Deuteronomy 16:15

the place which the Lord shall choose On the effects of the centralisation of the feasts see introd. to Deuteronomy 16:1.

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 malesare mentioned here, while Deuteronomy 16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14include among the worshippers daughters, bondwomenand 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 malesD'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."