Or HaChaim on Numbers 14:13/אור החיים על במדבר י״ד:י״ג

1 ושמעו מצרים, "and when Egypt will hear, etc." Why did Moses add the conjunctive letter ו at the beginning of the word ושמעו, seeing this is the first comment Moses permitted himself after He heard G'd's reaction? Moses simply should have said: ישמעו מצרים, "Egypt will hear, etc." Furthermore, what did Moses have in mind when he said כי העלית? If he meant that the Egyptians would hear about G'd having taken the Israelites out of Egypt this does not make any sense at all. The Egyptians had been the first to witness G'd's miracles and the Exodus, after all! Besides, how does the killing of the Israelites contribute to the Egyptians' hearing about the miracles G'd employed to orchestrate the Exodus? If Moses intended to describe who these Egyptians were who would hear about these miracles of G'd, the question is whether there were any other Egyptians who could have heard about G'd's actions at that time? Even assuming there were such Egyptians, Moses' words clearly referred to the Egyptians with whom we are familiar.

2The answer must be connected to why Moses did not use the same arguments he had used after the sin of the golden calf. It is true that I have explained on the words עד אנה ינאצוני that G'd had spoken these words to prevent Moses from again advancing an argument he had used successfully at that time. Nonetheless, Moses had been at liberty to use the argument of זכות אבות, the merit of the patriarchs in conjunction with the argument that G'd's effforts would be perceived as having been futile. The combined arguments would help ward off an evil decree at this time.

3However, Moses was very clever; he used the conjunctive letter ו to indicate that this was only an additional argument to others he would present. He emphasised that the Egyptians would most certainly hear about the demise of the Jewish people. The reason was that G'd had expended so much effort at the time to remove the Jewish people who had been an integral part of Egyptian society מקרבו, from within its midst. Whereas the whole world knew about the miracles G'd had performed at that time, the impression it had made on the Egyptian neighbours of the Israelites was far more pronounced. They would certainly follow the fortunes of this people to find out exactly how they progressed ever since they left Egypt. The word כי in כי העלית must be understood to mean "because," rather than "that."

4Another way of explaining the letter ו is to provide an answer to why Moses appeared concerned only about the impression the demise of the Jewish people were to make on the Egyptians and not on the other nations. He explained this by saying "for You have elevated this nation from amongst its midst." The Egyptians -as opposed to any other nation- were well aware that the Israelites could never have revolted successfully and have escaped from their enslavement if G'd had not literally "lifted the Jewish people out of their midst." Once they would hear about this people dying en masse they would never again credit G'd with defeating the Canaanites Supposing even that G'd's plan to create a new Jewish nation out of Moses would be carried out, any success of that new nation in overcoming the Canaanites would henceforth be attributed to the strength of Moses' genes, not to G'd's interference in their fate. It is nothing unusual for a strong nation to defeat a weaker nation. The present Israelites were known to be militarily weak. Their victory over the Canaanites would enhance G'd's image. Any future Jewish nation which had never exhibited weakness as had the present Israelite nation would not be a vehicle for G'd to demonstrate His power. בכחך את העם הזה, "with Your Power THIS NATION." The whole strength of Moses' argument lay in these four words. Only the Egyptians would be able to respond in this manner as they had known the Jewish people from all the many years the latter had lived amongst them. They had truly known them, i.e. ושמעו מצרים.