The author expresses his thankfulness for what the parents have passed on to him. They have told him of the great deeds God has done. And that covered a long period in the past. Apparently, the parents have done their task well. The next generations have made the deeds of the Lord their own. In the chain of generations, each link is important, for when one link is broken there is a problem, just as with a chain.
The task of the parents, we read in Exodus 10:2 is important so that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.
And the Passover meal also had to be passed on: You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever
(Exodus 12:24). These deeds also form a foundation for the plea to God which follows.
1 O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old: