Komentarz do Wyjścia 13:18

ויסב means HE LED THE PEOPLE ABOUT from the direct route to a circuitous route.

AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WENT UP ARMED OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT. This means that even though G-d led them about by the way of the wilderness, they still feared lest the Philistines who dwelt in the nearby cities come upon them. Therefore they were armed, as are people who go out to war. Some scholars¹¹Found in Ibn Ezra. say that Scripture is relating that they went out with a high hand,¹²Further, 14:8. “With a high hand carrying their arms and not like slaves who escape from their master” (Ibn Ezra). deeming themselves redeemed from bondage, and they did not leave like slaves escaping [from their master].

דרך המדבר ים סוף, that they should march to the Sea of Reeds via the desert. On that route they would neither encounter travelers headed in the direction of Egypt, nor would they encounter travelers who had come from Egypt who could report that Pharaoh was going to chase them, until Pharaoh would actually catch up with them by which time a “voluntary” return to Egypt and slavery would not be of any advantage to them anymore, as their surrender would not then be acceptable to Pharaoh.