10 And thou shalt keep H6213 the feast H2282 of weeks H7620 unto the LORD H3068 thy God H430 with a tribute H4530 of a freewill offering H5071 of thine hand, H3027 which thou shalt give H5414 unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath blessed H1288 thee:
Three H7969 times H6471 in a year H8141 shall all thy males H2138 appear H7200 before H6440 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 in the place H4725 which he shall choose; H977 in the feast H2282 of unleavened bread, H4682 and in the feast H2282 of weeks, H7620 and in the feast H2282 of tabernacles: H5521 and they shall not appear H7200 before H6440 the LORD H3068 empty: H7387 Every man H376 shall give as he is able, H4979 H3027 according to the blessing H1293 of the LORD H3068 thy God H430 which he hath given H5414 thee.
Honour H3513 the LORD H3068 with thy substance, H1952 and with the firstfruits H7225 of all thine increase: H8393 So shall thy barns H618 be filled H4390 with plenty, H7647 and thy presses H3342 shall burst out H6555 with new wine. H8492
And now, I pray you, consider H7760 H3824 from this day H3117 and upward, H4605 from before H2962 a stone H68 was laid H7760 upon a stone H68 in the temple H1964 of the LORD: H3068 Since those days were, when one came H935 to an heap H6194 of twenty H6242 measures, there were but ten: H6235 when one came H935 to the pressfat H3342 for to draw out H2834 fifty H2572 vessels out of the press, H6333 there were but twenty. H6242 I smote H5221 you with blasting H7711 and with mildew H3420 and with hail H1259 in all the labours H4639 of your hands; H3027 yet ye turned not to me, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 Consider H7760 H3824 now from this day H3117 and upward, H4605 from the four H702 and twentieth H6242 day H3117 of the ninth H8671 month, even from the day H3117 that the foundation H3245 of the LORD'S H3068 temple H1964 was laid, consider H7760 H3824 it. Is the seed H2233 yet in the barn? H4035 yea, as yet the vine, H1612 and the fig tree, H8384 and the pomegranate, H7416 and the olive H2132 tree, H6086 hath not brought forth: H5375 from this day H3117 will I bless H1288 you.
Bring H935 ye all the tithes H4643 into the storehouse, H214 that there may be meat H2964 in mine house, H1004 and prove H974 me now herewith, H2063 saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 if I will not open H6605 you the windows H699 of heaven, H8064 and pour you out H7324 a blessing, H1293 that there shall not be room enough H1767 to receive it. And I will rebuke H1605 the devourer H398 for your sakes, and he shall not destroy H7843 the fruits H6529 of your ground; H127 neither shall your vine H1612 cast her fruit H7921 before the time in the field, H7704 saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts. H6635
Therefore G3767 I thought G2233 it necessary G316 to exhort G3870 the brethren, G80 that G2443 they would go before G4281 unto G1519 you, G5209 and G2532 make up beforehand G4294 your G5216 bounty, G2129 whereof ye had notice before, G4293 that the same G5026 might be G1511 ready, G2092 G3779 as G5613 a matter of bounty, G2129 and G2532 not G3361 as G5618 of covetousness. G4124 But G1161 this G5124 I say, He which soweth G4687 sparingly G5340 shall reap G2325 also G2532 sparingly; G5340 and G2532 he which soweth G4687 bountifully G1909 G2129 shall reap G2325 also G2532 bountifully. G1909 G2129 Every man G1538 according as G2531 he purposeth G4255 in his heart, G2588 so let him give; not G3361 grudgingly, G1537 G3077 or G2228 of G1537 necessity: G318 for G1063 God G2316 loveth G25 a cheerful G2431 giver. G1395 And G1161 God G2316 is able G1415 to make G4052 all G3956 grace G5485 abound G4052 toward G1519 you; G5209 that G2443 ye, always G3842 having G2192 all G3956 sufficiency G841 in G1722 all G3956 things, may abound G4052 to G1519 every G3956 good G18 work: G2041 (As G2531 it is written, G1125 He hath dispersed abroad; G4650 he hath given G1325 to the poor: G3993 his G846 righteousness G1343 remaineth G3306 for G1519 ever. G165 Now G1161 he that ministereth G2023 seed G4690 to the sower G4687 both G2532 minister G5524 bread G740 for G1519 your food, G1035 and G2532 multiply G4129 your G5216 seed sown, G4703 and G2532 increase G837 the fruits G1081 of your G5216 righteousness;) G1343 Being enriched G4148 in G1722 every thing G3956 to G1519 all G3956 bountifulness, G572 which G3748 causeth G2716 through G1223 us G2257 thanksgiving G2169 to God. G2316
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 16
Commentary on Deuteronomy 16 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 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.