The Mekhilta reads (Exodus 15:8) — "And with the breath of Your nostrils, the waters ne'ermu" — as another demonstration of God's measure-for-measure justice. The Hebrew word "ne'ermu" contains within it the root of "armah," meaning cunning or wisdom. The Egyptians had used cunning against Israel. God responded by giving that same cunning to the waters.
The connection traces back to (Exodus 1:10), where Pharaoh rallied his people with the words: "Come and let us outsmart them" — "nit'chakma," let us deal shrewdly with them. The entire Egyptian strategy against Israel was built on cleverness: the subtle escalation from taxation to forced labor to infanticide, each step designed to look reasonable, each step tightening the noose.
God answered shrewdness with shrewdness. The waters at the Red Sea were not merely powerful — they were clever. They embattled the Egyptians "in all kinds of torrents," attacking from every direction, finding every gap, leaving no escape route. The sea outsmarted the people who had prided themselves on outsmarting others.
This wordplay from the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael (Tractate Shirah 6:16) is vintage rabbinic exegesis — finding in a single word the hidden mechanism of divine justice. Pharaoh said "let us outsmart them." God said "let the waters outsmart you." The weapon of the oppressor became the weapon of the waters.