The Waters Heaped Up Measure for Measure Against Egypt

"And by the breath of Your nostrils the waters were heaped up" (Exodus 15:8). By the same measure with which they measured, You measured back to them. They said, "Come, let us deal craftily with him" (Exodus 1:10); You too placed craftiness in the waters, and "by the breath of Your nostrils the waters were heaped up." "The floods stood upright like a heap [ned]" (Exodus 15:8). Just as a wineskin [nod] is bound up and stands, so the Egyptians were bound up and made to stand, and they fainted from the smell of the waters, as it is said, "He makes the deep boil like a pot" (Job 41:23). But for Israel the sea was made into all kinds of spices, as it is said, "He makes the sea like a pot of ointment" (Job 41:23). Another interpretation: "They stood like a heap." Just as a wineskin is bound up and stands, so the soul of the Egyptians was bound up and standing, and they could neither take in nor let out breath; while Israel ate and drank and rejoiced, and there came forth for them the memory of sweet waters out of the salt waters, as it is said, "He brought streams out of the rock" (Psalms 78:16). "The deeps congealed in the heart of the sea" (Exodus 15:8). Where is the heart of a person set? Upon its two parts. So the sea congealed upon them from its two parts upward, in order to destroy them. "In the heart of the sea": the sea had no heart, yet a heart was given to it, as it is said, "the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea." The terebinth had no heart, yet a heart was given to it, as it is said, "in the heart [thickness] of the terebinth" (2 Samuel 18:14). The heavens had no heart, yet a heart was given to them, as it is said, "unto the heart of heaven" (Deuteronomy 4:11). Let the sea, which had no heart and to which a heart was given, come and exact punishment from the wicked who hardened their heart. Let the terebinth, which had no heart and to which a heart was given, come and exact punishment from the one [Absalom] who stole three hearts: the heart of his father, the heart of the court, and the heart of the men of Israel. Let the heavens, which had no heart and to which a heart was given, come and bring down [reward] upon Israel, who received the Torah that was given upon the heart, as it is said, "And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart" (Deuteronomy 6:6).