Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said: I was like a man of seventy: He was not really seventy years old but as the Talmud explains, his hair grew white on the night after he was chosen to be the head of the Sanhedrin so that he looked was like a man of seventy. It was not fitting for such a young looking man to sit over the head court.

And I did not merit to teach that Exodus should be mentioned at night: I did not merit (lo zakhiti) is another way of saying "I did not succeed." I did not best the sages until I learned Ben Zoma's teaching. Some say that Rabbi Elazar was convinced that it was not appropriate to mention the Exodus (in the third paragraph of the Sh'ma) at night until he heard the teaching of Ben Zoma. From then on he decreed that the Exodus passage should be read both in the daytime and at night. It was read in the daytime before emet v'yatziv, and at night before emet v'emunah. Before he learned Ben Zoma's teaching, Rabbi Elazar would skip the entire passage, because it says, "You shall see them," which implies only during the day. Upon hearing Ben Zoma's interpretation, he made it an obligation to mention the Exodus, which is in the last part of this passage, during the day and at night. The sages, however, took exception with Ben Zoma and said "the days of your life" refers this world, and "All the days of your life," refers to the world to come (the messianic era). The sages said that the Exodus would remain part of the liturgy but it would be secondary to Israel's final redemption, from subjugation to the nations.