“The Lord will pass to smite Egypt” – some say by means of an angel, and some say the Holy One blessed be He Himself. What is it that is stated: “To smite [lingof]”? It teaches that even the pregnant women miscarried and the mothers died, and the destroyer emerged and harmed everything that it found. Lingof refers to nothing other than pregnant women, as it is stated: “And they strike [venagefu] a pregnant woman” (Exodus 21:22).
The Holy One blessed be He was destroying the firstborn of Egypt, and Israel was performing everything that the Holy One blessed be He said to them, as it is stated: “The children of Israel went and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron” (Exodus 12:28). To what were the Holy One blessed be He and Israel comparable? To a king who travelled with his sons by sea, and pirate ships surrounded them.
He said to them: Here are my giant spears, all prepared, with which I pass over the sea waves and do battle. So, the Holy One blessed be He was with His children in Egypt, and the Egyptian camps were plotting against them all night. The Holy One blessed be He said to them: Such wicked ones, are you plotting against My children? My giant spears are prepared, as it is stated: “He saved them for His name’s sake” (Psalms 106:8). [The Israelites] were engaged in roasting [the paschal offering], and the Holy One blessed be He was killing the firstborn of Egypt; they were sprinkling [blood] on their entrances, and His great name was standing over their entrances.
They were engaged in Hallel, and the laws of the paschal offering, and God was distinguishing so that the blood of the impure would atone for the blood of the pure,3The death of the Egyptian firstborn atoned for the firstborn of Israel. as it is stated: “The Lord redeems the soul of His servants” (Psalms 34:23). They were engaged in their matzot, as they were grinding and kneading, and the Holy One blessed be He was uprooting the plants4The reference is to the Egyptian firstborn, who were killed even in utero. of Egypt, as it is stated: “Arise, Lord, in your anger [lift Yourself up in indignation [be’avrot]5The midrash expounds be’avrot, indignation, as though it were be’ubarot, meaning fetuses. against my adversaries]” (Psalms 7:7).