Parasha: Beshalach · Aliyah: Fourth (Netzach)

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."

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 not yet received the Torah therefore the decree that Torah scholars could dictate to the forces of nature did not apply as yet. This is why the sea's consent was needed for it to split at the behest of Moses, and the sea was able to argue that Moses had no authority seeing he (man) had been created only on the sixth day of creation and was therefore junior to it which had been created on the third day. The sea simply hinted that Moses could not claim to order it around by reason of his mastery of the Torah. If he had truly possessed mastery of Torah which had been created prior to the universe, he himself could have claimed to be senior to the sea. G'd therefore had to resort to a stratagem by extending His own right hand alongside that of Moses' right hand. This was a sophisticated way of telling the sea that Moses did indeed possess mastery of the Torah and therefore was entitled to order the sea about. The significance of the right hand in this respect is anchored in the Torah itself in Deut. 33,2: "from His right hand He flashed lightning at them." As soon as the sea noticed G'd's right hand, it split without further ado. Henceforth every צדיק who lived after the Israelites had received the Torah at Mount Sinai could present "a copy" of the agreement G'd had made with His creation to submit to instructions issued by those who represented mastery of Torah. Such people possessed not only the power to effect changes in the laws of nature, but they could inflict penalties on nature if it chose to disobey them.

ומצרים נסים לקראתו, while the Egyptians were fleeing towards it. Although the Egyptians were fleeing from the onrushing waters, they found that the sea was coming towards its original place. As a result they found themselves fleeing towards the waters regardless of which direction they were headed for. We find something similar in Bamidbar Rabbah 18 and Sanhedrin 110 describing the descent of Korach and his supporters into the bowels of the earth. The "mouth" of the earth is described as following the direction where any one of Korach or his companions happened to be standing.

וינער ה׳ את מצרים בתוך הים, G'd hurled Egypt into the sea. This statement is necessary seeing there are expert swimmers who are often able to stay above the waves even during a storm. The Torah says that G'd hurled such expert swimmers into the sea so that they too had no chance to survive. According to Shemot Rabbah 21 the reference to מצרים as distinct from מצריים, the Egyptians, means that G'd hurled the guardian angel of Egypt into the sea by pouring strong rain upon him.

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.

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.

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.

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.

אז ישיר משה, Then Moses began to sing, etc. It would have sufficed for the Torah to write וישר משה, "Moses sang," without the introduction אז, "then." However, the Torah wanted to tell us of the preparation which resulted in that song of jubilation. After Israel acquired the fear of G'd's Majesty, which in turn resulted in a profound measure of faith both in G'd and in Moses, they were divinely inspired to sing this song of thanksgiving.

The reason the Torah writes ישיר "will sing," instead of שר, sang, something that would be so much more appropriate with the word אז is, that to this day we sing this song daily in our morning prayers. Had the Torah written אז שר משה, we would have assumed that the song was appropriate only for the people who had been present when the sea was split.

ויאמרו לאמור, אשירה, they said saying: "I will sing, etc." This means that the Israelites said this to one another. The idea was that they wanted to coordinate their song; they did not want each one to use his own formulation. The fact that they succeeded in this is reflected in the singular "I will sing!"

כי גאה גאה, for He has triumphed gloriously, etc. As a rule songs of praise should commence with mention of the collapse of G'd's enemies similar to what Solomon said in Proverbs 11,10: ובאבוד רשעים רנה "when the wicked perish there is jubilation." Accordingly, we understand the words גאה גאה as referring to Pharaoh who was so boastful that his very name was "the boastful one." Normally, boastful people consider themselves superior to their peers. Inasmuch as their peers do not amount to much, neither does their own pride. Pharaoh was more presumptious than the average braggart, however, as he thought himself superior even to G'd. This is why Moses wrote גאה גאה, the braggart of all braggarts.

