The Shir HaShirim Rabbah – a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Song of Songs – opens up a fascinating window into this. Rabbi Eliezer, interpreting a verse about redemption, paints a vivid picture. He says it was like trying to pluck a lily surrounded by thorns. Difficult, right? That's how hard it was for God to redeem Israel.

Deuteronomy (4:34) asks, "Or has a god sought to come and take for himself a nation from the midst of a nation…?" Rabbi Yehoshua, quoting Rabbi Ḥanan, points out something crucial. The verse doesn't say "a nation from the midst of a people," but "a nation from the midst of a nation." Why does that distinction matter? Because, as he explains, the Israelites and the Egyptians were surprisingly similar. Both were uncircumcised, both favored a particular hairstyle called belorit (where they'd grow a long lock of hair), and they even dressed alike. It's almost like they were mirror images!

Think about that for a moment. They were so culturally intertwined. So, how could a just God single out one group for liberation?

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman takes it even further. He argues that if God hadn't sworn an oath, the Israelites would never have been redeemed! He connects it to Exodus 6:6, "Therefore, say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord and I will take you out from under the burdens of Egypt." That word "therefore," he says, is code for an oath, just like in I Samuel 3:14, "Therefore, I have taken an oath to the house of Eli."

Wow.

Rabbi Berekhya puts it bluntly: "With Your arm, You redeemed Your people" (Psalms 77:16) – by force! By overcoming the attribute of justice itself!

And the Rabbis don't stop there. Rabbi Yudan notes that from "to come and take for himself a nation" until "awesome deeds" in Deuteronomy 4:34, there are seventy-two letters in the Hebrew text. But he cautions, if someone tells you seventy-five, be sure to exclude the second mention of the word "nation" (goy), because it's not included in the count. Why? Rabbi Avin explains that God redeemed them with His name, which also consists of seventy-two letters. The second "nation" refers to Egypt, and is separate from God's plan.

So, what does this all mean? It suggests that the Exodus wasn't a simple, straightforward act. It was a complex, almost improbable event that required divine intervention, an oath, and perhaps even a bending of the rules. It highlights the incredible closeness between the Israelites and Egyptians. Maybe it's a reminder that redemption isn't always neat and tidy. Sometimes, it's messy, complicated, and requires a little bit of divine elbow grease to make it happen. And maybe, just maybe, it makes the Exodus all the more miraculous.