Deuteronomy 16

The Three Feasts Every year Israel shall celebrate three Feasts at the Sanctuary. First, in the spring month Abib, a Passover, Pesaḥ ?, with the Feast of Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth or unleavened loaves (Deuteronomy 16:1-8, cp. Deuteronomy 16:16). Second, seven weeks from the time the sickle is put to the corn, the Feast of Weeks, Shabu‘τth (Deuteronomy 16:9-12). Third, after the ingathering from threshing-floor and winepress, the Feast of Booths, Suḳ ?ḳ ?oth (Deuteronomy 16:13-15). Thus thrice a year all males shall appear before God, with gifts (Deuteronomy 16:16 f.).—In Sg. throughout; on the questionable integrity of the passage see below. The same three feasts are prescribed in E, Exodus 23:15 a, Exodus 23:16, Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth, Ḳ ?aṣ ?ξr or Harvest, and ’Asiph or Ingathering, the last at the going out of the year, the early Israelite year ending in September; and in J, Exodus 34:18 a, Exodus 34:22; Exodus 34:25 Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth (Exodus 34:25, Passover), Weeks (firstfruits of wheat-harvest) and Ingathering, at the turn of the year. In H (enlarged by P) Leviticus 23, the Passover is on the 14th, and Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth on the 15th of the first month, reckoning now from spring when the later Israelite, or Babylonian, year began; a sheaf of first-fruits is to be brought to the priest with other offerings, and 50 days later a new meal offering; and on the 15th day of the seventh month, after the produce of the land is gathered in, a feast of seven days shall begin, Israel dwelling in booths. In P, Numbers 28:16-29 we find (with additional annual solemnities) Passover and Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth fixed as in Leviticus 23; a day of firstfruits with a new meal offering in Weeks; and on the 15th day of the seventh month a convocation with seven days of sacrifices, and on the 8th another convocation. See Chapman, Intr. to the Pent. 146 ff., and the relevant notes in Driver’s Exod. with a table (pp. 370 ff.) of the J and E laws ‘derived evidently from a common original.’ The three Feasts, Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth, Harvest or Weeks, and Ingathering or Booths are those of an agricultural people. The Passover alone was possible to Israel in their nomadic state; and in Egypt a similar sacrifice was celebrated by them, as a tradition from their nomad ancestors (Exodus 3:8; Exodus 9:13; cp. Deuteronomy 12:21 and Driver’s note). Its association with the Exodus is already recognised by J, Exodus 12:25-27. D extends the same historical meaning to Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth, P another one to Booths, and the later Jewish tradition still another to Weeks. D also removes all three from the rural sanctuaries to the One Altar. ‘Naturally the transference to the capital severed the close connection [of these Feasts] with the agricultural life, facilitated the historical interpretation and transformed local rural feasts into strictly regulated and exactly dated festivals for the whole commonwealth; which subsequent generations, in Leviticus 23, Numbers 28 f., fixed by a precise calendar’ (Marti).

