View Deuteronomy 16 in the note window.
A repetition of the laws concerning the passover, ver. 1 - 8.
The feast of pentecost, ver. 9 - 12
That of tabernacles, ver. 13 - 15.
All the males are to attend them, ver. 16, 17.
An appointment of judges and officers, ver. 18 - 20.
A caution against groves and images, ver. 21, 22.
1: Observe the month of Abib - Or of new fruits, which answers to
part of March and part of April, and was by a special order from God
made the beginning of their year, in remembrance of their deliverance
out of Egypt. By night - In the night Pharaoh was forced to give
them leave to depart, and accordingly they made preparation for their
departure, and in the morning they perfected the work.
2: The passover - That is, the feast of the passover, and so the
place may be rendered, thou shalt therefore observe the feast of the
passover unto the Lord thy God, with sheep, and with oxen, as is
prescribed, (Nu 28:18), &c.
3: With it - Or, in it, that is, during the time of the feast
of the passover. Bread of affliction - Bread which is not usual nor
pleasant, to put thee in mind both of thy miseries endured in Egypt;
and of thy hasty coming out of it, which allowed thee no time to leaven
or prepare thy bread.
4: Any of the flesh - That is, of the passover properly so called.
5: Of thy gates - That is, of thy cities.
6: There - Namely, in the court of the tabernacle or temple. This he
prescribed, partly that this great work might be done with more solemnity in
such manner as God required; partly, because it was not only a sacrament,
but also a sacrifice, and because here was the sprinkling of blood, which
is the essential part of a sacrifice; and partly to design the place where
Christ, the true passover or lamb of God, was to be slain. At the
season - About the time you were preparing yourselves for it.
7: In the morning - The morning after the seventh day. Thy
tents - That is, thy dwellings, which he calls tents, as respecting
their present state, and to put them in mind afterwards when they were
settled in better habitations, that there was a time when they dwelt in
tents.
8: Six days - Namely, besides the first day, on which the passover
was killed.
9: To put the sickle - That is, to reap thy corn, thy barley, when
the first - fruits were offered.
10: Of weeks - Of pentecost. Thou shalt give - Over and besides
what was appointed.
17: Thou shalt rejoice - In God and the effects of his favour,
praising him with a glad heart.
18: Judges - Chief magistrates to examine and determine causes and
differences. Officers - Who were subordinate to the other to bring causes
and persons before him, to acquaint people with the sentence of the judges,
and to execute their sentence. Thy gates - Thy cities, which he here
calls gates, because there were seats of judgment set. Pursuant to this
law, in every town which contained above an hundred and twenty families,
there was a court of twenty three judges; in the smaller towns, a court of
three judges.
19: Wrest judgment - Not give an unjust sentence. A gift doth
blind the eyes - Biasseth his mind, that he cannot discern between right
and wrong. The words - That is the sentence, of those judges who are used
to do righteous things, it makes them give wrong judgment.
20: That which is altogether just - Heb. righteousness,
righteousness, that is, nothing but righteousness in all causes
and times, and to all persons equally.
21: Thou shalt not plant - Because this was the practice of
idolaters, and might be an occasion of reviving idolatry.
