Deuteronomy 16
BSASBMoses reviews the three great yearly feasts: Passover with Unleavened Bread, Weeks, and Tabernacles. Each calls Israel to remember what God did and to rejoice together, including the poor and the stranger. The chapter ends with orders for honest judges and for pure worship, free of pagan symbols.
Deuteronomy 16:1
Israel is to keep Passover in the spring month of Abib, because that month marks their rescue from Egypt. The feast is not a mere custom. It keeps alive the memory that the LORD himself brought them out of slavery.
BSA: Observe (“keep, watch over”): The word carries the sense of guarding something precious, so the feast is to be carefully protected and not neglected.
See also: Exodus 12:1-14.
Deuteronomy 16:2
The Passover lamb, or an animal from the herd, is to be offered at the one place God will choose. God’s Name is said to dwell there. Worship is shaped by where and how God himself directs, not by personal preference.
BSA: dwelling (“a place to live, a resting place”): God makes a home for his Name among his people, showing he wants to be near them.
See also: Deuteronomy 12:5.
Deuteronomy 16:3
For seven days they eat flat bread without yeast. It is called the bread of affliction because it recalls the hardship of Egypt and the hurried escape. The meal is meant to be remembered for a lifetime.
BSA: haste (“a state of urgent hurry, due to fear”): The escape was sudden, with no time for dough to rise, and the plain bread keeps that urgency alive. remember (“recall, meditate on”): Remembering here means thinking deeply and letting the past shape the present.
Hebrew: חֲפָזוֹן (ḥippazon, H2649) — “hurried flight.” The Hebrew word suggests a anxious, hasty rush. Israel left Egypt not on their own schedule but at the moment God opened the door.
See also: Exodus 12:33-39.
Deuteronomy 16:4
For the week, no yeast was to be found anywhere in the land. The Passover meat also could not be kept overnight. Everything was to be eaten in the spirit of the feast, with nothing carried over or hoarded.
See also: 1 Corinthians 5:7-8.
Deuteronomy 16:5-6
Passover could not be sacrificed in just any town. It was to be offered at the chosen place, in the evening at sunset, the hour Israel left Egypt. The whole nation was drawn to one center and one memory of salvation.
BSA: Name (“His character, reputation”): God’s Name stands for who he is, so the chosen place is where his character is honored.
Deuteronomy 16:7
The lamb is roasted and eaten at the chosen place. In the morning the people go back to their tents. The pilgrims shared the sacred meal together and then returned home, carrying the memory into ordinary life.
Deuteronomy 16:8
After six days of unleavened bread, the seventh day is a solemn assembly. The people stop their work and gather for the LORD. The week ends in rest and worship, not in labor.
BSA: solemn assembly (“a gathering, a meeting”): It is a called-together gathering where God’s people stand before him as one.
Hebrew: עֲצֶרֶת (ʿatzeret, H6116) — “a holding back, a closing assembly.” The word suggests a time when ordinary activity is held back so the people can gather wholly to God.
Deuteronomy 16:9-10
Seven weeks are counted from the start of the grain harvest, and then the Feast of Weeks is kept. Each person brings a freewill offering sized by how much God has blessed him. Giving here is thankful and proportionate, not forced.
BSA: freewill (“voluntary, spontaneous”): The gift comes from a willing heart, not from pressure.
See also: Leviticus 23:15-16; 2 Corinthians 9:7.
Deuteronomy 16:11
The feast is a joyful gathering before the LORD. The invitation reaches the whole household, servants, Levites, foreigners, orphans and widows. Those who have little are welcomed to the same table as everyone else.
BSA: rejoice (“with joy and gratitude”): Joy is joined with thankfulness, because the harvest is seen as God’s gift. foreigner (“sojourner, stranger”): Even outsiders living among Israel are included in God’s celebration.
Deuteronomy 16:12
Moses ties the feasts to Israel’s own past. They were once slaves, so they should treat the lowly kindly and obey God’s laws. Memory of grace becomes the root of both generosity and obedience.
