Exodus · Chapter 14

And Hashem spoke with Moses, saying:

"And He spoke." In truth, it is not fitting for a wise person to question the deeds of Hashem — why He acted in a particular way — for all His acts are done in wisdom, and human wisdom is as nothing before His. I mention this because you will see in this passage that Hashem commanded them to turn back as a stratagem, so that Pharaoh would go out and pursue them and drown in the sea. The designs of Hashem are deep.

Speak with the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon — opposite it you shall encamp by the sea.

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]”. ויחנו לפני פי החירת AND ENCAMP BEFORE PI-HAHIROTH — This is identical with Pithom (Mekhilta), 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. 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; cf. Rashi on this passage).

"Pi ha-Chirot" — this is the place called Pnei ha-Chirot (Num. 33:5), and it is so named because the mouth (peh) is in the face (panim), and it is a place name. "Before Baal Tzefon" — some say that the sorcerers of Egypt fashioned copper images through the power of the celestial signs, and this is Baal Tzefon; the intention was that no slave would be able to flee from Egypt by passing that image — and that is why it is written "for the people had fled." In my view, however, the reason is this: Moses had said to Pharaoh, "We shall go three days' journey into the wilderness" (above, 8:23). This led Pharaoh to believe, from Moses' words, that Moses knew the road they would travel to the place where they intended to sacrifice. When Pharaoh heard that Israel had begun journeying by way of the wilderness, and that after going some distance they had turned back to take a different route, he concluded that everything Moses had said was a ruse — that Moses never intended to sacrifice but only to flee — for a fleeing man becomes confused about his way and does not know which road to take. "Nochho" — this word is spelled with a hiriq, as in "after his falling" (2 Sam. 1:10), and there are many such cases.

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? 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.

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). 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. 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 so that when Pharaoh comes he will see your flag.”

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.

Before Baal Tzfon. This is the one that remained from all the Egyptian gods, etc. We should provide a reason why this one remained more than the other deities. It seems from this that they had many idols that they worshiped for many different celestial powers, because each celestial power has its own strength and influence over some specific matter. And Baal Tzfon was the idol which they believed would provide them with gold and many precious stones, as it is written Gold comes from the north (Job 37:22). God specifically left this idol to mislead them so they would say that this idol would demand retribution for the Israelites taking their money unlawfully. For in all the other plagues, Pharaoh acknowledged the justice of his punishment, saying that the plagues came upon him and their celestial powers justly. But regarding the money, Pharaoh thought that the Israelites had taken their possessions unjustly and unlawfully. Therefore, Baal Tzfon remained so they would say “their deity is powerful” and will demand from Israel the money that was lent to them. And this is the meaning of And Pharaoh’s heart was turned, etc. — Rashi explains that it was because of their money that they had lent to the Israelites. And what they said, For we have sent away Israel from serving us, is because whatever a servant acquires belongs to his master, and his main concern was about the money. And Pharaoh based his words on what he saw, that Baal Tzfon remained from all the gods of Egypt.

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. 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.

And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel: They are confused in the land; the wilderness has closed in upon them.

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

"And Pharaoh said to the children of Israel" — this has the sense of "said concerning them," as in "say of me" (Gen. 20:13). "Nevukhim" — with a shuruk instead of a holam, as in "do not go from here" (Ruth 2), for it is from the nif'al binyan, like "they shall be ready" (below, 19:11) and "and they were at a loss" (Joel 1:18), and also "and the city of Shushan was perplexed" (Esther 3:15) — comparable to "and the kingdom was established" (1 Kgs. 2:46). The sense is of a man who cannot find counsel and does not know what to do. Note that the nun of "nivkhei yam" (Job 38:16) is a root letter, meaning the depths of the sea, which is irrelevant here. "The wilderness has closed them in" — the roads through the wilderness have been shut against them and they do not know where to go or which way to come out, like fugitives.

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.

And I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and he will pursue after them, and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and through all his host, and the Egyptians will know that I am Hashem. And they did so.

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

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, 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. 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 foolishness and strengthened their hearts to enter the sea.

"And I will harden" — as though Pharaoh had forgotten the plagues that had been inflicted upon him on Israel's account. "And I will be glorified through Pharaoh" — then My glory shall be made visible in the world through the drowning of Pharaoh and his army. "And Egypt shall know" — both those who remain and those who are drowned, before their deaths, "that I am Hashem." "And they did so" — Scripture takes a concise path to indicate that they turned back.

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

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).

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.

And it was told to the king of Egypt that the people had gone, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants turned against the people, and they said: What is this that we have done, that we have sent Israel away from our service?

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). 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). 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). 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).

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. 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. When the children of Israel [indicated that this was] so, and they turned back and encamped before Phi-hahiroth before Baal-zephon, 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. 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, 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.

"And it was told" — that they were going not on a journey but as fugitives.

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

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! 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. 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. Pharaoh was also motivated by another consideration which I have already discussed...

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, on the first day the Israelites had marched only a distance of a single day from Ramses to Sukkot. 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 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. 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.”

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.

“And it was told to the king of Egypt that the people had fled.” It should have said “that it was fleeing,” since initially he [Pharaoh] had sent them willingly, and [only] now were they fleeing. Furthermore, why are they called “the people” twice, but the third time it says for we have sent away Israel? Also, how did he dare to go with 600 chariots against 600,000 [Israelites]? And even though it says and all the chariots of Egypt, surely he did not gather from all the land of Egypt at short notice, as he didn’t have that much time. Rather, he took [chariots] from one city, which is Egypt itself. And even from this city, he took only from those who feared the word of God, who were the minority. Rather, certainly in every place where it mentions “the people,” it refers to the mixed multitude [erev rav] who initially went in a manner of flight because they saw the elevated status of Israel. Pharaoh thought that now, when they would see that Israel was confused in the land, the mixed multitude would say that God had departed from Israel. Because of this, the mixed multitude would surely want to return to Egypt, except that the Israelites were not letting them. “And when they see that we are coming to their aid, they too will rebel against Israel and return to us.” On this, Pharaoh relied when he pursued Israel with so few [soldiers]. Regarding this, it says, And it was told to the king of Egypt that the people had fled. Not that he sent officers with them, as this is not explained in Scripture. Rather, in his house, he was told that “the people,” meaning the Egyptians [the mixed multitude], had gone in a manner of flight, and he hated them for this. Now, the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned toward the people — his heart was transformed from hatred to love, for he said, “Now I need them, because without doubt they will be a help to me when they see that God has departed from Israel.”And regarding the Israelites themselves, they [Pharaoh and his servants] said, What is this that we have done, that we have sent away Israel from serving us? According to this, what is said, And it came to pass when Pharaoh sent away the people, refers to the lesser ones among Israel, as explained in the second approach.

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.

כי ברח העם; seeing they had turned back. 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.

And he made ready his chariot and took his people with him.

ויאסר את רכבו AND HE MADE READY HIS CHARIOT — he himself (Mekhilta) 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.

"And he harnessed" — this is a narrative-past form used in place of an imperative, as in "and Solomon built the House" (1 Kgs. 6:14).

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."

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.

And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, with warriors appointed over all of them.

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

"And he took six hundred select chariots" — the finest of his chariots, chosen from all the chariots that he had. "And shalishim" — know that the king is comparable to the number one; therefore the one who follows him in the second rank of dignity is called mishneh (from the root for 'two'), and the one who holds the third rank is called shalish.

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

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. 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.

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. 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.

רכב בחור. armoured vehicles of the best category. 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)

And Hashem hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out openly.

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). ביד רמה WITH A HIGH HAND — with high and open daring (cf. Mekhilta).

"With a high hand" — they did not go out in the manner of fugitives; they had with them all the implements of war.

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."

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

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.

And the Egyptians pursued after them and overtook them as they were encamped by the sea — all the horses of Pharaoh's chariots, his horsemen, and his host — at Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.

"And they pursued" — it is the usage of the language to speak this way, as in "and all the people saw... and the people saw it and they trembled and stood at a distance" (below, 20:15) — meaning, when they saw it thus they trembled and stood at a distance. Similarly it is written here: "and he pursued after the children of Israel" (earlier in this passage), and the meaning of "and they pursued" is: when they had pursued them they overtook them, finding them encamped by the sea. Scripture mentions "all the horses of Pharaoh" to indicate that they did not come scattered but all together. "And his horsemen" — those riding the horses; "and his army" — the infantry.

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

And the Mizraee followed after them, and came upon them as they were encamped by the sea, gathering of pearls and goodly stones, which the river Pishon had carried from the garden of Eden into the Gihon, and the Gihon had carried into the sea of Suph, and the sea of Suph had cast upon its bank. But all the chariot horses of Pharoh, and his horsemen, and his hosts (were coming) towards the Mouths of Hiratha, which are before the idol Zephon.

And Pharaoh drew near, and the children of Israel lifted their eyes and behold, the Egyptians were advancing after them, and they were exceedingly afraid, and the children of Israel cried out before Hashem.

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). 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). 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 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; Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 9, and Rashi on the texts quoted).

