Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Exodo 14:9

STOOD OVER HIM. The purport thereof is that they were standing opposite Abraham and looking at him, the expression being similar to: that stood over the reapers;⁶⁹Ruth 2:6. the chief officers that stood over the work.⁷⁰I Kings 5:30. And due to the fact that he [Abraham] was sitting and they were standing and looking at him, the verse says, “over him.” This is also the meaning of the expression, And he saw, and ran to meet them, for as he saw them standing opposite him and not continuing their journey, he ran to meet them in order to bring them to his house.
The sense of the expression, From the tent door, is that Abraham was still sitting there after the vision of the Shechinah had departed from him.
It is possible that the expression “over him” refers to the tent, i.e., that they were near it on the side which was not opposite the door, and there they stood and did not approach Abraham, just as in the verse, encamping ‘al’ (on) the sea.⁷¹Exodus 14:9. Meaning “encamping alongside the sea.” Here too alav means “standing alongside him.”

2. “All the chariot horses of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his warriors overtook them encamped by the sea, near Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.” (Ex. 14:9) In the Masoretic text¹⁷⁸The Masoretic text refers to the authoritative version of the Hebrew Bible used universally by Jews today. This version was codified around the ninth century by a group of Jewish scholars known as the Masoretes, whose name derives from the Hebrew word masorah, meaning tradition. of Baal-zephon appears (haser) defective¹⁷⁹Haser, defective, is a technical term for writing a word without the letter vav. twice and it is necessary. The first time, the text states, “Turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth (פִּ֣י הַחִירֹ֔ת) , between Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon (בַּ֣עַל צְפֹ֔ן); you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.” (Ex. 14:2) And the second time is the verse beginning, “ his warriors overtook…” (Ex. 14:9)¹⁸⁰The Egyptians gave chase to them, and all the chariot horses of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his warriors overtook them encamped by the sea, near Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon. The letter Vav is an allusion to the Tree of Life according to the Kabbalists.¹⁸¹Literally the Masters of Mystery. The Tree of Life usually refers to the Sefirah of Tiferet and is also associated with the Hebrew letter Vav. This tells us that even this God, Baal-zephon, fell because of a lack of vitality. The numerical value of (בַּ֣עַל צְפֹ֔ן) is the same as shachav, שָׁכַב, lie down (322). We already learned that the Blessed One wanted to mislead Egypt so God had Israel camp out before them, that they might say, “That they should say that their god was a difficult one to overcome.”¹⁸²Rashi on Exodus 14:2 In their certainty they began to pursue Israel because they said, “They have gone astray in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.” (Ex. 14:3) When Egypt arrived there, they saw this god¹⁸³See Rashi, Exodus 14:2 - Baal-zaphon 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. had also fallen, destroyed and broken into many pieces, just like the other gods, their faces fell and they didn’t have the strength to move from their place. They stood there and grieved. When Pharaoh saw that he would not receive help from this god, he drew Uzza¹⁸⁴Uzza is a demon often associated with Azazel. closer to battle for him. That is why the text says, “as Pharaoh caused to come near” (וּפַרְעֹ֖ה הִקְרִ֑יב) (Ex. 14:10) -rather, it says, Pharaoh drew near (ופרעה קרב )¹⁸⁵See Rashi Exodus 14:10, He caused Uzza, the prince, to stand before God and argue Pharaoh’s case against Israel, saying, “These are idolaters and these are idolaters…” “The Israelites caught sight of the Egyptians advancing (נֹסֵ֣עַ) upon them.” (Ex. 14:10) It does not say Nosi’im (plural) but Nosea (singular). This refers to the prince of the Egyptians they saw advancing toward them while the Egyptians were standing in one place for a while. They were astonished at the sight,and powerless. For if that is not the case, why didn’t the Egyptians kill the Israelites when they overtook them at the sea? (See Ex. 14:9) Rather, it teaches that the Holy One did not want the Israelites to begin moving forth from their place until the Egyptians were next to them and the two nations were almost touching one another. This is similar to what God commanded David, “And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the baca trees, then go into action, for HaShem will be going in front of you to attack the Philistine forces. David did as HaShem had commanded…” (II Sam. 5:24-25) The sages said that the Philistines were so close that the swords reached Israel’s heads but David could not move until he heard the sound (of marching. So too here, when the Egyptians overtook them, they were terrified by the fact that the gods they had trusted were destroyed. They stood there not knowing what to do and Israel did not begin moving. But when the Egyptians saw Uzza before them they began pursuing the Israelites. They went forth from their place and pursued them.

He makes nations great and destroys them Heb. משׂגיא. Some say, as He did to the Egyptians when they overtook Israel before Baal-zephon (Exod. 14:9). They erred and said, “You should know that He agreed with us, to drown them in the sea as we decreed, ‘Every son that is born you shall cast into the river’ (ibid. 1:22), and [they also said] that their deity Baal-zephon is mighty, seeing that no acts of judgment were performed upon it, as [they were upon) all the [other] gods of Egypt, and the Omnipresent caused them to be misled in order to drown them. But this explanation is not the main one, for were it so, it should have been dotted on the right, מַשְׁגִיא like שׁוגֶה, the misled. This is the main explanation: It means making great, an expression of שׂגיא כֹח, having great strength. He makes the nations great and causes them to prosper, and their heart becomes haughty with their prosperity, so that [the fact] that they prosper is their destruction.