The first word of the possuk is וַיְהִי, which the Gemara tells us is an expression of pain. The Ohr Hachaim asks why, at a time of happiness and glee at Klal Yisroel’s great redemption and triumph, does the Torah use an expression of pain? He also asks, why does the Torah say that Par’oh sent Klal Yisroel out of Mitzrayim, was it not the Master of all actions who did so? Hashem saved us from Par’oh, why would the credit be passed on to Par’oh?
The Ohr Hachaim explains that the possuk is telling us the reason for all of the pain that Klal Yisroel needed to suffer now with Par’oh chasing after them. Was their ordeal not over yet? Hashem had forced Par’oh, with overwhelming force, to free Klal Yisroel. Par’oh announced, in no unequivocal words, that they should leave and that he had no claims against them. Why did things have to change? By chasing Klal Yisroel at the Yam Suf, Par'oh caused ruin to himself and his nation through this act. This caused pain to him and to Klal Yisroel, and that is why the Torah uses an expression of pain.
The Gemara says that the Mal’achim were about to sing praise to Hashem when He guided them through the split sea, but Hashem told them not to, saying, “the products of My hand are drowning in the sea, and you wish to sing praise?!” Hashem is not pleased when His subjects are dying, and that’s why the Torah uses an expression of pain.
The reason the exodus was painful for Par’oh was because Par’oh was the one who sent them away from Mitzrayim. If Hashem would have removed Klal Yisroel from Mitzrayim without resorting to Par’oh’s acquiescence, he would not have chased after them. He was fooled by the fact that Hashem waited for him to agree to send them and thought that he could bring them back. This caused his suffering and destruction.
The possuk then adds וְלֹא נָחָם אֱלוקים with a ויו at the beginning to show that this adds to the previous story. More pain was caused by the fact that they had to travel the long way around.
Another explanation offered by the Ohr Hachaim is based on the Zohar. The Zohar says whenever the Torah uses the word עָם for Klal Yisroel when referring to the Erev Rav – the mixture of nations that joined Klal Yisroel when they left Mitzrayim. When the Torah calls them בְנֵי יִשְרָאֵל, the Torah means the higher level of Klal Yisroel. The next possuk of וַחֲמֻשִים עָלוּ בְנֵי יִשְרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם - And the Children of Israel went up armed from the land of Egypt is talking about those parts of Klal Yisroel. Klal Yisroel, when they fell into the aveira of the Golden Calf, are called שחת עמך – your nation had destroyed. That was a product of the Erev Rav, not the real Klal Yisroel.
הרה"ק רבי חיים זאנוויל בן רבי משה זצ"ל מריבניצא. נערך ע"י: הרב יוסף שמלאשוילי שליט"א. לרפואת: משה בן חנה בתוך שאר חולי עמו ישראל אמן! גיליון זה להצלחת: שושנה תמר בת זוהרה, וכן יוסף בן שרה אמן! וכן להצלחת: אריה לייב בן אידל שיחי'! וכן להצלחת: נעכא העניא בת רבקה חנה וכן שמחה בן נעכא העניא אסתר בילא בת ברכה וכל משפחתה אמן!
