Deuteronomy 16 Study Notes
General
When was Tabernacles, the Feast of Booths, to be celebrated, according to Deuteronomy 16:13?
Answer: After the grain and grapes had been gathered in
Tabernacles, also called the Feast of Booths, lasted seven days and came after Israel had gathered in the produce of the threshing floor, where grain was separated from husks, and the winepress, where grapes were crushed (16:13). It was a harvest celebration that everyone in the household and community shared (16:14), and Moses says God would bless all their produce and work so that their joy would be full (16:15). Leviticus sets the feast in the seventh month (Leviticus 23:34) and adds that Israel lived in booths, simple shelters, during the feast so that later generations would know God had made them live in booths when He led them out of Egypt (Leviticus 23:42-43). After the exile, the returned community made booths, lived in them, and celebrated with great joy (Nehemiah 8:17).
- Deuteronomy 16:13-15 (BSB)“You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you. For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place He will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete.”The Feast of Tabernacles follows the harvest and is marked by shared, complete joy for seven days.
- Leviticus 23:34 (BSB)““Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days.”Leviticus fixes the feast as a seven-day festival in the seventh month.
- Leviticus 23:42-43 (BSB)“You are to dwell in booths for seven days. All the native-born of Israel must dwell in booths, so that your descendants may know that I made the Israelites dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’””Living in booths during the feast reminded later generations of how God housed Israel after the exodus.
- Nehemiah 8:17 (BSB)“The whole assembly that had returned from exile made booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated like this. And there was great rejoicing.”After the exile the returned community built booths and celebrated with great rejoicing.
Theological
According to Deuteronomy 16:13, what event in the agricultural year marked the start of Tabernacles?
Answer: After the grain and grapes had been gathered in
Tabernacles was the closing harvest festival, kept for a week once the yield of threshing floor and winepress had been gathered (16:13). Its tone is joy shared across the whole household and community (16:14), grounded in the LORD’s promised blessing on all Israel’s produce and labor, so that their joy would be full (16:15). Leviticus dates it to the seventh month (Leviticus 23:34) and adds its memorial function: dwelling in booths recalled how God sheltered Israel after the exodus (Leviticus 23:42-43). Its restored observance after the exile was marked by great joy (Nehemiah 8:17).
- Deuteronomy 16:13-15 (BSB)“You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you. For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place He will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete.”The Feast of Tabernacles follows the harvest and is marked by shared, complete joy for seven days.
- Leviticus 23:34 (BSB)““Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days.”Leviticus fixes the feast as a seven-day festival in the seventh month.
- Leviticus 23:42-43 (BSB)“You are to dwell in booths for seven days. All the native-born of Israel must dwell in booths, so that your descendants may know that I made the Israelites dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’””Living in booths during the feast reminded later generations of how God housed Israel after the exodus.
- Nehemiah 8:17 (BSB)“The whole assembly that had returned from exile made booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated like this. And there was great rejoicing.”After the exile the returned community built booths and celebrated with great rejoicing.
General
Why does Deuteronomy 16:3 say Israel ate bread without yeast during the Passover week?
Answer: They had left Egypt in a hurry and must remember it
Unleavened bread is bread made without yeast, so it does not rise. Moses calls it bread of affliction, meaning bread of hardship, and explains that Israel ate it because they had left Egypt in a hurry (16:3). Eating it for a full week each year would keep the day they left Egypt fresh in their memory as long as they lived. Exodus explains that the people had no time to let their dough rise because they were driven out and could not wait (Exodus 12:39), and they ate the first Passover dressed for travel and in a hurry (Exodus 12:11). Paul takes up the same picture for Christians: because Christ has been sacrificed as the Passover lamb, believers are to put away the old yeast of malice and live in sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
- Deuteronomy 16:3 (BSB)“You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.”Moses explains why the bread eaten with the Passover must be unleavened and what it was meant to recall.
- Exodus 12:39 (BSB)“Since their dough had no leaven, the people baked what they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves. For when they had been driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves.”The dough had no leaven because Israel was driven out of Egypt and could not delay.
- Exodus 12:11 (BSB)“This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.”The first Passover was eaten dressed for travel and in haste.
