Psalm 114 is one of the chapters recited in Hallel. It depicts the Exodus from Egypt along with all the accompanying miracles: the splitting of the Red Sea, the parting of the Jordan River, the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and water pouring forth from the rock. The Malbim teaches that from here until "And our God is in the heavens" begins the second section of this sequence of psalms, describing the divine providence with which the Holy One, blessed be He, accompanies the people of Israel.
בְּצֵאת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם בֵּית יַעֲקֹב מֵעַם לֹעֵז׃ - When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue.
Rashi explains: a nation speaking a language other than the Holy Tongue (Lashon HaKodesh) - that is, they speak a language different from Lashon HaKodesh. As a parallel, Rashi cites: "You shall not see a fierce [no'az] people, a people of deep speech." There it is written no'az, and here lo'ez; Rashi explains that the letters nun and lamed interchange, just like nishkah and lishkah (chamber). The Radak adds that a lo'ez is one who speaks a language other than Hebrew, and that the people of Israel departed from a people whose language they did not understand, as stated in the admonitions: "A brazen-faced nation whose language you do not understand." Chazal in Tractate Megillah use this very term: "For those who speak a foreign tongue, one reads it in the foreign tongue [la'az]" - meaning, to someone who speaks a foreign language, it is read in their own language. It is also noted that the word la'az is an acronym for leshon am zar (the language of a foreign nation).
One might ask: Did they truly not understand their language? After all, they resided there for two hundred and ten years, and could a person not pick up the language? The commentators resolve this by explaining that while it is inconceivable that they understood nothing at all after living among them for so many years, it may be that only some understood - specifically those who interacted closely with them and were subjected to labor under them. Many of them, however, never left their designated area, the Land of Goshen; they remained, as it were, in a secluded enclave without forming ties with the Egyptians. They had no reason to learn the language and spoke Hebrew. Furthermore, even those who were forced to speak Egyptian with their masters did not speak Egyptian among themselves, for they did not change their language - and this was one of the merits for which they were redeemed.
The Malbim explains that this marks the beginning of the second part of the psalm, which describes divine providence: when the people of Israel went out of Egypt, God set them apart as His designated portion. From that point on, we became the people of Hashem, transcending the natural celestial order - that is, the governance of the stars and constellations - and from then on we are guided directly and exclusively by the Holy One, blessed be He. God then led us in a miraculous, supernatural manner, so that it was evident to all that Hashem is our God and that Israel is guided by individual divine providence. Based on this, the psalmist expresses a poignant plea: Why do we not witness such providence today? Why does the Holy One, blessed be He, not act for the sake of His great Name so that it is not desecrated, performing miracles for us and watching over us with direct divine providence in our own generation as well?
The Malbim, in his characteristic approach, analyzes every nuance and stylistic variation: What is the meaning of the duplication between "Israel from Egypt" and "the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue"? After all, Israel and Jacob are one and the same, and Egypt and a foreign-tongued people are one and the same. Rather, "the house of Jacob" always denotes the masses, the people of Israel in their lower station - related to the word akev (heel) - whereas "Israel" denotes a higher stature, related to serarah (nobility and mastery). The eminent individuals, the leaders - such as the tribe of Levi and the elders - did not mingle with the Egyptians at all. Therefore, of them it is said that they merely left "Egypt": they departed from the geographic country, but had no contact with its inhabitants, and certainly never spoke their language. By contrast, "the house of Jacob," the general populace, were involved with them and spoke their language; regarding them it is said that they departed "from a people of foreign tongue" - freeing themselves from the entanglement they had with the Egyptian nation.
The work HaKatuv LeChaim explains that "the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue" alludes to the teaching of Chazal that Israel was redeemed from Egypt in the merit of the righteous women of that generation. Chazal expound the verse, "So shall you say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel," as meaning a gentle message directed to the house of Jacob, who are the women. It was on this basis that Sarah Schenirer named the educational movement she established "Bais Yaakov," as an allusion to women. Thus, when Scripture says, "When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue," the emphasis is placed on the women who departed, since it was in their merit - through their unwavering faith in the redemption - that we were redeemed.
