Cytowanie Komentarza do Wyjścia 14:21

ורוח אלוקים מרחפת (מנשבת) על פני המים, we had to be told that G’d’s wind was active at that stage, else verse 9 of this chapter in which G’d issues a directive for the waters to collect in a contiguous area would not make sense, as we could not have understood how the waters were made to assemble all in one area of the globe. We find the role of this רוח of G’d in Exodus 14,21 when it prepared the manifestation of the sea splitting to allow the Israelites to cross it safely and on dry land.

Similarly, in the Torah there are many verses [that are ambiguously written] as described by the Parchon,¹⁷The Netziv is referring to Solomon Parchon of Aragon (mid-twelfth century). He wrote the Mahberet, a complete lexicon of the Hebrew language, compiled from the works of Judah Hayyug, Ibn Jannah; Solomon Ibn Gavirol, and the compiler’s own notes. Parchon, who was born in Calatayud, Spain, was a renowned grammarian and a student of Ibn Ezra. s.v. Ulai.¹⁸There Parchon cites verses that use prepositions in an unusual way where the letter lamed, which is translated as “to,” is to be understood at times as the preposition min (from), or verses are written in a manner or order that could not be possibly be taken literally. For example, in Ex. 14:21, “He turned the sea to dry land and the waters split,” this verse is obviously not written in correct sequence, as the waters would first have to be split before the land could become dry. Also in Ex. 16:20, “It became infested with worms and stank,” it is obvious that the manna would have to spoil before it became infested. There Parchon writes, “You may ask why Scripture confuses us by writing certain items in a reverse manner, or why it writes tersely or in a style that expresses a point contrary to what knowledge dictates, thereby requiring much effort to comprehend [these verses]. I say to you that even though the Creator has provided us with five senses – the ear to hear, the eye to see, the nose to smell, the palate to taste and the hand to touch – nevertheless, we must rely on our intellect [rather than on our senses]. For a person often believes [based on his senses] that something will occur or that something is true, and [yet after applying] his intellect, he sees that it is not so. For this reason, the Torah requires us to interrogate witnesses thoroughly with the seven questions, and [the judge] must delay a decision until the true facts [of the case] are revealed…. Heaven forbid [that one should consider these examples of unusual style] to be errors. For they are God’s words, [and He] relied on [human] intellect [to comprehend them]. [He] did not bother to clarify them due to the sheer length [of explanation needed to express all that is intended in that verse]….” Therefore, one is obliged to say that [unusual wording in a verse] does not lack purpose. Rather, the purpose of writing [Scripture in this manner] is to inform us that hidden in the language of the verses are “hidden treasures,” in addition to the revealed and simple meaning of the text. This also applies to the Prophets and Hagiographa, for they are God’s words.

ויבקע עצי עולה, “he split the wood for the burnt-offering.” Avraham did this already at this stage as he was concerned that when he would arrive at the site he might not find suitable kindling. This demonstrated that he was so eager to carry out G’d’s command that he carried the wood with him a distance of three days’ journey.
It is also possible that Avraham was aware of the halachic ruling that firewood for the altar which is worm-infested is unfit, and that this is the reason he took wood from his home which he had had a chance to examine for the presence of worms. According to Bereshit Rabbah (55,8) G’d paid Avraham his reward for having troubled himself to split the firewood when He split the sea of reeds for Avraham’s descendants to walk through on their march out of Egypt. This is alluded to in the text when the Torah describes the splitting of the waters in terms of splitting wood, i.e. ויבקעו המים, ”the waters were split” (Exodus 14,21). There is an opinion expressed in the same Midrash that such an interpretation does not do justice to the event, but that both G’d and Avraham respectively each did what they could to bring about a desired result.

the Lord - His way is with a tempest and with a storm—They [the tempest and storm] are His messengers for wreaking retribution upon His enemies, as it is stated concerning Egypt (Exod. 14:21): “with a mighty east wind”; and concerning the generation of the Flood (Job 4:9): “From the breath of God they perish.” Concerning Tyre, it is stated (Ezek. 27:26): “The east wind has broken you.”

but if there is perverseness in it, it causes destruction by wind When one is perverse with his tongue, it will ultimately bring upon him destruction that comes from the east wind, which is prepared to mete out retribution upon the wicked, as it is stated (Ex. 14:21): “with a strong east wind”; (Jer. 18: 17): “Like an east wind I will scatter them”; and (Ps. 48:8): “With an east wind, You break the ships of Tarshish.”