עֹ֤שֶׂה חֶ֙סֶד֙ לַֽאֲלָפִ֔ים וּמְשַׁלֵּם֙ עֲוֺ֣ן אָב֔וֹת אֶל־חֵ֥יק בְּנֵיהֶ֖ם אַחֲרֵיהֶ֑ם הָאֵ֤ל הַגָּדוֹל֙ הַגִּבּ֔וֹר יְהוָ֥ה צְבָא֖וֹת שְׁמֽוֹ׃
טוסט חסד מיטן טױזנטסטן גליד, און באַצאָלסט די זינד פֿון די עלטערן אין דעם בוזעם פֿון זײערע קינדער נאָך זײ; דו גרױסער, מאַכטיקער גאָט, װאָס ה׳ פֿון צבָאוֹת איז זײַן נאָמען,
Bartenura
to the men of the Great Assembly: There were 120 elders, (including) Zerubavel, Seraiah, Re’elaiah, Mordekhai, Bilshan, who in the days of Ezra were the ones who emigrated from the diaspora in (the period of) the second Temple. Included among them were Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi and Nechemiah ben Chachliah and their associates. They were called the Great Assembly since they restored the crown to its original splendor (Yoma 69b), for Moses said “The great, mighty and awesome God (Deut. 10:17).” Jeremiah and Daniel came but did not say, “Mighty and awesome (Jer. 32:18) (Dan. 9:4),” but they restored it as in the beginning, since they indeed stated both his might and his awesomeness. For were it not so, how could a nation such as this be able to endure in the presence of so many nations.
Tosafot Yom Tov
THE GREAT ASSEMBLY. Rav writes that they were called this because they “returned the crown to its former glory… Jeremiah and Daniel came, and did not say ‘the mighty and awesome one’ (Yoma 69b).” Jeremiah said, “The great and mighty one, whose name is Lord of Hosts (Jeremiah 32:18)”, but did not say “awesome”. Daniel said, “The great and awesome one (Daniel 9:4 ),” but did not say “mighty.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
ה' איש מלחמה, “Hashem is a master of war.” Seeing that Moses had told the people earlier that “Hashem will fight on your behalf,” they now confirmed to him: “G’d is a master of war.” In order to prevent someone making the mistake of thinking G’d employs conventional weapons when He carries on warfare, they added ה' שמו, “His name is Hashem.” It suffices for G’d to invoke His name and He does not have to engage in tiring and bothersome activity to prevail over His adversaries. We have a parallel line in Jeremiah 32,18: “O great and mighty G’d whose name is the Lord of Hosts.” When Jeremiah describes G’d as the Creator of the universe in Jeremiah 33,2, he also writes: “the Lord Who is shaping it (the universe) to bring it about, Whose name is “the Lord.” [Just as creating the universe did not entail toil and fatigue, neither will restoration of the Jewish state.]
A different approach: the word ואנוהו may be understood as אני והוא, meaning אדמה לו, “I wish to emulate Him.” The idea is similar to that expressed in Deut. 28,9 והלכת בדרכיו, “and you go in His ways.” Our sages (Shabbat 133) elaborated on this: “just as He displays patience and is long-suffering (man’s errors) so you shall be patient and long-suffering. Just as He clothes the naked so you shall clothe the naked. Just as He buries the dead, so you shall bury the dead.” The point of this Midrash is to demonstrate that just as G’d was involved in our redemption He is also part of our exile experience, suffering alongside with us. Proof that He participated in our exile is provided by the assurance in Genesis 46,4: “I will go down with you to Egypt.” Our sages used this verse to say that the Shechinah was exiled together with the Jewish people (Megillah 29). We also have a verse in Exodus 1,1 that G’d kept His promise when the Torah wrote the extra word את in that verse to show that G’d had gone down to Egypt together with Yaakov and his family. When we read in Exodus 12,37 that “the Israelites journeyed from Raamses, etc., this is followed in 14,19 where the Torah writes that “an angel of G’d traveled with them.” This illustrates that the Shechinah left Egypt together with them. When David wrote in Psalms 60,7 הושיעה ימינך וענני, “deliver with Your right hand and answer me,” this is a clear indication that G’d, i.e. the Shechinah, was itself in need of salvation.
The word ואנוהו, i.e. אני והוא is an allusion to both the Israelites and the Shechinah. They shared the exile experience first and now are ready to celebrate the redemption together also. When Ezekiel 1,1 describes his first experience as a prophet and says ואני בתוך הגולה, “and I was in the midst of exile,” the introductory letter ו is a reference to the Shechinah which shared the exile experience with the Jewish people. When Jeremiah 40,1 speaks of והוא אסור באזקים, “and He is bound in fetters,” the extraneous word והוא is a reference to the Shechinah.
A different approach: the word ואנוהו may be understood as אני והוא, meaning אדמה לו, “I wish to emulate Him.” The idea is similar to that expressed in Deut. 28,9 והלכת בדרכיו, “and you go in His ways.” Our sages (Shabbat 133) elaborated on this: “just as He displays patience and is long-suffering (man’s errors) so you shall be patient and long-suffering. Just as He clothes the naked so you shall clothe the naked. Just as He buries the dead, so you shall bury the dead.” The point of this Midrash is to demonstrate that just as G’d was involved in our redemption He is also part of our exile experience, suffering alongside with us. Proof that He participated in our exile is provided by the assurance in Genesis 46,4: “I will go down with you to Egypt.” Our sages used this verse to say that the Shechinah was exiled together with the Jewish people (Megillah 29). We also have a verse in Exodus 1,1 that G’d kept His promise when the Torah wrote the extra word את in that verse to show that G’d had gone down to Egypt together with Yaakov and his family. When we read in Exodus 12,37 that “the Israelites journeyed from Raamses, etc., this is followed in 14,19 where the Torah writes that “an angel of G’d traveled with them.” This illustrates that the Shechinah left Egypt together with them. When David wrote in Psalms 60,7 הושיעה ימינך וענני, “deliver with Your right hand and answer me,” this is a clear indication that G’d, i.e. the Shechinah, was itself in need of salvation.
The word ואנוהו, i.e. אני והוא is an allusion to both the Israelites and the Shechinah. They shared the exile experience first and now are ready to celebrate the redemption together also. When Ezekiel 1,1 describes his first experience as a prophet and says ואני בתוך הגולה, “and I was in the midst of exile,” the introductory letter ו is a reference to the Shechinah which shared the exile experience with the Jewish people. When Jeremiah 40,1 speaks of והוא אסור באזקים, “and He is bound in fetters,” the extraneous word והוא is a reference to the Shechinah.