Deuteronomy 16:1-8

1–8. The Passover (with Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth) To be kept in Abib—for in that month Israel was brought out of Egypt—by the sacrifice of a victim from herd or flock at the One Altar (Deuteronomy 16:1 f.). For seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten—Israel’s food in the haste of quitting Egypt,—and no leaven shall be found in their borders, nor any of the Passover flesh after the first evening (Deuteronomy 16:3 f.). The Passover shall be boiled and eaten, the people returning next morning to their tents (Deuteronomy 16:5-7); for six days Israel shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh hold a convocation and do no work (Deuteronomy 16:8).—The integrity of the passage has been questioned (Steuern., Stȧ ?rk, Berth., Marti) and with reason. For not only do Deuteronomy 16:3 f. on Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth break the connection of Deu 16:1 f. with 5–7 on the Passover, while Deuteronomy 16:8 also on Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth reflects the style of P; but Deuteronomy 16:7, fixing the Feast for one day after which the people are to return home, is difficult to harmonise with the seven days of Deu 16:3 f. and Deuteronomy 16:8. Two explanations are possible;—(1) D’s law originally consisted of Deu 16:1 f., Deuteronomy 16:5-7, and dealt only with the Passover; and the vv. on Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth are from an editor. But there is no reason why the original code of D should ignore Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth—for which certainly E has a law, Exodus 23:15 a, and (Steuern. notwithstanding) J also, Exodus 34:18 a—unless Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth, a purely agricultural feast, had become too closely associated with the cults of the Baalim. (2) More probably we have here a compilation of two laws of D, originally separate, one on Passover and one on Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth. In either case the combination of Passover and Maṣ ?ṣ ?τth, which was not original and is not accepted even by H in Leviticus 23 (Leviticus 23:5; Leviticus 23:9 ff.; Leviticus 23:6-8 are added by P), took place between the date of the original code of D and that of the final composition of the Book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 16:2

2. of the flock and the herd] Sheep, goat or ox, and doubtless as in J, a firstling. P, Exodus 12:3-6, prescribes a male of the first year (see Driver’s note), but limits it to a lamb or kid; in later practice a lamb was invariably chosen. in the place which Jehovah shall choose] To Jehovah Sam. LXX add thy God. In J, Exodus 12:21-26, the service is domestic; and P, Exodus 12:3 ff., also preserves its domestic character, cp. Exodus 12:46.

Deuteronomy 16:3-4

3, 4. See introd. note. bread of affliction] The affliction of Israel in Egypt, Exodus 3:7; Exodus 4:31, culminating in the haste or trepidation (Driver) with which they ate their last meal there. So P, Exodus 12:11; cp. for the meaning of the word, Deuteronomy 20:3; 1 Samuel 23:26; Isaiah 52:12. no leaven … neither shall any of the flesh … remain] The two prohibitions are connected because anything fermenting or putrefying was not admissible in sacrifice (W. R. Smith, Rel. Sem. 221 n.). Cp. P, Exodus 12:19.

Deuteronomy 16:5-6

5, 6. See on Deuteronomy 16:2. For at even, P, Exodus 12:6, employs his technical expression between the two evenings, on which see Driver’s note. Season, set time or date, i.e. hour of day.

Deuteronomy 16:7

7. And thou shalt seethe] The Heb. bashal may be used in the general sense of cooking, but it usually means to boil (Deuteronomy 14:21; 1 Samuel 2:13; 1 Samuel 2:15). The R.V. roast is due to the effort to harmonise this law with that of P, Exodus 12:9, which directs that the sacrifice shall be roast with fire; but P expressly adds that it shall not be boiled in water, and uses for this the same vb bashal as D does. Clearly D and P enjoin different methods of preparing the paschal lamb. Boiling appears to have been the earlier preparation of the part of victims eaten by the worshippers (Judges 6:19 ff.; 1 Samuel 2:13 f.) and roasting was at first regarded as an innovation (1 Samuel 2:15). See however Driver’s note. thou shalt turn] See on Deuteronomy 3:1. and go unto thy tents] An interesting survival from the nomadic period of Israel’s history; cp. (also for the time after the settlement in towns) Judges 7:8; Judges 19:9 (EVV. home); 1 Samuel 13:2; 2 Samuel 19:8; 2 Samuel 20:22; 1 Kings 12:16. The people then are to return to their homes on the morning after the Passover feast.

Deuteronomy 16:8

8. See introd. note. The incompatibility of this v. with the preceding is obvious unless we are to explain tents as the shelters which pilgrims to the central sanctuary pitched during the feast. But (as we have seen) tents means the people’s homes. The numbering of the days is not clear. If the Passover day itself is included there is no contradiction of Deu 16:3, for that was the first day of unleavened bread, and this v. may be interpreted as also fixing seven days for the eating of such bread; but distinguishing them as six plus a seventh on which in addition the solemn assembly was to be held.