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, 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. 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. 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, [clearly indicates the usage of the term people in Scripture]. Our Rabbis have also mentioned it: “And the people began to commit harlotry. 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. This was due to the fact that long before they feared war, 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. 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.”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 ...

"And Pharaoh drew near" — his camp; for throughout Scripture, "draw near" (hikrib) is a transitive verb.

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? 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? 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 ...

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 8,12: האורב קם מהרה ממקומו, “The people lying in ambush arose quickly from their place.” The word: ממקומו, in the singular mode, means: “from its place.” Even though there were actually 5000 Israelite soldiers that formed the ambush. וייראו מאד, “They were very scared.” Why would 600000 male, able bodied, Israelites, be so scared of 600 Egyptian chariots? 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.

ופרעה הקריב, “and Pharaoh had approached.” The unusual, transitive form of the verb instead of the intransitive קרב, tells us that Pharaoh had “sacrificed himself” (compare Rashi). A Midrashic approach (Mechilta Beshalach 2) The word הקריב means that he became the architect of his own destruction because he offered a sacrifice to Baal Tzefon when he saw the Israelites encamped in front of that idol and he believed that the idol’s power had prevented the Israelites from continuing their flight. An alternative explanation: the intransitive form הקריב, “brought close,” means that Pharaoh’s conduct brought Israel closer to G’d, i.e. made them repent so that they would be worthy of being saved. This is in line with what the Talmud Sanhedrin 97 said about Haman, i.e. that G’d orchestrated the threat of an anti-Semite such as Haman in order to cause the Jews of his time to return to Him in penitence. This latter comment explains why the Torah continues with וישאו בני ישראל את עיניהם...ויצעקו בני ישראל אל ה', “the Children of Israel raised their eyes....and they cried out to Hashem.” The Torah tells us that they fell back on a tried remedy, i.e. prayer, which had helped their forefathers in times of distress. We know that Avraham prayed from Genesis 19,27 where the Torah describes him as rising early in the morning “to the place, etc.” The words “to the place” are a euphemism for someone directing his prayer to G’d. We find similarly that Yitzchak was praying in Genesis 24,43 where the Torah describes him as coming from a שיחה, i.e. a prayer-session. We find that the Torah describes Yaakov as having prayed at the place where he had the dream of the ladder (Genesis 8,11). The reason the Jewish people have been compared to a worm (Isaiah 41,14 “do not fear worm Yaakov, etc.”) is that just as a worm has no strength of its own other than that of its mouth with which it is able to defeat the mighty cedars, so the strength of the Jewish people is their mouth, i.e. the power of their prayers. Prayer is something soft which has the power to break something hard. The Gentiles have been compared to cedars as we know from Ezekiel 31,3: “here Assyria used to be a cedar in Lebanon,” etc., etc. In verse 12 the prophet describes how this magnificent tree was cut down.” Psalms 29,8 also describes the forests being stripped bare (by the worms). Israel’s victories are due to prayer and Torah. We base this on Deut. 4,29: “when you will seek out the Lord your G’d from there (your state of distress) you will find Him.” We have a similar message in Psalms 20,8: “they (call) on chariots, they (call) on horses, but we call on the name of the Lord our G’d.” והנה מצרים נוסע אחריהם, “and behold Egypt was traveling behind them.” According to the rules of grammar we would have expected a plural form here, i.e. נוסעים. According to the plain meaning the use by the Torah of the singular נוסע is meant to describe that all the Egyptians were united in this hostile pursuit of the Israelites. According to a Midrashic approach the use of the word נוסע indicates that the Israelites became aware of the guardian angel of Egypt pursuing them from his celestial domain and that he was about to assist the terrestrial Egyptians. The name of this celestial representative of Egypt was עזא. I have found this name in a Midrash called VaYosha: “Azza is the name of the guardian angel of Egypt.”

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

And they said to Moses: Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to die in the wilderness? What is this that you have done to us, to bring us out of Egypt?

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.

"And they said" — We find in the holy tongue words of the same meaning joined together where one would suffice; here, "this, because there are no" (ha-mibbeli ein) is an example, just as "Is it only through Moses alone?" (Num. 12:2). "To bring us out" — with a gadol kamatz in place of a katan kamatz, as in "and I said, none seeth me" (Isa. 47:10).

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.

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.]

המבלי אין קברים במצרים , “are there perhaps not sufficient graves in Egypt?” Nachmanides wonders aloud how it is possible that people who raise their hands and voices in prayer to G’d for help could at one and the same time become guilty of such sarcastic comments as the ones attributed to them here by the Torah? Moreover, how could they say at the same time: “it is better for us to have to serve the Egyptians in Egypt than to die in the desert?” In view of his formidable question our sages’ statement (Mechilta section 2) that at that time there were four groups of Israelites each of whom responded differently to their dilemma is proven correct. Group number one engaged in prayer. This group is referred to in our text as בני ישראל, “the Children of Israel cried out in prayer to Hashem.” These were the elite of the people. They had been described as “raising their eyes...and crying out to G’d.” The second group denied that Moses was indeed G’d’s prophet and did not choose to pray for salvation. Concerning this group the psalmist wrote (Psalms 106,7) “they rebelled at the sea, at the Sea of Reeds.” A different wording of this event is presented by the same section of the Mechilta on the words (verse 13 התיצבו, “stand firm”). There were four groups. The first group preferred death to captivity or death at the hands of the Egyptians. They wanted to drown themselves in the sea. This was the group to whom Moses said: “stand firm! Behold the salvation which will emanate from Hashem!” This was the group about which the psalmist had said that they rebelled. The second group wanted to return to Egypt. Concerning this group the Torah (Moses) gave the assurance that the Israelites would never again see the Egyptians pose a threat to them as they did at that moment (verse 13). The third group wanted to join battle with the Egyptians. Moses told them not to bother, that “Hashem will fight on your behalf.” The fourth group were those who relied on praying to G’d as we read: “The Children of Israel cried out (prayed) to Hashem.” Moses told them to be silent (verse 14). Onkelos translates the word ויצעקו as וזעיקו, that their outcry was one of accusation. [We find in Mechilta that these people complained that not only did they already mourn the 80% of their brethren who had died during the plague of darkness, but now even they were threatened; this is why they said it would have been better for them to have remained in Egypt in the first place. Ed]. We have the expression זעקה in that sense in Samuel II 13,19 when Tamar yelled after having been raped by her half-brother Amnon. The expression ויזעק also occurs in Judges 4,10 when it describes Barak as issuing a call for mobilisation of several tribes. We also find the expression in Nechemyah 9,9 “You heard their outcry at the Sea of Reeds.” Our sages understood it as an expression of prayer as I explained already.

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. 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.

המבלי אין קברים, another example of repeating the same thought in different words by adding the words: למות במדבר, “to die in the desert.”

Is this not the very word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying: Leave us alone and we will serve the Egyptians? For it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.

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) 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”.

"Is this not the very thing?" — This is not explicitly recorded, but we know it must have happened, for how could they say to his face something that had not occurred? This matter falls under the general statement "and they did not listen to Moses" (6:9).

Is this not the thing which we spoke to you in Egypt, saying. Rashi explains: And where did they speak? May the Lord look upon you and judge (Exodus 5:21). But his explanation needs explanation, for here they said it is better for us to serve Egypt than to die in the wilderness, while there they said May the Lord look upon you and judge, for you have made our scent abhorrent in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hands to kill us. And this they certainly said about the additional labor that was compared to a sword — but what is the difference between a sword and death? Also, what they said there, to put a sword in their hands, needs explanation, for Pharaoh did not seek to kill them with a sword but rather to make their labor more difficult. It seems to me that Israel said to Moses there were two negative aspects: First, that now he [Pharaoh] would not send us away and instead made our work harder because you have made our scent abhorrent in his eyes. Moreover, even if he does send us away, we would [still] be considered as fleeing, since you told him in God’s name, Send my people so they may celebrate for Me in the wilderness. And when he realizes that we are fleeing, then without doubt he will pursue us with the sword. In this way, it is as if you have put a sword in their hands to kill us and cause our death. And this is what they say here — that they had already told him in Egypt that it is better for us to serve Egypt than to die in the wilderness — because they had already said to him, to put a sword in their hands to kill us. And they said this regarding what would eventually happen — that he [Pharaoh] would pursue them with the sword in the wilderness and kill them. And some interpret humorously: Is this not the thing that we spoke of now? [Meaning:] In Egypt we should have said this, not now, for its time has passed. And this is what it means by in Egypt, saying: — that is to say, there [in Egypt] we should have said “cease from us,” etc., but we did not say it.

And Moses said to the people: Do not fear; stand firm and see the salvation of Hashem that He will perform for you today, for as you have seen the Egyptians today, you shall not see them again ever.

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, 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, indeed constitutes a commandment, not just a promise.

