When Moshe first approaches Pharaoh, he makes a specific request that the Jewish people be granted 3 days respite to worship in the desert. Pharaoh refuses, and Moshe persists with this request during the debate that takes place throughout the subsequent 10 plagues. When Moshe is first instructed to facilitate the redemption of the Jewish people (3:10), he is told to gather the elders and approach Pharaoh with the request to go into the desert for 3 days and make offerings to Hashem (3:18). If the ultimate objective is to take the Jewish people out of Egypt, why did God instruct Moshe to request a mere 3 day holiday?

As the Jewish people finally depart Egypt, Moshe instructs them to request and accept valuables from the Egyptians. This was not a last minute request. Rather, as Rashi (11:2) points out, this was part of Hashem’s guarantee to Avraham (Beresheit 15:14). It was also part of the plan which Hashem revealed to Moshe at the burning bush (Shemot 3:22).

שמות יד

(ה) וַיֻּגַּד֙ לְמֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרַ֔יִם כִּ֥י בָרַ֖ח הָעָ֑ם וַ֠יֵּהָפֵ֠ךְ לְבַ֨ב פַּרְעֹ֤ה וַעֲבָדָיו֙ אֶל־הָעָ֔ם וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ מַה־זֹּ֣את עָשִׂ֔ינוּ כִּֽי־שִׁלַּ֥חְנוּ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵעׇבְדֵֽנוּ׃ (ו) וַיֶּאְסֹ֖ר אֶת־רִכְבּ֑וֹ וְאֶת־עַמּ֖וֹ לָקַ֥ח עִמּֽוֹ׃ (ז) וַיִּקַּ֗ח שֵׁשׁ־מֵא֥וֹת רֶ֙כֶב֙ בָּח֔וּר וְכֹ֖ל רֶ֣כֶב מִצְרָ֑יִם וְשָׁלִשִׁ֖ם עַל־כֻּלּֽוֹ׃ (ח) וַיְחַזֵּ֣ק יְהֹוָ֗ה אֶת־לֵ֤ב פַּרְעֹה֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרַ֔יִם וַיִּרְדֹּ֕ף אַחֲרֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל יֹצְאִ֖ים בְּיָ֥ד רָמָֽה׃

Shemot 14

5) It was reported to Pharaoh that the people had fled; and Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, What is this that we have done, that we have released Israel from serving us? 6) So he [Pharaoh] harnessed his chariot, and took his people with him. 7) He took six hundred select chariots and all the chariots of Egypt, with officers over them all. 8) And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and he chased after the children of Israel, and the children of Israel were marching out triumphantly.

What was told to Pharaoh? Didn’t he already know the people left? What accounts for the change of heart?

רש"י שמות יד

(ה) ויגד למלך מצרים – איקטורין שלח עמהם, וכיון שהגיעו לשלשת ימים שקבעו לילך ולשוב וראו שאינן חוזרין למצרים, באו והגידו לפרעה ביום רביעי. בחמישי ובששי רדפו אחריהם. ליל שביעי ירדו לים. בשחרית אמרו שירה, והוא יום שביעי של פסח, לכך אנו קורין השירה ביום שביעי.

ויהפך – נהפך מה שהיה, שהרי אמר להם: קומו צאו מתוך עמי (שמות י"ב:ל"א), ונהפך לב עבדיו, שהרי לשעבר היו אומרים לו: עד מתי יהיה זה לנו למוקש (שמות י':ז'), ועכשיו נהפכו לרדוף אחריהם בשביל ממונם שהשאילום.

(ח) ויחזק י"י את לב פרעה – שהיה מחשב אם לרדוף אם לאו, וחזק י"י את לבו לרדוף.

Rashi 14:5

It was reported to Pharaoh – He [Pharaoh] sent officers with them, and as soon as the three days they [the Israelites] had set to go [into the desert] and return had elapsed, and they [the officers] saw that they were not returning to Egypt, they came and informed Pharaoh on the fourth day. On the fifth and the sixth [days after the Israelites’ departure], they pursued them. On the night preceding the seventh, they went down into the sea. In the morning [of the seventh day], they [the Israelites] recited the Song [of the Sea (Exod. 15:1-18)]. Therefore, we read [in the Torah] the Song on the seventh day, that is the seventh day of Passover.

