This chapter deals with the covenant that the Holy One, blessed be He, made with our Patriarchs, the promise of the Land, and the eternal remembrance of that covenant. In the section before us, we will examine the verses in which King David describes how the Holy One, blessed be He, remembers His covenant forever, how the covenant was passed down from Avraham to Yitzchak and from Yitzchak to Yaakov, and the significance of the promise of the Land to a people who were still few in number and lived in it as sojourners.
זָכַר לְעוֹלָם בְּרִיתוֹ דָּבָר צִוָּה לְאֶלֶף דּוֹר׃ - He remembers His covenant forever, the word He commanded for a thousand generations.
Rashi explains: "The word He commanded for a thousand generations" - this refers to the Torah, which the Holy One, blessed be He, had commanded to make known to the world after one thousand generations. That is to say, the Torah was ready one thousand generations earlier, and the Holy One, blessed be He, had originally ordained to reveal it only after one thousand generations. However, the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that the world could not endure without the Torah, so He bypassed nine hundred and seventy-four generations and gave the Torah right away.
And how did our Sages arrive specifically at the calculation of 974? From the creation of the world until the giving of the Torah, there were twenty-six generations. If the Torah was originally meant to be given after a thousand generations, but in reality was given only twenty-six generations after the creation of the world, it follows that it was prepared 974 generations before the creation of the world. One cannot say a full thousand generations, for the Torah was not given immediately at the creation of the world, but twenty-six generations later. Thus: 974 generations before the creation of the world, then the world was created and twenty-six generations elapsed - and the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah. Thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, skipped 974 generations and gave the Torah after just twenty-six generations.
In the language of Chazal, these generations are termed "those who were plucked up before their time," and there are differing perspectives regarding their true nature. Similarly, regarding the Sages' teaching that the Holy One, blessed be He, creates worlds and destroys them, there are various opinions about what those worlds were. Yet those who understand the inner dimensions of the Torah know that these all refer to spiritual levels - matters relating to the realm prior to the shattering of the vessels and the like - and not to physical human beings who existed in the world beforehand.
Rashi adds that the verse can also be explained according to its plain sense, without entering into the matter of those pre-creation generations: that the Holy One, blessed be He, remembered His covenant for Israel, which He commanded and promised to keep for them for a thousand generations. There is a promise here that the Holy One, blessed be He, preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments for a thousand generations. And "a thousand generations" does not mean a literal thousand and no more; rather, it means without end. Just as the Sages say, "even in a thousand it is not nullified" - meaning it is never nullified at all, not that it becomes nullified at two thousand - so too here: that which Hashem promised regarding His bond with us, He commanded for a thousand generations.
Radak explains that this verse serves as an introduction to the next verse: "He remembers His covenant forever" - which covenant? "That He made with Avraham, and His oath to Yitzchak." The covenant that Hashem made with Avraham and his descendants is what He remembered forever. And what Hashem commanded, decreed, and spoke to Avraham is what He fulfilled for his descendants after him. And why does it say "forever" and "for a thousand generations"? Because the Land will belong to the Jewish people forever.
And should you ask: Did they not go into exile from it, so how can it be said that it is ours forever? The answer is: even though Israel was exiled from their Land, the Land remained ours. The proof is that the Holy One, blessed be He, promised that even when foreign nations dwell here, the Land will not yield its produce: "And your enemies who dwell in it shall be desolate upon it." This is an extraordinary wonder: all the nations that dwelt here in the Land were never able to make the wilderness flourish.
In contrast, we have a promise in the Prophets: "But you, O mountains of Israel, shall yield your produce and bear your fruit for My people Israel, for they are soon to come." The Gemara says: When you see the mountains of Israel yielding their branches and fruit, know that My people are soon to come - there is no clearer revealed end of days than this. And indeed, over the past hundred years, the land has suddenly begun to bloom, because My people are soon to come. Before that, however - the Ramban writes that he walked from the north of the country to Jerusalem and did not see a single tree. And the Ramban did not live two thousand years ago, but merely seven or eight hundred years ago. Likewise, Mark Twain, who visited here over a century ago, wrote that the land seemed bewitched, as though an ancient curse lay upon it. No matter how much people tell you that others lived here, no one truly settled it, and no one made anything grow or flourish here. Why? Because this land keeps faith with the Jewish people. The Holy One, blessed be He, promised, "and your enemies who dwell therein shall be desolate upon it" - no one will succeed in establishing a kingdom here, and no one will make the desolation bloom.
