to ask. The wise child asks, in the words of “What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, that the Lord our God has commanded you?” The Mekhilta taught that we explain to this child all the laws of Passover. The simple child asks, in the words of “What is this?” The Mekhilta taught that we respond simply with the words of “By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage.” The wicked child asks, in the words of “What do you mean by this service?” The Mekhilta taught that because wicked children exclude themselves, we should also exclude this child in answering and say, in the words of “It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt” — for me but not for you; had you been there, you would not have been saved. As for the child who does not know how to ask, the Mekhilta taught that we take the initiative, as says (without having reported that the child asked), “You shall tell your child on that day.” Deuteronomy chapter 7 A Midrash expounded on why Israel was, in the words of , like "a leafy olive tree." In one explanation, the Midrash taught that just as all liquids commingle one with the other, but oil refuses to do so, so Israel keeps itself distinct, as it is commanded in . In medieval Jewish interpretation The parashah is discussed in these medieval Jewish sources: Deuteronomy chapter 4 Reading , "Observe therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations that, when they hear all these statutes, they shall say: 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people,'" Baḥya ibn Paquda taught that it is one's duty to study created things and to deduce from them the wisdom of the Creator. Baḥya ibn Paquda saw Moses warning against thinking that God has a form or likeness, when in , he said, "Take therefore good heed; for you saw no manner of form on the day that the Lord spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire," and in , he said, "And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of the words, but saw no form; only you