There is also an allusion: "Beit Yaakov me'am lo'ez haytah" - the initial letters spell out the letters of Milah (circumcision: Yud, Mem, Lamed, Hei), informing us that in the merit of the blood of circumcision we went out of Egypt. Likewise, "lekodsho Yisrael mamshelotav hayam" - once again spells the letters of Milah, teaching us that the splitting of the sea was also in the merit of circumcision.
Another allusion: Chazal expound on the verse, "Do not explore after your heart and after your eyes, after which you stray" - "after your heart" refers to heresy; "after your eyes" refers to immorality; "after which you stray" refers to idolatry. The Egyptians were steeped in these three vices to the utmost degree, as it is said, "You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt" - there was idolatry, there was heresy, and there were all the forbidden relations mentioned in that passage. Now, the word lo'ez (לועז) is spelled with the letters Lamed, Ayin, and Zayin: Lamed for levavchem (your heart - heresy); Ayin for eineichem (your eyes - corruption of sight through forbidden relations); and Zayin for zonim (straying - idolatry). From these three vices that pervaded Egypt, we emerged and detached ourselves.
This fits well with the Malbim's approach: "Yisrael" - the spiritually elevated - left merely "from Egypt", because they had no attachment to any of this. But concerning "the house of Jacob", the lower among them, the guardian angel of the sea argued, "These are idolaters and those are idolaters" - for they had served idols like the Egyptians and possessed those same corruptions. Therefore, it was specifically the house of Jacob that went out "from a people of strange speech (lo'ez)" - from that attachment to these corruptions - whereas Yisrael, the distinguished and noble, went out merely "from Egypt", as they were untainted by that corruption.
In Tehilot Maharitz, it is explained that the nations cast a slander (la'az) upon Israel, claiming they certainly could not have maintained their purity in Egypt. As Chazal phrase their claim: If they ruled over their bodies, did they not all the more so rule over their wives? If an Egyptian master ruled over a Jew and did with him as he pleased, would he not have controlled his wife as well? The implication was: You think you are holy, pure, and can trace your lineage to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but you have long since lost it, for your wives bore children to the Egyptians. Such was their claim - that the people of Israel possessed no pure lineage.
Chazal state that an Israelite who defiles himself and his offspring with a gentile woman will have "neither awake among the sages nor respondent among the students" - that is, he will not merit to have disciples who are Torah scholars. Yet the Jewish people, upon leaving Egypt, reached an extraordinary spiritual height: they gave their lives for the sanctification of God's Name; Judah went down first into the sea - Nachshon the son of Amminadab from the tribe of Judah - until the waters reached his soul; and afterward they merited wonders and miracles, the sea split before them, and they merited the Giving of the Torah, hearing the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, an event without precedent or parallel. All of these are clear proofs that the Jewish people preserved their sanctity and did not corrupt themselves with the Egyptians; had they been tainted, they would never have merited such miracles nor would they have received the Torah directly from the Almighty.
This, then, is the meaning of the verse: When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob - the women - also went out from that slander (la'az) that the nations had cast upon them. The proof follows immediately: "Judah became His sanctuary" - the tribe of Judah gave their lives for the sanctification of God's Name, proving that they were holy and pure; "Israel His dominion" - they wholeheartedly accepted Na'aseh VeNishma ("we will do and we will hear") and believed in God and in Moses His servant; "The sea saw and fled" and "the Jordan turned backward" - all for their sake; and not only that, but "The mountains skipped like rams" at the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, where they merited to receive the Torah from God Himself. All of these stand as living testimony to Israel's sanctity, thoroughly vindicating them from the slander regarding any blemish in their lineage.
הָיְתָה יְהוּדָה לְקָדְשׁוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל מַמְשְׁלוֹתָיו׃ - Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion.
The word is pronounced lekodsho, as the vowel mark here is a kamatz katan. Rashi explains: The Holy One, blessed be He, took Judah as His portion and His sanctity, and Judah sanctified His blessed Name when he went down into the sea, as it is written, "The princes of Judah were their assembly" - Nachshon the son of Amminadab leaped first into the sea, saying, "I will descend first," and through this Judah became the portion of God. The Radak explains: When Israel went out of Egypt, God took them as His portion, in the sense of "For the portion of the Lord is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance," taking them out from among an impure and abominable nation - "whose flesh is the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is the issue of horses" - Egypt, the nakedness of the land, while Israel became a holy nation, dedicated to His holiness.
