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		Living in Exile     B'Shalach   (Ex 13:17 - 17:16)

Shemot/Exodus 15:4   Pharaoh's chariots and army He threw in the sea; and the best of his officers were sunk in the Sea of Suf.

View whole verse and interlinear translation ...

Our text comes a few verses into a victory song, characteristic of ancient Israel, celebrating The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem's victory over the Egyptian army. This particular stanza reports how HaShem threw Pharaoh's chariots and army into the sea, typically reversing the normal direction of combat: soldiers throw or shoot weapons at their enemy, HaShem shoots the enemy at the weapon. The root יָרָה, here present as the Qal 3ms affix form, can mean to cast, throw, shoot - the first two probably being the best options in this context - or less commonly, to overthrow, lay, erect.¹ Frank Moore Cross Jr. and David Noel Freedman point out that the first colon is hypermetrical² and suggest that it may originally have been מַרְכְּבֹת פַרְעֹה פַרְעֹה וְחֵילוֹ, repeating Pharaoh, to read "Pharaoh's chariots, Pharaoh and his army", or that "Pharaoh's chariots" or "Pharaoh's army" may have been ancient variants of just one object.³ The What Is ...

The Mekhilta: The earliest known halakhic midrash or commentary on (parts of) the book of Exodus; formally named for Rabbi Ishmael and therefore set around 100-135CE, it was redacted some years after his time; quoted many times in the Bavli Talmud as "Rabbi Ishmael taught ..."
Mekhilta states that this is measure for measure repayment: "They said 'Every son that is born you shall throw into the river' (Shemot 1:22), while here it is said, 'Pharaoh's chariots and army He threw into the sea'" (Shirata, 4).

Almost at the end of the verse, the verb טֻבְּעוּ, the Pu'al 3mp affix form of the root טָבַע, attracts the attention of the commentators. Only used ten times in Tanakh, David Clines lists "to sink, slip, fall" as meanings, with the Pu'al stem meaning "to be drowned"⁴ but Rabbi Hirsch disagrees, claiming that "טָבַע  always means 'to embed' something in a material that holds the object fast. This refers to the Egyptians sinking in the soft mud of the bed of the sea." Who Is ...

Rashi: Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105 CE), French rabbi who wrote commentaries on the Torah, the Prophets and the Talmud, lived in Troyes where he founded a yeshiva in 1067; focuses on the plain meaning (p'shat) of the text, although sometimes quite cryptic in his brevity
Rashi, perhaps a little too context aware, says that "the root טָבַע  refers only to sinking in a place of mud, as 'I have sunk into deep mire' (Psalm 69:3) and 'Jeremiah sank into the mud' (Jeremiah 38:6). This teaches that the sea became mud to repay [the Egyptians] for their behaviour, for they enslaved Israel with clay and bricks." The Mekhilta repeats its measure for measure claim: "Of them is it said, 'they made life bitter for them with harsh labour at mortar and bricks' (Shemot 1:14), while here, You made the water like clay and they sank in it" (Shirata, 4). Cross and Freedman comment that since the original, unpointed text of this verb was probably just טבע, there was always ambiguity as to whether the Egyptians were drowned, or whether HaShem explicitly drowned them.⁵ The latter is represented in the What Is ...

Septuagint: Also known simply as LXX, the Septuagint is a translation of the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, probably done during the 1^st century BCE by the Jewish community in Alexandria to have the Scriptures in their "first" tongue; the quality is mixed - some parts, such as the Torah, were in frequent use and are quite well rendered, in other less used parts the translation is rather patchy and shows signs of haste; it was widely deprecated by the early rabbis
Septuagint.

Israel - led first by Moshe and then by Miriam - is praising HaShem for His amazing defeat of His enemies, in this case the Egyptians. We should note that Israel does not appear in the song itself (Shemot 15:1-18), nor is there any mention of the slavery in Egypt; it is all about HaShem vanquishing His foes. As Walter Brueggemann puts it, "Yahweh is at work against rivals for power, or against recalcitrant subjects of Yahweh's rightful governance."⁶ The Proverb writer warns us, "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles" (Proverbs 24:17, ESV), yet that's exactly what Moshe and Miriam do after we get to the other side. Moshe leads the people in the song of praise, Shirat HaYam, the Song of the Sea, saying, "Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea ... [they] are drowned in the Sea of Reeds ... You sent forth Your fury, it consumes them like straw ... the earth swallowed them" (Shemot 15:1,4,7,12, NJPS). Miriam then leads the women in dancing and song with timbrels (v. 20).

What is going on - how do we resolve this conflict? The prophet voices HaShem saying, "As I live -- declares the L-rd G-D -- it is not My desire that the wicked shall die, but that the wicked turn from his evil ways and live" (Ezekiel 33:11, NJPS). The Sages of the Talmud were very aware of the dilemma, recording not just one but two almost identical imagined reports of the throne room in Heaven at the moment Moshe held out his staff and the sea returned to its normal state; "HaShem hurled the Egyptians into the sea" (Shemot 14:27) and "the ministering angels wanted to chant their hymns" (b. Megila 10b), or as the other version says, "the angels wanted to sing the song of praise" (b. anhedrin 39b), referring to the chant of "קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹש Holy, holy, holy is the L-RD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" (Isaiah 6:3). "No, stop!" said the Holy One, blessed be He, "The work of My hands is being drowned in the sea, and shall you chant hymns?" HaShem is seen to be rebuking the angels for their apparent disregard for the loss of human life. Hashem reprimands the angels for singing praises to Him, telling them, "The drowning Egyptians are the work of My hand, and you want to sing Me songs!"

