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The shortened form of “ten” (‘eser) is used here in order to show that the Shekinah herself is not included in the ten, since she broods above the congregation. So it is in all places where a shortened form is used for “ten”, as, for instance, “It stood upon twelve (shne ‘asar) oxen” (I Kings 12, 25), where the Shekinah was not included in the number, for it says: “and the sea (i.e. the Shekinah) was set above them” (Ibid.).