"Israel His dominion" - we were no longer under the rule of Egypt, under the kelipah (impure husk) and the guardian angel of Egypt, who is an angel of impurity. Instead, we came under the dominion of the Holy One, blessed be He, an independent sovereignty and kingdom, subject to no other power. Therefore, as they went out, God told them, "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" - an independent kingdom, serving as priests and ministers before God. This refers to the nation as a whole: we are like priests in relation to the nations of the world, and they are like attendants to us. "A holy nation" means set apart from the defilement of the nations, for "holy" always signifies separated and distinct, as in the marriage formula, "Harei at mekudeshet li" ("Behold you are consecrated unto me") - set apart for me from the rest of the world and designated exclusively for me.
Why did the verse differentiate between Judah and Israel? Because from the moment Israel left Egypt, Judah was the leader and marched at the front, as Jacob said, "Judah, your brothers shall acknowledge you." And when they reached the sea, Judah was the first to enter - this was Nachshon, who leaped in first and sanctified the Name of Heaven until the waters reached his soul.
The Malbim explains that Hashem's dealing with us "in His holiness" was brought about by Judah. Here we return to a fundamental principle that we have learned several times: it is said, "You shall be holy, for I, Hashem your God, am holy" - yet seemingly, why should we be holy simply because Hashem is holy? His holiness is inherent to Him, so what does that have to do with us? Rather, the dimension of holiness with the Holy One, blessed be He, is the supernatural order of providence, whereas the mundane order is the natural way of the world. We are required to rise above nature: we have natural drives, inclinations, and a coarse physical body, and holiness means battling those inclinations and rising above nature. When we live this way, we merit "for I, Hashem your God, am holy" - meaning Hashem deals with us supernaturally, along the path of holiness rather than the fixed, mundane order where the sun rises and rain falls in winter. If you want miracles, rise above nature, and I too will rise with you above the laws of nature and perform miracles for you.
And who brought this about? "Judah became His sanctuary [lekadsho]" - whoever devoted his life to sanctifying Hashem's Name, that is, raised himself above nature, is the one through whom the Holy One, blessed be He, acts with us in a supernatural way: splitting the sea for us, bringing down the manna for us, and leading us through a spiritual providence. "Israel His dominion" - Hashem displaying His dominion to rule over nature and perform miracles and wonders for us came about through the deeds of Israel, as described in the following verses.
The sefer Imrot Tehorot cites in the name of the Yismach Yisrael: Even though Israel was sunk in Egypt within the forty-nine gates of defilement, in a single moment, "Judah became His sanctuary" - Nachshon ben Aminadav leaped into the sea and sanctified His blessed Name, and through this they merited "Israel His dominion." And what kind of dominion did we receive? As our Sages said in Moed Katan: "I rule over man, and who rules over Me? The tzaddik." And the language of the verse is, "A tzaddik rules in the fear of God" - that the tzaddik rules, as it were, over God's decree, for I make a decree and he nullifies it. By what virtue did we merit this? Through the power of "Judah became His sanctuary," because we sanctified the Name of Heaven in a single moment by entering the sea, rising out of the forty-nine gates of defilement to the point where, as it were, we decree and the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills.
The Chida, in Yosef Tehillot, connects the verses: "Judah became His sanctuary" - meaning they were guarded against immorality (arayot), and on account of this, "the sea saw and fled." What did it see? Our Sages say: it fled before one who fled - it saw the coffin of Joseph, as Joseph fled from his mistress. The Chida explains: had we not continued in Joseph's path - that is, had we not maintained boundaries against immorality - the sea would not have split in Joseph's merit at all, for it is unfitting that the merit of someone we did not learn from should stand for us. But because "Judah became His sanctuary" - we stood firm in our holiness, we did not corrupt ourselves with Egyptian women and the Egyptians did not corrupt our wives - we became worthy of being called the continuators of Joseph's path, and then "the sea saw and fled." Joseph's merit is immense and the sea split by its power, but had we not held fast to that same power, we would not have been worthy of having the miracle performed through him. This is what our Sages meant when they said: wherever you find a safeguard against immorality, you find holiness - and therefore "lekadsho" indicates that they safeguarded themselves against immorality.
