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 _Maṣṣôth_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 F... [ Continue Reading ]
_Observe_ As of the Sabbath, Deuteronomy 16:12. _month of Abib Abib_= _young ears of corn_(Exodus 9:31; Leviticus 2:14) and the month fell in our March April. So E and J (Exodus 13:4; Exodus 23:15; Exodus 34:18). The name, belonging to the early agricultural calendar, was replaced after the Exile by... [ Continue Reading ]
The Passover (with Maṣṣôth) 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 b... [ Continue Reading ]
_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.... [ Continue Reading ]
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, Deu 20:3; 1 Samuel 23:26; Isaiah 52:12. _no leaven …... [ Continue Reading ]
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.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And thou shalt_ SEETHE] The Heb. _bashal_may be used in the general sense of _cooking_, but it usually means to _boil_(Deu 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 w... [ Continue Reading ]
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 Pas... [ Continue Reading ]
_Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee_ Hence the name of the Feast, Weeks, _Shabu-ôth, Deuteronomy 16:10; Deuteronomy 16:16_, also in J, Exodus 34:22. H, Leviticus 23:16, prescribes _fifty days_from the sabbath after the presentation before the Altar of the first sheaf of the harvest; hence the H... [ Continue Reading ]
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 belo... [ Continue Reading ]
_feast_ Heb. _ḥag_, 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 _ḥagag_, Psalms 42:5; Psalms 107:27). So E, Exodus 23:14, and frequently in O.T. of the three pilgrim... [ Continue Reading ]
See on Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 12:7; Deuteronomy 12:11 f, Deuteronomy 12:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
_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.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt keep_ Heb. _perform for thyself_, see on Deuteronomy 16:1. _the feast of_ BOOTHS] _feast, ḥag_, as in Deuteronomy 16:10. _Booths, suḳḳôth_, lit. _plaitings_or _interlacings_, whether natural _thickets_(Job 38:40, etc.) or artificial shelters of branches or planks, especially for the guar... [ Continue Reading ]
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. This feast is also c... [ Continue Reading ]
_and thou shalt rejoice_ As in Deuteronomy 16:11 but slightly varied.... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 affi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Judges … shalt thou make thee_ Heb. _give_or _appoint for thyself_. _and officers scribes_or _marshals_. See on Deuteronomy 1:15. _I_ _n a__LL_ _thy gates_ The law is another consequence of the centralisation of the cultus. In ancient Israel ordinary cases were decided by the meeting of the commun... [ Continue Reading ]
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. D... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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.... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 16:21-22. Against the Use of "Asherim and Maṣṣeboth 21. _Thou shalt not plant thee an Asherah plant_, because the "Asherah (see general note following) was either a mast or artificial tree. _of any kind of tree_ The Heb. construction is not in the genitive but in apposition; translate... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]