- 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 (BSB)“Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.”Paul turns the unleavened bread into a picture of the sincere and truthful life of those redeemed by Christ.
Theological
What rationale does Deuteronomy 16:3 give for the seven days of unleavened bread?
Answer: They had left Egypt in a hurry and must remember it
The unleavened bread, called bread of affliction, commemorates the hurried departure from Egypt (16:3). Its purpose is anamnesis: a yearly, embodied act of remembering the exodus for the whole of each Israelite’s life. The historical basis is given in Exodus, where the dough had no time to rise because Israel was expelled without delay (Exodus 12:39) and the first Passover was eaten in haste, ready to travel (Exodus 12:11). Paul reads the feast christologically and ethically: since Christ has been sacrificed as the Passover lamb, the church is to purge the old yeast of malice and celebrate in sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
- Deuteronomy 16:3 (BSB)“You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.”Moses explains why the bread eaten with the Passover must be unleavened and what it was meant to recall.
- Exodus 12:39 (BSB)“Since their dough had no leaven, the people baked what they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves. For when they had been driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves.”The dough had no leaven because Israel was driven out of Egypt and could not delay.
- Exodus 12:11 (BSB)“This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.”The first Passover was eaten dressed for travel and in haste.
- 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 (BSB)“Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.”Paul turns the unleavened bread into a picture of the sincere and truthful life of those redeemed by Christ.
General
What reason does Deuteronomy 16:19 give for refusing a bribe?
Answer: It clouds the judgment of even wise and upright men
Moses commands Israel to set up judges and officers in every town and to judge fairly, without showing favoritism (16:18-19). The ban on bribes comes with a reason: a bribe blinds even wise people and bends the words of good people, so that even an honest judge’s sight becomes clouded (16:19). Israel was to follow nothing but justice, so that the people might live and take hold of the land God was giving them (16:20). The same warning appears in Exodus (Exodus 23:8), Leviticus forbids favoring either the poor or the rich in court (Leviticus 19:15), and King Jehoshaphat later reminded his judges that they judged for the LORD, with whom there is no unfairness or bribery (2 Chronicles 19:6-7).
- Deuteronomy 16:18-20 (BSB)“You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment. Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Pursue justice, and justice alone, so that you may live, and you may possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”Moses commands judges in every town, forbids partiality and bribes, and calls Israel to pursue justice.
- Exodus 23:8 (BSB)“Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.”The covenant laws of Exodus give the same reason: a bribe blinds and twists the words of the righteous.
- Leviticus 19:15 (BSB)“You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.”Leviticus forbids perverting justice by favoring either the poor or the rich.
- 2 Chronicles 19:6-7 (BSB)“Then he said to the judges, “Consider carefully what you do, for you are not judging for man, but for the LORD, who is with you when you render judgment. And now, may the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.””Jehoshaphat reminded his judges that they judged for the LORD, with whom there is no partiality or bribery.
Theological
According to Deuteronomy 16:19, what effect of a bribe makes it forbidden to Israel’s judges?
Answer: It clouds the judgment of even wise and upright men
The command to install judges and officers in every town is joined to the demand for righteous judgment without partiality (16:18-19). The prohibition of bribes is grounded in its corrupting effect: a bribe blinds even the wise and distorts the speech of the righteous, compromising the judge himself and not only the verdict (16:19). The single-minded pursuit of justice is tied to Israel’s life and continued possession of the land (16:20). The same rationale appears in the covenant code of Exodus (Exodus 23:8) and in Leviticus’ ban on partiality (Leviticus 19:15), and Jehoshaphat grounds judicial integrity in the character of God, in whom no injustice or bribery is found (2 Chronicles 19:6-7).
- Deuteronomy 16:18-20 (BSB)“You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment. Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Pursue justice, and justice alone, so that you may live, and you may possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”Moses commands judges in every town, forbids partiality and bribes, and calls Israel to pursue justice.
- Exodus 23:8 (BSB)“Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.”The covenant laws of Exodus give the same reason: a bribe blinds and twists the words of the righteous.
- Leviticus 19:15 (BSB)“You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.”Leviticus forbids perverting justice by favoring either the poor or the rich.
