And on the twenty-fourth day: They could not fast on the twenty-third, because it was the day following the festival, on which fasting is prohibited.

From all foreigners: That is, from foreign wives. After separating from them at the time of Ezra’s return, they later stumbled in this matter a second time. According to the interpretation that this event occurred at the time of Zerubbabel’s return, the practice continued to spread until Ezra corrected it.

And the Levites said: This is the structure of the prayer: first, it recounts how God chose Abraham and his descendants to be His treasured people and made a covenant with him to give him and his descendants the land suited to this purpose (verses 7–8); how He kept His covenant by bringing them out of Egypt and sustaining them in the wilderness (verses 9–15); how, although they rebelled against Him, He did not withdraw His word but brought them into the land (verses 15–25); and how they sinned and provoked Him there, while He dealt with them for many years according to His mercy, until He delivered them into the hands of the peoples of the lands (verses 26–30). Since throughout all this He did not abandon them, His Providence remained upon them, and He remains prepared to preserve His covenant forever, they ask Him to remember all the hardships they endured during their exile. They, in turn, will correct the sins of their ancestors by making a covenant to observe His laws and commandments (verses 31–37; 10:1). “Arise” is a command that everyone should bless God, who is blessed both in this world and in the eternal world that will follow it. After instructing the people to bless God, the speaker turns toward God and says: They will bless Your glorious name. That is, in Your very essence, You are exalted and raised beyond every blessing and praise, for no one can apprehend You in order to praise You, nor can anyone comprehend the emanation proceeding from Your essence so as to bless You on that basis. You are utterly hidden, elevated beyond every blessing and praise. What they can bless is only Your glorious name—the name by which You have become known through the glory revealed in the creation You made, through which Your glory and kingship became manifest. It is this name that they will bless, not Your essence, for—

You are exalted above all blessing and praise; You alone are Hashem: You alone, in Your very essence, are exalted and raised beyond every blessing and praise. After this introduction, the prayer explains the words “They shall bless Your glorious name.” The glorious name through which God becomes known to His creatures is revealed through three things. First, through creation; thus it says, “You made the heavens,” and so forth—that is, You created both the upper and lower realms. Second, through the preservation of creation and its continuous governance; thus it says, “And You give life to them all.” You are unlike any other maker, whose work continues to exist independently after he has made it. The entire creation possesses existence and life only through You, for You are the soul that gives life to all reality. Although it appears that the world is governed through the heavenly host and the order of the celestial system, nevertheless, “the host of heaven bows down to You,” for You govern them, grant them their power, and rule over them all.

You: Third, Your glorious name becomes known through miraculous providential governance. This does not operate according to the established order of the heavenly system, but according to the deeds of the holy ones upon earth—the uniquely chosen individuals upon whom this wondrous Providence rests, overturning nature and performing miracles for those who fear God. This form of Providence began with Abraham. Thus it says, “You are Hashem God who chose Abram”—God chose him to become the vehicle for miraculous governance—“and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans.” At that time, You first suspended nature for his sake, and he was saved from the fiery furnace. Afterward, “You gave him the name Abraham,” as a sign that he would become the father of a multitude of nations, and that his descendants would likewise be a treasured people, worthy of attachment to the Divine, with God’s presence dwelling among them.

And You found: After Abraham had withstood all the trials through which he was tested, his heart was found faithful to his God. Therefore, You made a covenant with him to give him the land of the Canaanite, the land uniquely suited to providential and miraculous governance, and to give it to his descendants. The covenant was to give it to Abraham through Divine designation and promise, and to give it to his descendants by bringing them there to inherit it, as stated, “To you I will give it, and to your descendants forever.” The prayer now begins to recount how God fulfilled His covenant, as it says, “And You fulfilled Your words.” There was no injustice in taking the land from the Canaanites, for “You are righteous,” as it is written, “Because of the wickedness of these nations, Hashem drives them out before you.”

And You saw: The prayer explains how God fulfilled His words. Their sojourn in Egypt was a necessary preparation for inheriting the land, as stated, “Your descendants will be strangers,” for Egypt was the iron furnace in which they were refined and tested, so that they would become worthy of miraculous Providence cleaving to them. Then “You saw their affliction.” The clauses correspond to one another: “You saw the affliction of our ancestors,” and therefore “You performed signs and wonders”; “You heard their cry at the Red Sea,” and therefore “You divided the sea before them.” Because You saw the affliction of our ancestors—therefore—

And You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh: This was for two reasons. First, as punishment for the Egyptians’ mistreatment of Israel. Although the exile occurred through God’s decree—“They shall enslave and afflict them”—God knew that the Egyptians did not afflict them in order to fulfill that decree. Rather, “You knew that they had acted presumptuously against them”: they deliberately increased Israel’s suffering and oppression, not because of God’s word but from the wickedness of their own hearts. [Thus God said, “And I will also judge the nation whom they shall serve”—meaning that He would judge whether they had enslaved Israel because of His decree or from the malice of their own hearts.] The second reason was: “And You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.” The signs and wonders were intended to cause people to recognize God’s name and glory, as it is written: “Come to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart … so that I may place these signs of Mine in his midst,” corresponding to the first reason; and “so that you may recount … and you shall know that I am Hashem,” corresponding to the second.