"Stand firm and see the salvation of Hashem" — for you will not wage battle; you will only see the salvation of Hashem that He will do for you today. One may wonder: how could a great host of six hundred thousand men be afraid of their pursuers, and why would they not fight for their lives and for their children? The answer is: the Egyptians were masters over Israel, and this generation that came out of Egypt had learned from its youth to bear the Egyptian yoke, so their spirit was broken — how could they now fight against their masters? Israel was dispirited and untrained in warfare. Consider that when Amalek came with a small force, had it not been for Moses' prayer, he would have overcome Israel. And Hashem alone, who does great things (Job 5:9) and by whom deeds are reckoned (1 Sam. 20:3), arranged that all the males who came out of Egypt would die, because they lacked the strength to fight the Canaanites — until another generation arose, the generation of the wilderness, who had not seen exile and whose spirit was exalted, as I explained in my comments on the passage "And these are the names."

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. 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. 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.

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.”

Hashem will wage war for you, and you shall be still.

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)?”

"Hashem will fight for you" — on your behalf; and thus in every battle where the verb 'fight' is followed by the lamed, it denotes fighting in aid of someone. Therefore R. Moses ha-Kohen explained "many fight against me from on high" (Ps. 56:3) as meaning 'on my behalf,' and the sense of 'from on high' is: a battle of the heights, as is the custom of all who dwell on high. "And you shall be silent" — in contrast to "and the children of Israel cried out."

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. 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.

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.

ה' ילחם לכם, “Hashem will fight on your behalf!” It is known in kabbalistic circles that the attribute of Justice fights wars and dries out the sea. Why then did Moses mention the attribute Hashem in this verse? It was to teach that even in the execution of this great miracle the attribute of Hashem was also involved. At first glance it appears as if the attribute of Justice was stretched out over the Egyptians from one end of the sky to the other (figuratively speaking) and was bent on their total destruction as we know from verse 28 that “not one of them survived.” Nonetheless we find an involvement of the attribute of Mercy such as the fact that these people were interred (compare 15,12 תבלעמו ארץ), i.e. that the earth covered their remains. They did not simply disintegrate as did the people who died during the deluge.” Whenever the Torah speaks of G’d’s “right hand,” such as in Exodus 15,6 this is a reference to the attribute of Mercy. What was true in the past will also hold true in the future after the final war of Gog and Magog of which we are told that “G’d goes out and battles all these nations assembled against the Jewish people” (compare Zecharyah 14,3). No doubt that verse speaks of the attribute of Justice. In spite of this, we find even there an involvement of the attribute of Mercy as the prophet describes in detail the interment of the remains of the fallen Gentiles in that war (Ezekiel 39,11). “It will be on that day that I (Hashem) shall assign to Gog a burial, etc. etc.” The Midrashic approach on the words: “G’d will fight on your behalf, you be silent,” is: seeing that although G’d personally killed all the Egyptians’ firstborn they still pursue you, it is clear that they mean to attack Me, not you. Hence I will fight them, not you. It is not your battle at all. ואתם תחרישו, and you must remain silent so that the attribute of Justice will not unload itself upon you, seeing you have been just as sinful as they, having worshipped idols, etc.

And Hashem said to Moses: I have accepted your prayer; speak with the children of Israel and let them journey.

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) 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; Shemot Rabbah 21:8).

AND THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO MOSES: WHEREFORE CRIEST THOU UNTO ME? Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented 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. 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.”And our Rabbis have said 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, 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. 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.” 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].

"Why do you cry out?" — Some say that Moses was crying out to Hashem, but this is not correct, for He had already spoken to him: "and I will be glorified through Pharaoh" (v. 4). Rather, this was said to Moses because he stands in place of all Israel, since it was the children of Israel who cried out to Hashem. "And let them journey" — little by little, until they reach the shore of the sea.

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. 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.

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! 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 ...

?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.

מה תצעק אלי, “why are you crying out to Me?” According to the plain meaning of these words the word אלי means that the matter does not depend on G’d at all but on Israel. דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו, “speak firmly to the Children of Israel and they will march forward.” G’d hinted that as soon as the Israelites would move forward the sea would part for them to let them through. They only needed to demonstrate a little faith by moving forward. A kabbalistic approach: The word אלי in this verse is equivalent to the word לי which we find in connection with Terumah, the gift intended for G’d, i.e. the donations for the Tabernacle. We read in the ספר הבהיר of Rabbi Nechunyah ben Hakanah (item 103 edition of Margulies) that the words ויקחו לי תרומה should be understood as ויקחו ל-י תרומה, “they are to take a gift intended for the י.” The idea is that every prayer must be addressed exclusively to the י, to Hashem. It is in this sense that G’d said to Moses: ”speak to the Children of Israel ויסעו they are to journey from below to above and the sea will part as a result.” They were to call on their reserves of faith and elevate themselves to the level י. Whereas the address for their attention was G’d in His capacity as the attribute of Mercy, the attribute they wanted Him to activate was His attribute of Justice. Moses did as G’d said and informed them of the great miracle which was about to occur whereupon the Israelites started marching forward. In Sotah 37 we are told that the tribe of Yehudah sanctified the name of the Lord by being the first one to enter the sea. Midrash Tehillim 114 on the words היתה יהודה לקדשו, “Yehudah became His holy one,” deduces this from these words of the psalmist. This is also what is meant by the words: “the sea saw and fled” (Psalms 114,3). What did the sea see? It observed Nachshon ben Aminadav, the prince of the tribe of Yehudah, enter it, followed by the other tribes who drew encouragement from Nachshon’s behaviour. In fact, they now each wanted to be first to wade through the bed of the sea. According to Psalms 68,28: “there is little Binyamin who rules them.” The word רדם in this verse which means “rules them,” should be read as two words, i.e. רד ים, “descended into the sea.” According to that tradition the brother tribes Yehudah, Naftali, and Zevulun stoned the Binyaminites for having arrogated to themselves the right to be the first ones to enter the sea. This is based on Psalms 68,28 where the Midrash understands the word רגמתם, as “they stoned them.” The Midrash claims that the reason that the prince of Yehudah was called נחשון, was in recognition of his pre-empting the other Israelites in descending into the sea, i.e. he was a נחשול, “a gale smiting 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.

And you, take your staff and lift your hand over the sea and split it, and the children of Israel shall enter into the midst of the sea on dry ground.

"And you" — Hashem said to Moses: raise your staff and split the sea before they set out; for He did not tell him to strike the sea, only to stretch out his hand over the sea with the staff, in the manner of "and Moses stretched out his staff toward the heavens" (9:23). We know that the staff did not split the sea; rather, from the moment Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, Hashem drove the sea back with a powerful east wind, or the waters split — for so it is written.

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

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.

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 and stretch out your hand over the sea. In the Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 21:9), they said that since the Egyptians were saying, “If not for the staff, he could not have performed all these miracles,” therefore God said, Remove your staff and stretch out your hand, because raise [harem] is an expression of removal.I will now provide a reason for why specifically at the splitting of the Red Sea did God command to remove the staff. This is because God wanted Moses to create below a parallel to everything that was done above. All the plagues were performed by the finger of God, therefore they were also done below through Moses’ staff, as the staff resembles a finger. However, at the sea, they were struck with the entire hand, as it says, And Israel saw the great hand, etc. Therefore, God told Moses to also create a parallel below by removing the staff which resembles a finger, and stretch out your hand — the entire hand — corresponding to the mighty hand of the Supreme One, blessed be He. For this reason it says, And Israel saw the great hand, and in addition, they saw that it was not by the power of the staff that Moses performed all of this great and awesome deed, for he needed to stretch out his hand corresponding to the mighty hand above. Therefore, they believed in the Lord and in Moses His servant, as they retracted their previous statement that it was by the power of the staff that he accomplished all this. And from here you will truly understand, what was Moses’s sin at the waters of Meribah, for there it states exactly the opposite of what is stated here. Here it says, Lift up your rod, meaning, set aside your rod and stretch out your hand, and through this they came to faith. But there it says, And he lifted up his hand and struck with his rod, meaning he set aside his hand because he did not perform the action with his hand but rather with his rod. Therefore, he reverted back to the original situation, where they said that everything was accomplished by the power of the rod, and this caused a diminishment of faith, as it is written, Because you did not believe in Me. This matter will be explained, God willing, thoroughly in its proper place in Parashat Chukat (20:8).

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]

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)

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.

And I — behold, I am hardening the heart of the Egyptians, and they shall enter after them, and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and through all his host, through his chariots and through his horsemen.

"And I" — We know that the Sea of Reeds does not lie between Egypt and the Land of Israel, and there was no necessity for them to enter the sea. Hashem commanded it this way only so that the Egyptians would follow them in and drown. From the wilderness of Etham Israel entered the sea, and to the wilderness of Etham they emerged, as I will explain.

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.

And the Egyptians will know that I am Hashem, when I am glorified through Pharaoh, through his chariots and through his horsemen.

"And Egypt shall know" — those who remain — "when I am glorified through Pharaoh" — who himself will drown along with his chariots and horsemen.

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.

And the angel of Hashem who was traveling before the camp of Israel moved and came behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.

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). 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.

AND THE ANGEL OF G-D JOURNEYED. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that the angel of G-d is the great prince [Michael], who went in the cloud. It is to him that Scripture refers when it said, And 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 darkness between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, but it gave light by night 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] “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: “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, and here it is written, the angel of ‘Elokim’ (G-d)?’ Rabbi Shimon answered him, ‘Elokim everywhere denotes “Judge” [literally: judgment], etc.’” 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. 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, 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 go...

