דניאל, פרק ט׳, פסוק ה׳

A heartfelt confession unfolds, detailing a gradual and profound distancing from God's path. Rather than a simple admission of guilt, the confession carefully breaks down the failures into specific categories and levels of severity.

Commentators offer two main ways to understand this progression of wrongdoing. One perspective categorizes the failures by their underlying motives and the areas of life they affect [מלבי״ם]. In this view, the first stage involves offenses against God driven by physical desire. The second stage escalates to sins against God rooted in twisted logic and a denial of faith. The third stage shifts the focus to offenses committed against fellow human beings. Finally, the climax of these actions is a state of outright rebellion and betrayal, going far beyond merely giving in to temptation. Offering a different perspective, another approach classifies these failures by how they are carried out [יוסף אבן יחיא]. Here, the progression moves from sins committed through physical action, to those spoken through speech, and then to those formed in thought. The final stage represents carrying out all of these failures with deliberate, malicious intent.

Beyond the specific acts of wrongdoing, there is a broader movement of turning away from the proper path. While this can be understood simply as a completed past action [אבן עזרא], the primary approach among commentators is that it describes an ongoing, continuous process. The people did not merely fail in the past; they are constantly and endlessly straying [רש״י, מצודת דוד]. Strikingly, this continuous distancing happens even after the nation has already faced punishment for its earlier failures [אלשיך].

This ongoing departure is not accidental. It is interpreted as a deliberate action intended to anger God [יוסף אבן יחיא]. Furthermore, it represents a complete and total disconnection. While some people who fail might still perform practical commandments out of habit, this situation describes a nation that has entirely removed itself from observing the commandments. Such a complete abandonment highlights the sheer intensity of their rebellion [אלשיך]. Ultimately, this departure takes two distinct directions. Turning away from God's commandments aligns with the sins committed directly against Him, while turning away from His laws of justice corresponds to the harm and evil inflicted upon other people [מלבי״ם].