“And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go” (Ex. xiii. 17). This is -what the Scripture says, “Thy shoots arc a garden of pomegranates” (Cant. iv. 13). Just as this garden is full of (various) kinds of trees, each one bearing - according to its kind, so the Israelites, when they went forth from Egypt, were full of all good, (endowed with) the various kinds of blessings, as it is said, “Thy shoots are (like) a garden of pomegranates” (ibid.).
Rabban Gamaliel said : The Egyptians pursued after the children of Israel as far as the Reed Sea, and encamped behind them. The enemy was behind them and the sea II was in front of them. And the Israelites saw the Egyptians, and feared very greatly, and there they cast away from themselves all the Egyptian abominations, and they repented very sincerely, and called upon their God, as it is said, “And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes” (Ex. xiv. 10). Moses beheld the anguish of Israel, and arose to pray on their behalf. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him : “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward” (ibid. 15).
Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be He, saying : Sovereign of all worlds ! The enemy is behind them, and the sea is in front of them, which way shall they go forward ? What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do ? He sent Michael, and he became a wall of fire between (Israel and ) the Egyptians. The Egyptians desired to follow after Israel, but they are unable to come (near) because of the fire. The angels beheld the misfortune of Israel all the night, and they uttered neither jraise nor sanctification to their Creator,' as it is said, “And the one came not near the other all the night” (ibid. 20).
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses : Moses ! “Stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it” (ibid. 16). “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea” (ibid. 21), but the sea refused to be divided. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do ? He looked at the sea, and the waters saw the faee of the Holy One, blessed be He, and they trembled and quaked, and descended into the depths, as it is said, “The waters saw thee, O God ; - the waters saw thee, they were afraid : the depths also trembled” (Ps. Ixxvii. 16).
Rabbi Eliezer said : On the day when He said, " Let the waters be gathered together" (Gen. i. 9), on that very day were the waters congealed, and they were made into twelve valleys, corresponding to the twelve tribes, and they were made into walls of water between each path, and (the people) could see one another,' and they saw the Holy One, blessed be He, walking before them, but the heels of His feet they did not see,-' as it is said," " Thy way was in the sea, and thy paths in the great waters, and thy footsteps were not known " (Ps. Ixxvii. 19).
Rabbi Akiba said : The Israelites advanced to enter the Reed Sea, but they turned backwards, fearing lest the waters would come over them. The tribe of Judah sanctified His
The sea will not listen to me. Forthwith was the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed before him in His glory at the sea. And the sea fled." This is wanting in MS. Gaster. great Name, and entered the sea first, and under the dominion of the hand hkewise of the sons of Jiidah (did all Israel enter the sea after them), as it is said, " Jiidah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion " (ibid. cxiv. 2). The Egyptians desired to follow after Israel, but they turned backwards, fearing lest the waters would return over them. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do ? He appeared before them like a man riding on the back of a mare, as it is said, " To a steed in Pharaoh's chariots " (Cant. i. 9). The horse on which Pharaoh rode saw the mare (of God), and it neighed and ran and entered the sea after it.
The Egyptians saw that Pharaoh had entered the sea, and all of them entered the sea after him, as it is said, “And the Egyjatians pursued ' after them” (Ex. xiv. 9). Forthwith the waters returned, and covered them, as it is said, “And the waters retiu'ued, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen” (ibid. 28).s
Ben 'A??ai said : Everything is (judged according to the principle of) measure (for measure) ; just as the Egyptians were proud, and cast the male children into the river,i" so sea) and the tribe of Judah began to stone them, as it is said, ' The princes of Judah cast stones at them ' (ibid.) ; and Nachshon sprang into the sea first, and he sanctified His great name in the eyes of all." See also Rabbivic Philosophy and Ethics, pp i ff. the Holy One, blessed be He, cast them into the sea, as it is said, " I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed triumphantly ; tlie horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea " (ibid. xv. 1).
Rabbi Shela said : All the children (of the Israelites) whom the Egyptians cast into the river did not die, for the river cast them up, and threw them into the desert of Egj'-pt. The Holy One, blessed be He, brought a rock to the mouth of each one, and a rock to the side of each one. The rock which was at his mouth was feeding him with honey and milk, and the rock which was at their side was anointing them with oil, like a lying-in woman who anoints her son," as it is said, " And he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock " (Deut. xxxii. 13). When Israel came to the sea, they saw the Holy One, blessed be He, and they recognized Him, and praised Him, and sanctified Him, as it is said, " This is my God, and I will praise him " (Ex. xv. 2).