"And the angel of God moved" — this had occurred before the word was spoken to the children of Israel to journey; the verse thus means: it had already moved. I have already shown you many instances like this. Because these three verses are linked to one another and each contains seventy-two letters, we therefore find written in books the sign concerning the secret of the Explicit Name. In my opinion, the reason it is written this way is that the count of the glorious Name adds up to seventy-two letters, as I will explain in the passage of Ki Tissa. In the book of Raziel it is stated that one who wishes to make a dream inquiry should recite at the beginning of the night the verse "And it came to pass in the thirtieth year" (Ezek. 1:1), for it has seventy-two letters. "The angel of God" — this is the great prince who went within the cloud, the one of whom it is written "and Hashem was going before them by day" (above, 13:21). When this angel that had gone before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them, the pillar of cloud moved with him. As for those who say that the angel of God is the cloud itself — where do we find the pillar of cloud called 'the angel of God'? And if the angel is the pillar, why does the verse say again "and the pillar of cloud moved from before them"? If the answer is that the repetition is for emphasis, the proper style of the holy tongue is to repeat only prophecies and rebukes, not the narration of an event; a narrative should not be repeated.

ההולך לפני מחנה, in the column of fire. 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 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, “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 as “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 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)

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 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.

And it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, and there was the cloud — it was darkness to the Egyptians, but to Israel it gave light all the night, and the one did not draw near to the other all the 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). ויהי הענן והחשך AND THERE WAS CLOUD AND DARKNESS to the Egyptians. 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. 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).

"And it came" — the angel. "And there was the cloud and the darkness between one camp and the other." "And it lit up the night" — as it had done throughout all the nights since Israel left Egypt, for the pillar of fire was present every night, and Israel crossed the sea by night. R. Marinus said that "and it lit up the night" means 'and it made dark,' citing "and night is light about me" (Ps. 139:11), and in the language of the Sages, "light of the fourteenth" (Pesahim 2a). But one who interprets it this way is calling darkness light and light darkness — for it cannot be in any language that one word means a thing and its opposite, unless it is used euphemistically, as in "and Naboth blessed God" (1 Kgs. 21:13). As for "night is light about me," I have explained it to mean actual light. And when the Sages say "light of the fourteenth" they use a euphemism. What purpose would it serve to say "and it made dark the night," since every night is dark? Rather, "and it lit up the night" refers to what Hashem had been doing from the day Israel left Egypt, for the pillar of fire was present every night. For if they had no light, how would they cross the sea? Indeed, Pharaoh came into the sea and Hashem looked down upon him at the morning watch, by which time most of Israel had already crossed.

ויבא (המלאך) בין מחנה מצרים ובין ישראל; in order to guide the two pillars. ויהי הענן והחשך, the darkness of night together with the cloud was positioned behind Israel and the column of fire. 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. 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.

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.

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.) 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.

ולא קרב זה אל זה כל הלילה, “and one did not come close to the other all night long.” The Israelites had begun their descent into the sea during the night. When the Torah (verse 19) had reported that the angel of G’d had moved from before the people to behind the people, this was at the beginning of the night. The meaning of all this is that the attribute of Justice described there as מלאך האלו-הים as well as in some other instances in the Bible, is not described as מלאך אלו-הים, but as מלאך האלו-הים. Nachmanides says that it is possible that the word מלאך in this case is not a possessive but an explanation. In other words, the Torah explains that the agent (angel) mentioned now moved to the rear of the Jewish people in a pillar of fire so that in addition to the pillar of fire now at their rear the pillar of cloud which used to be in front during the day also moved to the rear at this time so that two pillars separated the Egyptians from the Israelites. When the morning watch commenced the Egyptians became victims of G’d’s judgment. The word אשמורת הבוקר is an allusion to this. Onkelos translates this word as והוה במטרת צפרא, an allusion to the agent Mattatron who has been entrusted by G’d to run the universe along the lines of natural laws. The order of the various forces was as follows: 1) The camp of Israel was in front; 2) behind it and close to them the pillar of fire. 3) behind the pillar of fire was the pillar of cloud. 4) behind the pillar of cloud came the camp of the Egyptians. This means that two separate columns divided the Israelites from the Egyptians. The words ויהי הענן והחשך mean that the Israelites had light as the pillar of fire which was positioned immediately behind them provided light for them, i.e. ויאר את הלילה, it lit up the night; the Egyptians did not benefit from this light as the pillar of cloud was positioned between them and the pillar of fire. The words “they did not approach one another” mean that they could not approach one another due to the two columns (pillars) separating the two camps from one another. Nonetheless, the Egyptians could see the Israelites as they saw the pillar of fire through the pillar of cloud. When one sits in the dark one can see light even if the light is distant. Israel, however, could not see the Egyptians as people bathed in light cannot see those who sit surrounded by darkness. It was therefore most important for the pillar of fire which normally had traveled in front of the Israelites to have taken up a position behind them. Had it continued to be in front of them and to light up the way for them like on the preceding nights the Israelites would have been invisible to the Egyptians and they therefore would not have followed them. A Midrashic view of the words: “they did not approach each other all night long,” i.e. “the celestial beings did not engage in song.” In chapter 42 of Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer we find the comment: “do not read as if it said ולא קרא זה אל זה but ולא קרב זה אל זה כל הלילה, a play on words such as וקרא זה אל זה ואמר קדוש, “each one called to the other saying: “holy, holy holy.”

“And one did not come near to the other.” Rashi explained it as “camp to camp,” and on the allegorical level, this can be interpreted regarding Israel, for our Sages said (Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 2:5) that our ancestors formed four groups at the sea, etc., and they were not in one agreement — this one saying one thing and that one saying another. Therefore, one did not come near to the other“ all night in their thoughts. And our Sages said (Shemot Rabbah 23:7) that the angels did not sing songs of praise all night, as it is said about them And one called to another (Isaiah 6:3), and in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer: Do not read lo karav [did not come near] but rather ”lo kara“ [did not call]. There is no need to amend the text because the angels do not approach each other for any worldly matter except when they say songs and praises before the Blessed One — one calls and the second responds to him. And when it says one did not come near to the other, it certainly means they did not sing praise, because the way of song is that one calls and his companion responds. And it may be said further that “And he did not approach this.” This refers to the angel mentioned earlier in the verse And the angel of God moved, that this angel did not approach this, meaning the song alluded to by This is my God and I will glorify Him, which is the essence of the song through which they merited to see the Divine Presence, to the extent that they could point at Him with their finger and say This is my God. For even a maidservant at the sea saw what Ezekiel did not see, and this also alludes to the angels, for among them closeness of perception is more common than among those below.

ויהי הענן והחושך, the cloud spread darkness for the Egyptians, whereas, ויאר את הלילה, at the same time it lit up the night for the Israelites. ולא קרב זה אל זה כל הלילה, and the Egyptians were unable to come any closer to the Israelites during the entire night.

And Moses lifted his hand over the sea, and Hashem drove the sea back with a strong east wind all the night, and turned the sea into dry ground, and the waters were split.

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). ויבקעו המים AND THE WATERS WERE DIVIDED — all the waters in the world (Mekhilta).

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. He thus caused the Egyptians to err and then destroyed them, 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; and they shall go in after them. He hardened their hearts [so that each one] would say: “I will pursue my enemies and I will overtake them in the sea, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.” They did not remember now [what they themselves had said], for the Eternal fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

"And he stretched out... all the night" — even during the time that Israel was crossing, the wind did not cease.

וישם את הים לחרבה, the east wind had frozen the mud on the bottom of the sea. ויבקעו המים, when Moses inclined his hand at G’d’s command.

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. 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.

