According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, the final judgment meted out to the Egyptians was a direct reflection of the malicious intentions they held for the Israelites. It wasn't just a random act of divine retribution; it was precisely calibrated.
Think about it: there weren't just one group of Egyptians chasing after the Israelites, were there? There were factions, each with their own sinister plan. Ginzberg describes three distinct groups, each harboring a different level of evil.
The first, the least violent, wanted to drag the Israelites back into slavery. "We will bring Israel back to Egypt!" they cried. The second group was more ruthless: "We will strip them bare," they plotted, aiming for economic devastation. But the third... the third was the most terrifying of all. They sought total annihilation: "We will slay them all!"
So, what happened to them? The fate of each group mirrored their intent. Legends of the Jews tells us that God blew upon the first group with His breath, and the sea swallowed them whole. For the second, God shook them into the sea. And the third, those who sought to slaughter the Israelites? They were pitched into the deepest abyss.
But the story doesn't end there. It gets even more… well, graphic. The Egyptians didn't just sink. They were tossed about, the text says, like lentils in a saucepan. Imagine that image! The upper ones falling to the bottom, the lower ones flying to the top, a chaotic swirl of destruction.
And then, the final indignity: rider and beast, lifted high into the air, only to be hurled down, down, down to the seabed. A potent image of divine justice, wouldn't you agree?
It's a powerful, almost brutal, image. But it speaks to a core tenet of Jewish thought: that actions have consequences, and that evil, in the end, will be brought to justice. It makes you wonder, doesn't it, about the different "Egyptians" we encounter in our own lives, and the "Red Seas" we find ourselves facing? And what kind of justice, if any, will be served?