שמות, פרק ט״ו, פסוק ט׳

The Song of the Sea pauses to look back at the moments just before the Egyptian downfall, painting a vivid picture of the enemy's mindset right before his destruction. When the waters froze to form a dry path, Pharaoh mistakenly believed the phenomenon was working in his favor. His self-confidence swelled, completely unaware that he was walking into a trap set by God, designed to bring about his ruin within the sea [רמב״ן, ספורנו, אור החיים]. To entice his officers and servants to join him on this dangerous pursuit into the ocean depths, Pharaoh rallied them with grand promises of plunder [רש״י, צאינה וראינה]. The very rhythm of his battle cry, a rapid and breathless burst of actions without pause, captures his arrogance, recklessness, and absolute certainty of a quick and easy victory [שד״ל, קאסוטו].

Pharaoh's grand design consisted of three cruel stages [אור החיים, תולדות יצחק]. First, he planned to chase down the Israelites and divide their wealth, reclaiming the silver and gold they had taken from Egypt and capturing the women as slaves [מלבי״ם, התורה]. Following this, he sought deep personal satisfaction. The primary approach among commentators is that Pharaoh simply wanted his spirit and dark desires to be fully gratified through their suffering [רש״י, שד״ל]. However, others interpret this desire as an intent to completely cut off and destroy the nation [רלב״ג, הכתב והקבלה], or to force them back into a life of slavery with abuse far worse than before [אור החיים]. A more unique perspective suggests Pharaoh actually intended to first shower the Israelites with wealth and abundance, ensuring that their subsequent downfall would be from a great height, making their ruin much more painful and public [כלי יקר].

The final stage of his plan involved drawing his weapon and dealing the ultimate blow. He prepared to pull his sword from its sheath [רש״י, רשב״ם], fully arming himself for the coming slaughter [בכור שור]. Because the Israelites were a nation of former slaves with no military training, Pharaoh felt perfectly safe engaging them in close combat, seeing no need to attack cautiously from a distance [העמק דבר]. He even boasted that he could crush such a weak people with his bare hands, without needing a weapon at all [כלי יקר]. As for the final fate of the Israelites at his hands, the main approach among commentators is that Pharaoh intended to completely wipe them out [אבן עזרא, שד״ל]. Alternatively, his goal was to utterly impoverish them by stripping away everything they owned [רש״י, מזרחי], or to forcefully conquer them, reclaiming them as Egyptian property to be owned and inherited once again [קאסוטו, רש״ר הירש].