But that hasn't really answered the question. Why would G-d tell the angels not to celebrate and yet allow the Jewish people to sing and dance? Why is it right for the Jewish people to celebrate the death of the Egyptians? The truth is that G-d did not create the Egyptians for them to do evil, but they chose evil, and now evil had to be eliminated; His justice, holiness and righteousness demand it: "He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men" (Lamentations 3:33, ESV). But the Israelites had suffered at the hand of the Egyptians; they not only had the right to celebrate, they must celebrate. Politically incorrect though it is to say it, we too must celebrate when evil is destroyed: "When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness" (Proverbs 11:10, ESV).

There is a part of us that wants to rationalise away the existence and manifestations of evil in our world; we are reluctant to accept that it actually exists. Whether we call it political reasoning, economic rationalisation, frustrated aspiration, religious radicalisation or emotional immaturity, we make excuses and try to pretend that it wasn't really their fault - we claim that the perpetrators of evil are actually the victims. Isaiah saw the measure of the deception: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!" (Isaiah 5:20-21, ESV). In life we must know what is good and what is evil, and we should celebrate when evil is destroyed.

Importantly, however, we also need to think about what we see Yeshua doing. The gospels tell us that when He knew that the time had come, "He set His face to go up to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51). He was under no illusions as to what would happen: "... for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem" (13:33, ESV). He knew only too well that He was going to His death: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! " (Matthew 23:37, ESV). But in the very next breath He says, "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" (ibid.) Yeshua cares for Jerusalem and its people, He wishes it could be some other way but they won't respond - and, over the centuries, hadn't responded - to His efforts to reach out to them. Luke reports that "when He drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, 'Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!'" (Luke 19:41-32, ESV). Yeshua knew only too well that evil existed; He didn't close His eyes to it, but was determined on the plan of the Father: to break its power for ever for those who would trust in Him.

As exiles we are inclined to keep our heads down, put up with such persecution as there is and keep a 'safe' distance from those who are not with us. Why invite being laughed at, ridiculed or worse? It is ever so much easier not to have those difficult arguments with people who not only don't understand what we are about and who we are, but often seem deliberately to wind us up and then willfully misinterpret what we say. We are reluctant to speak out when evil is being done, to call it by its name and bring it out into the open, as Rav Sha'ul says: "Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them" (Ephesians 5:11, ESV) for fear of being called judgemental or unloving. Instead we work hard at tolerance, justifying and excusing the words, attitudes and, yes, even explicit actions of others, trying to pretend to ourselves that it doesn't really matter. We have swallowed the lie that exiles have no voice and have to earn the right to speak and be heard. When we are hurt, slandered, misinterpreted and misjudged, we borrow Yeshua's words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34, ESV) and walk away.

However, apart from the lasting damage that does both to us and to the message of the kingdom of G-d, this is almost the opposite of what Yeshua did and what we, as His followers and disciples, Jews and Gentiles, are being called to do in these last days. Appeasement and toleration, hoping that the question will eventually come that allows us to tell people about Yeshua, isn't our mission. Yes, of course we need to show people - both by our words and by our actions - the practical love of G-d, sacrificially if need be. But sometimes, that love needs to tell people the truth and show them what the consequences of their behaviour and choices mean; sin has to be named and shamed, brought out into the open as the only way to move forward. An addiction isn't cured by understanding and excuses; it needs to be recognised, confessed and taken firmly in hand!

Yeshua went to lunch with many people and offended quite a few by telling them what they needed to hear. Take the case of Simon the Pharisee: after arriving at Simon's house for lunch, a woman from the city came and wept over Yeshua, anointing Him with ointment, while Simon thought dark thoughts. Then, after asking his permission to speak, Yeshua told His host, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven -- for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little" (Luke 7:44-47, ESV). Ouch! Apart from the outrage felt by some seated around the table, Luke doesn't tell us what happened to Simon. I'd like to think that he responded positively and was able to become a disciple of Yeshua. But here's the thing: if Yeshua hadn't spoken, Simon wouldn't have had the opportunity.

Let us not rejoice over the fall of our enemies, but let us rejoice when evil is prevented or stopped. Let us "not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to G-d" (Hebrews 13:16, ESV), instead, as Sha'ul says, "always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of G-d in Messiah Yeshua for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:15-18, ESV).

1. - David J. A. Clines (ed.) The Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009), page 164.

2. - Having an extra syllable or syllables in excess of the normal length of a specified metrical verse line (Oxford Reference).

3. - Frank Moore Cross Jr. and David Noel Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans 1997), note 5, page 40.

4. - Clines, page 138.

5. - Cross and Freedman, note 9, page 41.

6. - Walter Brueggemann, "Exodus", in The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary Vol I, edited by Leander E. Keck, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2015), page 372.

Further Study: Romans 12:16-18; 1 Peter 3:8-12

Application: Are you prepared to risk offence and rebuttal by speaking out to tell someone what they really need to hear about Yeshua and the kingdom of G-d? Will you be the one person in the crowd who isn't afraid to tell the emperor that he has no clothes?

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© Jonathan Allen, 2025

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