And despite all this, although we are in distress, we make a firm covenant—that is, a faithful and enduring covenant, in contrast to our ancestors, who did not serve God despite possessing abundance. And upon the sealed document: This refers to the document upon which they placed their signatures. It may be that their custom, whenever recording a binding agreement, was to write it in two documents: one open document and one sealed document, as described in Jeremiah 32:11, 14. The open document was signed on the inside, while the sealed document was signed on the outside, as the Sages said: “A plain bill has its witnesses inside; a folded bill has its witnesses outside.” The order of signatures was first the priests, then the Levites, and finally the officials. This was the order in the open document. In the sealed document, however, the signed portions were folded outward, reversing the order so that those who had signed last appeared first: first the officials, then the Levites, and then the priests. Thus, when the verse says, “And upon the sealed document,” meaning the sealed document, the order was “our officials, our Levites, and our priests.”

And among those who signed: This refers to the open document, where the signatories appeared in their original order: first the priests, then the Levites, and afterward the leaders of the people. If you count them, you will find that eighty-three people signed. They correspond to the seventy members of the Sanhedrin and the thirteen Temple officials enumerated by Maimonides in chapter 4 of the Laws of the Temple Vessels, apart from the High Priest, who is not mentioned among the signatories: the deputy High Priest, two katikolin, seven amarkalin, and three treasurers.

And the rest: That is, the rest of the people who did not sign the document supported their brethren and consented to the oath. And everyone who had separated himself: This refers to the converts. Everyone who knew and understood: Both their wives, who lacked understanding, and everyone who possessed knowledge and understanding—all of them supported their brethren and accepted the oath.

That we would not give: Even though they were not members of the seven Canaanite nations.

And the peoples of the land: They accepted upon themselves the prohibition against buying and selling on the Sabbath, which is not explicitly stated in the Torah. And we would leave the seventh year untended: This excludes the opinion that the Sabbatical year does not apply when the Jubilee does not apply, since the Jubilee applies only when all the land’s inhabitants dwell upon it.

One-third of a shekel: According to the commentators, this was in addition to the half-shekel. See I Kings 7:26, for the coinage had changed by that time, and one-third of the later shekel was equivalent to one-half of the earlier shekel, as stated in Ezekiel 45:12.

For the continual burnt offering, and for the burnt offerings of the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the festivals, and for the sacred offerings: Such as the Omer offering, the lambs of Shavuot, and the two loaves. And for the sin offerings: The goats offered on the New Moons and festivals.

And we cast lots: As the Sages explained in tractate Ta’anit.

And to bring the first fruits of our soil: Wheat and barley. And the first fruits of every fruit of every tree: Grapes, figs, pomegranates, and so forth. Rashi writes that the obligation to bring the first fruits of every tree is rabbinic. This is puzzling, because the Jerusalem Talmud in tractate Bikkurim states that first fruits brought from species other than the seven species do not become consecrated. It therefore appears that, since the Torah establishes no fixed quantity for first fruits, they undertook to bring a fitting gift to the House of God—one-sixtieth of the produce—in accordance with the rabbinic enactment.

And the firstborn of our sons and our animals: This refers to the firstborn of non-kosher animals, whose redemption payment does not have to be brought to the House of God. And the firstborn of our cattle, to bring to the House of our God: These were brought there to be offered as sacrifices.

And the first portion: This is entirely consistent with Maimonides’ opinion that in the days of Ezra, the obligations of ḥallah, terumah, and tithes applied only by rabbinic law, as he states at the end of chapter 1 of the Laws of Terumot. Accordingly, everything they accepted upon themselves here was rabbinic in origin. According to Raavad, however, terumah was a Torah obligation while only ḥallah was rabbinic. It may therefore be explained that they accepted the obligation of separating terumah from other fruits, as implied by “the fruit of every tree,” since according to his view (Laws of Tithes 1:9), only grain, wine, and oil are obligated by Torah law. Thus it says, “and the tithe of our soil,” meaning from everything that grows from the soil. And they, the Levites, shall receive the tithes: The Levites are the ones who collect the tithe in all the cities of our labor, wherever agricultural work is performed in the fields.

And the priest shall be with the Levites: According to the Sages, the Levites were penalized at that time by allowing the priests also to receive the first tithe (see Yevamot 86b and Chullin 131b). That is, the priests were permitted to take the tithe as well, while the tithe of the tithe still had to be given to the priests even from produce received by a Levite.