Shemot 14:1–31 - Why did G-d do a miracle to spllt Yam Suf?

Shemot 14:4,8 record that G-d hardened Pharaoh's heart to chase the Jewish people to enslave them again. Why did G-d harden Pharaoh’s heart? Why did G-d want Pharaoh to chase the Jewish people? From a geographic perspective, it was not necessary for the Jewish people to cross over any body of water since before the Suez Canal (in 1869) was built, the Sinai desert and Egypt were not completely separated by water. (This fact was noted by the Ibn Ezra in his comments on 14:17.) What was the need for the miracle of the splitting of the Yam Suf?

One possible reason is that 14:4,18 record that the events at Yam Suf were for the Egyptians to recognize G-d, and 14:25 records that the Egyptians recognized G-d at Yam Suf. Yet, had not the Egyptians already recognized G-d by the ten plagues? Most likely, the soldiers chasing the Jewish people were soldiers who had not experienced the plagues since they were in fortresses in the Sinai desert, see Sarna (1991, p. 69). However, still what was the point of this recognition if they were going to die a few second after they recognized G-d and was this a sufficient reason for such an unbelievable miracle?

14:4,17,18 provide a second reason for the miracle of the splitting of the Yam Suf that G-d's glory would be enhanced by the events at Yam Suf. How was G-d's glory enhanced by the miracle of Yam Suf? Rashi (on 14:4) quotes from the Mechilta that when G-d takes revenge on the wicked people, then G-d's glory is increased, but why were the ten plagues not enough revenge on the Egyptians? Ibn Ezra writes that G-d's glory would be enhanced when the people would see G-d's great powers to drown the Egyptians. Yet, again why did this not occur through the ten plagues?

My guess is that as impressive as the ten plagues were, still a question must have lingered in the minds of the people. During the plagues, Moshe conducted extensive negotiation with Pharaoh to get his permission, and the people only left Egypt when they had Pharaoh's permission (12:31,32), as 13:17 records "when Pharaoh let the people go." Why should an all-powerful G-d need to have Pharaoh's permission? G-d should have told the people to leave Egypt without bothering to speak to Pharaoh, and if Pharaoh had attempted to stop the people, then G-d would have protected the people. The Torah explains that the point of the plagues was an educational lesson both for the Jewish people and for Pharaoh, and hence Pharaoh's permission was a way of showing that he recognized G-d, for example see 7:5, 10:1,2, and our discussion on 7:1-12:29, "The ten plagues in Egypt: Their structure, order and maybe their rationale." Yet, still the Jewish people must have been wondering about G-d's powers. (Maybe this doubt explains why the people were screaming at Moshe before they were saved, 14:11,12.)

Accordingly, a second reason for the miracle at Yam Suf was to show the people that G-d was all-powerful, as literally the people walked into the Yam Suf, and G-d stopped the Egyptians from stopping them even though they tried. If G-d had just had the people march through divided water, then this would not have increased the people's faith in G-d since they knew that G-d could do wonders. The people had to see that G-d did not need to ask permission from Pharaoh, and hence they had to see that G-d had saved them from Pharaoh. Thus, 14:31 records that when the people saw what G-d had done to the Egyptians, they feared G-d and they believed in G-d. This increase in faith that resulted from the destruction of Pharaoh and his army was the enhanced glory to G-d that was mentioned in 14:4,17.

14:30 records that the Jewish people saw the Egyptian soldiers dying. The fact that the Torah mentions this result implies that their deaths were another important outcome of the miracle at Yam Suf. If the Egyptian army had not been destroyed, then during the entire time that the people were in the desert they would have been worried that the Egyptians would return and attack them. Thus, Moshe told the people that after the events at Yam Suf, they would never see the Egyptians again, 14:13.

Yet, still why was there a need for such a great miracle of splitting the waters of the Yam Suf? The answer is that this miracle coming after the ten plagues was to incorporate the three educational elements of the plagues: To recognize G-d, 7:17, to know that G-d exists in the world, 8:18, and to know that there are no forces in the world comparable to G-d, 9:14, 

The first element occurred when the Egyptian soldiers recognized G-d before they died, 14:24 (our first reason above). The second element by the plagues was the distinction within the plagues between the Jews and the Egyptians. This distinction happened by the miracle at Yam Suf, as the both the Egyptians and the Jews were in the Yam Suf, and the water only covered up the Egyptians while the Jews continued to walk through the Yam Suf, 14:26-29. The third educational element in the plagues was G-d's control over the forces of nature, hail, wind and the sun. One major force was left out by the plagues, the power of rushing water, tsunami, and hence here by Yam Suf when G-d split the water and had the waters stand still, this showed that G-d also controls this force of nature.

There are two literary connections between the splitting of the Yam Suf and the third educational element of the plagues which was from the third set of plagues, plagues seven, eight and nine. One connection is that by the eight plague and the miracle of the Yam Suf, the Torah refers to an east wind, 9:13,14 and 14:21. Two, by the seven, eight and ninth plagues, Moshe raised his arm/staff before the onset of the plagues, 9:22, 10:12 and 10:21 and so too by the Yam Suf, Moshe raised his arm/ staff, 14:21,26,27. In these cases, the miracles are so unbelievable, no one would think that Moshe caused the miracle, but by Moshe acting prior to the miracle, this showed Moshe's connection with G-d. By the plagues, Moshe had acted in front of Pharaoh (or nobody) and the Jewish people had not seen this connection, but by Yam Suf the people saw this connection. Accordingly, 14:31 records that after the miracle of Yam Suf the people believed that Moshe was G-d's servant.

To summarize, the main reason for the miracle of the splitting of Yam Suf was to increase the Jewish people's faith in G-d. In addition, the outcome of the miracle was that the Egyptians also recognized G-d, the Jewish people realized that they did not have to be worried from the Egyptian army in the future and their faith in Moshe was increased.

Bibliography:

Sarna, Nahum (1923-2005), 1991, The JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society