עזרא, פרק ט׳, פסוק ז׳

The burden of history weighs heavily on a nation trying to rebuild. When a people returns from captivity, they do not arrive with a clean slate; they carry the accumulated weight of past generations. A state of deep guilt and sin [מצודת ציון] ultimately resulted in the Israelites being handed over to the power of foreign nations [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This surrender to foreign kings—marked by the sword, captivity, and plunder—was not the fault of the current generation alone. Instead, it was the climax of a long process that began in the days of their ancestors. Over the centuries, the measure of their sins slowly filled until it brought about this severe punishment.

Because these historical sins were so grave, they required a thorough process of cleansing, meaning the true, final redemption had not yet arrived. The return of the Israelites to their land during the Second Temple period functioned only as a temporary pardon, while the painful process of atonement continued [מלבי״ם].

The ongoing consequences of this punishment were plainly visible. The primary approach among commentators is that the physical reality of that era served as living proof of their historical guilt. The Ten Tribes had been exiled and had not returned, and even among the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, many people still remained behind in Babylon. This fractured and incomplete return stood as an open, undeniable shame, serving as a daily reminder of the heavy cost of their long history of wrongdoing.