1 The feast of the Passover,
9 of weeks,
13 of tabernacles.
16 Every male must offer, as he is able, at these three feasts.
18 Of judges and justice.
21 Groves and images are forbidden.
Deu 16:1 Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the Passover of the LORD your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night.
The month of Abib. Literally, “the month of the young ears of grain” (Ex. 9:31; Lev. 2:14). This Jewish month, later called Nisan, began between late March and late April. Abib was appointed by God the first month of the ecclesiastical Israelite year (Ex. 12:2; cf. 13:4; 34:18).
The Passover.
Of the three commanded annual feasts the Passover was the first (Ex. 23:14–17). It was kept in Abib, or Nisan, for that was the month in which God brought Israel out of the land of Egypt. For seven days the people ate unleavened bread, as upon their hurried departure from Egypt (see on Ex. 12:34).
No leaven was to remain in their houses, nor any of the Passover lamb after the first night. After the Passover animal had been eaten, the people returned to their tents. For six days they ate unleavened bread, and held an assembly on the seventh day, which was observed as a sabbath (see also Ex. 12:1–28).
By night.
It was early morning (PP 281) when the children of Israel actually left Egypt (Ex. 12:29–34). The command to prepare for instant departure, and Pharaoh’s demand that they go immediately, were given the night before (Ex. 12:11, 12, 31–33).
Deu 16:2 Sacrifice as the Passover to the LORD your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for his Name.
Sacrifice as the Passover. The Passover sacrificial animal was to be either a lamb or a kid of the goats (Ex. 12:5). Note that Ex. 12:3–6 prescribes a male animal of the first year, either a lamb or a kid, to be consumed at one meal.
Later, a lamb was invariably chosen as the victim, rather than a goat.
The place.
The sanctuary of the Lord was the place at which they were to slay the Passover, a command reiterated again and again (ch. 16:2, 6, 7; cf. vs. 11, 15, 16 for the other feasts).
Deu 16:3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.
Unleavened bread. Leavened bread was prohibited with any meal offering (see on Lev. 2:1), inasmuch as leaven represents fermentation and decay, and hence corruption. Seven days. See Ex. 12:15, 18–20; 13:6, 7; 23:15; Lev. 23:6.
Affliction. The word thus translated is from a root meaning “to be bowed down,” “to be frustrated.” The reference here is to the servitude of Israel in Egypt (Ex. 3:7; 4:31).
In haste.
The expression thus translated is from a word meaning “to be alarmed,” “to be in trepidation.” The corresponding Arabic verb means “to hasten,” “to urge,” “to incite.” The meaning here is that Israel hurried away in great alarm.
Compare the same root rendered as “tremble” (ch. 20:3). Compare Ex. 12:11, 34, 39, where it is stated that Israel did not take time to put leaven in their dough (see Isa. 52:12).
Remember the time. See Deut. 4:9; Ex. 13:8.
Deu 16:4 Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.
Deu 16:5 You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the LORD your God gives you
In the future the sacrifice might not be made in any private home or place, but only at the place appointed by God (see ch. 12:5, 11).
The first Passover was eaten in the homes of the people in Egypt, on the eve of their flight. There was then no sanctuary, no holy place of assembly, to which they could gather.
Deu 16:6 except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.
In the evening. That is, between the twoevenings (see on Ex. 12:6). The evening sacrifice having been offered, the Passover victim was slain.
Deu 16:7 Roast it and eat it at the place the LORD your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents.
Roast and eat it. See on Ex. 12:8, 9. The verb here translated “roast” is given twice as “bake” (Num. 11:8; 2 Sam. 13:8) and twice as “roast” (Deut. 16:7; 2 Chron. 35:13), but in all other instances of cooking is translated “boil,” “seethe,” “sodden.”
Apparently, its root meaning was “to ripen,” as in “the harvest is ripe” (Joel 3:13) and “ripe grapes” (Gen. 40:10). Inasmuch as in all cases the idea is that of ripening or bringing to the point of full preparation, by heat, “roast” may be more appropriate here.
Compare the expression “roast with fire” (Ex. 12:9) and the later account of a Passover that contrasts the roasted lamb with the other offerings, which were boiled (2 Chron. 35:13).
Tents. Here meaning, “homes.” This custom remained even after Israel no longer wandered about, but had become a settled nation in Palestine, with permanent homes (see Judges 7:8; 2 Sam. 19:8; 1 Kings 12:16).
They were to remain overnight in the place where they ate the Passover. In the morning those who had joined with other households in the paschal lamb might return to their own homes (see on Ex. 12:4).
Deu 16:8 For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the LORD your God and do no work.
On the seventh. The feast lasted for seven days, as did the eating of unleavened bread (Ex. 12:15; Ex. 13:6; Lev. 23:6; Num. 28:17). The statement here made must mean that after unleavened bread had been eaten for six days, the children of Israel were to hold a “solemn assembly,” while continuing to eat unleavened bread.