Incidentally, we see the disaster in Turkey. Anyone whose memory is not short still remembers what we endured here under Turkish rule and how much we suffered at their hands, and we are beginning to see how the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts payment from them. The Chofetz Chaim says: Toward the end, before a business owner closes his shop, he demands all debts immediately. There are no payment installments and no deferrals for another year - I am closing the business, and you must pay everything right now. In this way, Ukraine is paying now, Russia is paying, Turkey is paying, Syria is paying, and Germany and everyone else will pay in the end. The Holy One, blessed be He, is preparing the cup of staggering for all of them, each according to their circumstance and according to what we suffered at their hands.
It is also said of the Land of Israel that it expands according to its inhabitants, and when only a few people live in it, it contracts - and this is said not only in relation to the nations, but also in relation to us. And "Eretz HaTzvi" (the deer-like land) - tzvi is also related to desire (ratzon), as in the Aramaic Targum "tzvei le-ma'avad re'uteih" (desired to do His will), meaning a land that everyone desired. From this the Radak learned that even in its desolation, the land belongs to us: even though they were exiled from it, they will yet return to it and will never be exiled from it again. This is the meaning of "forever" and "unto a thousand generations" - that this thousand generations is eternal.
In Midrash Shocher Tov, the Sages expound: What is "unto a thousand (le'elef) generations"? To the chief (le'alufo) of the generation. As we learned in the Mishnah, "Tekoa is alfa for oil." "Alfa" is the first letter, the Aleph of the alphabet, which is an expression for the finest - when people want to describe something of top quality, they call it "A-1." "Tekoa is alfa for oil" - Tekoa was considered the very best source for olive oil. And who is the chief of the generation, the finest and most exalted of all? That is Avraham Avinu. "The word He commanded to a thousand generations" - to the chief of the generation, to Avraham, to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, promised that from his descendants would come a nation that would receive the Torah.
The Malbim explains that the word "He remembered" (zachar) applies to both parts of the verse: He remembered His covenant forever, and He also remembered the word that He commanded unto a thousand generations. The covenant the Holy One, blessed be He, forged with the Patriarchs does not depend on human beings - it is forever. We have already explained previously that wherever "forever" (le'olam) is used, it refers to indivisible time: when we speak of a long period in this world, it is still divisible into days, weeks, and years, whereas "forever" is an indivisible, eternal reality. In contrast, the command that Hashem gave to human beings - where one generation goes and another generation comes - He commanded for the generations. From here on, the verses will elaborate on what this covenant is and what this commandment is that He commanded.
אֲשֶׁר כָּרַת אֶת־אַבְרָהָם וּשְׁבוּעָתוֹ לְיִשְׂחָק׃ - Which He forged with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac.
The Malbim explains: First, Hashem made a covenant with Avraham - and this is "He remembered His covenant forever, which He made with Avraham." Afterward, He swore to Yitzchak, meaning He made a second covenant with him that had the status of an oath. Note the ascending order: covenant (karat), oath (shevu'ah), statute (chok), eternal covenant (berit olam) - each one adds to the previous. An oath is greater than a covenant without an oath; initially there was a covenant without an oath, and afterward an oath was added as well.
The Radak explains: "Which He made with Avraham" - as it is written, "On that day Hashem made a covenant with Avram, saying: To your seed I have given this land." And that covenant was for Yitzchak's sake, as it says regarding it, "for through Isaac shall your seed be named" - the covenant I make with you is for the sake of your son after you, since Avraham himself did not receive the entire land, but rather those who came after him. And the oath - this is what we saw at the Binding of Yitzchak: "By Myself I have sworn," and likewise it was said to Yitzchak: "and I will establish the oath that I swore to Avraham your father."
Here it is written "Leyis-chak" with the letter sin (שׂ). We are accustomed to reciting "Le-Yitzchak" [with a tzadi] because we recite the Hodu found in Divrei HaYamim (I Chronicles 16:16), but in Tehillim it is spelled "Leyis-chak". Incidentally, this offers support for the Yemenite custom of pronouncing the letter tzadi like a samech, since tzadi and sin are phonetic relatives. In the sefer Dvir Kodsho, it is noted that in Yirmiyahu (33:26) it likewise states: "to the seed of Avraham, Yis-chak, and Yaakov."