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, “the waters were split.” The meaning is “the waters remained split after separating.” The splitting of the waters occurred first, followed by the strong easterly wind which was designed to get rid of the wetness of the bed of the sea enabling it to become dry land, חרבה. This process was parallel to the one described in 16,20: “it became worm-eaten and stank.” The meaning there is also that after it (the manna) had begun to stink, worms began to eat from the foul-smelling mass. A Midrashic approach based on Mechilta: the words “the waters split” (instead of the sea split) mean that the waters throughout the universe split at that time. The reason we must understand the words in that way is because had it been a local phenomenon only the Torah should have written ויבקעו מימיו, “its waters split.” There is another dimension to the splitting of the sea which will make you understand that it was essential that all the water in the world be split at that time and that a total change in the behaviour of natural law occur at that time. Our sages (Avot 5,3) have accepted as axiomatic that at the time when this miracle occurred there occurred altogether ten miracles simultaneously. All of these miracles may be derived from the wording of this paragraph. 1) The first one is that the waters were split (into a number of fissures, separate paths) as is evident from the simple reading of the text. 2) after the waters were split they became like a “hat,” like the shape of a roof stretched out from the top, with normal water to the left and to the right. The path was in the center. This is the meaning of the words והמים להם חומה מימינם ומשמאלם, “and the waters were a wall for them to their right and to their left.” 3) the ground under the sea did not remain like the river bed of rivers which run dry in the summer, etc. i.e. muddy, but turned into solid dry ground. This is why the Torah wrote: “they walked on dry land” (verse 29). 4) the path traveled by the Egyptians had remained wet, like mud, loam. This is what is meant by “they were mired in the Sea of Reeds” (15,4). The word טביעה is always a reference to someone sinking into mud. We have another example of this in Psalms 69,3: טבעתי ביון מצולה ואין מעמד, “I am sinking in the slimy deep and find no foothold.” Jeremiah 38,6 means the same thing. This disaster which struck the Egyptians was a great miracle and this is why it is considered one of the ten miracles which were performed for the Israelites at the sea. Chabakuk 3,15 describes graphically how G’d performed this miracle saying: “You will make Your steeds tread the sea, stirring the mighty waters.” 5) the fifth miracle was the fact that all these waters froze (solidified). This is the meaning of the words “the deep froze (congealed)” (15,8). The word is taken from Job 10,10 וכגבינה תקפיאני, “You congealed me like cheese.” The water became hard as stone. This is spelled out in 15,5: “they went down into the depths like a stone. The Torah means that just as the depths are hard as stones so the waters became hard as stone. This causes one to break one’s head on impact as mentioned by David in Psalms 74,13: “who smashed the head of the monsters in the water.” Unless the water had become hard as stone this is hard to understand. 6) the waters did not solidify into one giant chunk such as an iceberg, but into many smaller blocks. This is the meaning of the words נצבו כמו נד , “they stood arranged like a wall” (15,8). The waters were arranged like blocks of stone one upon the other forming a wall. David explained the term in greater detail when he said (Psalms 74,13) “it was You who smashed into pieces the sea with Your might.” 7) the sea parted into 12 parts to provide 12 lanes, one each for the tribes. This is based on the word זה in זה אל-י ואנוהו “this is my Lord and I wish to exalt Him.” The numerical value of the word זה=12 (15,2). David also speaks of G’d having divided the sea into numerous sections (Psalms 136,10). 8) “the waters even when congealed remained transparent like glass,” so that the “bricks” we just mentioned were like clear bricks so that members of one tribe could see the members of the next tribe in the adjoining lane. This is the meaning of the words קפאו תהומות בלב ים, “the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea” (15,8). The word appears also in Zecharyah 14,6 where it appears to mean “freezing time,” neither cold nor sunshine, a suspension of normal changes from night to day. [The author understands it also there as relating to the transparency of ice. Ed.] 9) G’d extracted sweet waters for drinking by the Israelites from the salty sea water. This is the meaning of the word נוזלים, (15,8) where Moses describes this sweet water as dripping forth from the blocks of frozen sea-water. The expression נוזלים occurs in Song of Songs 4,15 as an attribute of מים חיים, pure spring-water gushing forth from the mountains of Lebanon. 10) This sweet water froze again as soon as the Israelites had made use of it for their needs. This explains the peculiar sequence in 15,8: “straight as a wall stood the running water, the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.” The verse tells us that something which had been dripping, running, subsequently froze in the middle of the sea. This concludes the list of the ten miracles G’d performed at the Sea. You should realize that the three verses (14,19-21) each consist of 72 letters amounting to a total of 216 letters. Each of these verses therefore is an allusion to the great 72-lettered name of G’d. The 72-lettered name of G’d represents the fourth attribute (emanation) of חסד, “loving kindness.” When you arrange the three verses instead of sequentially, above one another, the second one in reverse order, each vertical column will give you a three-lettered name of G’d. Examples: when you place the word ויסע (verse 19) above the word הלילה in the second verse but above the word ויט in verse 21, then the vertical reading from the top down of the first letter will be והו. The second name would be ילי. The 37th such acrostic spells אני (compare Rashi on Sukkah 45A). Each unit of three letters is a name of G’d. The middle row, i.e. verse 20 which would be arranged backwards instead of forwards, represents the attribute (emanation) גבורה, whereas verse 21 which is arranged from right to left again represents the attribute (emanation) תפארת. Each unit of three letters which is a name of G’d, together forms the 72-lettered name of G’d when you put them end to end in the order I just described. The number three, which appears in 72 such names of G’d, is representative of the three “celestial patriarchs,” a concept parallel to the three terrestrial patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov. Although the Torah does not spell out either in the command or in the report of the crossing that the sea which the Israelites crossed was the Sea of Reeds, it is clear from Moses’ song of thanksgiving (15,,4) that if the Egyptians drowned in that sea this must have been the sea that the Israelites crossed. Furthermore, we read immediately afterwards that Moses made the Israelites journey from the “Sea of Reeds” (15,22). This sea is called ים האחרון by G’d when He showed Moses the territory of the land of Israel in Deut. 34,2. The reason it is so called [i.e. the word סוף which also means “end”, i.e. אחרון= “last, final” Ed.] is that it is the furthest boundary of the land of Israel. David also refers to it by the name ים סוף in Psalms 106,9: “He sent His blast against ים סוף, it became dry.” However, there is also an attribute of G’d which is known as ים, as David mentions elsewhere in verse 7 of that Psalm. It appears that he meant that this attribute called ים was invoked by G’d in order to make the Israelites able to cross the ים. When we understand the word ים as having two meanings, then we can also understand Psalms 106 7 וימרו על-ים בים-סוף, as “they rebelled against the attribute of G’d called ים at the Sea of Reeds.” [According to the Zohar, the word סוף ים is a name for the “highest, the most distant sea,” a spiritual concept.] (The author does not mention the word Zohar, as it was not at his disposal. Ed.)

“And He turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were split.” He should have said the waters were split first and afterward He turned the sea into dry land. Perhaps to resolve this, Rashi explained that the waters were split refers to all the waters in the world. And it seems to explain that initially, the wind inside the earth operated beneath the earth at the bottom of the sea until it became dry land, and afterward it also affected the waters, because the operation of the wind was from bottom to top. And when it passed through the seabed, the wind also entered the waters and diminished and decreased them, because it is the nature of wind to reduce waters, which contracted and turned into ice, and then necessarily the waters were split, and the remaining ones stood like a wall because they froze due to the wind that rose from below, for every moist thing that dries from within splits, as is known from natural science. Another explanation: [God] directed the wind to move the water of the sea onto the dry land, and the waters flowed from their edge onto the dry land, and likewise from the other side. This caused the splitting of the waters, as the wind pushed the waters from their place and moved them onto the dry land. This was a double miracle, because such a thing would require two opposing winds, yet it was all accomplished by the east wind alone. Another explanation: If not for the deep adding moisture to the waters, they would have been continuously diminished due to the wind’s influence upon them. And when He turned the sea into dry land initially, and the deep was not adding moisture to them, then by necessity the waters dried up and were diminished by the wind.

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

And the children of Israel entered into the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the waters were walls for them on their right and on their left.

"And the children of Israel came into the midst of the sea" — do not suppose from the verse's saying 'into the midst of the sea' that they reached the very middle of the Sea of Reeds. Even if they entered only half a parasang into the sea it would be called 'the midst of the sea,' just as "and the mixed multitude that was in their midst" (Num. 11:4) does not mean they were at the center of the camp. The sense of "the midst of the sea" is the place where the sea had been at the start of the night. "And the water was a wall to them" — for the waters had frozen solid, as it is written: "they stood like a heap, the flowing waters" (below, 15:5). After most of Israel had crossed, the waters that had served as walls melted — and this is "and the waters returned upon Egypt" (below, v. 26). The waters separated the Egyptians from the dry land, which is why it is written "and Egypt was fleeing toward it" (v. 27) — for they thought they were heading back to dry land, but the walls of water melted and cut them off from the dry land. There is no doubt that the pursuers saw the light and could see how Israel was crossing.

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. 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.

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. 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!

ויבאו בני ישראל בתוך הים ביבשה, ”the Children of Israel came into the sea when it was dry land.” The plain meaning of these words is that the place which had previously been sea was now dry land. A Midrashic view: (Shemot Rabbah 21,10) “if they came into the sea, why does the Torah write: “they came unto dry land?” If they came unto dry land why does the Torah call it “sea?” The verse teaches that the sea was not split for them until they had set foot in it while it was still sea up to the level of the nostrils (to demonstrate their faith). Immediately after they had done this the sea was converted to dry land. Rabbi Nehorai said: “a Jewish mother holding her son by her hand would wade into the sea while her son was crying. His mother took an apple or pomegranate out of the sea and gave it to her son to stop him crying. He based himself on Psalms 106,9: “He led them through the deep as through a wilderness.” The reason the psalmist draws this comparison with the desert is to tell you that just as the Israelites were not short of anything while G’d led them through the desert, they were not short of anything when He led them through the sea. This is confirmed by Deut. 2,7: “for forty years your G’d was with you; you did not lack a thing.” Just as they lacked nothing there, they lacked nothing in the depths of the sea. והמים להם חומה מימינם ומשמאלם, “and the waters were a wall for them to their right and to their left.” This proves that the path was in the centre seeing there was water on both sides as well as above them A Midrash understands the word והמים as a reference to Torah which has also been compared to water. The meaning would be that because of the Torah which the Israelites were about to receive and which they would be eager to receive, this Torah now acted as a shield for them to their right and to their left. At the same time, this Torah would be an instrument of destruction for the Egyptians. This is the reason the word חומה, “wall,” is spelled defective, i.e. without the letter ו is so that it can be read חמה, “anger.” What proved a protective wall for the Israelites represented a few hours later G’d’s anger and the death of the Egyptians. The words מימינם ומשמאלם may also be understood as references to the merit of Torah and phylacteries respectively. The Torah is described as “the right side of G’d,” i.e. מימינו אש דת למו, (Deut. 33, 2). The phylacteries which are worn on our left arm provide the merit thanks to which the waters formed a wall on the left of the Israelites.