Assembly. The word thus translated is from a verb meaning “to restrain,” “to enclose,” “to shut up,” especially for religious purposes (see Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35; 2 Chron. 7:9; Neh. 8:18, with reference to the Feast of Tabernacles; cf. Amos 5:21).
Do no work.
That is, they were to perform no ordinary labor (Num. 28:25; cf. “work” in 2 Kings 22:5, 9).
Deu 16:9 Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.
Seven weeks. See Lev. 23:15. This expression gives the name “feast of weeks” to this festival (see on Deut. 16:10). By the Jews of the Dispersion, it was later called “Pentecost” (Acts 2:1).
Count off seven weeks. These seven weeks began at the time of the barley harvest (see Joshua 3:15; 5:10; see also Lev. 23:15).
The Feast of Weeks
Deu 16:9 Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.
Deu 16:10 Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the LORD your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the LORD your God has given you.
Feast. From chag, a word that means more than “festival.” It includes the idea of a religious pilgrimage, and is, in fact, derived from a verb meaning “to make a pilgrimage,” “to take a journey to an object of reverence.”
The Arabic haj describes the sacred pilgrimage of the Moslem to Mecca. Feast of weeks.
The names “feast of harvest” and “day of the first fruits” are also given to this festival (see Ex. 23:16; 34:22; Num. 28:26).
Deu 16:11 And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you.
Rejoice. A generous spirit was to be shown toward those in need (chs. 12:7, 12, 18; 14:29). This would bring joy to him who gave and to him who received.
Deu 16:12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees.
Deu 16:13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.
Festival of tabernacles. The last annual Jewish feast. All males were commanded to be present each year (see v. 16). The word “tabernacles” is translated from the word for “booths” (Gen. 33:17; Lev. 23:42, 43; Neh. 8:14–17; Jonah 4:5).
The verb means “to weave together,” “to cover.” The derived noun is, then, a “covering” or “booth” of branches woven and interlaced to form a temporary yet adequate cover.
The Feast of Tabernacles was observed at the close of the harvest, when the grain and the grapes of the vineyard had been gathered and processed.
Deu 16:14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.
Be joyful. The end of the vintage season would be a happy time (see Isa. 16:10). The wheat harvest had been gathered about four months earlier; the vintage came in September or October.
Deu 16:15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.
Note the various offerings commanded for this period (Num. 29:12–35). An eighth day is spoken of in Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35.
Deu 16:16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed:
16. Three times. See on Ex. 23:14–17; see also Ex. 34:18, 22, 23. Note that Ex. 34:24 adds the promise that the Lord would keep their lands inviolate during the absence of the people from their homes.
The expression “before the Lord” reads literally, “at the face of God,” meaning access to His presence.
Note the same expression used of a face-to face meeting with royalty (2 Sam. 3:13; 14:28, 32, 2 Kings 25:19; Esther 1:14). The psalmist speaks of the ecstasy of the believer at beholding the face of God (Ps. 17:15).
Emptyhanded. The people should appear in the presence of God with such gifts as were worthy of the blessings received in their harvests (see Ex. 23:15; 34:20). See on v. 10.
Deu 16:17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.
Proportioned . Though he should give liberally, according to the blessings received, he should not give to the extent of impoverishing himself and creating hardship for his family.
Deu 16:18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.
Appoint judges. Compare the appointment by Moses of judges to settle disputes among the people (Ex. 18:21–26; Deut. 1:12–18).
In every town. This refers to the appointment of Every town. Judicial procedure was later augmented by the appointment of the priests as a court of final appeal (ch. 17:8, 9).
Judge the people fairly.
Deu 16:19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. Do not pervert justice.
Do not show partiality. Literally, “not recognize faces” (see Ex. 23:1–3; Lev. 19:15; Ps. 82:1–5).
Deu 16:20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Justice alone. Literally, “righteousness,” a characteristic Hebrew form of stating the point emphatically.
Follow. That is, as if in pursuit of it (Gen. 35:5; Lev. 26:7; 2 Sam. 2:19).
Forbidden Forms of Worship
Deu 16:21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the LORD your God,
Wooden Asherah. Heb. ’asherim. The word is used more than 30 times in the OT.
The word is always used in connection with idols (see on Ex. 34:13). It should be translated “sacred trees” or “wooden poles.” These were dedicated to the pagan goddess Asherah, while the stone pillars were objects of worship dedicated to Baal.
Deu 16:22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates.
Sacred stone. They were devoted to idolatrous worship, especially to Baal. In many instances they related to the depravity of phallic worship. In contrast, a pillar was set up by Jacob as a memorial of God’s visitation to him (Gen. 28:18, 22; 31:13; 35:14).