And why is it written "Yis-chak" rather than "Yitzchak"? The Rosh brings a wondrous explanation. How long were the people of Israel in Egypt? "Redu" years - 210 years. And if you ask, why specifically this count of "Redu", no more and no less? The Rosh says: I heard a reason, for while our ancestors were in servitude, the Patriarchs would constantly stand and pray on behalf of Israel. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Is there anyone among you willing to subtract from the letters of his name, and in return I will subtract from the tally of the bondage destined to come upon Israel? (It should be noted at the outset that this Midrash touches upon the hidden mysteries of the Creator, and we read these words only on their surface level; there is certainly a deep inner dimension here - what it means that one of the Patriarchs would subtract from his name, and how subtracting from a name causes the Holy One, blessed be He, to reduce the years of servitude.)
Avraham and Yaakov initially replied in the negative - for every single letter of their name was essential to them. Then Yitzchak came and said: Master of the Universe, by rights my name should be written with a sin, as it is in Tehillim, "and His oath to Yis-chak"; I waive my honor so that it may be written with a tzadi, and let the difference between sin and tzadi be subtracted from the tally. And how much is that? Sin is 300, tzadi is 90, and the difference is 210 - "Redu". And so it was; with this, the Holy One, blessed be He, reduced the time, leaving them in servitude for only 210 years.
And so it is written in Yeshayahu (63:16): "For You are our Father, for Avraham did not know us, and Yisrael did not recognize us." "Avraham did not know us" - Avraham was not prepared to subtract from his name; "and Yisrael did not recognize us" - Yaakov was also not prepared to do so. Who was? Only Yitzchak. Notice the expression "knew us" (yeda'anu), which echoes the language of the servitude in Egypt - "and God knew" (Vayeida Elokim, Shemot 2:25). Avraham was not prepared to diminish his name for the sake of that knowing, and only Yitzchak did so.
In Dvir Kodsho, an additional insight is cited based on the Ba'al HaTurim on the verse (Shemot 6:3): "I appeared [Va'eira] to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov by [the name] Keil Shaddai, but by My Name Hashem I did not become known to them." The numerical value (gematria) of "Va'eira" corresponds to Yitzchak. Why? Because if you ask in whose merit were they in Egypt for only 210 years, the answer is: in the merit of "Va'eira", in the merit of Yitzchak, who brought about Israel's earlier redemption from Egypt.
וַיַּעֲמִידֶהָ לְיַעֲקֹב לְחֹק לְיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּרִית עוֹלָם׃ - He established it for Yaakov as a statute, for Yisrael as an everlasting covenant.
That same covenant and that same oath the Holy One, blessed be He, established for Yaakov as an enduring statute. The Radak explains: the covenant and the oath pertained only to the singular, chosen seed - neither to Yishmael nor to Esav, but to the uniquely chosen offspring, as it is written (Bereishit 28:4): "And may He give you the blessing of Avraham, to you and to your offspring with you, that you may inherit the land of your dwelling, which God gave to Avraham." The Holy One, blessed be He, granted this permanent decree to Yaakov alone, as in the words of Yitzchak to Yaakov: "And may He give you the blessing of Avraham, to you and to your offspring with you."
The Malbim explains: The Holy One, blessed be He, established the covenant for Yaakov as "a statute and an established order," as though it were a law and statute necessary by its very nature. A chok (statute) is always something engraved (chakuk), inherently absolute, as in the phrase: "I have engraved a statute, I have decreed a decree, and you have no right to question it" - a permanent reality that is not subject to change. And "for Yisrael" - Yisrael represents a higher spiritual level than Yaakov: Yaakov relates to the ekev (heel), a lower state, whereas Yisrael connotes sararah (princely dominion), an elevated state.
"An everlasting covenant" (berit olam) also means a covenant upon which the world (olam) depends: if the Jewish people accept the Torah, the world has existence; if not, the world has no existence. This connection between us and Hashem, blessed be He, is a covenant on which the very existence of the universe hinges, and if it is not fulfilled, the Holy One, blessed be He, returns the world to formlessness and void (tohu va-vohu). Thus it is written that the pillars of the world were trembling until the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and Chazal taught that the world stood in suspense, and once we accepted the Torah it was firmly established on its foundations. "The sixth day [Yom HaShishi], and the heavens were completed" - why does it say "the sixth" with the definite article? It refers to the sixth of Sivan, the day we received the Torah, when "the heavens and the earth were completed" in truth. Before that, everything was precarious, for everything depended on whether we would accept the covenant: if we accept it, then "Bereishit" - for the sake of Israel, who are called reishit (first); and if Israel, who are called reishit, do not accept it, the world has no existence.
