But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.
18. The children of Israel went up harnessed. The word חמשים, חמשים. Fives. The Rabbinical notions here mentioned are thus briefly stated in S M , “Exponitur a Kimchi sic, Et accincti armis in quinta costa. Alii autem sic exponunt, Et accincti quinque armorum generibus.” In speaking of what the Greeks had imagined, C.
God chose the longer wilderness route, not the shorter northern path. Before Israel entered battle with enemies, their covenant with God had to be settled in solitude: laws given, ordinances instituted, the original contract ratified. The high road was no fit place for such crowded, solemn transactions.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 13:17-22
But God led the people about,.... Instead of their going to the west, or northwest, towards Gaza, &c. and the Mediterranean sea, the Lord going before them in a pillar of cloud and fire, as after related, directed them to turn off to the right, between the east and south, to the southeast: through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: the wilderness...