We may also understand the expression as analogous to Psalms 93,1 "The Lord is king, He is robed in splendour." As long as G'd had not disposed of Pharaoh He was known simply as גאה, glorious; after G'd disposed of the braggart Pharaoh He assumed an additional dimension of glory, hence גאה גאה. The repetition of the expression גאה may also reflect that G'd is glorious both in the celestial and in the terrestrial spheres. This would explain why no additional subject is appended after the word ורכבו. We may also understand the verse as follows: "I will sing to the Lord because He has proven so glorious; the words כי גאה גאה may also be read together with the rest of the verse, i.e. "He has flung into the sea both the horse and its boastful rider."

עזי וזמרת כה, "The Lord is my strength and song." The normal procedure when one composes a song for G'd, praises Him or prays to Him, is to mention first how G'd relates to oneself before mentioning how G'd related to one's ancestors. Thus we find that the men of the Great Assembly who edited our major prayers began the עמידה by first referring to G'd as "our G'd," i.e. the G'd of the petitioner and only afterwards did they define G'd as also the G'd of the patriarchs. The Israelites were similarly motivated when they first referred to what G'd meant to them (each individual Jew), how G'd had proven a Saviour for them in their present situation acting as the merciful G'd (tetragram). They concluded the statement referring to their personal relationship with G'd by saying זה אלי ואנוהו, "this is my G'd and I will glorify Him," and only afterwards did they describe the same G'd in His capacity as the G'd of their fathers. Our sages copied this pattern when they formulated our prayers where we say אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו, "our G'd who was already the G'd of our ancestors." I have already explained why the Israelites in this instance chose to describe G'd in the singular as "my G'd" instead of as "our G'd."

ה׳ איש מלחמה, "The Lord is a man of war," etc. This means that even when G'd operates with the attribute of Mercy He is still "a man of war." The fact that He conducts war does not imply that He abandons the attribute of Mercy. His name remains י־ה־ו־ה and all that this implies just as we find in Maleachi 3,6: כי אני ה׳ לא שניתי, "for I the merciful G'd have not changed, etc." G'd has made this plain also at the beginning of פרשת וארא where He told Moses אני השם, I am the attribute of Mercy.

תהומות יכסיומו, the deeps covered them, etc. The reason the Torah speaks of תהום in the plural must be viewed in light of my comment on 14,21 that half the sea was frozen whereas the other half was split. Each part was originally part of what is called תהום. Read what I have written on 15,8: "the deeps were congealed, etc."

ירדו במצולות, they descended into the depths, etc. This is an allusion to all those champion swimmers who made strenuous efforts to escape from the depths as I have discussed in connection with 14,27.

ימינך ה׳ נאדרי בכח, "Your right hand O Lord is glorious in power," The Israelites marvelled at the power displayed by G'd even when operating as the attribute of Mercy. Even that attribute "dashed the enemy to pieces." Alternatively, one may read this verse "backwards." "When is Your right hand visibly powerful? When it dashes the enemy to pieces." Then the fear of You overcomes people as described in verse 16.

וברב גאונך תהרוס קמיך, "And in the greatness of Your glory You destroy those who rise up against You." The verse tells us that G'd performs miracles to underline that it is He who destroys His opponents. In order that we should not think that G'd has to extend Himself in order to accomplish this, the Israelites added: "even when You merely send forth Your wrath they already turn to straw."

נערמו מים, גצבו כמו נר, "the waters were piled up, stood upright like a wall." This verse describes three distinct activities performed by G'd when He split the sea. 1) The waters split and remained in one place as a heap so as to make a path available for the Israelites to cross. 2) The waters which would normally replace the newly created vacuum in the centre of the sea did not spill into that vacuum but piled up along the sides forming a veritable wall. 3) As already mentioned in my comments on 14,21 it was not the entire depth of the sea which was split, but the deeper layers of water were frozen so as to enable the Israelites to march through relatively high ground and not to have to descend to what had been the bottom of the sea. The expression קפאו, "were frozen already," reflects what we have said earlier that the freeze of the lower waters in the sea preceded the splitting of the upper levels of the sea. The expression לב ים refers to the lower level of the sea which froze. The reason that the Israelites again used the word תהומות in the plural was that G'd made them travel along twelve separate lanes, each tribe having a lane to itself as we know from Shemot Rabbah 24,1.

