“And it came to pass, when Pharoah had let the people go, that God led
them not by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was
near, for God said: Lest perhaps the people repent when they see war,
and they return to Egypt.”
On our verse, readers readily note a difficulty with our verse. The Torah appears to disclose God’s
motive for taking the escaped Jews via a desert, rather through the Coastal Route, that would have been
a breeze. And it would have gotten the Jews to Canaan much faster.
But what is written is not the underlying reason for God’s “peculiar” itinerary for His flock, as we shall
soon discuss. Why does the Torah provide a feeble rationale (“Lest perhaps the people repent when
they see war…”), when more meaty ones present themselves? Indeed, opting for a tenuous reason and
omitting the real ones represents a glaring problem with the text.
From the outset of the ten plagues, God was itching, you might say, to part the Red Sea, sending the
Egyptians to Davy Jones’s locker. Below we bring three reasons to explain Heaven’s motive for leading
the Hebrews away from the Coastal Road, instead, directing them via the divine cloud column and pillar
of fire headlong into an arid wasteland.
One has to do with the Hebrews leaving Egypt courtesy of and by permission of Pharoah. It was
understood that the monarch authorized them to serve God in the desert per Moshe’s request: “Let my
people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.” From the first meeting at the palace,
the wilderness was the professed destination. For that reason, the Creator did not bring them out to the
Coastal Route. It would have given Pharoah license to slander the prophet, calling him a liar. Further,
Pharoah would have deduced that their destination was the land of the Philistines, with no intention to
serve God in the desert. This is expressed by our verse: “And it came to pass, when Pharoah had let the
people go, that God led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines…”
The Torah stresses that Pharoah permitted the Jews to leave. It was understood that they would
celebrate in a serene, albeit barren setting. For that reason, Hashem could not guide them to Canaan via
the land of the Philistines, adjacent to Egypt. Such a plan would have brought the monarch to conclude
that in the land of Philistines were where the encampment sought refuge.
Two concerned another wrinkle God may have anticipated. Had the Hebrews traveled along the
Philistine Road, there stood a strong likelihood that the Philistines would have girded for war. Jewish
preparedness, let us say, was nil. The masses would not have mustered up the courage to fight. And
given that Egypt was nigh, they would have returned to it, opting for enslavement. We have concluded
the second reason. Before we continue to the third one, we interject a midrash, based on our verse.
“Although that was near” allows for multiple interpretations. In Pirkei Rabbi Eliezer, it is hinted that
“although that was near” cloaks one of the very first Hebrew wars, one that ended in abject disaster. We
speak about a misguided attempt by the Children of Efraim to hasten the liberation of Canaan. The
impetuous tribe of Efraim marched headstrong out of Egypt and into the land of the Philistines, where
they were soundly smashed. Two hundred thousand soldiers met death in their inglorious rush for
redemption: “The Children of Efraim were as archers handling the bow, that turned back in the day of
battle.” Our verse states, “Lest perhaps the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.” It alludes to the annihilation of the tribe of Efraim. When the encampment witnesses Efraim’s carnage,
their brothers’ bones strewn about on the Philistine Road, they will chant in unity: Let us return to
Egypt.
To summarize the second point, we put forth that God did not guide them along the Coastal Highway,
rather He opted for the desert. A vital lapse of time (forty years!) would grant the Hebrews precious
opportunity to thoroughly train for war. After decades in the wilderness, they would encounter Sichon’s,
Og’s, and the Canaanites’ formidable forces, emerging victorious. Further, these enemies are based far,
far away from Egypt. Geographical considerations would have given pause to the Hebrews about a
return to their former slaveowners.
Three is the most powerful and compelling. The Philistine Route offered no body of water. The Creator
hungered to split the sea for the Jews, and to drown Egyptians in it (revenge for Egyptians drowning
Hebrew babies). That necessitated the nation to be led into the desert. The Red Sea served as the plan’s
centerpiece. Our section’s second verse says: “But God led the people about, by the way of the
wilderness by the Red Sea…”
We can prove our point by interjecting a Hebrew grammar rule. Specifically, it concerns the usage of the
Hebrew letter vav, generally a conjunction meaning “and.” However, in Scripture a vav may also signal a
root cause. For our purposes here, we will show how it works, and reframe the section’s second verse
accordingly. “And God, in order to lead the people about by the way of the wilderness – because of the
Red Sea…”
Rendering the verse as we have provides the proper accent or tone. Consequently, we better
understand God’s main rationale for doing what He did. That is, he led them into a desert, and not into
Canaan via the Coastal Road, because of a highly-anticipated confrontation and divine rendezvous at the
Red Sea with their heartless, quondam taskmasters and baby-killers.