Had a change – He [Pharaoh] had a change of heart from how he had felt [previously], for he had said to them [the Israelites], “Get up and get out from among my people” (Exod. 12:31). His servants [also] had a change of heart, for previously they had said to him, “How long will this one be a stumbling block to us?” (Exod. 10:7). Now they had a change of heart to pursue them [the Israelites] on account of the money that they had lent them. — [based on Mechilta].

And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh – Because he vacillated about whether to pursue [the Israelites] or not. [So] He hardened his heart to pursue [them]. — [from Mechilta]

According to Rashi, Egyptians officers accompanied the Jewish people on their 3 day journey. When they did not immediately return, the Egyptians reported back to Pharaoh. That’s what is meant by “and it was reported to the King of Egypt” (14:5). Pharaoh had originally resigned himself to let the people go completely. His cabinet had also been begging him to release the people. But the fact that the Jewish people had been granted Egyptian possessions caused them to reconsider.

אברבנאל שמות ג:יח

ואמנם למה צוה הב"ה שיאמרו לפרעה דרך שלשת ימים כבר כתבתי דעת הר"ן בו בדרשותיו שהוא כדי שיתפעל אחר כך לב פרעה כאשר לא ישובו אחרי ג' ימים מהמדבר באמרו כי בורח הוא כי אם היה מתחלה שולח אותם בהחלט מבלי תנאי שיחזרו אחר אותו זמן מוגבל לא היה רודף אחריהם ולא היה נטבע בים סוף הוא וכל חילו. ויותר נכון אצלי לפ' שעשה הב"ה כן כדי להראות לבני אדם חוזק לב פרעה וקושי ערפו ושעליו יצדקו משפטיו ודיניו ומדותיו על פרעה ועל מצרים יען וביען לא בקשו ממני ללכת כי אם דרך ג' ימים לזבוח לאלוהיהם ומסתמא יובן מדבריהם שאחר כך ישובו ולא שמע אל תפלתם ואל תחנתם וכ"ש אם יאמרו לו לשלחם כלם שבלי ספק לא יאבה להם ולא ישמע להם הנה מפני זה צוה למרע"ה שתהיה בראשונה שאלתו ובקשתו דבר מועט דרך ג' ימים להבחין בו ערפו ומצחו הקשה וז"ש מיד ואני ידעתי כי לא יתן אתכם מלך מצרים להלוך ולא ביד חזקה כלומר ועם היות השאלה הזאת דבר מועט אני ידעתי רוע לבבו שלא יכנע גם לדבר המועט ההוא ועכ"ז לא אמר שאחרי ג' ימים ישובו אלא שילכו במדבר דרך ג' ימים וכן היה שהלכו שם כל אותו זמן וזמנים אחרי' הנה אם כן לא שקר משה בדבריו אבל העלים הכוונה מפני אותה סבה שזכרתי.

Abarbanel Shemot 3:18

Indeed, why did the Holy One, blessed be He, command that they tell Pharaoh that the journey would be for three days? I have already written the opinion of the Ran (Rabbi Nissim ben Reuven) in his Derashot (end of Derasha 11), that it was in order to later stir Pharaoh's heart when they would not return after the three days from the desert, and he would say that they were fleeing. For if He had initially sent them without condition to return after a limited time, Pharaoh would not have pursued them and would not have been drowned in the Red Sea, he and all his army. It seems more correct to me to explain that the Holy One, blessed be He, did this to show mankind the strength of Pharaoh's heart and the stubbornness of his neck, and that His judgments and laws would be justified upon Pharaoh and Egypt. Because they did not ask to go, except for three days’ journey to sacrifice to their God, and it is understood from their words that they would return afterward. But Pharaoh did not listen to their prayer and supplication. Certainly, if they had asked him to send them all away, he would not have agreed, and he would not have listened to them. For this reason, the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Moses that his first request should be a small one, to ask for a three-day journey to reveal Pharaoh’s stubbornness and his hard heart. And as it says immediately, 'And I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, not even by a mighty hand,' meaning that even though this request is a small one, I know the evil of his heart, that he will not submit to even this small request. Nevertheless, Moses did not say that after three days they would return, but that they would go into the wilderness for three days. And so it was that they traveled in the wilderness for that time. Therefore, Moses did not lie in his words, but concealed the intention because of the reason I mentioned.

