Deuteronomy 16

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The festival calendar opens with Passover, anchored to chodesh ha'Aviv ('the month of Aviv/Abib'). Aviv means 'spring' or 'ripening grain' — it refers to the month when barley reaches maturity (later called Nisan in the Babylonian calendar). The verb shamor ('keep watch, guard, observe') implies vigilant attention to the calendar. The phrase hotsi'akha YHWH... laylah ('the LORD brought you out... at night') anchors the festival to the historical event: the nighttime exodus from Egypt. Every annual observance re-enacts and memorializes that founding deliverance.

Translator Notes

1. Deuteronomy's Passover instruction differs from Exodus 12, which specifies only a lamb (seh). Here, both tson uvaqar ('flock and herd' — sheep/goats and cattle) are permitted. This likely reflects the additional festival offerings (chagigah) that accompanied the Passover lamb during pilgrimage celebrations. The centralization formula — bammaqom asher yivchar YHWH leshakken shemo sham ('at the place the LORD will choose to cause His name to dwell there') — shifts Passover from a household celebration (as in Exodus 12) to a centralized pilgrimage festival.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The chamets ('leavened bread') prohibition and the matstsot ('unleavened bread') requirement are linked to the exodus narrative: bechipazon yatsata ('you went out in haste/urgency'). The dough had no time to rise. The phrase lechem oni ('bread of affliction/hardship/poverty') describes the unleavened bread — it is poor person's bread, the bread of slaves and refugees. Eating it for seven days re-creates the sensory experience of the exodus. The purpose clause lema'an tizkor ('so that you will remember') establishes the festival as a memorial practice — kol yemei chayyekha ('all the days of your life') extends the obligation to every year of the individual's life.

Translator Notes

1. Two prohibitions: first, se'or ('leaven/yeast starter') must not even be visible (lo yera'eh) anywhere in your territory (bekhol gevulekha) for seven days — a total purge of leaven from the household and beyond. Second, the sacrificial meat from the first evening must be consumed entirely before dawn — lo yalin... labboqer ('it shall not remain overnight until morning'). This mirrors the original Passover instructions in Exodus 12:10. Nothing sacred may be left to decay; the meal must be complete before the new day begins.

Translator Notes

1. The centralization principle applies specifically to Passover: lo tukhal lizboach et happesach be'achad she'arekha ('you are not able to sacrifice the Passover in one of your gates'). The verb tukhal ('you are able, you may') frames the prohibition as impossibility within the covenant framework — it is not merely forbidden but categorically impermissible. This represents a significant shift from the household Passover of Exodus 12 to a centralized pilgrimage Passover.

Translator Notes

1. Three temporal markers converge: ba'arev ('in the evening'), kevo hashemesh ('at the going down of the sun' — sunset), and mo'ed tsetekha miMitsrayim ('the appointed time of your departure from Egypt'). The sacrifice occurs at twilight — the transition between day and night — matching the original Passover timing (Exod 12:6). The word mo'ed ('appointed time, season') connects the annual observance to the historical moment: every Passover evening reenacts the original evening of deliverance.

Translator Notes

1. The verb uvishalta ('you shall cook/boil') differs from Exodus 12:9, which specifies tseli esh ('roasted with fire') and prohibits boiling. The verb bashal can mean 'to cook' generally or 'to boil' specifically. The Chronicler resolves this by stating they 'cooked the Passover in fire' (2 Chr 35:13), using bashal in its general sense. The phrase ufanita babboqer vehalakhta le'ohalekha ('turn in the morning and go to your tents') indicates that pilgrims stayed overnight at the central sanctuary and departed the next morning. The word ohalekha ('your tents') may be literal (temporary pilgrim shelters) or metaphorical for 'your homes.'

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The seven-day festival concludes with an atseret ('solemn assembly, closing ceremony') — a sacred gathering marked by cessation from work (lo ta'aseh melakhah — 'do no work'). The atseret signals the formal conclusion of the festival, like a bookend. The six days of eating unleavened bread (not seven, as in v 3 — the apparent discrepancy may indicate that the first day was counted separately as the Passover proper, with six additional days of unleavened bread following). The setumah marks the transition to the second festival.

Translator Notes

1. The second pilgrimage festival — Shavuot (Weeks) — is defined by a counting process: shiv'ah shavu'ot tispor lakh ('count seven weeks for yourself'). The starting point is mehachel chermesh baqqamah ('from when the sickle begins in the standing grain') — the first day of grain harvest. This creates a direct link between agriculture and worship: the festival is not dated to a fixed calendar day but to the harvest cycle. The counting of forty-nine days (seven weeks) creates the 'Counting of the Omer' practice (cf. Lev 23:15-16).

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The chag shavu'ot ('Festival of Weeks') is celebrated with missat nidvat yadekha ('a proportion of the freewill offering of your hand'). The word missat (from the root masas, 'to measure') suggests proportional giving — the offering is calibrated to the giver's means. The phrase ka'asher yevarekekha YHWH ('as the LORD your God has blessed you') establishes proportionality as the governing principle: those blessed abundantly give abundantly; those blessed modestly give modestly. There is no fixed amount — generosity is relative to capacity.

Translator Notes

1. The most expansive inclusion list in the festival calendar: the household (son, daughter, servants), the landless religious worker (Levite), and the three vulnerable populations (ger, yatom, almanah — foreigner, orphan, widow). All nine categories are commanded to celebrate together. The verb vesamachta ('you shall rejoice') makes joy an obligation, not an option. The Festival of Weeks is thus a powerful equalizer — at God's chosen place, social hierarchies dissolve into shared celebration.

