A Midrash offered alternative explanations of why there are points over the words "to us and to our children" (, "lanu ulbaneinu") and over the first letter (, "ayin") of the word "to" (, "ad") in . One explanation: God told the Israelites that they had performed the precepts that had been revealed, and God, on God's part, would make known to them the things that were secret. Another explanation: Ezra (whom some consider the author of these diacritical points, although others regard them as having come from Sinai) reasoned that if Elijah came and asked Ezra why he had written these words, Ezra could answer that he had already placed points over them. And if Elijah told Ezra that he had done well in writing them, then Ezra would erase the points over them. (If Elijah said that the words should not have been written, Ezra could answer that he had dotted them so that people could understand that they were to be disregarded. If Elijah approved of the words, then Ezra could erase the dots.)