It is written: "And so that you may tell in the ears of your son and your grandson how I have mocked Egypt and My signs which I have placed among them, and you will know that I am the Lord" (Exodus 10:2). This verse also indicates a commandment to recount the wonders of the Exodus from Egypt. One should note the phrasing: 'tell in the ears of your son,' and not 'tell your son' – meaning one must aim the telling towards the son, towards his personal understanding and his soul, as the scripture states, "Please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears" (Genesis 44:18), and Rashi explains, "let my words enter your ears," meaning, carefully consider the full significance of my words, for they are directed especially to you. Therefore, it says 'in the ears of your son' in the singular, unlike the command to teach one's son Torah: 'and you shall teach them to your sons,' in the plural, to teach that the father must fulfill the commandment of recounting the Exodus from Egypt to his son as if he has no other children, speaking to him specifically, and letting him hear what he needs to hear and understand about the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

For this reason, the Torah divides the telling of the Exodus from Egypt into four types, corresponding to the four sons, so that the father tells the son according to his nature and level, as the scripture states (Proverbs 22:6), "Train a child according to his way."

And if 'he has no ears,' meaning he is indifferent and uninterested in this story, Rabbi David Leibowitz ztz"l would say that one must 'make him ears,' meaning, draw his heart with pleasant ways, as implied by the name 'Haggadah of Pesach,' 'Haggadah' from the root 'to draw' (see Genesis 37:28 and Onkelos). Therefore, the father is commanded to take various actions to awaken and draw the hearts of the children to ask about the matters of the Seder night in order to tell them about the Exodus from Egypt.

It is also accepted in the name of the holy Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz ztz"l to note that it does not say 'and the one who does not know anything,' but rather 'and the one who does not know how to ask,' meaning, he does know but is unable to express it due to the closure of his heart, hence the advice is 'open for him,' meaning, help him to open his closed heart. This is hinted at in the word 'את' (et), in the feminine form, indicating that instilling self-confidence in the son and the sense that he is capable of asking and understanding is more related to the mother’s role in education.