אמר אויב ארדף אשיג, The enemy had said to himself: "I will pursue, I will overtake, etc." The reason that the Israelites repeated what we knew already about the Egyptians pursuing the Israelites was to extol the manner in which G'd performed the miracle at the sea. G'd had succeeded in lulling the Egyptians into a sense of false security so that they did not consider the pursuit into the sea as hazardous.

אחלק שלל, "I will divide the spoils." The wicked Pharaoh intended to accomplish three things. 1) Something in which all would share equally, i.e. division of the spoils. 2) He wanted to take the Jews back as slaves as they had been before. He said: "my lust shall be satisfied upon them." He referred to the sense of accomplishment he would feel once he captured the Israelites to make them slaves again. He also hinted that he would treat them at will and oppress them more harshly than previously. 3) He planned to kill Moses and Aaron as well as the elders and leaders of the people. This is what he referred to when he said (in the words of the Israelites) "I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them." We have an example of the previous Pharaoh attempting to kill Moses by the sword (Exodus 2,15) where Shemot Rabbah 1,31 describes Pharaoh as unsuccessfully attempting to kill Moses by the sword.

נשפת ברוחך, "You blew with Your wind, etc." This verse enumerates three disasters corresponding to three of Pharaoh's intentions. The reason that Pharaoh (and the Egyptians) were covered by the sea was because he had said: "I will divide the spoils." Even though under normal conditions the horses could have saved themselves by swimming, he was made to lose his own most treasured property, his horses. He and the Egyptians died a slow death as retribution for their declared intention to oppress the Jews even more harshly and to kill their leaders. This is why the Israelites referred to צללו. The Mechilta describes the words כעופרת like lead, as describing how the individual Egyptians were tossed up and down repeatedly by the waves. In their song the Israelites spoke about במים אדירים, powerful waters, to describe two features. A) the descent, i.e. צללו כעופרת; B) their inability to die at once; this is alluded to in the words במים אדירים, the powerful waves which kept tossing the Egyptians up into the air. Israel praised the Lord in recognition of all these phenomena.

מי כמוך באלים השם, "Who is comparable to You amongst the deities O Lord?" Israel describes that they had seen the guardian angel of Egypt die; hence they could say that absolutely no celestial force compares to the Lord our G'd.

Another dimension of this verse is based on an observation in Chagigah 16 where our sages draw a comparison between G'd and terrestrial kings. The latter is unrecognisable when he chooses to hide amongst his people (soldiers). G'd is never unrecognisable when He is surrounded by His armies. The word באלים means that even when G'd is amongst celestial forces, He is immediately recognised as such.

According to the Mechilta there is still another meaning to this comparison between G'd and other powers; whereas a king of flesh and blood inspires greater fear amongst his distant subjects than amongst those near at home, the reverse is true of G'd as we know from Leviticus 10,3: בקרובי אקדש. The composer of this song bemoans the fact that in the "distance," i.e. in the celestial regions, G'd is revered at all times, whereas here on earth He is revered only when He displays such miracles as the splitting of the sea, i.e. when He is נאדר בקדש.

Still another meaning of the comparison drawn by the composer of this song is based on Daniel 7,10 where the waters of the mythical river Dinor are described as the product of the sweat of the Chayot [permanent kind of angels Ed.] which proclaim the holiness of G'd and to whom this is an awe-inspiring experience, i.e. נאדר בקודש (compare Chagigah 13).

נורא תהלות עשה פלא, "fearful in praises doing wonders?" Everyone ought to be afraid to tell His praises seeing His deeds are so wonderful that no one is able to acknowledge them adequately. How dare one even express an appreciation of G'd's wonderful works knowing one's own inadequacy?

