When Israel Struck the Overseers and Pharaoh Was Told They Had Fled

"And it was told the king of Egypt" (Exodus 14:5). The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, and from Succoth to Etham, and from Etham to Pi-hahiroth: the eve of Sabbath, the Sabbath, and the first day of the week, which are the fifteenth, the sixteenth, and the seventeenth. On the second day of the week, which was the fourth day of their journey, being the eighteenth, Israel were saddling their cattle and readying their gear to go out. The overseers said to them: The term of your leave [furlough] has arrived to return to Egypt, as it is said, "a journey of three days will we go into the wilderness" (Exodus 8:23). They said to them: Once we went out of Egypt, we went out from the authority of Pharaoh. They said to them: Whether you wish it or not, in the end you will return and fulfill the words of the kingdom. Israel rose against them and struck some of them and wounded some of them and killed some of them; and they went and told Pharaoh. Therefore it is said, "And it was told the king of Egypt." Who told him? The overseers who were with them. And some say he had scouts. And some say Amalek told him. "That the people had fled" (Exodus 14:5). But were they fleeing? Has it not already been said, "and the children of Israel went out with a high hand" (Exodus 14:8)? Rather, since they had killed the overseers, these went and said to Pharaoh: they have struck us and wounded us, and they have neither ruler nor officer, as it is said, "The locust has no king, yet they all go forth in ranks" (Proverbs 30:27). "And the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people" (Exodus 14:5). Yesterday: "And Pharaoh's servants said to him, How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go" (Exodus 10:7); and today: "And the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people." "And they said, What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go?" They said: had we let them go and not been smitten, it would have been enough; but we both let them go and were smitten. Had we been smitten and not let them go, it would have been enough; but we were smitten and let them go. Had we let them go and been smitten yet not had our money taken, it would have been enough; but we let them go, were smitten, and had our money taken. A parable. To what may this be compared? To a king of flesh and blood who said to his servant, Bring me a fish from the market. He went and brought him a spoiled fish. He said: The decree is, either you eat the fish, or you take a hundred lashes, or you pay a hundred maneh. He said: I will eat the fish. He had not finished it before his stomach turned against him. He said: I will take the hundred lashes. He was lashed sixty or seventy and could bear no more. He said: I will pay the hundred maneh. So it was done to the Egyptians: they were smitten, they let Israel go, and their money was taken. Therefore it is said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go?" Another interpretation: "And they said, What is this we have done?" This teaches that once Israel went out of Egypt, the labor of Egypt ceased. "From serving us" (Exodus 14:5). Who will serve us now? Now all the nations of the world will clang against us like a bell and say: If these who were in their power they released and let go, how then can we send to Aram-naharaim and to Aram-zobah to bring us up tribute and to send us male and female slaves? This teaches that Pharaoh ruled from one end of the world to the other, and he had governors from one end of the world to the other, for the sake of the honor of Israel. Of him it is said, "He sent a king and released him, the ruler of peoples, and set him free" (Psalms 105:20). You have no nation or kingdom that subjugated Israel that did not rule from one end of the world to the other, for the sake of the honor of Israel. Of the king of Assyria it says, "And my hand found, like a nest, the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers forsaken eggs, I gathered all the earth" (Isaiah 10:14). Of the kingdom of Babylon it says, "And the nation and the kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish with the sword and with famine and with pestilence, says the LORD, until I have consumed them by his hand" (Jeremiah 27:8). Of the kingdom of Media it says, "Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and tongues that dwell in all the earth: May your peace be great" (Daniel 6:26), and it says, "And king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land and the isles of the sea" (Esther 10:1). Of the kingdom of Greece it says, "and the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it" (Daniel 7:6). Of the fourth kingdom it says, "and it shall devour the whole earth and trample it down and crush it" (Daniel 7:23). Behold, you have no nation or kingdom that ruled over them that did not rule from one end of the world to the other, for the sake of the honor of Israel. Therefore it is said, "And they said, What is this we have done?" Another interpretation: "And they said, What is this we have done?" They said: was it not for their sake that good came upon us? Rabbi Yose used to make of it a parable. To what may this be compared? To one who had a field sown with a kor of grain and sold it for a trifle; the buyer went and opened in it springs and planted in it gardens and orchards, and the seller began to choke with regret. So the Egyptians: they sent them away and did not know what they were sending away. And so it says, "Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with precious fruits, henna with spikenard" (Song of Songs 4:13). Rabbi Shimon used to make of it a parable. To what may this be compared? To one to whom a palace fell as an inheritance in a land across the sea, and he sold it for a trifle; the buyer went and found in it treasures of silver and gold and precious stones and pearls, and the seller began to choke with regret. So it was done to the Egyptians: they were smitten and they let them go and their money was taken. Therefore it is said, "And they said, What is this we have done?"