The Mekhilta pauses on two words from (Exodus 15:10) — "mighty waters" — and asks a deceptively simple question: who in scripture is called "mighty"? The answer reveals a fourfold structure of power in the biblical imagination.
First, the Holy One Blessed be He is mighty. (Psalms 93:4) declares: "Mighty on high is the Lord." God's might is supreme, seated above all other forms of power, unchallenged and unchallengeable.
Second, Israel is called mighty. (Psalms 16:3) refers to them as "the mighty, the object of all My desire." The people whom God chose are not weak or passive — they carry the title of might because they are the vessels of divine purpose.
Third, Egypt is called mighty. (Ezekiel 32:18) speaks of "the daughters of the mighty nations" in reference to Egypt. The empire that enslaved Israel was genuinely powerful — its armies vast, its civilization ancient, its grip on the world seemingly unbreakable.
Fourth, the waters themselves are mighty: "They plummeted like lead in the mighty waters." The sea that swallowed the Egyptian army carried its own fearsome power.
This teaching from the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael (Tractate Shirah 7:11) sets up a collision of might against might. Egypt was mighty. The waters were mighty. Israel was mighty. But the Lord is mighty above them all. When the truly Mighty acts, every other power — imperial, natural, national — bends to His will.