And the sea: You heard their cry at the Red Sea, and You divided the sea before them for two purposes: first, to save them, so that they could pass through the sea on dry land; and second, to drown their enemies—“You cast their pursuers into the depths.”

And with the pillar: The prayer now recounts how, after they left Egypt, Israel became God’s treasured people: “Their King passed before them, with Hashem at their head.” First, He dwelled in their midst to show them the way, as it says, “You guided them by a pillar of cloud.” Thus it is written, “They have heard that You, Hashem, are in the midst of this people, that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them by day in a pillar of cloud,” and so forth. This was the sign that God dwelled among them with the cloud of His glory.

Second, “You descended upon Mount Sinai”: God’s own glory was then revealed to them in order to give them His Torah. “And You gave them”: While they were still at Mount Sinai, He gave them the Ten Commandments and the entire passage through the end of Mishpatim. There He commanded Moses concerning ordinances governing relations between one person and another; a Torah of truth concerning matters of faith; statutes, such as “You shall not cook a kid in its mother’s milk”; and good commandments, such as “If you lend money,” and similar laws.

And the Sabbath: The Sabbath was commanded in the Ten Commandments and again at the end of the portion of Mishpatim. The verse says, “You made known to them,” because through the Sabbath God revealed to them the fundamental principles of faith concerning the creation of the world and taught them that they are governed through Divine Providence. For this reason, the commandment of the Sabbath was given, as I have explained elsewhere. And commandments: That is, afterward You taught them commandments, statutes, and Torah throughout the period in which they remained in the wilderness of Sinai, until they encamped in the wilderness of Paran. During that time, You gave them all the commandments recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers through the portion of Sh’laḥ.

And bread: He also watched over them providentially, providing all their needs in the wilderness. And You told them to enter and possess the land: At that time, He instructed them to go and take possession of the land, as it is written, “I said to you: You have come to the mountain of the Amorites … Go up and possess it” (Deuteronomy 1:20–21).

But they: They acted presumptuously and said, “Let us send men ahead of us.” Afterward, they refused to listen. Although Moses told them, “Do not be terrified and do not fear them; Hashem will fight for you, just as He did for you in Egypt,” they did not remember Your wonders, and they appointed a leader, as they said, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” Nevertheless, You are a God of forgiveness, and so forth.

Even when: This was not their first sin, for they had already sinned by making the Golden Calf, at which time they likewise deserved destruction. Nevertheless, in Your abundant mercy You did not abandon them. Although they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, they still had the pillars of fire and cloud, the spirit of prophecy resting upon Moses to instruct them, as well as the manna and the well. Throughout those forty years, You sustained them and provided all their needs, even while they remained under Divine displeasure because of their sin.

And You gave them: You further gave them the lands of Sihon and Og, which You had not promised to the Patriarchs at all. And You apportioned them to a region: You assigned two and a half tribes a separate region and territory beyond the Jordan. Because You had multiplied their children and they required a spacious land, You expanded the land’s boundaries. And You brought them into the land and fulfilled the covenant You had made with Abraham. The prayer has thus recounted how God kept His covenant.

And the children entered the Land of Israel, and they inherited the land. And You subdued: The prayer explains how they took possession of the land. Some nations You subdued before them: the Girgashites, who withdrew and departed, and the Hivites, who made peace with them, submitted, and did not fight. As for the other nations that fought against them, You delivered them into their hands, and they conquered them in battle—both the peoples and their kings—to do with them as they wished, removing them from the face of the earth.

And they captured: This corresponds to the language of the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:10–11): “When Hashem brings you into the land that He swore to your ancestors … great cities that you did not build.” “And they inherited houses” corresponds to “houses filled with every good thing that you did not fill”; “cisterns” to “hewn cisterns that you did not hew”; “vineyards” to “vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant”; and “they ate” to “you shall eat and be satisfied.” There the Torah continues, “Take care lest you forget Hashem,” and therefore the prayer next says—

And they rebelled: Afterward, they forgot Hashem. At first, they disobeyed His word, and later they rebelled completely, casting Your Torah behind their backs, and so forth.

