When the plague of locusts ends, the locusts come to a peculiar end:
And the Lord turned a very strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Sea of Suf; there remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt.
None of the other plagues end this way. And the language is odd, suggesting a foreshadowing of what happens at the Exodus.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his host has he thrown into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Sea of Suf.
The Torah is comparing Egypt (or at least its leadership) to locusts. Why? Well, the locusts are described as
For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every plant of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained no green thing in the trees, or in the plants of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
The locusts consume everything. They leave nothing behind – they even block the light. And what for? It is all pointless. There is no positive outcome of any kind. All of that life, mindlessly pursuing its own desires, and when it is all done… nada.
I think this is a metaphor for Egypt itself. It was the center of civilization in the Ancient World. Egypt, and was the breadbasket as well as the highest population of any known place. It had so much opportunity, so much potential.
But Egypt lived for death not life. The country was in an endless time warp, locked into the cycles of nature, with no concept of a golden age still to come for the living. Egypt did not create music or great art, did not grow philosophers or natural scientists or even very much technological development. The only things of note that remain were pyramids, over 135 of them, all of them dedicated for dead Pharaohs. Egypt spent its life in consumption, all for the sake of an afterlife. Or, to put it bluntly: all for naught. Like locusts. And, like locusts, to be extinguished in the Sea of Suf. A fitting nihilistic end for a nihilistic culture.
The Jewish People stand in contradistinction to Egypt, in every respect. Egypt is and was numerous; Jews have always been few. Egypt lived for death; Jews for life. Egypt was static; Judaism is dynamic. Egypt was in harmony with nature; Jews try to improve and change the world. For its sustenance, Egypt looks down; Israel looks up. Egypt believes in fate and predestination; Jews believe that we can change the future. Egypt is resigned; Israel, optimistic.
The Torah gives us more hints of this in the way it references the “Sea of Suf.” This name is consistently used in the text to denote what the people move away from.
And I will set thy bounds from the Sea of Suf even to the Sea of the Pelishtim.
The Sea of Suf is the no-man’s land between Egypt and Israel. One side is meant to be ours, the other side, theirs. It is the demarcation between Egypt and Israel for all time, and in all ways.
[an @iwe, @blessedblacksmith, @eliyahumasinter and @susanquinn piece]