“And the children of Israel came into the midst of the sea on dry land.” Here it places midst of the sea before dry land but later it says the opposite: and the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea. Also, that entire verse appears redundant. Here it says and the waters were a wall [chomah] for them spelled with a vav, but later it says “chomah” without a vav. In the Yalkut (Beshalach 238), it concludes that this is an expression of anger and fury, because Israel was subject to judgment — whether to be saved or to drown with the Egyptians. Following this approach, we can say that there were different groups among Israel at the sea. Some were righteous, while others were of little faith, like Noah, about whom it is said because of the flood waters (Genesis 6:7) — for he did not enter the ark until the flood waters forced him to. The good among Israel immediately entered the sea in its middle, even though they had not yet seen the dry land. Nevertheless, they believed in God and entered the midst of the sea, and afterward saw the dry land. For them, the waters were a protective wall [חומה with a vav]. But the lesser ones, untrustworthy children, first walked on the dry land because they did not believe in God. Therefore, they did not enter the midst of the sea until they first saw the dry land. For them, the waters were fierce anger [חמה without a vav], as they were subject to judgment whether to be saved or drowned. For this reason, it says above and they came, indicating that immediately upon their arrival they entered the sea before seeing the dry land. Below it says they walked, because even though they saw the dry land, they still didn’t believe until they first walked on the dry land and only afterward entered the midst of the sea. And some say that when they came to the sea, meaning at their entrance they were completely righteous, therefore it states regarding them wall [chomah] fully spelled [with the letter vav], however when they walked on its other shore they rebelled against God as it is said and they rebelled at the sea, at the Red Sea (Psalms 106:7). For they said, “Just as we are ascending from this side, so too will the Egyptians ascend from the other side,” therefore the waters became for them as wrath and anger as mentioned.

And the Egyptians pursued and entered after them — all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen — into the midst of the sea.

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).

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.

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.

And the Mizraee followed and went in after them, all the horses of Pharoh, and his chariots and horsemen, into the midst of the sea.

And it came to pass in the morning watch that Hashem looked down upon the camp of Egypt through a pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw the camp of Egypt into confusion.

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 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”. 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). 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)”.

"And it came to pass at the watch" — the aleph is a prosthetic letter. "And Hashem looked down" — the meaning is: the angel of Hashem, the one already mentioned, and similarly in the episode of Gideon; for the messenger is called by the name of the sender, since once commanded to act, he acts accordingly. "In the pillar of fire and cloud" — between the two pillars. "And He threw into panic" — it is likely that this is why the Psalmist says "the sound of Your thunder in the whirlwind" (Ps. 77:19), and similarly "and lightning bolts, and He threw them into panic" (Ps. 18:15), while elsewhere the verb is "vayehomem" (2 Sam. 22:15).

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. 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.

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.

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

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. 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.

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

And He removed the wheels of their chariots, so that they drove them with difficulty, and the Egyptians said: Let us flee from before Israel, for this is the might of Hashem Who wages wars for them in Egypt.

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). 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). 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).

"And He removed" — this is from the heavy augmented binyan; the correct form for it should be vayasar with a small patah under the samekh, and I have already discussed its grammar. Some say that the meaning of "and He removed the wheels of their chariots" is that the Egyptians untied the wheels from the horses in order to flee more lightly, but the panic from Hashem described above had fallen upon them and their horses and they could drive them only with great difficulty. Others say it derives from the root sorer (Deut. 21:18), meaning that the lead horse attempted to overturn the chariot. "Fighting for them against Egypt" — on their behalf. And the word of Hashem was thus vindicated — He had said "and Egypt shall know that I am Hashem" (v. 4) — before their deaths.

ויסר את אופן, by means of the column of fire. בכבדות, due to the heavy mud in which they were sunk. כי ה' נלחם להם, they were hoping that once G’d saw them fleeing He would desist from fighting them.

ויסר, “the Egyptian tried to remove;”את אופן מרכבותיו, “the wheel of his chariots;” the root יסר is 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.

ויסר את אופן מרכבותיו, “He (G’d) removed the wheels of their chariots.” According to the plain meaning of the text, seeing that G’d looked down upon the Egyptians through the pillar of fire, the heat of that fire burned every wooden part of the Egyptians’ chariots. As a result they lost all their effectiveness. A scientific approach: “the word אופן is the same as גלגל, “wheel.” We find in Ezekiel 10,13 that the אופנים are equated with גלגלים. In that context neither אופן or גלגל is a physical wheel; it is a reference to celestial forces which cause the orbits of planets, etc., i.e. “the wheels which make the universe go round.” G’d removed one of such “wheels” [hence the singular, Ed] so that the Egyptians were stymied. Targum Yonathan ben Uziel on Ezekiel 1,15 translates the word אופן in והנה אופן אחד בארץ, as “גלגלא,” wheel. The author quotes additional verses on the word אופן. The point that he makes is it that just as we have a rule (Shemot Rabbah 21,5) that G’d does not punish a nation here on earth until He has first dealt with its celestial representative, so here too, the physical chariots did not disintegrate until after G’d had dealt a blow to their celestial counterparts. Hence the Torah used the word אופן to describe His interference with the Egyptians’ celestial assistants. Immediately afterwards the wheels of their chariots on the terrestrial plane moved only “with extreme sluggishness.“ According to the Midrash the specific planet, i.e. its orbit, was the planet Mars under whose auspices wars are fought. The word אופן is spelled defective with the letter ו missing so that we have the word אפן. The numerical value of the three letters of אפן equals 131, i.e. the same as סמא'ל, Satan, the angel of death. In other words, removal of the letter ו from the Egyptians’ chariots spelled death for them. You will observe that the forces represented by the chariots, both terrestrial and celestial, are already alluded to in their respective names. This is important so that we should not confuse the issue by thinking that the Egyptians’ mazzal, horoscope, had decreed this death upon them at that time. The Egyptians mazzal, i.e. the name of the celestial representative of Egypt is עזא as we have explained on a previous occasion (end of verse 10) when we discussed who was journeying in the lead behind the Israelites. There is a play on words there as the guardian angel or “celestial representative” of a nation is named similarly to the nation it represents as we know from Genesis 12,6 “והכנעני אז בארץ;” compare what we wrote there.

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.

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.

And Hashem said to Moses: Lift your hand over the sea, and the waters shall return upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen.

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

"And the waters returned" — those that had been walls for them — returning to what they had been at the outset.

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. 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."

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

And Moses lifted his hand over the sea, and the sea returned at the break of dawn to its strength, and the Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and Hashem hurled the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.

לפנות בקר AT THE TURNING OF THE MORNING at the time when the morning turns to come). לאיתנו means TO ITS ORIGINAL STRENGTH (Mekhilta). נסים לקראתו FLED TOWARDS IT — because they were thrown into confusion and were bewildered and on that account ran towards it. 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). 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.

"Toward morning" — near dawn. "Le-eitano" — to its strength and power; it is a noun, as in "the ever-flowing rivers" (Ps. 74:15). "Fleeing toward it" — I have explained this as meaning that in their flight they supposed they were turning back to dry land, yet they were going toward the returning waters and were crushed. May the bones of Hiwi al-Balkhi be ground to dust — he who said that Moses knew the time of the sea's ebbing and its rising, and he led his people across during the ebb as was the sea's custom, while Pharaoh, not knowing the sea's pattern, drowned. These are words of madness: when the sea ebbs in its natural course, no place is left dry with walls of water standing to the right and to the left — all of it becomes dry. Furthermore, the precise end of the ebb and the start of the flow cannot be determined except after several hours. Moreover, Israel had not yet finished crossing when Pharaoh and his army drowned. "And Hashem shook out" — this is from the heavy binyan, and close in form to "I also shook out my lap" (Neh. 5:13), in the manner of "he has thrown into the sea" (below, 15:1).

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

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? 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. At the time of the Exodus the Israelites had no...

