Deuteronomy16
New American Standard
1“Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
2You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name.
3You shall not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in a hurry), so that you will remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
4For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in your entire territory, and none of the meat which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall be left overnight until the morning.
5You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns which the Lord your God is giving you;
6but only at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt.
7You shall cook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents.
8For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festive assembly to the Lord your God; you shall do no work on it.
9“You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.
10Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a voluntary offering of your hand in a proportional amount, which you shall give just as the Lord your God blesses you;
11and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger, the orphan, and the widow who are in your midst, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name.
12You shall also remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful and comply with these statutes.
13“You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths for seven days when you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat;
14and you shall rejoice in your feast, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow who are in your towns.
15For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.
16“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths; and they are not to appear before the Lord empty-handed.
17Everyone shall give as he is able, in accordance with the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.
18“You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
19You shall not distort justice, you shall not show partiality; and you shall not accept a bribe, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and distorts the words of the righteous.
20Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
21“You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make for yourself.
22And you shall not set up for yourself a memorial stone, which the Lord your God hates.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Deuteronomy 16.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The yearly feasts. (1–17). Of judges, Groves and images forbidden. (18–22).
vv1-17
The laws for the three yearly feasts are here repeated; that of the Passover, that of the Pentecost, that of Tabernacles; and the general law concerning the people's attendance. Never should a believer forget his low estate of guilt and misery, his deliverance, and the price it cost the Redeemer; that gratitude and joy in the Lord may be mingled with sorrow for sin, and patience under the tribulations in his way to the kingdom of heaven. They must rejoice in their receivings from God, and in their returns of service and sacrifice to him; our duty must be our delight, as well as our enjoyment. If those who were under the law must rejoice before God, much more we that are under the grace of the gospel; which makes it our duty to rejoice evermore, to rejoice in the Lord always. When we rejoice in God ourselves, we should do what we can to assist others also to rejoice in him, by comforting the mourners, and supplying those who are in want. All who make God their joy, may rejoice in hope, for He is faithful that has promised.
vv18-22
Care is taken for the due administration of justice. All personal regards must be laid aside, so that right is done to all, and wrong to none. Care is taken to prevent following the idolatrous customs of the heathen. Nothing belies God more, or tends more to corrupt the minds of men, than representing and worshipping, by an image, that God, who is an almighty and eternal Spirit, present every where. Alas! even in gospel days, and under a better dispensation, established upon better promises, there is a tendency to set up idols, under one form or another, in the human heart.
Key Words
שָׁמַר: properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.
חֹדֶשׁ: the new moon; by implication, a month
אָבִיב: green, i.e. a young ear of grain; hence, the name of the month Abib or Nisan
עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
פֶּסַח: a pretermission, i.e. exemption; used only techically of the Jewish Passover (the festival or the victim)
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
כִּי: (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
יָצָא: to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proxim.
מִצְרַיִם: Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt
לַיִל: properly, a twist (away of the light), i.e. night; figuratively, adversity
Cross References
Deuteronomy 16Establishes the foundational law for all males appearing three times a year before the Lord.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Provides the original prescription for roasting and eating the Passover lamb with unleavened bread.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Shows the historical fulfillment of roasting the Passover lambs according to the law at Jerusalem.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Repeats the solemn command for all males to appear before Yahweh at the three major feasts.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Anticipates the central sanctuary 'place which the Lord shall choose' to put His name.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Confirms the sacrificial nature of the Passover, requiring blood to be handled at the altar.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Identifies the Feast of Weeks as the harvest feast of firstfruits from your labors.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The central theological motive: remembering Egyptian bondage to motivate obedience, charity, and joyful worship.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Provides the detailed, foundational Levitical law for observing the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Parallel prohibition against taking bribes, which blind the eyes of those who can see.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Commands the destruction of Canaanite groves, anticipating the ban on planting near God's altar.
Supported by John Calvin
The original institution of the Passover in Egypt during the month of Abib.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Specifies counting seven weeks from the day the wave sheaf of firstfruits was brought.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts God-ordained memorial stones inscribed with the Law with forbidden pagan ritual pillars.
Supported by John Calvin