The Hebrew word "nacham" appears in the Exodus narrative, and the Mekhilta pauses to clarify its meaning. While "nacham" can mean "to comfort" or "to regret" in other contexts, here it means something different entirely: to lead.
The proof comes from (Psalms 77:21): "You have led (nachitha) Your people like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron." The root is the same — nun-chet-heh — and the meaning is clearly "guided" or "led." Another verse reinforces the point: "And He led them (vayanchem) with a cloud by day, and all the night with a light of fire" (Psalms 78:14).
This linguistic analysis matters because it changes how we read a crucial verse about the Exodus. When the Torah says that God "did not lead them" by the way of the Philistines, the word used carries the connotation of shepherding — personally guiding a flock along a chosen path.
God did not simply point Israel in a direction and let them walk. He led them the way a shepherd leads sheep: with presence, with protection, with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The Mekhilta's insistence on this translation reveals a theology of divine intimacy. The Exodus was not a release into the wilderness. It was a guided journey, every step chosen by God Himself.