מדרש אויף יחזקאל 32:19

Variantly: "And the heart of Pharaoh was reversed": Scripture hereby apprises us that when Israel left Egypt, its kingdom came to an end, as it is written (Ezekiel 32:19) "Whom have you (Egypt) surpassed in beauty? Descend and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!"

"To the conductor on the eighth. This is what is stated (Psalms 119:164): Seven times a day I praise You. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said these are the seven commandments mentioned in the recitation of Shema. [They are]: creation, love, [recitation of] Shema, speaking truth, [affirmation of God as] Redeemer, and [the commandments] concerning tzitzit and adding on to the sukkah of peace. Rabbi Avin in the name of Rabbi Nechemia said [these are] the seven commandments that a person does every day: [recitation of] Shema twice a day, praying three times a day, eating and blessing [before and after], and Rabbi Meir used to say: "Beloved is circumcision, for the Holy One, blessed be He, swore to Abraham that anyone who is circumcised will not descend to Gehenna, as it is said (Genesis 17:14), 'But the uncircumcised male whose foreskin has not been circumcised, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.' And who goes down there? What is written after that? (Genesis 15:19-21) 'The Kenite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite.'" And so Ezekiel says (Ezekiel 32:19), "Go down and lie with the uncircumcised," and Isaiah says (Isaiah 5:14), "Therefore, Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure." This is for those who do not have the covenant of circumcision. And where is the term "chok" (statute) mentioned? As it says (Psalms 105:10), "He established it for Jacob as a statute." But for the heretics and sinners of Israel who deny God, they are afflicted with uncircumcision and fall into Gehenna, as it says (Isaiah 9:20), "He has stretched out His hand against them and smitten them." This is because all the commandments that we have are not meant to be scrutinized meticulously, except for the commandment of circumcision and the empty words of the mouths of schoolchildren that have no sin, as it says (Jeremiah 33:25), "If not for My covenant, I would not have appointed the statutes of heaven and earth." For when a person enters the synagogue, he wraps himself in tzitzit and puts on tefillin on his head and arm, and four tzitzit surround him and guard his four corners. And when he enters the bathhouse, he looks at himself and says, "I am now naked of mitzvot (commandments)." And when he looks at the circumcision, which is equivalent to all the commandments, his mind is calmed. When David saw this, he composed a psalm on it, saying, "For the leader, on the eighth [day], a psalm, a song for the dedication of the Temple, of David. (This passage appears to be an addition from some copyist, as it is not the language of the Midrashim, as is known).

[(Exod. 13:17, cont.:) THAT GOD DID NOT HAVE COMPASSION (NHM).] <One should read the verse in this way,>¹⁹The Masoretic Text reads NHM as naham (LEAD THEM), but the midrash understands the word as niham (HAVE COMPASSION). because the Holy One said to the Prophet (Ezek. 32:18): SON OF ADAM, LAMENT OVER THE MASSES OF EGYPT…. Pharaoh began vaunting himself, and he said: Am I going down to them (in the grave)? He said to him (in Ezek. 32:19): WHOM DO YOU SURPASS IN LOVELINESS? Whom do you surpass in beauty? Are you better than the king of Assyria or the king of Tyre and Sidon? (Ibid., cont.:) GO DOWN AND BE LAID WITH THE UNCIRCUMCISED. (Vs. 22:) THERE IS ASSYRIA WITH ALL ITS COMPANY. (Vs. 24:) THERE IS ELAM AND ALL ITS MASSES. (Vs. 26:) THERE ARE MESHECH AND TUBAL WITH ALL THEIR MASSES. (Vs. 29:) THERE IS EDOM WITH ITS KINGS AND ALL ITS PRINCES. (Vs. 30:) THERE ARE THE PRINCES OF THE NORTH. When Pharaoh saw them, he was consoled (rt.: NHM), as stated (in vs. 31): [THESE] SHALL PHARAOH SEE, AND HE SHALL BE CONSOLED (NHM) [OVER ALL THESE MASSES SLAIN BY THE SWORD, PHARAOH AND ALL HIS ARMY.] The Holy One said to him: Pharaoh, you shall not be consoled because of what you did to my children. [Ergo:] GOD DID NOT HAVE COMPASSION (NHM).