- 2 Chronicles 19:6-7 (BSB)“Then he said to the judges, “Consider carefully what you do, for you are not judging for man, but for the LORD, who is with you when you render judgment. And now, may the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.””Jehoshaphat reminded his judges that they judged for the LORD, with whom there is no partiality or bribery.
General
True or False: Deuteronomy 16:21-22 forbids setting up a wooden Asherah pole or a sacred pillar even beside the LORD’s own altar.
Answer: True
This is true. Israel was not to set up an Asherah pole, a wooden object linked to the Canaanite goddess Asherah, beside the altar they would raise to the LORD, nor to put up a sacred stone pillar, which Moses says the LORD hates (16:21-22). Mixing symbols of other gods into the worship of the true God was forbidden, even when the altar itself was dedicated to the LORD. Earlier Moses had commanded Israel to smash the pillars and cut down the Asherah poles of the nations (Deuteronomy 7:5; Exodus 34:13). Yet later Judah set up the very objects this law forbade, raising Asherah poles and stone pillars on hilltops across the land (1 Kings 14:23).
- Deuteronomy 16:21-22 (BSB)“Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God, and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.”Israel is forbidden to put an Asherah pole by the LORD’s altar or to raise a sacred pillar.
- Deuteronomy 7:5 (BSB)“Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.”Moses had already commanded Israel to smash the Canaanites’ pillars and cut down their Asherah poles.
- Exodus 34:13 (BSB)“Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.”The same destruction of sacred stones and Asherah poles was commanded when the covenant was renewed at Sinai.
- 1 Kings 14:23 (BSB)“They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.”Judah later set up the very pillars and Asherah poles this law forbade, throughout the land.
Theological
True or False: Deuteronomy 16:21-22 prohibits placing an Asherah pole or a sacred pillar beside the altar of the LORD.
Answer: True
This is true. The law forbids setting up an Asherah pole, a cultic object associated with the Canaanite goddess, beside the LORD’s altar, and forbids erecting a stone pillar, something the LORD hates (16:21-22). The issue is syncretism: blending pagan symbols into the worship of the LORD, even at His own altar. It extends the earlier command to destroy the Canaanite cult objects (Deuteronomy 7:5; Exodus 34:13), a command Judah later flouted by raising Asherah poles and stone pillars across the land (1 Kings 14:23).
- Deuteronomy 16:21-22 (BSB)“Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God, and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.”Israel is forbidden to put an Asherah pole by the LORD’s altar or to raise a sacred pillar.
- Deuteronomy 7:5 (BSB)“Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.”Moses had already commanded Israel to smash the Canaanites’ pillars and cut down their Asherah poles.
- Exodus 34:13 (BSB)“Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.”The same destruction of sacred stones and Asherah poles was commanded when the covenant was renewed at Sinai.
- 1 Kings 14:23 (BSB)“They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.”Judah later set up the very pillars and Asherah poles this law forbade, throughout the land.
General
True or False: Deuteronomy 16 allowed each family to offer its Passover sacrifice in its own hometown.
Answer: False
This is false. Moses says the Passover sacrifice could not be offered in their local towns, but only at the place God would choose for His Name to dwell (16:5-6). There they were to roast and eat it, and then go back to their tents in the morning (16:7). This matches the wider rule in Deuteronomy that offerings be brought to the one place God chose (Deuteronomy 12:13-14). Centuries later King Josiah had the Passover kept in Jerusalem as the covenant scroll required (2 Kings 23:21-23). Jesus later taught that true worship would no longer be tied to one mountain or city, but offered in spirit and truth (John 4:21-24).
- Deuteronomy 16:5-7 (BSB)“You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns that the LORD your God is giving you. You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt. And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents.”The Passover is restricted to the place God would choose, where it is roasted and eaten before the people return home.
- Deuteronomy 12:13-14 (BSB)“Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see; you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.”Deuteronomy’s wider rule required offerings to be brought only to the place God would choose.
- 2 Kings 23:21-23 (BSB)“The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover of the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” No such Passover had been observed from the days of the judges who had governed Israel through all the days of the kings of Israel and Judah. But in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was observed to the LORD in Jerusalem.”Josiah’s Passover was kept in Jerusalem, the chosen place, as written in the Book of the Covenant.