נטית ימינך תבלעימו ארץ, "when You inclined Your right hand the earth swallowed them." Mechilta describes the sea as tossing the Egyptians onto the dry land and the earth as tossing them right back into the sea. The dry land argued with the sea saying: "considering that I was cursed by G'd for having merely absorbed a single human being's blood, i.e. Abel's, at the time, what will G'd do to me if I will accept an entire population of human beings unless G'd swears an oath to me not to demand an accounting from me? [this is based on the meaning of "right hand" often being equated with an oath. Ed.] Targum Yonathan also explains our verse in this sense. We learn from here that the sea did not want to accept the Egyptians and tossed them out. This contradicts something we have learned in Pessachim 118. G'd is quoted as saying to the guardian angel of the sea: "spit them out onto the dry land." The guardian angel of the sea retorted: "Lord of the universe, is there then a servant who has been given a gift by his master (food for the fish according to Rashi) and the master subsequently demands the gift back?" To this argument G'd replied: "I will give you a gift worth one and a half times the original gift if you give Me back the original gift." The sea replied: "can a servant take a master to court?" G'd answered: "I will guarantee My promise by giving you the river Kishon as a pledge." Upon hearing this the sea immediately disgorged the bodies of the Egyptians onto the dry land and the Israelites were able to see that they were dead. It is clear from that story in the Talmud that the sea was quite unwilling to toss the Egyptians onto the dry land. Why then was the sea not overjoyed when the dry land refused the bodies of the Egyptians and tossed them back into the sea? Besides, why did G'd have to repay the sea from the camp of Siserah (900 chariots versus the Egyptians' 600 chariots, compare Judges 4,13)? Why did He not repay the sea personally so that He did not have to give the sea the river Kishon as a pledge?

Another difficulty is the fact that generally speaking the sea does not retain either people or animals but tosses them on to the beaches either on the day they drown or a few days later. According to the view of our sages the sea would prefer to retain these bodies; Rashi and Rashbam suggest that the sea needs these bodies in order to provide food for the fish. If all this is true we must try and understand why, in the case of the Egyptians, the sea made strenuous efforts to get rid of these bodies instead of retaining them as food for the fish? Perhaps the bodies which the earth tossed back had already begun to decompose and would not only have polluted the sea but had also become unfit as food for the fish. This does not seem a satisfactory answer seeing that G'd would not have prevented the earth from providing a burial for the dead Egyptians if only in order to satisfy the commandment in Deut. 21,23 not to allow a person who has been hanged to remain unburied overnight. The shame of the people G'd had executed did not have to be perpetuated beyond the time of their death so that they should serve as a frightening example.

It is not generally our custom to explain aggadic sayings of our sages. In this instance, however, it is necessary to do so in order to understand the plain meaning of the verse, and in order not to allow the impression that different Midrashim are at odds with one another. We have already referred to a Mechilta on 14,30 where the Torah told us that the Israelites saw the Egyptians dead on the beaches of the sea. They beheld the Egyptians in their last gasps just before they died completely. This was in order for the Egyptians to see that the Israelites had been saved from the onrushing waters of the returning sea. This comment by the Mechilta throws light on the two apparently contradictory Midrashim. When the sea asked G'd not to have to disgorge the Egyptians (to give back the gift) this was because G'd had ordered the sea to toss the Egyptians out while they were still alive. G'd's reason was to cause joy to His friends the Israelites whereas the Egyptians would feel ashamed when they noticed that the Israelites had been saved. Although there is no direct mention of the fact that the Egyptians still had some life in them when they were tossed ashore, our sages relied on traditions handed down to them throughout the generations. In view of this, the argument of the sea that a master does not demand return of a gift bestowed on a servant makes good sense. The sea was anxious to be allowed to complete its task of killing those who had angered the Lord. All of G'd's creatures, be they in the celestial or the terrestial spheres, share the desire to carry out G'd's commandments seeing that compared to human beings they have so few opportunities to carry out G'd's commandments. You will find on the same folio in Pessachim that the Talmud tells of how anxious the angel Gabriel was to be the instrument which saved Abraham from the fiery furnace of Nimrod, and that G'd did not withhold his reward allowing Gabriel to save three other human beings (Chanayah, Mishael, and Azaryah) as a reward for his volunteering to save Abraham. This teaches us that it is considered a meritorious deed for angels to perform deeds of loving kindness for the righteous. The sea was similarly motivated and that is why it objected to being asked to disgorge the Egyptians prematurely. When G'd offered to compensate the sea by allowing it to acquire the merit of drowning Siserah's 900 chariots when the time would be ripe, this was certainly a fair compensation.

