Source Sheet Shmos Perek 14 5-end

(5) When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his courtiers had a change of heart about the people and said, “What is this we have done, releasing Israel from our service?” (6) He ordered his chariot and took his force with him; (7) he took six hundred of his picked chariots, and the rest of the chariots of Egypt, with officers in all of them. (8) יהוה stiffened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he gave chase to the Israelites. As the Israelites were departing defiantly, (9) the Egyptians gave chase to them, and all the chariot horses of Pharaoh, his riders, and his warriors overtook them encamped by the sea, near Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon. (10) As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites caught sight of the Egyptians advancing upon them. Greatly frightened, the Israelites cried out to יהוה. (11) And they said to Moses, “Was it for want of graves in Egypt that you brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? (12) Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us be, and we will serve the Egyptians, for it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness’?” (13) But Moses said to the people, “Have no fear! Stand by, and witness the deliverance which יהוה will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. (14) יהוה will battle for you; you hold your peace!” (15) Then יהוה said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. (16) And you lift up your rod and hold out your arm over the sea and split it, so that the Israelites may march into the sea on dry ground. (17) And I will stiffen the hearts of the Egyptians so that they go in after them; and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his warriors, his chariots, and his riders. (18) Let the Egyptians know that I am יהוה, when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his riders.” (19) The messenger of God, who had been going ahead of the Israelite army, now moved and followed behind them; and the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them, (20) and it came between the army of the Egyptians and the army of Israel. Thus there was the cloud with the darkness, and it cast a spell upon the night, so that the one could not come near the other all through the night. (21) Then Moses held out his arm over the sea and יהוה drove back the sea with a strong east wind all that night, and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split, (22) and the Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. (23) The Egyptians came in pursuit after them into the sea, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and riders. (24) At the morning watch, יהוה looked down upon the Egyptian army from a pillar of fire and cloud, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. (25) [God] locked the wheels of their chariots so that they moved forward with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for יהוה is fighting for them against Egypt.” (26) Then יהוה said to Moses, “Hold out your arm over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians and upon their chariots and upon their riders.” (27) Moses held out his arm over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state, and the Egyptians fled at its approach. But יהוה hurled the Egyptians into the sea. (28) The waters turned back and covered the chariots and the riders—Pharaoh’s entire army that followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. (29) But the Israelites had marched through the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

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 d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:5:1). 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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:15:2)

At that time, Moses was prolonging his prayer. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him: My beloved ones are drowning in the sea and you prolong your prayer to me? Moses said before Him: Master of the Universe, but what can I do? God said to him: “Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward. And you, lift up your rod and stretch out your hand” (Exodus 14:15–16).

The Egyptians came in pursuit after them into the sea, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and riders.

When God began to create heaven and earth—