The Long Way Round So the Torah Could Settle in Them

"And it came to pass when Pharaoh sent the people away" (Exodus 13:17): "sending away" means only escorting, as it says, "And Abraham went with them to send them off" (Genesis 18:16), and it says, "And Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace" (Genesis 26:31). The mouth that said [the harsh decree later earned reward], and because of this, "You shall not abhor an Egyptian" (Deuteronomy 23:8). Another interpretation: "when Pharaoh sent the people away." Rabbi Nehorai says: it was a release for Pharaoh, for had he not pursued them, Scripture would have credited him as though he had sent them off. But because he pursued them, the Omnipresent rolled upon him the former and the latter punishments, as it says, "that the watered be swept away with the dry" (Deuteronomy 29:18). "And God did not lead them": "leading" means only guiding, as it says, "You led Your people like a flock" (Psalms 77:21). "By way of the land of the Philistines, for it was near": near was the day of the giving of the Torah, on which Israel would stand before Mount Sinai. Another interpretation: "for it was near" — near was the oath that our father Abraham swore to Abimelech, "swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my grandson" (Genesis 21:23). Another interpretation: near was the war of the Philistines with the children of Ephraim, as it says, "And the sons of Ephraim: Shutelah, and Bered his son... and the men of Gath who were born in the land killed them, for they had gone down to take their cattle, and Ephraim their father mourned many days" (1 Chronicles 7:20-22). Of them David said, "The children of Ephraim, armed bowmen, turned back on the day of battle" (Psalms 78:9). And why? Because they erred in the reckoning and went out before the appointed end, thirty years too soon, and they fled from Egypt and fell. Is this not a matter of inference from minor to major? If, regarding the end of our ancestors' bondage, which was explicit, they erred in its reckoning and went out early and stumbled, then regarding the end about which it is written, "for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end" (Daniel 12:9), how much more will those who calculate it err. From here they said: may the spirit of those who calculate the ends expire; rather, let one wait and trust, and in the end the good will come. Another interpretation: "for it was near" — near was the punishment of Egypt and of Pharaoh to come upon them. Another interpretation: near was the time for the Canaanites to be requited for their sin, as it is written, "and in the fourth generation they shall return here" (Genesis 15:16), and they were still only at the third generation. Another interpretation: "for it was near" — is this not a matter of inference? If, when He led them around by a far way, they said, "Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt" (Numbers 14:4), how much more so had He brought them by the short way. "For God said, lest the people change their minds." The Holy One, blessed be He, said: if I bring them in by the short way, they will at once seize hold of fields and vineyards and neglect the Torah. Rather, I will lead them around through the wilderness forty years, and they will eat the manna and drink the water of the well, and the Torah will settle into their bodies. From here Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai used to say: the Torah was given to be expounded only to those who eat the manna; second to them are those who eat the heave-offering. Another interpretation: when the Canaanites heard that Israel was entering the land, they rose and burned the crops, cut down the plantings, demolished the buildings, and stopped up the springs. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I promised their fathers that I would bring them into a land full of every good thing, "houses full of all good things which you did not fill" (Deuteronomy 6:11). I will hold them back in the wilderness until the Canaanites rise and repair what they ruined. "Lest they see war": this is the war of Amalek, as it says, "And the Amalekite and the Canaanite who dwelt on that hill came down" (Numbers 14:45). Another interpretation: this is the war of the children of Ephraim who went out before the appointed end. "And they return to Egypt": so that they would not see the bones of their brothers, the children of Ephraim, and turn back.