It wasn't just random cruelty, you know. There was a twisted logic to it, a chilling calculation based on their understanding of divine justice.
Pharaoh, swayed by the wicked Balaam, believed he'd found a loophole. We learn in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews that Balaam's counsel was accepted by Pharaoh and the Egyptians. They operated under the principle of middah k'neged middah, measure for measure – the idea that divine retribution mirrors the sin.
So, they reasoned, drowning the baby boys was the "safest" way to wipe out the Hebrews, as it wouldn't bring harm to themselves. Why? Because God had sworn to Noah never again to destroy the world with a flood. (Genesis 9:11-17). They thought they were cleverly avoiding divine punishment, but they were tragically wrong.
Here's where their logic faltered. First, as the sages pointed out, God swore not to bring a flood upon humankind. Nothing, however, prevented them from bringing humankind into a flood. Big difference, right? It was a loophole alright, but not in the way they thought.
Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, God's oath was a universal promise to all of humanity, not a guarantee of impunity for a single nation, especially one committing atrocities.
The end, as we know, was catastrophic for the Egyptians. They met their doom in the churning waters of the Red Sea. The irony, as the tradition emphasizes, is biting: middah k'neged middah – measure for measure. As they had drowned the male children of the Israelites, so too were they drowned. (Exodus 15:4-5). A perfect, terrifying, and ultimately just reversal. It’s a stark reminder that attempts to outsmart divine justice are, well, a fool's errand. The universe, it seems, has a way of balancing the scales, even when we try to tip them with the most horrifying acts.