הַיָּם רָאָה וַיָּנֹס הַיַּרְדֵּן יִסֹּב לְאָחוֹר׃ - The sea saw and fled; the Jordan turned backward.
The Radak explains that "and fled" is said metaphorically; since the waters split, it was as if the sea was terrified and fled before them. And what does the Jordan have to do with this, given that the Jordan split in the days of Joshua? Rashi explains that all the waters of Creation split at that very moment: when the sea saw and fled, the Jordan also turned backward, and all bodies of water throughout the world split. There is also a Midrashic teaching that even water inside a bucket, a cup, or a tub split - a person would suddenly see water parting to the sides: what happened? The Red Sea split. The Radak, by contrast, explains more simply that the Psalmist is recounting the miracles from a broader historical perspective: first "the sea saw and fled" at the Exodus from Egypt, and later another miracle occurred upon entering the Land - "the Jordan turned backward" - at the beginning of the Book of Joshua.
The sefer Tehillot Shmuel cites in the name of the Beit Yisrael: "The sea saw" - it saw the coffin of Joseph descending into the sea, as the Midrash states. And Rabbi Chaim Vital writes in Sha'arei Kedushah that man is composed of four elements: fire, air, water, and earth (symbolized by the acronym ARMA - esh, ruach, mayim, afar). Each element produces a different trait in man: one who is like a blazing fire, constantly rushing with no rest, is dominated by fire; one who conducts himself with arrogance and acts full of hot air draws this from the element of air (ruach); one who is heavy and finds it difficult to move, whose physical nature is coarse, is ruled by earth. Every person possesses all four elements; the question is which one predominates. And one who is drawn after bodily pleasures and lusts is governed by the element of water. Water always alludes to physical desire, just as every hotel seeking to market itself does so with water: the sea, and if there is no sea then a pool, and if no pool then a spa - always water, because desire is marketed with water.
According to this, one who rules over his desires is considered to rule over the element of water within him. Therefore, when the sea saw Yosef's coffin, it fled - for Yosef had mastered water, meaning he mastered desire, which is associated with water, and water yields before one who has mastered the force of desire. In contrast, Egypt - *metzar yam* (the strait of the sea) - represents those trapped within the straits of lust, surrounded by a sea of desire. This is why the Torah commands, "Do not perform the practices of the land of Egypt," and why it is called the "nakedness of the land" (*ervat ha'aretz*), for their entire essence was the defilement of illicit relations, being tied to the sea, which is water, which is lust.
Our Sages state in an enigmatic Midrash (*Midrash Pli'ah*): What did the sea see that caused it to flee? It saw the Beraita of Rabbi Yishmael. Many quills have been broken over this Midrash, and many explanations have been offered. Generally, a *Midrash Pli'ah* is an allegorical teaching that is difficult to understand on a literal level, providing fertile ground for homilists (*darshanim*). One must realize that many so-called *midreshei pli'ah* - and entire anthologies have been published collecting them alongside commentaries - are not authentic rabbinic Midrashim at all; rather, a preacher would invent an enigmatic, riddle-like sentence to serve as a pedagogical vehicle for conveying an idea. However, there are authentic enigmatic Midrashim found in Midrash Rabbah, Tanchuma, and similar sources, and one must labor to understand what the darshan intended.
The author of the Beis HaLevi offers a magnificent explanation: What is written in the Beraita of Rabbi Yishmael? The hermeneutical rule of *kal vachomer* (an a fortiori argument). The sea reasoned: If Yosef the Righteous fled before the wife of Potiphar, who was only a single woman, then I, who see the coffin of Yosef - *kal vachomer* that I must flee! This is what the sea saw: it saw the principle of *kal vachomer* taught in the Beraita of Rabbi Yishmael.
Incidentally, the Kabbalists explain that Rachav was the reincarnation of Zuleika, Potiphar's wife. When she saw through her astrology that "you and I are destined to unite" - while the plain meaning refers to her daughter, according to the esoteric tradition it referred to herself: you and I are matched, not in this lifetime, but in a future reincarnation. As cited in *Mishnat HaGilgulim*.
