Why Punishment Begins With Whoever Started the Sin

"And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them" (Exodus 14:4)—for his heart was divided whether to pursue or not to pursue. "And I will be glorified through Pharaoh and through all his host." Pharaoh began with the transgression first; from him the punishment began. Likewise you say: "And He blotted out every living thing, from man to beast" (Genesis 7:23)—the one who began with the transgression first, from him the punishment began. Likewise: "And the men who were at the entrance of the house they struck with blindness" (Genesis 19:11)—the one who began with the transgression first, from him the punishment began. Likewise you say: "For we are about to destroy this place" (Genesis 19:13)—the one who began with the transgression first, from him the punishment began. Likewise you say: "And her belly shall swell and her thigh shall fall" (Numbers 5:27), and the rest of the body was not spared—rather, the one who began with the transgression first, from it the punishment began. Here too it says, "And I will be glorified through Pharaoh and through all his host"—Pharaoh began with the transgression first, from him the punishment began. And are these things not a matter of inference from minor to major? Which measure is greater, the measure of good or the measure of punishment? You must say the measure of good is greater. And if with the measure of punishment, which is the lesser, the one who began with the transgression, from him the punishment began—how much more so with the measure of good, which is the greater, that whoever begins with a commandment first receives his reward first. Another interpretation: "And I will be glorified through Pharaoh." When the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts punishment from the wicked, His name is magnified in the world. And so it says, "And I will set a sign among them, and I will send from them survivors to the nations... that have not heard My fame nor seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the nations" (Isaiah 66:19). Likewise you say: "And I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence and with blood... and I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself and make Myself known in the eyes of many nations" (Ezekiel 38:22-23). Likewise you say: "O LORD, my strength and my stronghold and my refuge in the day of trouble; to You shall nations come from the ends of the earth and say, Surely our fathers inherited lies" (Jeremiah 16:19). Likewise you say: "Thus says the LORD, The labor of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush... shall come over to you and shall be yours... and they shall bow down to you and pray to you, saying, Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no God besides Him" (Isaiah 45:14). Likewise you say: "And saviors shall go up on Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD's" (Obadiah 1:21). And it says, "The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations have perished from His land" (Psalms 10:16). And it says, "Let sinners cease from the earth, and let the wicked be no more; bless the LORD, O my soul, Hallelujah" (Psalms 104:35). And it says, "The LORD watches over the strangers, He upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked He brings to ruin" (Psalms 146:9), and what does it say? "The LORD shall reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations, Hallelujah." "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD." Formerly they did not know the LORD; now, "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD." "And they did so." This is to make known the praise of Israel, that they did not say to Moses, "How can we turn back, lest we break the heart of the little ones who are with us?" Rather, they believed and went after Moses. Another interpretation: "And they did so." They said, "Whether willing or unwilling, we have nothing but the words of the son of Amram."