And You delivered them: This occurred in the days of the Judges, as stated in Judges 2:14. The prayer distinguishes two stages. At first, it says that God delivered them into the hands of their oppressors, and afterward into the hands of their enemies. An “oppressor” is one who actively causes distress, whereas an “enemy” is one who harbors hatred in his heart. A person may be an oppressor without being an enemy, inflicting harm for his own benefit rather than from hatred. The second time, God delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who were harsher than their oppressors and subjugated them in exile even without needing to besiege them. And they ruled over them: This domination was more severe than what was stated on the first occasion, “and they oppressed them.” Moreover, concerning the first occasion, it says, “You gave them saviors who saved them,” whereas concerning the second, it says merely, “You delivered them.” Salvation means being saved completely and defeating the enemy, as occurred through deliverers such as Ehud and Deborah. On the second occasion, however, God merely rescued them from being destroyed by the enemy, without granting them a complete victory. Therefore, on the first occasion it says, “according to Your abundant mercies,” while on the second it says only, “according to Your mercy,” without describing the mercy as abundant or great, because the deliverance was limited. This occurred many times, throughout the entire period of the Judges.

And You warned them: Later, however, during the period of the kings, they began to sin continually, from the days of Jeroboam onward. You warned them, yet they acted presumptuously—for presumption means defying God openly and high-handedly. They did not obey Your commandments governing the relationship between man and God. They also sinned against Your ordinances, which a person shall perform and live by them—the laws sustaining an orderly society. They presented a rebellious shoulder to words of rebuke, and even when You punished them, they stiffened their necks.

And You prolonged: This continued for many years. And You warned them: Through the prophets, God then testified concerning the decree He had issued against them. These were the prophets who arose from the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, onward, all of whom prophesied. And You bore with them: This continued for many years. And You warned them: Through the prophets, You then testified concerning the decree You had issued against them. These were the prophets who arose from the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, onward, all of whom prophesied concerning the exile. But they did not listen, and therefore You delivered them into the hands of the peoples of the lands, beginning with the exile of the Ten Tribes by Assyria and continuing through the exile of Judah and Benjamin.

And in Your mercy: Despite everything, You had compassion upon them and did not destroy them completely. God watched over them “through the windows” and accompanied them into the land of their exile to protect them, as it is written, “Yet even then, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them … to destroy them utterly and break My covenant with them.” For He still preserves the covenant and kindness that He promised to the Patriarchs, as it says there, “I will remember My covenant with Jacob,” and so forth.

And now, our God: Since You still keep the covenant and kindness, as it is written, “I will remember My covenant with Jacob,” it follows that Your not abandoning them results from Your faithfulness to the covenant. [For this reason, the prayer added the titles “mighty and awesome,” which Jeremiah had omitted and which the Men of the Great Assembly restored, as the Sages explained. They saw that even during exile God displays His might, awesomeness, and particular Providence. Although His Providence operates in a veiled and hidden manner on a lower level, these themselves are manifestations of His mighty deeds, as I have explained elsewhere.] Let it not seem insignificant: Since the covenant remains in force and the exile serves only to atone for iniquity and bring transgression to an end, we have already received from God more than enough suffering, from the days of the kings of Assyria, when the exiles began, until this very day.

And You are righteous: Nevertheless, You were righteous in punishing us. This is true first from our own perspective: in all that has come upon us, we have acted wickedly. We continued to act wickedly despite all the suffering and affliction that befell us. Although You acted faithfully and the punishment was just, we did not take it to heart and repent, but continued acting wickedly even in our exile. And it is also true from the perspective of our ancestors, for—

And our kings: In the earlier period, in the days of our ancestors, when we had kings and officials, our kings, our officials, and all our ancestors did not heed Your commandments. They were not then suffering siege or distress, yet they did not serve You in their kingdom or amid Your abundant goodness. Thus we withstood neither the test of prosperity nor the test of poverty: we rebelled against God both in times of success and in days of affliction. [The expression “and our kings” means, “You are righteous with regard to our kings”; the particle et has the same meaning as im, “with” or “regarding.”]

Behold: Nehemiah now concludes his prayer by saying: We wish to correct the sin of our ancestors and turn away God’s wrath. Whereas our ancestors did not serve You despite their abundant prosperity and the good land they possessed, we will serve You even amid poverty and deprivation. Although we are slaves, and as for the land—we are slaves upon it, and its produce yields an increase—the word denotes interest, as in “Woe to him who increases what is not his.” That is, we pay interest and usury for the land to kings who rule over our bodies and our livestock, until we are in great distress. Nevertheless, we make a firm covenant and undertake to observe the Torah. In this way, we will correct the sin of our ancestors, who did not serve You when they lived in the land and possessed every good thing.