Or HaChaim on Exodus 15:12/אור החיים על שמות ט״ו:י״ב

1 נטית ימינך תבלעימו ארץ, "when You inclined Your right hand the earth swallowed them." Mechilta describes the sea as tossing the Egyptians onto the dry land and the earth as tossing them right back into the sea. The dry land argued with the sea saying: "considering that I was cursed by G'd for having merely absorbed a single human being's blood, i.e. Abel's, at the time, what will G'd do to me if I will accept an entire population of human beings unless G'd swears an oath to me not to demand an accounting from me? [this is based on the meaning of "right hand" often being equated with an oath. Ed.] Targum Yonathan also explains our verse in this sense. We learn from here that the sea did not want to accept the Egyptians and tossed them out. This contradicts something we have learned in Pessachim 118. G'd is quoted as saying to the guardian angel of the sea: "spit them out onto the dry land." The guardian angel of the sea retorted: "Lord of the universe, is there then a servant who has been given a gift by his master (food for the fish according to Rashi) and the master subsequently demands the gift back?" To this argument G'd replied: "I will give you a gift worth one and a half times the original gift if you give Me back the original gift." The sea replied: "can a servant take a master to court?" G'd answered: "I will guarantee My promise by giving you the river Kishon as a pledge." Upon hearing this the sea immediately disgorged the bodies of the Egyptians onto the dry land and the Israelites were able to see that they were dead. It is clear from that story in the Talmud that the sea was quite unwilling to toss the Egyptians onto the dry land. Why then was the sea not overjoyed when the dry land refused the bodies of the Egyptians and tossed them back into the sea? Besides, why did G'd have to repay the sea from the camp of Siserah (900 chariots versus the Egyptians' 600 chariots, compare Judges 4,13)? Why did He not repay the sea personally so that He did not have to give the sea the river Kishon as a pledge?

2Another difficulty is the fact that generally speaking the sea does not retain either people or animals but tosses them on to the beaches either on the day they drown or a few days later. According to the view of our sages the sea would prefer to retain these bodies; Rashi and Rashbam suggest that the sea needs these bodies in order to provide food for the fish. If all this is true we must try and understand why, in the case of the Egyptians, the sea made strenuous efforts to get rid of these bodies instead of retaining them as food for the fish? Perhaps the bodies which the earth tossed back had already begun to decompose and would not only have polluted the sea but had also become unfit as food for the fish. This does not seem a satisfactory answer seeing that G'd would not have prevented the earth from providing a burial for the dead Egyptians if only in order to satisfy the commandment in Deut. 21,23 not to allow a person who has been hanged to remain unburied overnight. The shame of the people G'd had executed did not have to be perpetuated beyond the time of their death so that they should serve as a frightening example.

3It is not generally our custom to explain aggadic sayings of our sages. In this instance, however, it is necessary to do so in order to understand the plain meaning of the verse, and in order not to allow the impression that different Midrashim are at odds with one another. We have already referred to a Mechilta on 14,30 where the Torah told us that the Israelites saw the Egyptians dead on the beaches of the sea. They beheld the Egyptians in their last gasps just before they died completely. This was in order for the Egyptians to see that the Israelites had been saved from the onrushing waters of the returning sea. This comment by the Mechilta throws light on the two apparently contradictory Midrashim. When the sea asked G'd not to have to disgorge the Egyptians (to give back the gift) this was because G'd had ordered the sea to toss the Egyptians out while they were still alive. G'd's reason was to cause joy to His friends the Israelites whereas the Egyptians would feel ashamed when they noticed that the Israelites had been saved. Although there is no direct mention of the fact that the Egyptians still had some life in them when they were tossed ashore, our sages relied on traditions handed down to them throughout the generations. In view of this, the argument of the sea that a master does not demand return of a gift bestowed on a servant makes good sense. The sea was anxious to be allowed to complete its task of killing those who had angered the Lord. All of G'd's creatures, be they in the celestial or the terrestial spheres, share the desire to carry out G'd's commandments seeing that compared to human beings they have so few opportunities to carry out G'd's commandments. You will find on the same folio in Pessachim that the Talmud tells of how anxious the angel Gabriel was to be the instrument which saved Abraham from the fiery furnace of Nimrod, and that G'd did not withhold his reward allowing Gabriel to save three other human beings (Chanayah, Mishael, and Azaryah) as a reward for his volunteering to save Abraham. This teaches us that it is considered a meritorious deed for angels to perform deeds of loving kindness for the righteous. The sea was similarly motivated and that is why it objected to being asked to disgorge the Egyptians prematurely. When G'd offered to compensate the sea by allowing it to acquire the merit of drowning Siserah's 900 chariots when the time would be ripe, this was certainly a fair compensation.

4The sea had another reason for asking that the Egyptians be deprived of all vestiges of life while they were in the sea. It is the nature of the souls of the Gentiles to remain wherever their bodies died as we know from Kohelet 3,19 where Solomon tells us that the "souls" of the beasts descend into the bowels of the earth. Idol worshipers are compared to animals and when they happen to die while in the sea the guardian angel of the sea acquires their souls. The concern of the sea was therefore that it did not want the earth (dry land) to acquire these "souls" rather than its own guardian angel. The sea's feelings were reflected when it exclaimed: "is there such a thing as a master taking back a gift?" G'd therefore replied that at a future date He would compensate the sea handsomely. G'd meant that He would give the "sea" i.e. the river Kishon, live bodies who would drown therein. The sea had never been interested in the bodies, only in the so-called souls. Seeing this was so, it did not want the dead bodies the earth was tossing at it as the sea is not a natural habitat for dead bodies. On the other hand, earth generally is the habitat for dead bodies seeing that the bodies of human beings are composed of earth as the primary raw material. G'd therefore forced Earth to receive the bodies of the dead Egyptians, seeing it was no more than natural.

5Do not ask that according to the Talmud in Pessachim the fish opened their mouths thanking G'd when G'd paid off the sea, proving that they were very interested in the bodies of the dead soldiers. It is possible that when the sea receives fully alive human bodies the fish derive some benefit therefrom. Once the bodies die the fish are no longer interested in them. The song of the fish was in appreciation of their food supply.