The Malbim continues: When the People of Israel are above nature, at the level of "Yisrael," Divine Providence interacts with them in a miraculous, supernatural manner. This was their status when they left Egypt - the well accompanied them, manna fell from heaven, and quail arrived at their full height. But when they are at the level of "Yaakov," a lower state, there is concealment of the Divine face (hester panim), and the Holy One, Blessed be He, conducts Himself with them through the natural order. Thus, there is a spiritual order of Providence corresponding to the level of Yisrael, and beside it a natural order for the lower state - and Hashem bound them together so that if one ceases, the other ceases as well. As it is written: "אִם לֹא בְרִיתִי יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה חֻקּוֹת שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ לֹא שָׂמְתִּי" - "If My covenant be not day and night, I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth," and similarly, "אִם לֹא בְרִיתִי הַיּוֹם גַּם זֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶמְאַס" - "If My covenant be not day and night... I will also cast off the seed of Israel."
The meaning of this is: if there is no service of Hashem, if there is no Torah study for even a single moment - the world reverts to chaos and void (tohu va-vohu). Even though one observes a natural order that appears fixed, deeply rooted, and everlasting, know that there is a spiritual core sustaining it, and that is Israel. Through their spiritual stature, the People of Israel sustain the natural order. What appears as nature is not an independent, routine reality - sunrise in the morning and sunset at dusk, cold and rain in winter and sunshine in summer - rather, everything is determined according to the deeds of Israel.
Yet this will never cease, for we have an explicit promise that the Torah will never be forgotten. There will always be tzaddikim; the world will never have fewer than thirty-six righteous individuals. There will always be observant preservation of the Torah, and there will always be those who sustain the world through the power of their deeds - guaranteeing that the world will never be undone.
And even if we wish to flee from the Torah, it will be of no avail. For the Holy One, Blessed be He, declared: "אִם לֹא בְּחֵמָה שְׁפוּכָה אֶמְלוֹךְ עֲלֵיכֶם" - "Surely with a mighty hand... and with wrath poured out will I rule over you." When the People of Israel are unworthy, the Holy One, Blessed be He, raises over them a harsh ruler like Haman and brings hardships upon them; we cry out to Hashem, and then "the land had rest for forty years," and the bond is maintained once again. But it is a bond that can never be severed. We cannot simply decide: Master of the Universe, we have broken the connection. If someone were to attempt this, the Holy One, Blessed be He, raises a ruthless oppressor like Hitler, who reminds everyone four and five generations back that they are Jewish and cannot escape it. If a person tries to flee, the Gentile will remind him and bring him back into the fold.
In this regard, part of this dynamic stems from the fact that the Holy One, Blessed be He, gave the Torah through coercion, overturning the mountain over them like a tub (kafah aleihem har kegigit). Overturning the mountain is akin to a marriage entered through coercion, as the Gemara notes that Israel could potentially claim, "We were coerced at the Giving of the Torah." Yet why was coercion necessary, given that when He offered the Torah we responded, "Na'aseh ve-nishma" ("We will do and we will hear"), indicating full consent? The answer is that one who violates a maiden may never send her away all his days. The Holy One, Blessed be He, wanted to guarantee that our connection would never be severed; specifically through this coercion, the bond remains permanent, and even if we should ever wish to disengage - it is impossible.
And this itself is for our own good. Who would truly believe that detaching oneself from the Holy One, Blessed be He, is a good thing? At a given moment, a person may be gripped by desire and wish to break away, but if he were acting with sound judgment, he would realize that such a disconnection is unequivocally catastrophic for him. It is Hashem's lovingkindness toward us that ensures the People of Israel will never be destroyed; and if a person attempts to bring about his own spiritual demise through assimilation, the Holy One, Blessed be He, reminds him who and what he is, thereby returning him to the path.