But if the Passover day was meant to be included it is strange that it is not mentioned. On the whole, and particularly because of the two expressions characteristic of P, a solemn assembly and thou shalt do no work (the latter however also in Deuteronomy 5:13), it is probable that Deuteronomy 16:8 is an addition by the compiler of the two once separate laws on the Passover and the Maṣ ?ṣ ?ôth.

Deuteronomy 16:9-12

9–12. The Feast of Weeks To be joyfully celebrated after seven weeks from the beginning of harvest, with free-will offering, by each Israelite, along with his household and the local Levites and other poor at the One Altar (Deuteronomy 16:9-11). Whether Deuteronomy 16:12 is original is doubtful; see below. For corresponding laws in other codes see introd. to Deuteronomy 16:1-17. This is the only feast not associated in the O. T. with a memorable event in Israel’s history. Later Judaism assigned to it the giving of the Law on Sinai.

Deuteronomy 16:10

10. feast] Heb. ḥ ?ag, as in Rabbinic Hebrew a pilgrim-feast, and in Ar. pilgrimage (perhaps originally a sacred dance, Wellh. Reste d. Arab. Heiden. iii. 106, 165, and Exodus 32:5 f.; cp. the vb ḥ ?agag, Psalms 42:5; Psalms 107:27). So E, Exodus 23:14, and frequently in O.T. of the three pilgrim feasts. See Driver’s Exod. 242. with a tribute of a free-will offering, etc.] Heb. (according to) the sufficiency of the free-will offering, etc.; i.e. with a gift (see on Deuteronomy 12:6) adequate to the competence of the offerer, as he has been blessed by God.

Deuteronomy 16:11

11. See on Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 12:7; Deuteronomy 12:11 f, 18.

Deuteronomy 16:12

12. And thou shalt remember, etc.] See on Deuteronomy 15:15. This clause is not relevant to the whole law, but only to the inclusion under it of the bondservant, Deuteronomy 16:11. It can hardly be original, and as the rest of the v. is purely formal, the whole is probably secondary.

Deuteronomy 16:13-15

13–15. The Feast of Booths To be observed for seven days after the harvest of corn and wine by each family and their dependents, at the One Altar; and that altogether joyfully because of God’s blessing.—For the parallels and the other name of the Feast see introd. to Deuteronomy 16:1-17. This feast is also called the feast par excellence (1 Kings 8:2; 1 Kings 8:65, etc., cp. Judges 21:19 ff.) not so much for its length, as because it crowned the year. See further Deuteronomy 31:10.

Deuteronomy 16:14

14. and thou shalt rejoice] As in Deuteronomy 16:11 but slightly varied.

Deuteronomy 16:15

15. the place which the Lord shall choose] On the effects of the centralisation of the feasts see introd. to Deuteronomy 16:1-17. and thou shalt be altogether joyful] Heb. only, or nothing but, joyful. This emphatic repetition of the command is remarkable, but hardly sufficient to answer in the affirmative Steuernagel’s question whether the feast had before D’s time begun to lose its ancient, joyous character. 16, 17 summarise the laws of the three feasts. Deuteronomy 16:16 repeats (with a characteristic variation and addition of the divine title) the older commandment in J, Exodus 34:23, repeated (editorially) in E, Deuteronomy 23:17; three times a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord Jehovah. That only males are mentioned here, while Deuteronomy 16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14 include among the worshippers daughters, bondwomen and widows, is no proof that this summary is from another hand than the three preceding laws (Steuern.). It is the same author but he is quoting the older law. In contrast with its confinement of the law to males D’s inclusion of women is characteristic; see on Deuteronomy 16:21. shall appear before the Lord thy God] Heb. shall let himself be seen at the face of, a possible but awkward construction. It is probable that the original reading, which may be restored without the change of a consonant and by merely altering the vowel-points, was shall see the face of. The motive of the present punctuation would be the desire to avoid the anthropomorphism involved in the phrase ‘seeing the face of God.’

