נחמיה, פרק ט׳, פסוק כ׳

God's care for the Israelites during their desert journey encompassed both their spiritual growth and their physical survival. His constant kindness remained steady, never faltering even when the people acted poorly.

To ensure their spiritual development, God provided a good spirit to guide them. Commentators offer different perspectives on how this guidance was delivered. One approach explains that God poured out an abundance of wisdom and understanding directly upon the people, allowing them to truly grasp the teachings of the Torah [מצודת דוד]. Another perspective focuses on the structure of leadership, suggesting that this divine spirit was specifically granted to the seventy elders. By receiving this spirit, the elders gained the necessary wisdom to properly lead, instruct, and educate the nation [אבן עזרא, רלב״ג].

Alongside this spiritual nourishment, God faithfully tended to their physical needs. He provided manna from heaven and never stopped supplying it [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The provision of this heavenly food, along with water to quench their thirst, continued without interruption throughout the entire forty years of wandering in the desert [רלב״ג]. The magnitude of this kindness is especially clear because God continued to sustain them with food and water despite all of their negative actions and misdeeds [ביאור שטיינזלץ].