It is not written "You have sent forth Your wrath," but

Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Mekhilta Tractate Shirah 6:11

Curated by The Jewish Mythology Team · Published January 24, 2025

The Mekhilta identifies another future-tense verb in the Song at the Sea. It is not written "You have sent forth Your wrath" — as if God's anger were already spent — but "You will send forth Your wrath," pointing forward to a judgment still to come.

The implications are enormous. The destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea was not the final outpouring of divine anger. It was a foretaste. The real reckoning lies ahead, in the time to come, when God will settle accounts with all the nations that have persecuted Israel.

The Mekhilta brings two prophetic verses as proof. (Psalms 69:25) pleads: "Pour Your wrath upon them." And (Jeremiah 10:25) makes the case explicit: "Pour Your wrath upon the nations." The reason is given in the same verse of Jeremiah: "For they have consumed Yaakov" — they have devoured Jacob, meaning Israel, and left nothing behind.

This teaching from the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael (Tractate Shirah 6:11) reveals a pattern in rabbinic interpretation of the Song at the Sea. Each verb in the Song is examined for its tense, and each future-tense verb becomes a window into eschatology. The Red Sea was the past. The wrath to come belongs to the future. And the nations that consumed Israel will discover that the cup of divine fury has not yet been emptied.

Themes

Prophecy Charity Anger Music & Song King David

Biblical References

Continue Reading

Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael I shall sing to the L–rd," who is rich"—(Devarim 10 — 19) The Mekhilta continues its meditation on the Song of the Sea by enumerating the reasons God is worthy of song. "I shall ... Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Variantly — "My strength" is "My stronghold," as it is The Song of the Sea, sung by Israel after crossing the Red Sea, contains the phrase "my strength." The Mekhilta offers a... Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Variantly — Who is like You among those whom others call Variantly: Who is like You among those whom others call "gods" and who are without substance, those of whom it is writte... Midrash Aggadah Adam and the Patriarchs And, believe it or not, the Book of Psalms, or Tehillim in Hebrew, tackles this very idea! Our journey begins with Midra... Midrash Aggadah David — Absalom's Transgression King David knew that feeling well. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, div... Midrash Aggadah How Angels Taught Israel to Praise with Music The ancient rabbis certainly thought so. And they found echoes of this idea even in the seemingly simple words of the Ps... Midrash Aggadah David Beyond the Firmament The ancient rabbis grappled with this feeling too, especially when thinking about our relationship with the land and wit... Midrash Aggadah How God Heals Those Who Descend into Darkness to one particularly beautiful and comforting perspective from Midrash Tehillim, specifically Midrash Tehillim 30, connec... Midrash Aggadah Why the Righteous Will Sing a New Song to God Midrash Tehillim, a collection of Rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Psalms, dives deep into this idea, exploring how ...