Rabbi Simon said : On the fourth day the Israelites encamped by the edge of the sea, and to the south of the sea. The Egyptians were floating like skin-bottles upon the surface of the waters, and a north vind went forth and cast them opposite the camp of Israel, and the Israelites went and saw them, and they recognized them, and they even as the people of Egypt had cast their children into the river." See also Wisdom xi. i6. Charles refers also to the foIloving parallels illustrating the lex talionis : Wisd. xi. 7, xii. 23, xvi. i, xviii. 4, 5 ; Philo, Adv. Place. 20 ; Josephus, Cofitra Ap. ii. 13. said : These (here) were the officials of the palace of Pharaoh, and those (there) were the taskmasters, and they recognized every one, as it is said, " And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore " (ibid. xiv. 30).
Rabbi Reuben said : The entire body follows the head, and when the shepherd goes astray the sheep go astray after him, as it is said, " For the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and wherewith he made Israel to sin " (1 Kings XV. 30). When the shepherd is good, all follow after him. Moses began to sing, and to utter praises before the Holy One, blessed be He, and all Israel followed him," as it is said, " Then sang Moses and the children of Israel " (Ex. XV. 1). Miriam began to sing and to utter praises, before the Holy One, blessed be He, and all the women followed her, as it is said, " And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel . . . and all the women went out after her " (ibid. 20). Whence did they have timbrels and chorus in the wilderness ? But the righteous always know and conciliate (God), and are assured that the Omnipresent, blessed be He, performs for them miracles and mighty deeds. Before (the time of) their departure from Egypt they prepared for themselves timbrels and chorus.
Israel spake before the Holy One, blessed be He : Sovereign of all worlds ! These (Egyptians) who have arisen to come against us to destroy us from Thy world," as well as all who rise up against us, arc as though they had risen up against Thee. Let the majesty of Thy might and Thy fierce anger consume them like stubble, as it is said, " And in the greatness of thine excellency thou overthrowest them that rise up against thee : thou sendeth forth thy wrath, it consumeth them as stubble " (ibid. 7).
Israel spake before the Holy One, blessed be He : Sovereign of all worlds ! There is none like Thee among the ministering angels,'- and therefore all their descriptive names (contain part of the word) Elohim (“God”) ; e.g. Michae and Gabrie/. “Who is like unto thee among the divine creatures, O Lord?” (ibid. 11). Pharaoh“rephed after them with the tongue,” saying : “Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders ?” (ibid.). “Fearful in praise” is not written here, but “fearful in praises” ; for the praises of the ministering angels are on high, and the praises of Israel are (uttered on earth) below. “Fearful in praises, doing wonders” (ibid.), and thus Scripture says, “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Ps, xxii. 3). earth) saying : On this occasion receive them ; on another occasion sucli tliat be killed by thee in the future will I cast into the sea, namely, Sisera and all his host, these will I cast into the sea, as it is said, “The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river” (Judg. v. 21). (The earth) continued, saying to Him : Give me the oath by Thy right hand, that Thou wilt not claim them at my hand. The Holy One, blessed be He, put forth His right hand, and swore to the earth that He would not claim them, as it is said, “Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them” (Ex. xv. 12). All the kings of the earth heard of the departure from Egypt, and the dividing of the Reed Sea ; they trembled and feared,' and fled from their place, as it is said, “The peoples have heard, they tremble” (ibid. 14).
Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be He : Sovereign of all worlds ! Put Thy dread and Thy fear upon them, that their heart may be as stone, until Israel has passed through the Jordan, as it is said, “Till thy people pass over . . . thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance” (ibid. 16, 17).i Thou shalt bring them in to Thy holy mountain. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses : Moses ! Thou hast not said, “Bring us in and plant us,” but (thou hast said), “Thou shalt bring them in and plant them.” The One wlio brings in, He also brings out. By thy life ! According to thy words so shall it bc. In this world I shall bring them in, and in the world to come I will plant them as a true plant which shall not be plucked up out of their land,' as it is said, “And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God” (Amos ix. 15) ; and it (also) says, “The Lord shall reign for ever and ever” (Ex. xv. 18).'