Why God Carried Israel Like a Son at the Exodus

"And it came to pass when Pharaoh sent out (the people)." And why does it open with this language? Because above he said, "and also I will not let Israel go" (Exodus 5:2), and (now) he said to them, "Rise up, get out" (Exodus 12:31), and he was holding the hand of each and every one and sending them out; therefore it is said, "And it came to pass when Pharaoh sent out." "And God led them not by the way of the land" — He did not lead them by the way of all the earth. How so? The way of the world is that the servant carries his master; the Holy One, blessed be He, did not act with them so, but rather, "and in the wilderness, which you have seen, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son" (Deuteronomy 1:31), and further, "and I bore you on eagles' wings" (Exodus 19:4). The way of the world is that the servant washes his master, but here it is reversed, as it is said, "and I washed you with water" (Ezekiel 16:9). [The way of the world is that] the servant clothes his master, but here, "and I clothed you with embroidered work" (Ezekiel 16:10). [The way of the world is that the servant puts shoes on his master, but here, "and I shod you with tachash leather" (Ezekiel 16:10). The way of the world is that the servant gives light to his master, but here the Holy One, blessed be He, gives light to Israel, as it is said,] "and the LORD went before them" (verse 21). Because the oath that Abraham swore to Abimelech was near, as it is said, ["Swear to me by God here] that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son" (Genesis 21:23), and Abimelech's grandson was still alive. Another interpretation: "for it was near [etc., when they saw war]." For the war was near that the Holy One, blessed be He, told Abraham, as it is written, "and in the fourth generation they shall return here" (Genesis 15:16). And that is the war that the inhabitants of the land of the Philistines made with the children of Ephraim; and therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, led them by other ways, that they should not see war and return to Egypt.