Commentary for Deuteronomy 26:5
וְעָנִ֨יתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ֜ לִפְנֵ֣י ׀ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ אֲרַמִּי֙ אֹבֵ֣ד אָבִ֔י וַיֵּ֣רֶד מִצְרַ֔יְמָה וַיָּ֥גָר שָׁ֖ם בִּמְתֵ֣י מְעָ֑ט וַֽיְהִי־שָׁ֕ם לְג֥וֹי גָּד֖וֹל עָצ֥וּם וָרָֽב׃
And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
Rashi on Deuteronomy
וענית is an expression for raising one’s voice (speaking loudly) (Sotah 32b).
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Sforno on Deuteronomy
ארמי אובד אבי, my father, i.e. Yaakov, who was for a while a wandering lost person without a home of his own, was not at the time able to establish a nation deserving or fit to inherit this land.
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Or HaChaim on Deuteronomy
וענית ואמרת, "And you shall answer and say, etc." Some commentators understand the word וענית as similar to Job 3,2: i.e. "he answered." It is also possible that the word is related to עני. When an undeserving individual has received a great favour from his king, he humbles himself before his king with a contrite heart. Similarly, the Jewish farmer who has seen the blessing G'd has showered on his field or orchard humbles himself before the Lord. He does so by recounting the lowly beginnings of the Jewish people whose ancestor Jacob was a hired hand working for Laban, who made every effort to destroy him. Up to this point the word וענית applies to the recital of the Jewish farmer. Once he recalls the Exodus and how G'd has elevated the Jewish people the Torah refers to his recital as ואמרת, "you will say (with a sense of great satisfaction)". This is what the sages had in mind in Pessachim 116 when they said that the order in which we recount the story of the Exodus on the night of the "Seder" is that one begins by reciting something shameful only to conclude with something representing praise and satisfaction.
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