<b>And he took six hundred chosen chariots (Exod. 14:7).</b> Whose beasts drew the chariots? If you should say they belonged to the Egyptians, has it not already been said: <i>And all the cattle of Egypt died</i> (Exod. 9:6)? If you should contend that they belonged to Pharaoh, has it not already been stated: <i>Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle</i> (ibid. 9:3)? If you should assert that they belonged to Israel, has it not already been written: <i>Our cattle also shall go with us, there shall not a hoof be left behind</i> (ibid. 10:26)? To whom, then, did they belong? They belonged to the slaves of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord. Hence we learn that even those who feared the word of the Lord were a stumbling block to Israel. Because of this verse, they say: “The best among the Egyptians, kill; the best among serpents, crush its brain.”
<i>When Pharaoh drew nigh</i> (ibid. 14:10); that is, when he <i>drew nigh</i> to the retribution that was to befall him and (when) he drew Israel nigh to repentance.
When they saw that Israel had turned back and had encamped near Baal-Saphon and Pi-Hahiroth, Pharaoh declared: “Baal-Saphon<sup class="footnote-marker">6</sup><i class="footnote">The name of an Egyptian deity. The only idol God permitted to survive; see Exod. 14:2 and above, chapter 3, section 7..</i> concurs in my decision to destroy them in the water.” Thereupon he began to offer sacrifices, to burn incense, and to pour libations before the idols. Hence it is said: <i>When Pharaoh drew nigh</i>.