Deuteronomy 16

De 16:1-22.

THE

FEAST OF THE

PASSOVER.

1. Observe the month of Abib--or first-fruits. It comprehended the

latter part of our March and the beginning of April. Green ears of the

barley, which were then full, were offered as first-fruits, on the

second day of the passover.

for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by

night--This statement is apparently at variance with the prohibition

(Ex 12:22)

as well as with the recorded fact that their departure took place in

the morning

(Ex 13:3;

Nu 33:3).

But it is susceptible of easy reconciliation. Pharaoh's permission, the

first step of emancipation, was extorted during the night, the

preparations for departure commenced, the rendezvous at Rameses made,

and the march entered on in the morning.

2. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover--not the paschal

lamb, which was strictly and properly the passover. The whole solemnity

is here meant, as is evident from the mention of the additional victims

that required to be offered on the subsequent days of the feast

(Nu 28:18, 19;

2Ch 35:8, 9),

and from the allusion to the continued use of unleavened bread for

seven days, whereas the passover itself was to be eaten at once. The

words before us are equivalent to "thou shalt observe the feast of the

passover."

3. seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread--a sour, unpleasant,

unwholesome kind of bread, designed to be a memorial of their Egyptian

misery and of the haste with which they departed, not allowing time for

their morning dough to ferment.

5, 6. Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy

gates--The passover was to be observed nowhere but in the court of

the tabernacle or temple, as it was not a religious feast or

sacramental occasion merely, but an actual sacrifice

(Ex 12:27; 23:18; 34:25).

The blood had to be sprinkled on the altar and in the place where the

true Passover was afterwards to be sacrificed for us "at even, at the

going down of the sun"--literally, "between the evenings."

6. at the season--that is, the month and day, though not perhaps

the precise hour. The immense number of victims that had to be

immolated on the eve of the passover--that is, within a space of four

hours--has appeared to some writers a great difficulty. But the large

number of officiating priests, their dexterity and skill in the

preparation of the sacrifices, the wide range of the court, the

extraordinary dimensions of the altar of burnt offering and orderly

method of conducting the solemn ceremonial, rendered it easy to do that

in a few hours, which would otherwise have required as many days.

7. thou shalt roast and eat

it--(See on

Ex 12:8;

compare

2Ch 35:13).

thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents--The sense

of this passage, on the first glance of the words, seems to point to

the morning after the first day--the passover eve. Perhaps, however,

the divinely appointed duration of this feast, the solemn character and

important object, the journey of the people from the distant parts of

the land to be present, and the recorded examples of their continuing

all the time

(2Ch 30:21 35:17),

(though these may be considered extraordinary, and therefore

exceptional occasions), may warrant the conclusion that the leave given

to the people to return home was to be on the morning after the

completion of the seven days.

9-12. Seven weeks shalt thou number--The feast of weeks, or a

WEEK OF WEEKS: the feast of pentecost (see on

Le 23:10;

also see

Ex 34:22;

Ac 2:1).

As on the second day of the passover a sheaf of new barley, reaped on

purpose, was offered, so on the second day of pentecost a sheaf of new

wheat was presented as first-fruits

(Ex 23:16;

Nu 28:26),

a freewill, spontaneous tribute of gratitude to God for His temporal

bounties. This feast was instituted in memory of the giving of the law,

that spiritual food by which man's soul is nourished

(De 8:3).

13-17. Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven

days--(See on

Ex 23:14;

Le 23:34;

Nu 29:12).

Various conjectures have been formed to account for the appointment of

this feast at the conclusion of the whole harvest. Some imagine that it

was designed to remind the Israelites of the time when they had no

cornfields to reap but were daily supplied with manna; others think

that it suited the convenience of the people better than any other

period of the year for dwelling in booths; others that it was the time

of Moses' second descent from the mount; while a fourth class are of

opinion that this feast was fixed to the time of the year when the Word

was made flesh and dwelt--literally, "tabernacled"--among us

(Joh 1:14),

Christ being actually born at that season.

15. in all the works of thine hands . . . rejoice--that is, praising

God with a warm and elevated heart. According to Jewish tradition, no

marriages were allowed to be celebrated during these great festivals,

that no personal or private rejoicings might be mingled with the

demonstrations of public and national gladness.

16. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord

thy God--No command was laid on women to undertake the

journeys, partly from regard to the natural weakness of their sex, and

partly to their domestic cares.

18-20. Judges and officers shalt thou make--These last meant

heralds or bailiffs, employed in executing the sentence of their

superiors.

in all thy gates--The gate was the place of public resort among the

Israelites and other Eastern people, where business was transacted and

causes decided. The Ottoman Porte derived its name from the

administration of justice at its gates.

21. Thou shalt not plant thee a grove--A grove has in Scripture a

variety of significations--a group of overshadowing trees, or a grove

adorned with altars dedicated to a particular deity, or a wooden image

in a grove

(Jud 6:25;

2Ki 23:4-6).

They might be placed near the earthen and temporary altars erected in

the wilderness, but they could not exist either at the tabernacle or

temples. They were places, which, with their usual accompaniments,

presented strong allurements to idolatry; and therefore the Israelites

were prohibited from planting them.

22. Neither shalt thou set thee up any image--erroneously rendered

so for "pillar"; pillars of various kinds, and materials of wood or

stone were erected in the neighborhood of altars. Sometimes they were

conical or oblong, at other times they served as pedestals for the

statues of idols. A superstitious reverence was attached to them, and

hence they were forbidden.