In Chapter 24:3, the posuk says "Vayaan kal haam kol echud vayomru kal hadivarim asher diberr Hashem naaseh" (‘and the whole nation replied in one voice and they said all the things that Hashem said we will do’). In a later posuk, Chapter 24:7, it says "Vayomru kal asher diberr Hashem naaseh vinishma" (‘and they said all that Hashem said we will do and we will listen’). Why only in the second posuk does it say both ‘we will do’ and ‘we will listen’?

Between these two pisukim, we find Moshe bringing karbanos for each of the twelve tribes. Even though the nation had answered as a single entity in the first posuk, Moshe seemed to be highlighting the fact that Klal Yisroel was actually made up of twelve unique tribes. Why would Moshe want to emphasize at this juncture the uniqueness of the tribes?

There is a midrash on the first posuk explaining how each member of Klal Yisroel on their own behalf said ‘I will do’. They understood Hashem would be giving them many commandments to perform and they each willingly accepted the responsibility to execute them. Each individual looked at the nation as one unit and thought of themselves as a part of that unit. Separately, they assumed responsibility to do their part toward the unified goal and said ‘we will do’. Here they were dealing with the physical requirements of the mitzvohs that everyone was commanded to do equally.

By bringing twelve separate korbanos, Moshe was emphasizing the uniqueness of the distinctive parts to the whole. He was teaching Klal Yisroel that execution of the same mitzva would have different nuances for each person. Although the mitzva might involve a similar physical activity, there would be subtle differences in how each tribe and individual would accomplish the mitzvah on a spiritual level. This meant accepting that they would not all be performing the mitzvos equally. Executing a mitzva as a nation though, requires that each individual execution contribute to the formation of the whole mitzvah for the nation. Every person, therefore, must concern themselves with the execution of the mitzva by their friend to ensure the mitzva’s fulfillment as a nation.

When Klal Yisroel answered in the second posuk ‘we will listen’ they were referring to this deeper understanding of the mitzvos. Their greatness lies not only in that they were willing to do before they listened (as it says in the Gemara) but also in their acceptance of mitzvos with unequal spiritual requirements and group responsibilities before knowing all the details. This inter-dependency of the nation did not allow them to individually say ‘I will do’ on their own behalf but rather to respond as a group.