Let us return to the question of why the verse varies its terminology: the sea "fled" while the Jordan only "turned backward." By way of homiletic interpretation (*derash*), we can say based on what we have learned that at the sea there was a concept of "one who fled before one who fled" - in the merit of Yosef - which is why the language of fleeing is used specifically there, whereas at the Jordan it was not attributed to Yosef's merit, so it merely says "turned backward." However, the Malbim explains this according to the plain sense (*peshat*) and linguistic precision: as he already explained in Sefer Yehoshua, the miracle at the Jordan occurred from only one direction. The Jordan is a flowing river where the water cascades from high ground to low ground, and in order to cross it, it was sufficient merely to halt the flow upstream, since the water downstream would naturally continue to drain away. And indeed, so it happened: the Holy One, Blessed is He, halted the waters and they stood in a single heap - instead of continuing downstream, they piled upward. Thus, the waters did not form a wall on their right and their left, but only on one side, opposing the direction of the flow. Therefore, Scripture says "turned backward" - instead of continuing to flow, it reversed and stood as a wall. At the sea, however, the miracle took place on both sides, as two walls of water were required; therefore it says "fled" - as they entered, the waters fled and parted to both sides.
הֶהָרִים רָקְדוּ כְאֵילִים גְּבָעוֹת כִּבְנֵי־צֹאן׃ - The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.
"The mountains skipped like rams" - just as it is written, "and the entire mountain trembled violently." But if this refers to Mount Sinai, why is it in the plural? The Radak explains that it is possible the mountains adjacent to Mount Sinai also quaked and shook, like aftershocks, as did the nearby hills - "the hills like lambs." A hill (*giv'ah*), the Radak notes, is similar to a mountain, but is neither as tall nor peaked at its top, being rounded instead. The Malbim explains: the large mountains leaped like rams, as rams are large; and the small hills leaped like lambs, as lambs are smaller than rams. This alludes to Mount Sinai, Hor HaHar, and the miracles that took place there.
מַה־לְּךָ הַיָּם כִּי תָנוּס הַיַּרְדֵּן תִּסֹּב לְאָחוֹר׃ הֶהָרִים תִּרְקְדוּ כְאֵילִים גְּבָעוֹת כִּבְנֵי־צֹאן׃ - What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn backward? You mountains, that you skip like rams? You hills, like lambs?
The Radak explains that the question here is posed for the sake of the answer: as it were, the sea is asked, "Why do you act this way?" and to this comes the answer, "Before the Master, tremble, O earth." The Malbim explains that the question asks what caused the sea, the Jordan, and the mountains to alter their nature, and that "You mountains, that you dance like rams, you hills, like lambs" is also part of that question.
מִלִּפְנֵי אָדוֹן חוּלִי אָרֶץ מִלִּפְנֵי אֱלוֹהַּ יַעֲקֹב׃ - Before the Master, tremble, O earth, before the God of Jacob.
Rashi explains that chuli aretz means the Creator of the earth (mecholel ha'aretz), where the letter yud is an added grammatical suffix, as in "Who sits on high [magbihi lashavet], Who lowers Himself to see [mashpili lirot]," and "Who turns [hahofchi]." The Radak, however, explains differently: the earth responds, "Before the Master" - this is the answer, that all of this happens before the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is the Master. Then comes a command directed to the earth: "Tremble, O earth [chuli aretz]" - it is fitting that you writhe, tremble, and fear. According to this, the yud is not superfluous, but the standard feminine imperative form. And who is this Master? "Before the God of Jacob" - Hashem, Who acquired us from the house of bondage, brought us out, and redeemed us, and it is fitting that we all tremble before Him and fulfill His will. The Metzudat David, by contrast, follows Rashi's approach: the entire verse is the answer. Why did the sea flee and why do the mountains dance? Before the Master Who formed the earth, and out of fear of Him we flee; "before the God of Jacob," which is a repetition of the idea in different words. According to this, the term chuli denotes creation, as in, "When there were no depths, I was brought forth [cholalti]."