Translator Notes

1. The exodus memory is invoked again as the foundation for inclusive celebration: vezakharta ki eved hayita beMitsrayim ('remember that you were a slave in Egypt'). The connection is implicit but powerful: because you were once excluded and enslaved, your festivals must include everyone — especially those who might otherwise be excluded. The petuchah paragraph break marks the major transition to the third pilgrimage festival.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The third pilgrimage festival: chag haSuccot ('Festival of Shelters/Booths/Tabernacles'). Unlike Passover (tied to the exodus) and Weeks (tied to wheat harvest), Sukkot is tied to the final ingathering (be'ospekha — 'when you gather in') from both the threshing floor (grain) and winepress (grapes). It is the autumn harvest festival, celebrating the completion of the agricultural year. The seven-day duration makes it the longest of the three pilgrimage festivals.

Translator Notes

1. The inclusion list repeats from verse 11, reinforcing the principle: no festival may be celebrated alone or exclusively. The verb vesamachta ('you shall rejoice') appears again — joy is not merely permitted but commanded. The phrase bechagekha ('during your festival') makes the festival itself the occasion for joy. Sukkot was traditionally considered the most joyful of all festivals; the Talmud (Sukkah 51a) describes its celebrations as unparalleled.

Translator Notes

1. The phrase vehayita akh sameach ('you will be nothing but joyful' — literally, 'you will be only rejoicing') is one of the strongest joy commands in Scripture. The particle akh ('only, nothing but') intensifies the command — there should be no room for anything other than joy during this festival. The basis for this joy is God's comprehensive blessing: bekhol tevu'atekha ('in all your produce') and bekhol ma'aseh yadekha ('in all the work of your hands'). The completed harvest is visible evidence of divine faithfulness.

Translator Notes

1. This summary verse lists all three pilgrimage festivals together: chag hamMatstsot ('Festival of Unleavened Bread/Passover'), chag haShavu'ot ('Festival of Weeks'), and chag haSuccot ('Festival of Shelters'). The requirement applies to kol zekhurkhah ('all your males') — the pilgrimage obligation is mandatory for males, though women and children could attend and often did (cf. 1 Sam 1:3-4). The phrase yera'eh et penei YHWH ('shall appear before the face of the LORD') can also be read as a passive/niphal: 'shall be seen by the face of the LORD' — the encounter goes both ways. The prohibition velo yera'eh... reqam ('shall not appear empty') requires every pilgrim to bring an offering.

Translator Notes

1. The proportional giving principle is restated: ish kemattenat yado ('each man according to the gift of his hand' — according to his ability). The phrase kevirkat YHWH Elohekha ('according to the blessing of the LORD your God') makes God's blessing the measure — you give from what God has given you. This prevents both the wealthy from giving token amounts and the poor from being burdened beyond their means. The setumah marks the transition from the festival calendar to the judicial section.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The judicial section introduces two roles: shoftim ('judges' — those who render legal decisions) and shotrim ('officers/officials' — those who enforce judicial decisions, functioning as court administrators or police). The phrase bekhol she'arekha ('in all your gates/towns') mandates a local judicial system — justice must be accessible to every community, not concentrated only at the central sanctuary. The mandate is mishpat tsedeq ('judgment of righteousness/just judgment') — not merely formal legal process but substantively righteous outcomes.

Translator Notes

1. Three judicial corruptions are prohibited: lo tatteh mishpat ('do not bend/pervert justice' — distorting legal outcomes), lo takkir panim ('do not recognize faces' — showing favoritism based on status, wealth, or personal connection), and lo tiqqach shochad ('do not accept a bribe'). The reason for the bribe prohibition is psychological: hashochad ye'avver einei chakhamim ('a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise') — even wise, experienced judges become unable to see truth clearly when corrupted by payment. The parallel vayesallef divrei tsaddiqim ('and twists the words of the righteous') indicates that bribery doesn't just affect stupid people — it corrupts even those who are normally righteous and wise.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The emphatic repetition tsedeq tsedeq tirdof ('justice, justice you shall pursue') is one of the most quoted phrases in the Hebrew Bible. The doubling of tsedeq is interpreted variously: 'justice and only justice,' 'thorough justice,' 'justice in every case,' or 'justice by just means.' The verb tirdof ('you shall pursue, you shall chase') implies active, energetic effort — justice does not come to you; you must chase it. The stakes are national survival: lema'an tichyeh veyarashta et ha'arets ('so that you may live and possess the land'). Justice and life in the land are inseparable — injustice leads to exile.

Translator Notes

1. The prohibition against planting an asherah (a sacred wooden pole or tree associated with the Canaanite goddess Asherah) beside YHWH's altar addresses the specific temptation of syncretism — blending Canaanite and Israelite worship at the same site. The phrase kol ets ('any tree/wood') broadens the prohibition: no wooden cult object of any kind may stand near God's altar. The placement of this law after the justice section (vv 18-20) may seem abrupt, but it connects to the judicial theme: just as justice must be pure and uncompromised, so must worship.

Translator Notes

1. The matstsevah ('standing stone, sacred pillar') prohibition echoes 12:3, where Israel was commanded to smash the nations' pillars. The brief but powerful phrase asher sane YHWH Elohekha ('which the LORD your God hates') uses the strongest possible language of divine aversion. The personal emotional language — God 'hates' these objects — moves beyond legal prohibition to theological revulsion. The setumah marks the end of this section, transitioning to chapter 17's judicial and royal legislation.