Exodus 13:17

If the map be consulted which points to the situation of Canaan, it will appear that from Egypt, the direct road was from the northern part of Egypt to the southern part of Canaan, and this was a short way of not above a week's journey. But then the Philistines, a warlike people, occupied the intermediate land. The Lord therefore caused the people to go a long circuitous way. See Psalms 107:1. Besides the wisdom of this, there was much mercy in it also. Egypt was to be destroyed. See Exodus 9:15. And therefore the Red Sea was to be made a port of safety to Israel, and the grave of Egypt. See Exodus 14:3. Neither was this all. Israel was to be proved by a wilderness state before entering upon the promised land. See Deuteronomy 8:2; Exodus 3:12.