The sea had another reason for asking that the Egyptians be deprived of all vestiges of life while they were in the sea. It is the nature of the souls of the Gentiles to remain wherever their bodies died as we know from Kohelet 3,19 where Solomon tells us that the "souls" of the beasts descend into the bowels of the earth. Idol worshipers are compared to animals and when they happen to die while in the sea the guardian angel of the sea acquires their souls. The concern of the sea was therefore that it did not want the earth (dry land) to acquire these "souls" rather than its own guardian angel. The sea's feelings were reflected when it exclaimed: "is there such a thing as a master taking back a gift?" G'd therefore replied that at a future date He would compensate the sea handsomely. G'd meant that He would give the "sea" i.e. the river Kishon, live bodies who would drown therein. The sea had never been interested in the bodies, only in the so-called souls. Seeing this was so, it did not want the dead bodies the earth was tossing at it as the sea is not a natural habitat for dead bodies. On the other hand, earth generally is the habitat for dead bodies seeing that the bodies of human beings are composed of earth as the primary raw material. G'd therefore forced Earth to receive the bodies of the dead Egyptians, seeing it was no more than natural.

Do not ask that according to the Talmud in Pessachim the fish opened their mouths thanking G'd when G'd paid off the sea, proving that they were very interested in the bodies of the dead soldiers. It is possible that when the sea receives fully alive human bodies the fish derive some benefit therefrom. Once the bodies die the fish are no longer interested in them. The song of the fish was in appreciation of their food supply.

אז נבהלו אלופי אדום, Then the chiefs of Edom were frightened. The word אז refers does not refer to what happened at this time, but to what will happen when the final redemption of the Jewish people is at hand. The same is true of the prophecy of Bileam concerning Edom being laid waste (Numbers 24,18). The same applies to the feelings of Moab and Ammon whose lands will be appropriated by Israel in that future. The reason that Ammon is not mentioned separately in the song the Israelites sang after crossing the sea, although it too was the product of Lot's daughter sleeping with him is, that it will share the general fate of the land of the Canaanites which Israel had not captured up to that time. The Torah therefore speaks of the ישבי כנען, people living in Canaan at the time though they might not have a legitimate claim on that land. The reason the Torah uses the past tense is to assure us that this future is as assured as if it had already happened.

הפול עליהם אימתה ופחד, "Terror and dread will fall upon them, etc." Both this verse and the one following it refer to two separate conquests of the Holy Land, one during the period of Moses/Joshua and the other at the time when the Messiah will arrive. This is the reason the author of the song appears to repeat what he says.

ה׳ ימלך לעולם ועד, "The Lord will rule for ever and ever." The author implies that the reason he did not speak about the Lord having reigned in the past is because of the challenge to G'd's rule described in verse 19. Inasmuch as G'd has exacted retribution from only one nation which has not recognised His sovereignty in the world it would be inappropriate to extol G'd as having ruled in the past. כי בא סוס פרעה, "For the horses of Pharaoh came, etc." The fact that G'd disposed of the challenge represented by Pharaoh was not yet proof of the impotence of all the powers which compete with G'd on earth and which different nations worship. G'd's true sovereignty will be established only when He deals with all competing deities.