BSA: slaves (“servants, bondmen”): Their former bondage is the reason they must now treat dependents with compassion.
See also: Deuteronomy 15:15.
Deuteronomy 16:13
The Feast of Tabernacles comes after the grain and the grapes are brought in. It lasts seven days. The harvest is not simply stored up. It is first received with thanks in worship.
BSA: Tabernacles (“booths, temporary shelters”): The people lived in leafy shelters, recalling their years of wandering when God sheltered them.
Hebrew: סֻכֹּת (sukkot, H5521) — “booths, huts made of branches.” The name points to the simple shelters used in the feast, a reminder that Israel once lived in tents and depended wholly on God.
See also: Leviticus 23:39-43.
Deuteronomy 16:14
Again the whole household rejoices together, with the Levite, foreigner, orphan and widow all included. True gladness in God’s gifts is shared, and no one in the community is left outside the circle.
BSA: rejoice (“with great joy, celebrate”): The feast is meant to bring deep and open gladness, not quiet duty.
Deuteronomy 16:15
For seven days they celebrate at the chosen place, trusting that the LORD will bless their produce and their work. The aim is that their joy be complete. God wants his people not merely to obey but to be truly glad in him.
BSA: complete (“full, overflowing”): God intends a joy that is full to the brim, not a halfway happiness.
Hebrew: שָׂמֵחַ (sameach, H8055) — “altogether glad.” The Hebrew says they will be only glad, a joy with nothing left out. It shows that the feast is meant to end in wholehearted gladness.
Deuteronomy 16:16-17
Three times a year the men gather at the chosen place: Unleavened Bread, Weeks and Tabernacles. No one comes empty-handed. Each gives as he is able, in line with God’s blessing. Worship includes thankful giving from what God has first given.
BSA: empty-handed (“without an offering, with nothing to give”): Coming to God with nothing would treat his gifts lightly, so each brings a thankful token. gift (“according to the gift of his hand”): Each person gives from what his own hand has received.
See also: Exodus 23:14-17.
Deuteronomy 16:18
Judges and officials are to be appointed in every town. Justice must be available close to home. Their task is to judge the people rightly, since the LORD is a just God and his people must reflect him.
BSA: righteous (“just, fair”): Their verdicts must match the fairness of God and not bend with the pressures of the moment.
See also: Exodus 18:21-22.
Deuteronomy 16:19
Judges must not twist justice, play favorites or take bribes. A bribe blinds even the wise and bends the words of the righteous. Money can quietly corrupt good people, so honest judgment needs a guarded heart.
BSA: bribe (“a gift to influence, a corrupting present”): What looks like a harmless present is meant to tilt a decision. partiality (“favoritism, respect of persons”): Judging by who someone is, rather than by what is right, is forbidden.
See also: Exodus 23:8; James 2:1.
Deuteronomy 16:20
The command repeats the word justice for emphasis: pursue justice, and only justice. Israel’s life in the land depends on it. A nation that honors what is right is living in line with the God who gave the land.
BSA: Pursue (“to chase after, follow closely”): Justice is something to be chased eagerly, not just kept when convenient.
Hebrew: צֶדֶק צֶדֶק (tzedeq tzedeq, H6664) — “justice, justice.” The word is doubled in Hebrew, which stresses that nothing less than true righteousness will do.
See also: Micah 6:8.
Deuteronomy 16:21-22
No Asherah pole and no sacred pillar may stand near the LORD’s altar. These were fixtures of Canaanite worship. God hates them because they mix his pure worship with the worship of false gods. He alone is to be honored in his way.
BSA: Asherah pole (“a wooden pole or grove of the goddess Asherah”): It was a symbol tied to a Canaanite goddess, so placing it by God’s altar would blend two religions. hates (“intensely dislikes, detests”): God’s feeling about idolatry is strong, because it betrays the loyalty he asks for.
See also: Exodus 34:13-14.