The Roundabout Route and The Road Not Traveled/1/en
The Roundabout Route and The Road Not Traveled
Introduction
Two Routes
Parashat Beshalach opens by describing the path taken by the Children of Israel upon leaving Egypt:
(יז) וַיְהִי בְּשַׁלַּח פַּרְעֹה אֶת הָעָם וְלֹא נָחָם אֱלֹהִים דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים כִּי קָרוֹב הוּא כִּי אָמַר אֱלֹהִים פֶּן יִנָּחֵם הָעָם בִּרְאֹתָם מִלְחָמָה וְשָׁבוּ מִצְרָיְמָה. (יח) וַיַּסֵּב אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָעָם דֶּרֶךְ הַמִּדְבָּר יַם סוּף וַחֲמֻשִׁים עָלוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם.
The beginning of the first verse (v. 17) notes the rejected path (the Philistine Route), while the first half of the second verse (v. 18) records the selected path (the Desert Route). Sandwiched in between these is an enigmatic explanation of God's decision, namely the concern that the Israelites will return to Egypt upon encountering a battle.
, but the choice is surprising. The Philistine Route is clearly the shorter, more direct path to Israel, so why is it eschewed in favor of the longer, roundabout road?
The Torah explains that Hashem was concerned that faced with war, the nation might decide to return to Egypt. With whom, though, does God fear that the nation will battle? Moreover, how does the path taken solve the problem? After all, just a few days into their journey the nation is attacked by the pursuing Egyptian army, and just a few weeks later they are again attacked by the Amalekites! Should not Hashem have been concerned that this path, too, would lead the nation to return to Egypt? Was the Desert Route merely the lesser of two evils, or did it have some intrinsic benefits of its own?
What About Mt. Sinai?
The verses suggest that, were it not for Hashem's concerns, the nation would have traveled to Israel directly via the Philistine Route. This, though, is somewhat surprising, considering the fact that God had already told Moshe that upon leaving Egypt the nation was to worship Him in the desert, on Mt. Sinai.1 Throughout his negotiations with Paroh, Moshe similarly requested leave for a three day desert holiday to serve Hashem. If so, why was the Philistine Route even considered? Were they not supposed to take the Desert Route from the very beginning?
Additional Questions
The verses raise several other smaller textual questions as well:
- The double "כִּי" – The word "כִּי" can sustain a number of meanings in Tanakh, including not just "because" but also "when", "if", or "that". Which of these meanings do the two occurrences of the word take in our verse? Is the verse giving two reasons for the rejected route or just one?
- "כִּי קָרוֹב הוּא" – To what is the path close? To Egypt or Canaan? Why is the proximity so problematic?
- "וַחֲמֻשִׁים עָלוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל" – What does the word "וַחֲמֻשִׁים" mean? Why does the text emphasize that the nation left armed or equipped? Is this relevant to the choice of route?