Deuteronomy 16:18-20

II. Second Division of the Laws: the Officers of the Theocracy—Deuteronomy 16:18-20 … Deuteronomy 17:8-18 Five Laws on Judges and Justice, Appeal to the Sanctuary, the King, the Priests, the Prophets; interrupted by an isolated group of laws on the Worship, Deuteronomy 16:21 to Deuteronomy 17:7. Deuteronomy 16:18-20. Of Judges and Justice Judges with officers are to be appointed in every locality but according to tribes. Justice is to be pursued with strict impartiality.—Sg. Steuern. regards Deuteronomy 16:18 alone as original on the grounds that while it commits the discharge of justice to special Judges , vv. Deuteronomy 16:19 f. addresses the whole people as responsible for it; and that while Deuteronomy 16:18 presupposes Israel’s occupation of the land, Deuteronomy 16:20 b promises this as the reward of the people’s justice. But the former variation, though a possible, is not a certain, mark of diversity of authorship. The same author, after instituting the judges, might well address to the whole people his enforcement of the principles which were to inspire the institution, especially since (as we shall see) he left to the popular courts part of the duty of discharging justice.

Deuteronomy 16:20 b, a couple of deuteronomic formulas, may well be a later scribe’s malapropos addition to the original law. There is no reason for doubting the integrity of the rest. Deuteronomy 16:19 is a close, but not exact, quotation from E. On the substance of this law see notes to Deuteronomy 1:9-18.

Deuteronomy 16:19

19. Thou] The whole people are responsible for the impartial discharge of justice: characteristic of D. shalt not wrest judgement] E, Exodus 23:6 : the judgement of thy poor in his cause. thou shalt not respect persons] See on Deuteronomy 1:17. neither shalt thou take a gift, etc.] So E, Exodus 23:8, except that for the eyes of the wise it has the open-eyed or them that have sight. a gift] Heb. shoḥ ?ad, of a present in order to influence justice, a bribe (Deuteronomy 10:17), a prevalent temptation of judges in the East, where he is regarded as still a just judge who takes gifts only from the party in the right, as it were a fee for his judgement or an inducement to hasten it. Here, however, the acceptance of any gift by a judge is forbidden. In the Code of Ḫ ?ammurabi the 5th law, expelling from office the judge who alters his decision, implies that he does this for some unjust reason such as a bribe. On bribery among the settled Arabs see Doughty Ar. Des. i. 607. words] Statements or pleas, equivalent to cause or case.

Deuteronomy 16:20

20. That which is altogether just] Heb. righteousness, righteousness. follow] Not only desire but indefatigably hunt after; cp. Deuteronomy 13:14, inquire, make search and seek diligently. that thou mayest live, etc.] See note on Deuteronomy 4:1 and introd. to this passage.

Deuteronomy 16:21-17

Deuteronomy 16:21 to Deuteronomy 17:7. Isolated Group of Laws on Worship This group of laws against heathen symbols and blemished sacrifices and the worship of other gods—all of them abominations to, or hated by, Jehovah—is quite isolated, between two sets of laws on judicial procedure, Deuteronomy 16:18-20 and Deuteronomy 17:8 ff.; and we have seen reasons (above p. 173) for supposing that the whole group originally stood between Deuteronomy 12:29-31 and Deuteronomy 13:1-18. The notes below will show that there are both similarities and dissimilarities between the two separated sections. The reason which Steuernagel gives for supposing that Deuteronomy 16:21 is by another author than that of ch. 12, with a different aim of reform—viz. because he speaks only of an altar and does not use the formulas found in 12 for the One Altar—is not convincing. With regard to this and the other dissimilarities of the present section from Deuteronomy 12:29 to Deuteronomy 13:18 it must be remembered that within the latter there are also dissimilarities. Throughout the form of address is in the Sg.: there are some editorial additions.