Why the LORD Led Israel the Roundabout Way From Egypt

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 227:4

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

Another interpretation: so that they would not see the bones of their brothers thrown about in Philistia and turn back. Another interpretation: so that they would not turn back on their tracks. And the matter is an argument from minor to major: if when He led them around by a crooked road they still said (Numbers 14:4), "Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt," how much more would they have said this had He brought them by the direct way. Another interpretation: "when they see war" (Exodus 13:17) refers to the war of Amalek, as it is said (Numbers 14:45), "Then the Amalekite and the Canaanite came down."

Themes

ExodusRedemptionAmalek

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