ויהי בשלח וגו' כי קרוב הוא. פירש"י ונוח לשוב למצרי' ויתנו לב לשוב אם יראו מלחמ'. וכתב הרמב"ן א"כ היה לו לפסוק להקדים כי אמר אלהים ולכתוב ולא נחם אלהים דרך ארץ פלשתים כי אמר אלהים כי קרוב הוא לכן פי' כי קרוב הוא וטוב לנחותם הדרך ההוא כי אמר אלהים פן ינחם וגומ' ולפי זה כי קרוב פי' אף כי קרוב הוא כמו רפאה נפשי כי חטאתי לך. וי"מ כי קרובה היא השבועה שנשבע אברהם לאבימלך אם תשקר לי ולניני ולנכדי. וי"מ כי קרוב הוא שלא הגיע עדיין מה שנאמר ודור רביעי ישובו הנה. וי"מ כי קרוב הוא שפלשתים קרוב למצרים שנאמר ומצרים ילד את לודים ואת ענמים וגומר וכיון שיראו פלשתים שיברחו ממצרים יעזרו פלשתים ויחזירום. וי"מ כי קרוב הוא שעשו פלשתים לבני אפרים שיצאו ממצרים והרגו אנשי גת ואם יראו ישראל מה נעשה להם יחזרו להם ומנין כ"י הקדימו לצאת שטעו בל' שנה. וי"מ כי קרו' הוא המלחמה אם ימצאו מלחמה תוך ג' ימים קודם שיעברו הזמן שקבעו לפרעה לשוב ישובו כי יקבלום מצרים אבל אם יעברו הזמן אף אם ימצאו מלחמה לא יחזרו כי לא יקבלום מצרים כיון שבגדו בהם ועברו הזמן שקבעו להם לחזור: ויהי בשלח פרעה....כי קרוב הוא, “It happened when Pharaoh had dismissed the people,… for it was near;” according to Rashi, the meaning of the words “for it was near,” is that it would afford too easy an opportunity for the people to return to Egypt. They would be tempted to do this if they had to face armed conflict. Nachmanides comments that if that were the meaning of the words כי קרוב הוא, the Torah should first have written the words כי אמר אלוקים , ”for G’d had said, etc.” The whole verse should then have read as follows:ולא נחם אלוקים דרך ארץ פלשתים כי אמר אלוקים כי קרוב הוא, לכן , “and G’d had not led them the route via the land of the Philistines, for He had said that even though it is nearer it is too easy to turn back from, therefore, etc.” It was better therefore to lead them on a more circuitous route as they would not then have the temptation to return to Egypt rather than face immediate armed conflict. [“the land of the Philistines” is a synonym for crossing any inhabited region which would be opposed by such inhabitants. Ed.] We find a similar construction in Psalms 41,5, רפאה נפשי כי חטאתי לך, “heal me for I have sinned against You.” Clearly, the meaning of the word כי could not be “for I have sinned against You,” but must be: “although I have sinned against You.” Some commentators understand the words כי קרוב הוא as not describing something spatial, but as referring to timing. G’d meant that an immediate arrival at the borders of the land of Canaan would then occur before the fourth generation of Canaanites had forfeited the patience of G’d, so that He could legally deprive them of their land and give it to the Israelites. [the word קרוב בימינו, “soon in our days,” and many other such uses of the word קרוב for relating to something that would occur soon are too numerous to need to be quoted. Ed.] Yet another interpretation of the words כי קרוב הוא understands it as describing the political common interests of the Philistines and the Egyptians that would cause the former to help the Egyptians recapture their slaves. Still another approach to the words כי קרוב הוא, sees in them a reference to the devastating defeat suffered by 200,000 members of the tribe of Ephrayim, who thirty years earlier had decided that the 400 years that G’d had spoken about to Avraham were at an end, and who had decided on their own, to escape from Egypt and when approaching the land of the Philistines were annihilated by them. G’d did not want to risk re-awakening such memories by making the people travel that route. The very word כי with its numerical value of 30 is a veiled reminder to the reader what it is all about. Moreover, G’d feared that if the Israelites would get involved in war before the three days travel into the desert that they had been given permission for were up, and on account of their fear they would return to Egypt, the Egyptians would be willing to let them return, whereas once the three days had passed, even if for some reason other than war, they would decide to return to Egypt, the Egyptians would not welcome them, but treat them as traitors who had broken their word. Therefore, G’d wanted a situation to develop which would make a return to Egypt even more dangerous an undertaking for the people than facing uncertain dangers by moving ahead.
בראותם מלחמה. פירש"י מלחמת עמלקי והכנעני. והרמב"ן כתב מלחמת עמלקי והכנעני לא היה ראוי לשוב בעבורה כי הוא בא עליהם מארצו ואף אם ישובו למצרים הוא ילחם עמהם אלא טעם המלחמה שאם יעברו דרך פלשתים והם לא יתנום עבור בארצם בשלום ישובו למצרים אבל בדרך המדבר לא יראו מלחמה עד היותם בארצם רחוקים ממצרים ולא יוכלו לשוב: בראותם מלחמה, “when they would face armed conflict.” Rashi understands this as a veiled reference to the war against Amalek and the Canaanites. Nachmanides writes that neither the war against the Amalekites nor that against the Canaanites would trigger a desire by the people to return to Egypt. The Amalekites had attacked the Israelites not because the Israelites threatened them, but because they represented a spiritual threat to their way of life. They would also have attacked the Israelites if they had decided to remain in the desert without looking for a homeland. G’d simply wanted any war to be delayed until the Israelites were so far away from Egypt, that returning to Egypt simply would not be a viable option. Facing war, or rather, avoiding war against the Philistines, would leave open the option of return to Egypt.