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

לפנות בוקר לאיתנו, “towards morning, to its original state.” According to the plain meaning of the text the word לאיתנו, means “to its original power.” The word appears in a similar sense in Numbers 24,21 where it means “a strong dwelling.” A Midrashic approach (Mechilta): the word לאיתנו means the same as לתנאו, “to its (contractual) condition.” Genesis 1,9 where the Torah writes ותראה היבשה, “so that the dry land shall become visible,” hints at the same thing, i.e. the dry land shall become visible in the water. [It would appear that when the universe was described prior to the earth becoming visible as והארץ היתה תהו ובהו at the very beginning of Genesis, this was a temporary condition which was reversed on the third day. Ed.] According to another Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 5,4) G’d had made an agreement with the water at the time of creation that it would submit to being split when the Israelites would need to cross it on foot. This tradition is based on Isaiah 45,12: “it was I Who made the earth... My own hands stretched out the heavens and commanded their host. As soon as the heavens had been stretched across the firmament and all their hosts, I commanded the sea to split on account of the Israelites. I commanded sun and moon to obey Joshua’s command (Joshua 10,12) to temporarily arrest their orbits, etc. I commanded heaven and earth to remain silent when Moses would begin his speech in Deut. 32,1 and I commanded the ravens to carry bread and meat to the prophet Elijah (Kings I 17,8). I commanded the fire (heat) not to harm Chanayah, Mishael, and Azaryah (Daniel 3,27). I ordered the lions not to harm Daniel (Daniel 6,23). I ordered the whale to spit out Jonah (Jonah 2,11).” Thus far the Midrash. This Midrash is at pains to prove that all the miracles which interfere with the normal functioning of the universe which have been activated by various prophets or by G’d directly, had been provided for within the framework of the six days of creation during which G’d established the laws of nature. There has never been something which could be termed “a new act of creation” after G’d had completed the universe on the eve of the first Sabbath. This is also the whole point of the Mishnah in Avot 5,6 which tells of the 10 miracles for which G’d laid the basis at dusk on the first Sabbath eve. When the Mishnah speaks about Bileam’s (talking) ass having been created during the last few minutes prior to the commencement of the first Sabbath, this means that at that time G’d had made provision for this miraculous phenomenon to occur when needed. The same applies to the earth swallowing Korach and supporters at Moses’ command (Numbers 16,31). When the sages spoke about the ten miracles having been נבראו, “created” at that time, they meant that the creative power for these phenomena to materialize at one time or another was part of the process of the six days of G’d’s creative activity at that time. in other words: “the miracle itself was part of nature,” though only G’d and His inert creatures involved were aware of it. That which the sages referred to as a תנאי, “a condition” which G’d imposed on such creatures of His as the water, etc., was in fact a condition that such “miracles” would be part of what is טבע, “nature,” according to G’d’s definition of this term. When we speak of something “supernatural” occurring, this is a subjective truth applicable only to the beholder of that phenomenon, not to its Creator. Whenever such miracles occur this does not mean that G’d made a sudden revision in His plans for the world and was forced to adopt measures He had not previously thought of, but that the time had arrived at that moment to activate plans He had made already during the six days of creation. 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.”

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.”

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.

And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen — all the host of Pharaoh who had entered after them into the sea; not even one of them remained.

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; ‘l’chol’ the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass; It is only an elegance in Scriptural style.” Thus the language of Rashi. But it is not so in this place. Instead its meaning is as follows: “And the waters covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the 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, just as it is said above: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his 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;’ And thou shalt make a covering ‘la’ohel.’ The term “covering” also appears [in conjunction] with the word al, e.g., The fat that covereth ‘al’ the inwards. There are many cases like this.

"And the waters returned" — those that had served as walls. Not even one escaped, as in "and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel had died" (above, 9:7). The Psalmist says: "not one of them remained" (Ps. 106:11).

וישובו המים in great waves to the newly created trough, ויכסו את הרכב, after having shaken off the riders who had been driving these chariots. 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.

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.

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.”

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.

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. 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 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.

But the children of Israel had walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea, and the waters were walls for them on their right and on their left.

"But the children of Israel" — the reason Scripture mentions this again is that while Pharaoh was drowning, men of Israel still remained in the sea crossing over; and this was a wonder within a wonder. For in the place where Israel was crossing, there was an east wind drying the sea-bed; while in the place of Pharaoh and his army, Hashem brought a different wind to melt the waters that had frozen and become walls — so there were two winds in the sea, acting in two areas close to each other. The faithful proof for this interpretation is what is written in the Song: "and with the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up" (below, 15:8) — this wind was with Israel — and then: "You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them" (ibid., v. 10) — this is the wind that drowned the Egyptians. That is why at the close of the Song it is written: "and Hashem returned the waters of the sea upon them, and the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea" (ibid., v. 19). And do not wonder how all of Israel could have crossed in a single night — six hundred thousand on foot were not even a quarter of the camp. Perhaps they crossed by a different route, or the sea was split into twelve lanes as the Sages said, and Israel did not cross the sea along its width but entered along its length and emerged at the wilderness of Shur, which they had entered from, as I will explain.

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 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.

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.

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

והמים להם חומה, “and the waters were like a wall for them.” The word חמה, wall, is usually spelled with the letter ו 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?”

And Hashem delivered Israel on that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea.

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; Pesachim 118b; Arakhin 15a).

"And He saved" — from this point Israel was saved from Egypt, for until now the fear of the king had rested upon them. Scripture states that the Egyptians drowned in the sea and the sea did not cast them onto dry land — for thus it is written: "the earth swallowed them" (below, 15:12). This is why it explains: "and Israel saw Egypt dead on the shore of the sea" — Israel was at the shore of the sea and saw Egypt dead as they had sunk.

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 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.

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.” 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.”

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. 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, 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.]

And Israel saw the great mighty hand that Hashem had wrought against Egypt, and the people feared before Hashem, and they believed in the Word of Hashem and in the prophecy of Moses His servant.

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, [which means that a great plague will overtake them]; The hand of G-d was very heavy there, [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. This is the right hand which dashes in pieces the enemy, and it is the arm of the Eternal, concerning which Scripture says, Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Eternal; Art thou not it that dried up the sea?

"And they saw" — when Israel saw this great blow they feared Hashem, as "and David feared Hashem on that day" (2 Sam. 6:9) at the death of Uzzah who had stretched out his hand toward the Ark. "And they believed in Hashem" — that He is true; and they believed in Moses that he is His servant and does nothing except what He commands him.

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

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.

