränkt allmächtig in Übung seiner Liebe wie seiner Gerechtigkeit ist, und alle drei: seine stets zu fürchtende Gerechtigkeit, seine stets mit Vertrauen zu erwartende Liebe, sowie seine beides in einem Momente übende, über alles frei gebietende Macht, zu offenbaren und zu lehren, das ist die ewige Bedeutung dieses in seiner Größe einzigen Rettungsmomentes, der den ägyptischen Riesenleib dem für immer freigewordenen Sklavenvolke als Leiche zu Füßen legte. Wie aber für die mit unbeschränkter Macht ihre Liebe und ihre Gerechtigkeit übende Gotteshand, so auch für die Wahrhaftigkeit Mosche, ihres Dieners, ward dieser Moment die ewige Dokumentierung. Mosche Hand war über das Meer gehoben und durch sie führte Gott Ägypten zum Tode und Israel die Bahn zu Freiheit und Leben.

ובמשה עבדו, “and in His servant Moses.” The Israelites now were full of respect for the quality of Moses’ prophetic powers.

וייראו העם, describing a feeling of immediate fear as in Deuteronomy 28,60 אשר יגורת מפניהם, “of which you were very much afraid.”