בִּמְתֵי מְעָט B’matei mi’at: “Few in number” (Deut. 26:5) If it were not for the words of the Maggid, I might have thought that the end of the verse, “...and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky," (Deut. 10:22) is the proof text for what is stated (next), “and he became a great nation there.” (Deut. 26:5) But since the Maggid quotes the entire verse here when explaining, “Few in number,” it must be because one might not understand, “Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons in all,” to mean, “Few in number.” After all, the head of a household who has seventy children and grandchildren would not call such a family, “Few in number!” Therefore the proof (that seventy) is few in numbers is what is stated in the second part of the prooftext, “The Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky," (Deut. 10:22) The Maggid’s intention was to add something else regarding, "And he became there a nation," (Deut.26:5) -”this teaches that Israel became distinguishable there, great, mighty. This means that they became a strong,mighty, and healthy nation. When the Egyptians saw how great their strength was, they were startled and hinted with their hands to one another, “Look how great their strength is!” Metzuyanim מְצֻיָּנִים means, “They pointed out.”