By way of digression, regarding Pharaoh's stubbornness: it must be emphasized that from the sixth plague onward, his reason was taken from him, for during the final five plagues "Hashem hardened his heart," and the matter no longer depended on his rational faculty. Initially, however, relinquishing an entire nation of slaves was certainly not sensible from his perspective; he had an enslaved nation before him, and he calculated: one more plague, then another, we will endure. We have already explained elsewhere, based on the holy Or HaChaim on the verse "הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי בְּמִצְרַיִם" - "I have made a mockery of Egypt," what lay at the core of Pharaoh's rationale for obstinacy, and that it was not irrational at all, but rather highly logical according to the prevailing worldview of his time.
Midrash Kohelet expounds: "ויעמידה ליעקב לחוק" - "He established it for Yaakov as a statute" - this refers to the covenant of circumcision (brit milah), in the sense of "He set a statute in his flesh" (chok bi-she'ero sam). Why is it termed a chok (statute)? Because it is an engraving (chakikah) upon our flesh: just as one engraves into stone, so an engraving is etched into human flesh by removing the foreskin. The Midrash explains: "He established it for Yaakov as a statute" - that those who are circumcised do not descend to Gehinnom.
If so, one might think he could commit every transgression with impunity - after all, my father gave me a brit milah decades ago, and that is that, he spared me from Gehinnom. However, the Midrash continues: so that heretics, apostates, and the wicked of the earth should not say, "Since we are circumcised, we will not descend to Gehinnom," the Holy One, Blessed be He, dispatches an angel who draws their foreskins back, and they descend to Gehinnom, as it is stated: "שָׁלַח יָדָיו בִּשְׁלֹמָיו חִלֵּל בְּרִיתוֹ" - "He stretched forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; he profaned his covenant."
In order to merit appearing circumcised Above as well, one must possess spiritual virtue; one must be a tzaddik. Otherwise, an angel draws down his foreskin. We have already explained previously the concept of "drawing down the foreskin" (moshech orlato): pulling the skin forward over the crown so that he appears uncircumcised. This is likewise stated regarding Adam HaRishon, that he drew down his foreskin, a phrase that recurs frequently in Chazal, and this is how the Ben Ish Chai explains it. Consequently, Avraham Avinu, who sits at the entrance of Gehinnom, looks upon him and says: "This is not a circumcised man, but an uncircumcised one" - and admits him into Gehinnom. Therefore, do not rely on the notion that whoever is circumcised will not enter Gehinnom and say, "Baruch Hashem, I am circumcised." One must embody the true stature of the circumcised, and then an angel will indeed not draw down his foreskin, allowing him to enter Gan Eden directly.
לֵאמֹר לְךָ אֶתֵּן אֶת־אֶרֶץ־כְּנָעַן חֶבֶל נַחֲלַתְכֶם׃ - Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance."
What was the covenant He made with them? The covenant in which He said to them, "To you I will give the land of Canaan." Ibn Ezra explains: "Saying" - to each and every one of them individually; "To you I will give" - in speech, and to your offspring - in deed. For Avraham did not actually receive the land of Canaan in his lifetime, so how could it be said to him, "To you I will give"? Rather, to you I have given it in speech, and to your offspring it will be given in deed - Yehoshua brought Israel into the land and they actually inherited it, and that is the meaning of "and to your offspring after you."
Radak explains: "To you [singular] I will give the land of Canaan" - this was said to each of the Patriarchs individually, and then "the lot of your [plural] inheritance" - this is already a promise to the entirety of the Jewish people. With this, Radak resolves why the verse opens in the singular and concludes in the plural: "To you" - to each individual Patriarch; "the lot of your inheritance" - referring to the children, to the nation of Israel as a whole.
The Malbim explains that here it becomes clear what was meant by "the word He commanded for a thousand generations": this is what Hashem said, "To you I will give the land of Canaan." And why does Hashem give us the land? Because it is "the lot of your inheritance" - it is the land uniquely designated for Divine providence, holiness, and prophecy, and it belongs to you. For upon whom does prophecy rest, and upon whom does Divine providence rest? Upon the Jewish people. As we have already explained, over the nations of the world there is no individual providence (hashgachah pratit), but only general providence over the species as a whole, just as Hashem oversees animals so that the species does not become extinct. But individual providence over each and every person applies only to the Jewish people, concerning whom it is said, "You are children to the Lord your God." And for one who has the status of a child, watched over by Hashem with individual providence, what is the fitting place? The Land of Israel - "a land upon which the eyes of the Lord your God are always set, from the beginning of the year until the end of the year." The nation that is guided by individual providence inherits the land that is subject to constant individual providence.