Another way of understanding the sequence of the words in these two verses plus the fact that G'd is described as sovereign only in the future is this: "The Lord will rule only in the future because all of Pharaoh's horses and their riders perished as one man. As a result the only ones left to tell about G'd's mighty deeds were the Israelites who were saved in the midst of the sea." Had there been a few Egyptians who had saved themselves and those Egyptians had told the rest of the world of their experiences this would have suitably impressed the world. As it was, only the Israelites who had already recognised G'd's sovereignty were around to tell the tale. This was not enough to convince the pagans.

ויסע משה את ישראל, Moses made Israel move on, etc. This was the only march which was initiated by Moses. Every subsequent move occurred at G'd's initiative.

ויבאו מרתה, They arrived at Marah, etc. Why is this place sometimes referred to as Marah and other times as Maratah? Apparently the original name of the oasis was Maratah and the spring it contained did not have a separate name.

The Torah added: "they could not drink the waters of Marah," meaning that the spring itself was now named Marah because its waters were bitter. The name Marah therefore also became the name of the oasis after the Israelites had camped there and G'd had shown Moses how to make the waters of that spring palatable. The words כי מרים הם were an allusion to an experience the Israelites were going to have.

וילונו העם על משה, The people murmured against Moses, etc. The Torah criticises the manner in which the people provoked a quarrel. The Torah does not deny the validity of a people asking for drinkable water, i.e. the question: "what are we to drink?" They should have asked for their needs in an appropriate manner.

אם שמוע תשמעו לקול ה׳ אלוקיך, "if you will carefully listen to the voice of the Lord your G'd, etc." This means that if the Israelites would hearken to the statutes and social legislation Moses introduced in the name of G'd immediately after this experience and they would observe them, they would also merit to listen to His other commandments and hear these commandments directly from G'd's mouth. [the reference is to the impending revelation at Mount Sinai. Ed.] In Deut. 4,33 Moses reminded the Israelites of their experience when he asked rhetorically: "Has any nation ever heard the sound of G'd's voice out of the fire and remained alive as you have done?" According to Sanhedrin 56 G'd gave the Israelites some of the Sabbath legislation as well as the laws of דינים, jurisprudence, while they were at Marah. The words שם ניסהו, "there He tested them," must be understood as a trial preceding the revelation at Mount Sinai. If the Israelites would prove receptive to the laws revealed at Marah there was reason to believe they would accept the entire Torah at Sinai when the time came.

Actually, the Torah alludes to four distinct commandments here, ללמוד וללמד, לשמור ולעשות, to study the law, to teach it, to observe the prohibitions, and to carry out the aspects demanding action. The words: אם שמוע תשמע allude to the duty to study these laws. The repetition implies the demand that one should commit what one has learned to memory. It also suggests that one should grow fond of studying G'd's laws. One should not feel one has already done enough studying. The words: והישר בעיניו תעשה, "you will do what is right in His eyes," refer to the teaching of G'd's laws for free, similar to what we have been told in Nedarim 37 that just as Moses did not charge us for teaching the Torah, so we should not charge others for teaching them the Torah. The word ישר refers to G'd who in His goodness gave the Torah to His creatures expecting His creatures in turn to hand it on for free. The words: והאזנת למצותיו, imply carrying out positive commandments, whereas the words: ושמרת כל חוקיו imply not violating negative commandments.

אשר שמתי במצרים, "which I put upon the Egyptians, etc." The reason G'd mentioned that He had brought diseases upon the Egyptians, something we are all aware of, is to prevent us from making an error. If G'd had not referred to the past we could have thought that He only promised not to inflict these diseases upon us, whereas if we contracted them without His active intervention we would not be protected against them. G'd reminds us that just as He made sure we were not infected by the diseases with which He struck the Egyptians so we would remain totally immune to any of the germs which caused these diseases in the Egyptians.

כי אני ה׳ רפאך, "For I the Lord am your Healer." The Torah here refers to diseases which are not due to Divine intervention such as the common cold contracted due to one's carelessness, etc. (compare Ketuvot 30). G'd undertakes to protect us even against such diseases which are not normally controlled by Him if we live according to His precepts.