The Abarbanel quotes the Ran, who suggest that this was all part of a Divine plan. Had Pharaoh simply released the Jewish people, it would not have resulted in the destruction of the Egyptian army. Only because the original request was for 3 days, did Pharaoh and his servants end up chasing after them leading to the army’s destruction.

The Abarbanel himself however prefers a different explanation. The original request of merely a 3 day respite, and Pharaoh’s subsequent denial, demonstrated Pharaoh’s stubbornness and intransigence, and the absurd working conditions in Egypt. Had Moshe made a request for full freedom it would have surely been rejected, but the degree of oppression would not have been communicated.

ר' בחיי שמות יא:ב

וישאלו איש מאת רעהו – אין שאלה זו כשאלה האמורה בכלים שהיא שאלה על מנת להחזיר, אלא צוה שישאלו מהם במתנה, והקב"ה יתן להם חן בעיני המצריים ויתנו להם, ואין זה גנבת דעת שיצוה בה הקב"ה ח"ו, אבל היה הדבר מותר להם, שהרי העבודה שעשו להם אין לה ערך ואין לשכר המלאכה ולשויה סוף ותכלית והלא דין תורה הוא בעבד שעבד את אדניו שבע שנים שהוא חייב בהענקה שנאמר (דברים ט"ו:י"ג-י"ד) וכי תשלחנו חפשי מעמך לא תשלחנו ריקם העניק תעניק לו מצאנך ומגרנך ומיקבך על אחת כמה וכמה המצריים שהיתה אצלם עבודת ישראל של רד"ו שנים

R. Bachya Shemot 11:2

Let them each ask from their fellow Egyptian male, etc. – This "request" was not similar to a man or a woman asking his or her respective neighbour for some tool on the understanding that after he or she has finished using it it would be returned it to its owner. Here God's instructions were to ask for the respective items as outright gifts. It was understood that God would make the Egyptians feel well disposed toward the Israelites so that they would willingly comply with their requests for such gifts. The last thing God had in mind was that the Israelites, at the very moment when their redemption was at hand, would leave behind the impression that they had fooled their neighbors and pretended that they would give back the items in question. According to Jewish law whenever a servant is released from service after he has toiled for the agreed period of time, he is entitled to receive a stake from his erstwhile master to enable him to start his economic independence. This is spelled out in Deut. 15, 13-14: "but when you send him away free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. Furnish him out of your flocks, your threshing floor, and vat, with which the Lord has blessed you." If this law applies to treatment of a fellow Jewish servant whose wages the master has paid six years in advance, how much more so were the Jewish slaves in Egypt entitled to receive some silver trinkets in compensation for over 200 years of slavery for which no wages had ever been paid.

Rabbeinu Bachya explains that the items which the Jewish people requested and accepted were requisite payments for the labor and servitude they had endured. This was customary upon the release of slaves. There was no implication that the items would be returned. The Rashbam (11:2) emphasizes this as well.

Perhaps these different threads tie into why the Jewish people engaged in Shirah –singing of praise after the splitting of the sea. Moshe’s original request was for the people to have a 3-day religious holiday. This request was rejected, showing Pharaoh’s stubbornness and cruelty. According to Rashi and the Ran, it also led to the destruction of the Egyptian army. The Jewish people fulfilled the Divine instruction to request payment from the Egyptians upon exiting Egypt. This minor degree of restitution fulfilled a promise made to Avraham. The Jews would leave Egypt triumphantly. Taken together, at the splitting of the sea we see multiple aspects of the Divine plan come to fruition.

We do not always have the perspective to see the ultimate outcome of our people’s trials and tribulations. It is particularly hard to see the broader picture during difficult times. At the splitting of the sea, the Jewish people witnessed first hand how disparate aspects of their collective story came together in triumph. They trusted in Hashem and His servant Moshe, and sang out in praise.

References

Baḥya ben Asher, & Munḳ, E. (1998). Midrash Rabbeinu Bachya Torah commentary by Rabbi Bachya ben Asher. 3 Shemot - Yitro. Munk. Retreived from: https://mg.alhatorah.org/Dual/R._Bachya/Shemot/11.1#m7e2n6

Rosenberg, A. (1980). A new English translation of the Hebrew Bible text and Rashi, with a commentary digest. New York: Judaica Press. Retrieved from: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/

Translation of the Abarbanel based on ChatGPT with edits.

Other posts related to BeShalach:

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bentorah.substack.com