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

וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה, “Israel saw (experienced) the great hand, etc.” According to the plain meaning of the text the word יד is a euphemism for retribution. We had numerous examples of this, the first one being Exodus 9,3: “here the hand of G’d will be extended against your livestock, etc.” According to the Midrash (Mechilta Beshalach 6) the words את היד הגדולה are the source for the sages claiming that while G’d performed 10 plagues in Egypt, He performed 50 plagues by the Sea of Reeds (opinion of Rabbi Yossi Haglili mentioned in Haggadah shel Pessach). Seeing that in connection with the ten plagues we find that the sorcerers acknowledged the “finger” of G’d at work, it stands to reason that when G’d’s hand is mentioned as having become manifest that five times as many plagues must have occurred. A kabbalistic approach to the words את היד הגדולה: this is a reference to the second letter ה in the tetragram. It is the “weak” attribute of Justice which operates on earth and is best known as the emanation מלכות. It orchestrated the splitting of the sea and this is the reason why we recite in our prayers: מלכותך ראו בניך בוקע ים לפני משה זה אלי ענו הודו והמליכו, “Your emanation מלכות Your Children have seen at work as it split the sea in front of Moses; this is my G’d; answer, give thanks and enthrone Him!” This line in our prayers is an allusion to the verse זה א-לי ואנוהו. We are aware that after the Israelites had crossed the sea they sang a song of thanksgiving. The meaning of the additional adjective הגדולה, “the great one,” when the Torah described G’d’s hand, is that in its capacity of being “great,” i.e. enlarged, it (the attribute of Justice) draws also on the attribute חסד, i.e. loving kindness, Mercy. This is also the reason that in the context of the שירה, this hand is described as ימינך, “Your right hand.” It is important to understand the translation of Onkelos who renders את היד הגדולה, as ית גבורתא ידא רבתא, seeing that he adds the word גבורתא to his translation. He wanted to illustrate that the attribute of Justice which is part of the hand was what administered the punishment, whereas the attribute of Mercy which was co-opted was not in order to soften the Egyptians’ punishment but in order to save the Israelites. Nachmanides writes as follows in his commentary on this verse: According to דרך האמת we have to conclude that what is known as היד הגדולה was revealed to the Israelites while they were at the sea. This is a reference to the manifestation of G’d’s attribute of Justice at work against Egypt. The expression is not dissimilar to Deut. 4,36: “and on earth He has shown you His great fire.” This is a reference to His right hand which smashed the enemy (15,15,6). At that point this fire was described as G’d’s “arm” of which the prophet wrote (Isaiah 51,9) עורי עורי לבשי עוז זרוע ה’, ”Awake, awake! Put on the strength of Your arm O Lord;” “are not You the One who dried out the sea. Nothing is concealed from You” (verse 10). We have explained the words לבשי עז in our commentary on Genesis 49,24 מידי אביר יעקב. וייראו העם ויאמינו, “The people were afraid and they believed.” Fear and Faith are the cornerstones of the entire Torah. Rabbeinu Chananel writes in this connection that faith may be divided into four parts. 1) Faith in the Lord; this is meant when we read in Chronicles II 20,20 (King Yehoshaphat speaking) “Trust firmly in the Lord your G’d and you will stand firm.” 2) Faith in the prophets. This is what is meant when the Torah wrote here “they believed in G’d and in His servant Moses.” In order to demonstrate this faith in G’d’s prophets we are obligated to obey the prophets’ instructions. 3) one must have faith in the existence of life after death on earth. This is part of the belief in reward and punishment for performance of the commandments of the Torah. David referred to this when he said (Psalms 27,13) “Had I not had the assurance that I would enjoy the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, etc.” 4) The belief in the coming of the Messiah. This too is an important cornerstone of Torah philosophy. This is confirmed in Isaiah 28,16: “Assuredly, thus said the Lord G’d; ‘Behold I will found in Zion, stone by stone, a tower of precious cornerstones exceedingly firm; he who trusts need not fear.” Everybody who has faith will will be credited with many merits. We know this already from Avraham who was the source of all the faithful. G’d credited him for his trust when the Torah wrote (Genesis 15,6) “he had faith in G’d and He (G’d) considered this as an act of righteousness on his part.” Amongst other advantages accruing to the faithful is the promise that they will experience a return to Gan Eden as we have been told by Isaiah 26,2: “open the gates, and let a righteous nation enter; a nation that keps faith.” This is a reference to life in the hereafter. We have a further verse in Chabakuk 2,4: “the just will live by his faith.” Anyone who does not have faith in these cornerstones of Judaism belongs to the group of people of whom Eliphaz said in Job 15,22: “he is never sure he will come back from the dark; a sword stares him in the face.” Such people will not share in the life in the hereafter nor will they take part in the redemption. We base this on Ezekiel 20,38: “I will remove from you those that rebel and transgress against Me.” It is also written in Psalms 31,24: “the Lord guards the faithful but more than requites him who acts arrogantly.” The meaning is that whereas G’d protects those that have faith, He will punish the faithless because the root of their lack of faith is their arrogance. They will not participate in the life of the future as it is written (Chabakuk 2,4) “the haughtiness is blown up, not upright; but the righteous will live by his faith.” Thus far Rabbeinu Chananel Seeing that faith is the foundation of the whole Torah, our sages have decreed the response אמן on numerous occasions within the prayer service in order for the participants to express their faith in what the reader proclaims. The word אמן is rooted in the expression אמונה, “faith, loyalty.” The word also means that he who says it acknowledges and agrees with the statements concerning which he says אמן. Our sages laid so much stress on this verbal response that we find a statement in Nazir 15 that “he who answers with the word אמן is greater than he who uttered the words to which אמן is the response.” In order to explain this apparently baffling statement, we must remember that he who answers אמן when he heard the benediction read by the Chazzan in fact acknowledges that the real source of the blessing is G’d, not the Chazzan or priest, and that by saying אמן he validates the Chazzan’z statement. It is similar to sealing a document with a signature. Until it was sealed it lacked legal status. Even if we grant that the Chazzan was the first witness to this document, until it had been countersigned by a second witness it was not valid Our sages have written at length about the manner in which the word אמן is to be enunciated. They said that it must not be spoken in clipped tones, not in a hurry, it must not be spoken so that the last letter is not clearly audible but one must take his time over saying that word. They were so concerned with ensuring that we take these rules seriously that they threatened that if someone said the word before having heard the whole benediction (an “orphaned אמן”), that such a person or his children might themselves become orphans. They have similarly threatened heavenly retaliation for other infractions of the rules about the proper enunciation and timing of saying the word אמן. Ben Azzai promised long life to those who make a point of saying the word אמן by taking their time over it (compare Berachot 16 on all this). [The author proceeds to explain some of the defective ways of pronouncing אמן. I decided to omit this. Ed.] I have so far explained the word אמן in terms of it being rooted in the word אמונה. Apart from the fact that the word symbolises תפארת and כבוד, there is an additional mystical dimension to this word. It contains within itself a “panorama” of the ten emanations including both the tetragrammaton and its substitute (א-ד-נ-י) seeing it commences with the letter א, which symbolizes the highest of these emanations, i.e. כתר. This emanation is the source of all the blessings up until the letter מ which symbolises תשובה, repentance, as well as the fact that G’d is מלך העולם the King of the universe. [A king, by definition is masculine. Ed.]The letter ן which adjoins the letter מ alludes to the fact that G’d combines within Himself both the masculine and feminine attributes. The allusion is found in the fact that the letter נ appears sometimes as כפופה, “bent over”, suggesting something feminine, and sometimes upright, at the end of a word, suggesting something masculine. As soon as the path of the blessings (which emanated at the top of the emanations כתר), had reached the level of the letter ן and what it represents, it expands to the world of disembodied spirits, after which it descends to our terrestrial universe. Seeing the blessing had commenced its descent from the region represented by the letter א and had continued from there much as the waters from a natural spring continue to flow downwards, irrigating all the areas which are in need of irrigation on their way, so the person responding with the word אמן has the gates of Gan Eden opened for him. This is the meaning of Isaiah 26,2: “open the gates and let a righteous nation enter, a nation that keeps faith.” The word is spelled אמונים, and the sages suggest that it be read אמנים instead, without the letter ו, i.e. suggesting that those who respond with the word אמן have demonstrated their faith, אמונה. In other words the reward for faith follows in its footsteps (Isaiah 40,10). The word אמן is an acrostic consisting of the respective first letters of the words אל מלך נאמן, “G’d is a faithful and dependable G’d.” It is noteworthy that the word נאמן contains both types of the letter נ which we mentioned before, i.e. the “bent” one and the “straight” one (in the words of Rashi on Genesis 21,34 “that the verse did not intend to put the lid on information (conceal it), but on the contrary to reveal information).” The “straight” ן in the word אמן embodies both the masculine and the feminine element seeing that the bent נ represents the feminine element and the upright ן the masculine element, there was room for only one such letter in the acrostic. You should also remember that the letter א is called אמן (compare Zohar) as the emanation חכמה is also known as אמון. This is the mystical dimension of Proverbs 8,30 ואהיה אצלו אמון, “I was with him keeping faith.” [The reference is to Torah whose wisdom has been used by G’d in creating the universe. Ed.] חכמה and כתר are in fact inseparable, seeing that this is the domain where blessing originates, based on Psalms 134,2 שאו ידיכם קודש וברכו את ה', “lift your hands towards the sanctuary and bless the Lord.” The psalmist addresses the חכמה, as קדש. As a result the statement that he who responds with the word אמן is greater even than the one inviting such a response makes perfect sense. All this is applicable outside the confines of the Holy Temple. In the Temple itself the formula אמן was not used (Berachot 63). The reason was that within the precincts of the Temple the priests would pronounce the tetragrammaton in accordance with its spelling, not as a כנוי, i.e. as א-ד-נ-י, as was the case outside the holy precincts. Seeing that the first two letters of the tetragrammaton, i.e. the letters י-ה symbolized the source from which the blessing emanates there was no point in adding the word אמן which does so only indirectly, i.e. by means of the letter א which symbolized the כנוי. When someone consciously repeats the word אמן he will acquire two worlds as indicated by David at the end of Psalm 72 וברוך שם כבודו לעולם וימלא כבודו את כל הארץ אמן ואמן, “Blessed is His glorious name forever; His glory fills the universe, Amen, Amen.” We find the same theme repeated at the end of Psalm 89 ברוך ה' לעולם אמן ואמן, “Blessed be the Lord forever, Amen and Amen.” Anyone saying אמן in this fashion has truly honoured the Lord. Concerning such people we are told in Samuel I 2,30 (in the name of G’d) “for I honor those who honor Me.” People who are negligent in saying the word אמן properly and with the proper thoughts are guilty of blaspheming the name of the Lord. Concerning such people G’d said: ובוזי יקלו, (end of the verse quoted from Samuel). According to our tradition such people are consigned to the lowest of the seven sections of gehinom, a section from which there is no escape. That part of gehinom is known as ארץ עיפתה in Job 10,22. [We know of seven different names for gehinom; each one describes a different layer. compare Eruvin 19 and Sotah 10. Ed.]. The author identifies ארץ עיפתה with שאול תחתית (Deut. 32,22), i.e. “the lowest depths” from which there is no return. Apparently, the word שאול is one compartment and תחתית is the name of another such compartment. This must be the meaning of Proverbs 15,11: 'שאול ואבדון נגד ה', “hell and destruction are in front of G’d.” Anyone descending to that level will not ascend again. Concerning people who make light of the saying of אמן, Jeremiah 2,13 said: “they have abandoned Me, the source of living waters.” In other words, by failing to say Amen, or worse, they have deprived themselves of the source of life. Wherein consists their penalty? The prophet continues: “they dig for themselves broken cisterns, cisterns which are unable to hold water.” The repetition by the prophet of the word בארות, cisterns, is an allusion to the twofold penalty these people are going to experience. Whatever G’d does is based on the principle of “measure for measure,” whether it pertains to the handing out of reward or to the decreeing of punishment.

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