Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 10:10/אבן עזרא על שמות י׳:י׳
אויאמר. יהי כן ה' עמכם, שאתם אומרים עמכם:
1SO BE THE LORD WITH YOU. Whom you say is with you.59
בוטעם ראו כי רעה נגד פניכם, כי הרעה קרובה מכם, ונגד פניכם היא, ועם זה הטעם דבק, כי אותה אתם מבקשים כי דין שאעשה ככה, ועתה חשב פרעה שהם רוצים לברוח, ודע כי משה אדונינו לא אמר לפרעה שישובו עד שיכזב, רק אמר שירחיקו דרך שלשת ימים, ודעת המצריים היתה שישיבו על כי השאילום, ובעבור דבר אחר, שאילו נתן להם פרעה רשות ללכת ולא ישובו לא היה רודף אחריהם, והשם צוה לעשות כן, עד שירדוף אחריהם ויטבע, והנה זה מפורש, וישובו ויחנו לפני פי החירות (יד ב), ואין להרהר אחרי מעשה השם שהכל עשה בחכמה, אעפ"י שהיא נעלמת מעיני החכמים, והנה בדברי דוד "כשמעך את קול הצעדה בראשי הבכאים, אז תחרץ, כי אז יצא ה' לפניך להכות במחנה פלשתים" (ש"ב ה' כד):
2[SEE YE THAT EVIL IS BEFORE YOUR FACE.] The evil is close to you and is before your face. This meaning is also to be connected to for that is what ye desire (v. 11).60 refers to the evil mentioned in our verse; i.e., the clause is to be understood: for it is evil that you desire. Hence it is only right that I so act. At this point Pharaoh surmised that they wanted to flee.61 Note that our Master Moses did not go so far as to lie and say that Israel would return. He merely said that they would travel a three days’ journey (Ex. 9:23). However, the Egyptians thought that they would return. Hence they let them have what they asked.62 (Ex. 12:35). They would not have given these objects to Israel if they had not believed that Israel would return. Moses had another reason for acting in this manner.63 Had Pharaoh given Israel permission to go64 and Israel did not return, Pharaoh would not have pursued them. However, God commanded Moses to act in this manner so that Pharaoh would chase after them and drown. Behold, this is clearly stated, that they turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth (Ex. 14:2).65 (Ex. 14:3, 4). One should not question the acts of God,66 as He does everything with wisdom, though it be hidden from the eyes even of wise men. We find a similarity in the account of David, viz., And it shall be, when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself; for then is the Lord gone out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines (II Sam. 5:24).67 (II Sam. 5:23, 24). Here too God instructed David to lead the Philistines into a trap so that God would destroy them. The Lord acted in this manner even though He could have destroyed them without employing this strategy.