עקידת יצחק — הבה נתחכמה לו / וימררו את חייהם

Q — Why does Pharaoh open with "let us deal wisely" rather than brute force? Why does his scheme — lest they "go up from the land" — invert into Israel's redemption? Why does the Torah dwell on the cunning before the cry?

A — One who schemes against a divine decree is trapped by the very means he chose to escape it. Pharaoh feared Israel would "go up from the land," and through his own oppression that ascent — the Exodus — came to pass. His "wisdom" was the instrument of his downfall, because human cunning aimed against God's plan becomes the channel that fulfills it; the harsher the bondage, the closer the geulah it precipitated.