And it was told the king of the Egyptians that the people was fled: and the heart of Pharao and of his servants was changed with regard to the people, and they said: What meant we to do, that we let Israel go from serving us?
וַיֻּגַּד֙ לְמֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרַ֔יִם כִּ֥י בָרַ֖ח הָעָ֑ם וַ֠יֵּהָפֵךְ לְבַ֨ב פַּרְעֹ֤ה וַעֲבָדָיו֙ אֶל־הָעָ֔ם וַיֹּֽאמרוּ֙ מַה־זֹּ֣את עָשִׂ֔ינוּ כִּֽי־שִׁלַּ֥חְנוּ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵעָבְדֵֽנוּ׃
4 Church Fathers comment on this verse
The passage of three days from Egypt was completed, as recorded in history, leading the king of Egypt to find it challenging that Israel was free from servitude. Mobilizing all his forces, he set out to pursue the people of God with a cavalry.
Following the numerous afflictions that beset us, we released the Hebrews as they took our treasures and garments. We deemed it preferable to perish than to allow the Hebrews to ridicule the sovereignty of Egypt. Consequently, they equipped themselves and set out, striving to defeat the Hebrew people with the sword and reclaim their wealth.
This passage illustrates how the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, as foretold by the Lord, unfolded, and it was reported to Him that the people were fleeing. The significant distance the Hebrews covered in three days—from Ramessah to Sokhof near the Nile, then to Ophom, and finally to their last encampment on the western shore of the Gulf of Krasnomar, a journey of no less than 120 versts—indicates a hurried exodus of great numbers, approximately two and a half million souls, along with their flocks and belongings. Their urgency was unmistakable, prompting the Egyptians to misinterpret this hastiness as an attempt to escape. Consequently, this news reached Pharaoh.
After initially calming from the grief of their firstborn and their servants' demise, Pharaoh and his advisors quickly found their hearts again filled with resentment towards the Israelites. They began to contemplate re-enslaving them.
What accounts for such a drastic shift? It is possible that Pharaoh and his officials perceived the frantic movements of the Hebrew hosts, resembling a flight response, as rooted in fear of the Egyptians. Yet how could the Egyptians rationalize this fear, given all that God had manifested on behalf of the Hebrews? They may have conjectured that either divine favor had departed from the Israelites or that the Hebrews had grown disenchanted with Moses and questioned his divine mandate to lead them to freedom. Their diversion away from the path leading into the Arabian wilderness only reinforced this belief among the Egyptians. Pharaoh and his officials speculated that the fugitives had begun to regret their obedience to Moses and preferred remaining within Egyptian borders rather than venturing into the unknown.
They questioned, "What is this that we have done, that we have let the children of Israel go, that they should not work for us?" Essentially, they recognized their grave error in finally conceding to Moses’ plea for the Hebrews' liberation. By allowing their departure, they believed they had lost a valuable labor force that would be challenging to replace unless they could reclaim them. However, they thought that the mistake was not irreparable. The Israelites were vulnerable and easily reachable, making it feasible to return them to their previous servitude. With this mindset, Pharaoh and his officials swiftly readied themselves to pursue them.
It is likely that the leader of Epham (Pi-thum) dispatched envoys to Pharaoh to convey that, although the people had not crossed the boundary, they had ventured further into the wilderness, reaching the Attak mountains. Can we really believe that the Egyptians and Moses were aware of the difference in depth between the Bitter Lakes and the Red Sea, as well as the conditional passability of the ridge that separates the upper gulf from the lower? That seems questionable. One might postulate instead that the Egyptians were apprehensive about the Israelites seizing the mountains, establishing themselves there, and launching attacks against Egypt, thereby creating a formidable internal adversary, which could provoke a new invasion from the Hyksos.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS