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Ibn Ezra on Exodus 14:24/אבן עזרא על שמות י״ד:כ״ד

אויהי באשמרת. האל"ף נוסף:

1AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE MORNING WATCH. The alef of ashmoret¹⁰⁶. (watch) is a superfluous letter.¹⁰⁷

בוישקף ה'. הטעם מלאך ה', הא הנזכר וכמוהו בדבר גדעון כי השליח יקרא בשם השולח, כי אחר שצוהו לעשות כן הוא עושה:

2THAT THE LORD LOOKED FORTH. The reference is to the angel of the Lord mentioned earlier.¹⁰⁸ The same is the case with Gideon,¹⁰⁹ (Jud. 6:11), And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him (Ibid.). This angel is subsequently referred to as the Lord in verses 14, 15, 23, 27; i.e., and the Lord turned, And the Lord said, etc. Similarly, the angel mentioned in verse 19 of this chapter is subsequently called the Lord. where the messenger is called by the name of the sender. Since the sender commands his agent to commit an act, it is as if the sender himself had executed it.

גבעמוד אש וענן. בין שני העמודים:

3THROUGH THE PILLAR OF FIRE AND OF CLOUD. Between these two pillars.¹¹⁰ of be-ammud (through the pillar) to mean with; i.e., God threw the Egyptians into confusion through the use of the two pillars. I.E. interprets the bet of be-ammud as meaning in the pillars, i.e., between the pillar of cloud, which was behind the camp of Israel, and the pillar of fire, which was in front of Israel (Filwarg).

דויהם. יתכן שבעבור זה אמר המשורר קול רעמך בגלגל (תה' עז יט), וככה, וברקים רב ויהם (שם יח טו) ובמקום אחר ויהמם (ש"ב כב טו):

4AND DISCOMFITED. Possibly because of this the poet says, The voice of Thy thunder was in the whirlwind (Ps. 77:19).¹¹¹ (discomfited) refers to a discomfit brought about by lightning and thunder. Ps. 77:19 speaks of the splitting of the Red Sea (Weiser). Similarly And He shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them¹¹². This is the reading in Ps. 18:15. However, I.E. has va-yahom. He probably quoted from memory. The parallel verse in II Sam. 22:15 has va-yahom as the kre. Be that as it may, this verse shows that the root heh, mem, mem refers to discomfit brought about by thunder and lightning (Weiser). (Ps. 18:15). Elsewhere it is written, And He sent…Lightning, and discomfited them¹¹³. (II Sam. 22:15).