בִּהְיוֹתָם מְתֵי מִסְפָּר כִּמְעַט וְגָרִים בָּהּ׃ - When they were few in number, very few, and sojourners in it.
Radak explains that this refers to both the Patriarchs and their children, who were few in number, just as Yaakov said, "and I am few in number," after the incident with Shimon and Levi.
Here we find a word whose meaning has shifted in colloquial Modern Hebrew, leading to misunderstandings in Tanach as well: the word "kim'at" (כִּמְעָט). In modern usage, our immediate thought is "almost" ("he almost arrived," "he almost had it"). But in Tanach, that is not its meaning at all. "Kim'at" means "as a few" or "very little", where the letter kaf is the prefix meaning "as" or "like." This is similar to the verse, "Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us a tiny remnant (sarid kim'at), we would have been like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah." Because of the modern idiom, some mistakenly read it as: "we were *almost* like Sodom." But that is incorrect. The plain meaning is: unless Hashem had left us a tiny remnant - meaning we were left as very few, just a remnant - we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah. This is also confirmed by the cantillation marks (the te'amim) there.
Accordingly, "kim'at vegarim bah" does not mean "they almost lived in it." Rather, according to Radak, the meaning is: they were few in number, and they dwelt in the land for only a short time before being forced to leave it. In the days of Avraham there was a famine, and he was forced to go down to Egypt and later to the land of the Philistines; Yitzchak went to the land of the Philistines; Yaakov went down to Egypt. And this is why the next verse immediately states:
וַיִּתְהַלְּכוּ מִגּוֹי אֶל־גּוֹי מִמַּמְלָכָה אֶל־עַם אַחֵר׃ - And they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.
In this, we see the praise of the Patriarchs: even though the land was promised to them, they did not question Hashem's ways. They could have wondered: "How is it that the land is promised to me, yet suddenly I have to go down to Egypt because of a famine? Suddenly I must go down to the land of the Philistines? Suddenly people come, rob me, and stop up the wells I dug, when it all rightfully belongs to me?" Nevertheless, they did not question the Holy One, Blessed be He, but remained completely confident that His promise would surely be fulfilled.
The Malbim explains that this was said to them at a time when they were "few in number" (metei mispar) quantitatively, while "scarcely" (ke'me'at) means they were small in quality and might. For there is an apparent redundancy here: "metei mispar" - "metei" means people, as in "a city of men" (ir matim), meaning they were few in number; if so, "ke'me'at" again means few. The Radak resolved this by explaining that "ke'me'at" refers to time - they dwelt in the Land for only a short time. The Malbim, however, explains that "few in number" refers to their human quantity, and "scarcely" refers to their deficiency in quality and strength.
The Malbim adds: "and sojourners in it" - like foreigners dwelling there. The Patriarchs lived there as sojourners rather than permanent residents. When Avraham Avinu wanted to purchase a burial plot for his wife, he had to pay in full, with good and heavy coin. Seemingly, the Land was promised to me, so let them give it to me! But no, you must pay. Yet this itself is their praise: even though the Holy One, blessed be He, promised it to them, and they had the status of strangers in the Land, they did not question His ways; rather, they trusted in His promise that He would give them the Land.
The verses before us open with the eternal remembrance of the covenant: "He remembers His covenant forever, the word He commanded to a thousand generations" - the Torah, which preceded the world and was given skipping 974 generations because the world cannot exist without it, and the covenant that Hashem preserves endlessly. The covenant was made with Avraham, reinforced with an oath to Yitzchak - who surrendered a letter from his name, "Yischak," to deduct 210 years of servitude - and established for Yaakov as a statute and for Yisrael as an everlasting covenant, a covenant upon which the existence of the world depends, for the natural order is entirely dependent on the spiritual governance of Yisrael. This bond was forged in a way that can never be severed, and this is the lovingkindness of the Holy One, blessed be He, toward us. The substance of the covenant is the promise of the Land of Canaan, the land designated for Divine Providence, holiness, and prophecy, destined for the nation governed by individual Divine Providence. And though the promise was given to the Patriarchs when they were few in number, meager, wandering from nation to nation as strangers in the land - they never questioned the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He; rather, they trusted in His promise, and this is their greatest praise.