Or HaChaim on Exodus 14:2/אור החיים על שמות י״ד:ב׳

1 דבר אל בוי ישראל וישובו, "speak to the children of Israel so that they will turn backwards, etc." Anyone who reads this verse cannot help wondering why G'd would give an order designed to trick Pharaoh into pursuit of the Israelites, when He has many other means at His disposal to bring about the same result?

2In view of our awareness that G'd wants to try and put Israel in a favourable light so as to justify the favours He does for His people, it is even harder to understand how G'd devised a scheme which resulted in the Israelites expressing their dismay at the developments which followed in the most sarcastic manner when they accused Moses of leading them into the desert to die as if there were not enough burial grounds in Egypt (14,11). Actually, the arguments the Israelites used against Moses were not new ones as the Torah itself testifies. However, G'd displayed extreme wisdom here by luring Pharaoh into the kind of sin (pursuit of the Israelites) which would give Him an opportunity to demonstrate to Israel that He would exact true vengeance on Pharaoh. G'd did not want to spell out more detail than to say that the Israelites' action in turning backwards would encourage Pharaoh to pursue them, as a result of which G'd would deal with him severely. Having thus informed the Israelites of what to expect they should have been able to face these developments with calm. Unfortunately, even though the Israelites had been warned what to expect, G'd did not succeed completely as we observe from the reactions of various groups of Israelites in the verses following. Having read of the Israelites' reaction after G'd had given them advance notice of Pharaoh's pursuit you may imagine how much more violent their reaction would have been had this development taken them entirely by surprise.