The Malbim explains: "Before the Master" - because the Master Himself descended to exercise His providence, and therefore "tremble, O earth," for the earth, as it were, trembled and shook. What does "before the God of Jacob" add? This explains why the Master revealed Himself: because He is the God of Jacob. The Malbim explains in several places that whenever the Holy One, blessed be He, is mentioned by a name connected to us - the God of Israel, the God of Jacob, our God - it points to His bond and closeness with us, and to individual divine providence (hashgachah pratit). Since this is so, it is before Him that the earth should rightly tremble and shake.
In the book Yalkut Peninim, a teaching is cited in the name of the Vilna Gaon: Why does the verse specifically mention Jacob and none of the other holy Forefathers? He answers that such a miracle had already occurred for our father Jacob, as it is said, "for with my staff I crossed this Jordan" (Bereishit 32:11), and Chazal teach that he placed his staff into the Jordan and it split. Therefore, it is fitting that the waters split "before the God of Jacob" - for ever since then we possess this merit, having seen that He has the power to split the Jordan; consequently, it was fitting that the sea split before us now as well.
הַהֹפְכִי הַצּוּר אֲגַם־מָיִם חַלָּמִישׁ לְמַעְיְנוֹ־מָיִם׃ - Who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.
The Radak explains: just as the Holy One, blessed be He, has the power to turn what is moist into dry land - to dry up the sea and turn it into parched ground so they could pass through on dry land - so too does He have the power to do the exact opposite: "Who turns the rock," which is dry and hard, into a pool of water, and turns the flint, a solid stone, into "a spring of water" gushing forth, as it says, "and you shall strike the rock and water will come out of it" (Shemot 17:6). The Well of Miriam was not like a conventional well that people picture; it was a flowing rock that traveled with them everywhere, gushing abundant water to give them drink. The Radak notes: the Holy One, blessed be He, rules over everything. Therefore, He turned the rock into a pool of water and the flint into a spring of water, and similarly, even something as massive and immovable as a mountain dances when Hashem wills it - "the mountains danced like rams, the hills like lambs." All this demonstrates that the Holy One, blessed be He, rules over everything with His power.
The Malbim explains, consistent with his commentary in Psalm 77 on the verse, "The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You, they trembled" (Tehillim 77:17): when the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself over the sea to split it, He manifested through the spiritual foundation of water - the dimension of water in the higher spiritual world - which directly affected the waters below. For everything down here in this world has a foundation and a root on high, what we might call its spiritual core. When the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to effect an action in the waters below, He reveals Himself within that root and dimension above, and from there the effect unfolds down below. This is a well-known principle: if the divine influx is of chesed (lovingkindness), it stems from the aspect of chesed in the supernal sefirot; and if it is of judgment (dinim), it descends through the aspect of gevurah. Everything that exerts an influence down below originates from its root above.
And therefore the sea fled - because the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to it at the root of water, and from that very same power He also turned the rock into a pool of water. And flint is even harder than rock: the hard rock became a pool, a place of moisture, while the spring - which represents an actively flowing source, as opposed to a pool which is merely an accumulation of water - came from the harder flint. From the flint, the spring flowed into the pool formed from the rock. From here we learn that the influence of the Holy One, blessed be He, flows from that supernal point in the upper worlds, and it is that which channels abundance down here below.
Psalm 114 describes the moment we became the people of Hashem: we departed from the governance of the natural order and transitioned to a direct, miraculous providence, "Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion." The Malbim teaches that "Israel" refers to the spiritually elevated individuals who merely had to leave Egypt, whereas "the House of Jacob" refers to the masses who also had to detach from their connection to the foreign-speaking nation; and that holiness means rising above nature - and when a person elevates himself above his own nature, the Holy One, blessed be He, relates to him above the natural laws of the world. Judah, who showed self-sacrifice at the sea, brought about this level of providence, and the sea, the Jordan, the mountains, and the hills all altered their nature "at the presence of the Master... at the presence of the God of Jacob" - because of the bond and individual Divine providence He maintains with us. And in conclusion: He who transforms the rock into a pool of water and the flint into a spring reveals that everything is drawn down from the supernal source, and that He alone rules over all.