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Deuteronomy 16

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The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread 1–8

1
Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto Jehovah thy God; for in the month of Abib Jehovah thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. ​
2
And thou shalt sacrifice the passover unto Jehovah thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Jehovah shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. ​
3
Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. ​
4
And there shall be no leaven seen with thee in all thy borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which thou sacrificest the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
5
Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee;
6
but at the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. ​
7
And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. ​
8
Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Jehovah thy God; thou shalt do no work therein.

The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) 9–12

9
Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: from the time thou beginnest to put the sickle to the standing grain shalt thou begin to number seven weeks. ​
10
And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto Jehovah thy God with a tribute of a freewill-offering of thy hand, which thou shalt give, according as Jehovah thy God blesseth thee: ​
11
and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are in the midst of thee, in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. ​
12
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes. ​

The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) 13–15

13
Thou shalt keep the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in from thy threshing-floor and from thy winepress: ​
14
and thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
15
Seven days shalt thou keep a feast unto Jehovah thy God in the place which Jehovah shall choose; because Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the work of thy hands, and thou shalt be altogether joyful. ​

Mandatory Annual Pilgrimages 16–17

16
Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles; and they shall not appear before Jehovah empty: ​
17
every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which he hath given thee. ​

Establishing Justice and Authority 18–20

18
Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, according to thy tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. ​
19
Thou shalt not wrest justice: thou shalt not respect persons; neither shalt thou take a bribe; for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. ​
20
That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee. ​

Prohibition of Idolatry 21–22

21
Thou shalt not plant thee an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Jehovah thy God, which thou shalt make thee. ​
22
Neither shalt thou set thee up a pillar; which Jehovah thy God hateth. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Deuteronomy 16

Verse 1

the month of Abib — Abib is a young ear of grain, the green barley of the month in which Israel 'came out' (Ex 13:4). Moses names it as the month of the passover and of the exodus 'by night'. The LORD had made it 'the beginning of months' (Ex 12:2), and the passover falls on its fourteenth day (Num 28:16).

Verse 2

sacrifice the passover… in the place which the LORD shall choose — 'Sacrifice' is zabach, as in 12:15. The passover is now sacrificed at the chosen place. Josiah kept it so, 'a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem' (2 Chr 35:1). Paul writes, 'Christ our passover is sacrificed for us' (1 Cor 5:7).

Verse 3

the bread of affliction — Unleavened bread (matstsah) is eaten seven days. 'Haste' (chippazon) is the word of Ex 12:11, 'ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover', and Ex 12:39 records that the dough left Egypt unleavened. 'All the days of thy life' extends the remembrance beyond the feast.

Verse 6

at the going down of the sun — The lamb is killed 'at even' (erev), as in Ex 12:6, 'the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening'. The time is also 'the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt', and the chosen place is named a third time in vv.2, 6 and 7.

Verse 7

thou shalt roast and eat it — The verb is bashal, a general word for cooking by heat. It is used of boiling elsewhere, and Ex 12:9 forbids the passover lamb to be 'sodden at all with water'. 2 Chr 35:13 shows the sense: 'they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance'. The people then 'turn in the morning' and go to their tents.

Verse 9

Seven weeks shalt thou number — The count begins when 'thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn', and Lev 23:15–16 gives the length: 'seven sabbaths… shall ye number fifty days'. The feast is called weeks (shabu'ot) and 'Pentecost', the fiftieth day (Acts 2:1).

Verse 10

a tribute of a freewill offering — 'Tribute' (missah) is a word found only here in the Bible. The gift is a freewill offering (nedabah), and its size is set 'according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee'. The same measure is stated in v.17.

Verse 11

the Levite… the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow — Nine persons are named as rejoicing together: the household of five, then the Levite and these three. The stranger (ger), fatherless and widow appear again beside the Levite in 14:29. The feast is held 'before the LORD' at the chosen place.

Verse 12

thou wast a bondman in Egypt — The remembrance of 15:15 returns here at the end of the feast of weeks. It stands directly after the invitation to the stranger, fatherless and widow in v.11. 'These statutes' (chuqqim) are the ones of 12:1, so the appeal to Egypt supports the whole body of law.

Verse 13

the feast of tabernacles — The sukkot are booths: 'Ye shall dwell in booths seven days' (Lev 23:42). The Hebrew of 'thy corn and thy wine' names the places, the threshing floor (goren) and the winepress (yeqeb), so the feast follows the ingathering from both. John 7:2 notes it was 'at hand' in Christ's day.

Verse 15

surely rejoice — The Hebrew is sameach, glad, and the verse ends the sentence on it: 'thou shalt surely rejoice'. 'Solemn feast' is chagag, the verb of the pilgrim feast (chag). The gladness rests on the LORD's blessing 'in all thine increase' (tebuah, produce).

Verse 16

Three times in a year shall all thy males appear — The three feasts are unleavened bread, weeks and tabernacles, as in Ex 23:14–17. 'Empty' is reqam, the word of 15:13 and Ex 23:15. Luke 2:41 records that Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem 'every year at the feast of the passover'.

Verse 17

Every man shall give as he is able — The Hebrew is 'according to the gift (matteneth) of his hand'. The rule matches 'the blessing of the LORD', as in v.10. Paul sets the same principle in 2 Cor 9:7, 'Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give', and Christ commends the widow who gave 'all her living' (Mark 12:44).

Verse 18

Judges and officers — The shophet judges and the shoter officers are appointed 'in all thy gates', that is, in every town. Moses had charged the first judges in Deut 1:16 to 'judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger'. 'Just judgment' is literally 'judgment of righteousness' (tsedeq), the word doubled in v.20.

Verse 19

a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise — Three prohibitions: do not 'wrest' (bend, natah) judgment, do not 'respect persons' (regard the face) and take no gift (shochad). The last clause echoes Ex 23:8. The standard is the LORD's own, who 'regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward' (Deut 10:17).

Verse 20

That which is altogether just — The Hebrew doubles the noun, tsedeq, tsedeq, 'righteousness, righteousness'. The verb radaph means to pursue. Isaiah addresses 'ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD' (Isa 51:1). The reward is life and the land: 'that thou mayest live, and inherit'.

Verse 21

a grove of any trees — The KJV's 'grove' is asherah, the object that the nations set beside their altars and Israel was told to cut down (Ex 34:13). The prohibition here is against planting one near the altar of the LORD. Manasseh later 'made a grove', as Ahab had (2 Kings 21:3).

Verse 22

any image; which the LORD thy God hateth — 'Image' is matstsebah, a standing pillar. Jacob had set one up at Bethel (Gen 28:18) and the law now forbids Israel to raise one. The same verb of hatred appears in 12:31, 'every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth'. Lev 26:1 forbids 'a standing image' also.