The Israelites' appeal to the king of Edom serves as a profound historical summary and a moral plea based on the shared ancestry of Jacob and Esau. The commentators frame this encounter as a parable of two brothers tasked with paying a joint debt. This debt was the ancient decree of exile placed upon Abraham's descendants. While Esau settled comfortably and undisturbed in Mount Seir, Jacob and his children descended into Egypt, paying the painful price of slavery and exile with their very bodies. Because the Israelites bore this burden entirely on their own, they claim the exclusive right to inherit the land of Israel, free from any competing claims by Edom [הרא״ש, מלבי״ם, אדרת אליהו]. Throughout this period, as Edom enjoyed greatness and tranquility, the Israelites endured immense suffering [חתם סופר].
The historical account traces the chain of events back to the initial parting of Jacob and Esau [ביאור יש״ר]. Their prolonged stay in Egypt highlights a deep injustice. The founders of the nation originally went to Egypt intending only a temporary stay, but the Egyptians forcefully detained them and refused to let them leave [מלבי״ם]. The resulting hardship was not merely a matter of Egyptian cruelty, but rather a focus on the profound depth of Israelite suffering [ברכת אשר]. They endured severe distress and crushing labor that went far beyond the original divine decree of simply living as strangers in a foreign land [רש״י, גור אריה, משכיל לדוד].
As the Israelites recount their history, they emphasize the suffering of their own generation before mentioning the pain of their ancestors. The primary approach among commentators explains that these ancestors are not the original tribes who arrived in Egypt, as they did not live to see the actual enslavement. Rather, the reference points to the founding Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Mentioning them after the current generation reveals a deep spiritual reality: whenever disaster strikes and the Israelites suffer, the Patriarchs share in their sorrow from the grave [רש״י, רבנו בחיי, שפתי חכמים, הרא״ש, גור אריה, לבוש האורה, משכיל לדוד, דברי דוד].
Alternatively, some explain that these ancestors are indeed the previous generations who perished under the crushing weight of Egyptian slavery [רבנו בחיי, אבן עזרא]. By prioritizing their own generation, the speakers clarify that they are referring to their immediate parents who experienced the torture directly, rather than the distant founders who first arrived in Egypt [העמק דבר, ברכת אשר]. Another perspective views this sequence as a fundamental argument directed at Edom. It emphasizes that the enslavement was not a localized punishment inflicted upon the current generation for a specific sin. Rather, it was an inherited, systematic persecution aimed at the entire Israelite nation, stretching all the way back to the days of their ancestors [רש״ר הירש].