- John 4:21-24 (BSB)““Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.””Jesus announced that true worship would no longer be bound to one mountain or city.
Theological
True or False: Deuteronomy 16:5-7 permitted the Passover sacrifice to be offered in any Israelite town.
Answer: False
This is false. The Passover is centralized: it may not be sacrificed in the local towns but only at the place God would choose for His Name to dwell, where it is roasted and eaten before the worshipers return to their tents (16:5-7). This applies the central-sanctuary principle of Deuteronomy 12 to the Passover in particular (Deuteronomy 12:13-14), and Josiah’s reform shows the law being kept in Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:21-23). In the new covenant Jesus relocates true worship from a sacred place to worship in spirit and truth (John 4:21-24).
- Deuteronomy 16:5-7 (BSB)“You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns that the LORD your God is giving you. You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt. And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents.”The Passover is restricted to the place God would choose, where it is roasted and eaten before the people return home.
- Deuteronomy 12:13-14 (BSB)“Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see; you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.”Deuteronomy’s wider rule required offerings to be brought only to the place God would choose.
- 2 Kings 23:21-23 (BSB)“The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover of the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” No such Passover had been observed from the days of the judges who had governed Israel through all the days of the kings of Israel and Judah. But in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was observed to the LORD in Jerusalem.”Josiah’s Passover was kept in Jerusalem, the chosen place, as written in the Book of the Covenant.
- John 4:21-24 (BSB)““Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.””Jesus announced that true worship would no longer be bound to one mountain or city.
General
According to Deuteronomy 16:1, why was Israel to keep the Passover in Abib?
Answer: It was the month God led them out of Egypt at night
Moses tells Israel to keep the Passover in Abib, since Abib was when the LORD led them out of Egypt during the night (16:1). The Passover was the yearly meal that remembered how God spared Israel and set them free from slavery, and it was tied to the very time of year when that rescue happened. Exodus describes that night as one the LORD Himself watched over to bring His people out, so Israel was to keep it as a night of watching for all generations (Exodus 12:42), and Moses had named Abib as the month they left (Exodus 13:4). The feast also pointed ahead: Paul calls Christ the Passover lamb who has been sacrificed for His people (1 Corinthians 5:7).
- Deuteronomy 16:1 (BSB)“Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.”Moses opens the festival calendar with the Passover, tied to the month and the night of the exodus.
- Exodus 12:42 (BSB)“Because the LORD kept a vigil that night to bring them out of the land of Egypt, this same night is to be a vigil to the LORD, to be observed by all the Israelites for the generations to come.”The night of the exodus was one the LORD kept watch over, so Israel was to keep it as a vigil in every generation.
- Exodus 13:4 (BSB)“Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving.”Moses named Abib as the very month in which Israel left Egypt.
- 1 Corinthians 5:7 (BSB)“Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”Paul identifies Christ as the Passover lamb, the sacrifice the feast pointed toward.
Theological
What reason does Deuteronomy 16:1 give for fixing the Passover in Abib?
Answer: It was the month God led them out of Egypt at night
The Passover is anchored in redemptive history: it falls in Abib because that is the month in which the LORD led Israel out of Egypt during the night (16:1). The feast is a memorial of a datable act of deliverance, not a seasonal custom; it re-enacts the night the LORD kept watch to deliver His people (Exodus 12:42) in the month Exodus itself names for the departure (Exodus 13:4). The type finds its antitype in Christ, whom Paul identifies as the Passover lamb sacrificed for His people (1 Corinthians 5:7).
- Deuteronomy 16:1 (BSB)“Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.”Moses opens the festival calendar with the Passover, tied to the month and the night of the exodus.
- Exodus 12:42 (BSB)“Because the LORD kept a vigil that night to bring them out of the land of Egypt, this same night is to be a vigil to the LORD, to be observed by all the Israelites for the generations to come.”The night of the exodus was one the LORD kept watch over, so Israel was to keep it as a vigil in every generation.
- Exodus 13:4 (BSB)“Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving.”Moses named Abib as the very month in which Israel left Egypt.
- 1 Corinthians 5:7 (BSB)“Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”Paul identifies Christ as the Passover lamb, the sacrifice the feast pointed toward.
General
True or False: Deuteronomy 16:16-17 required every man at the three pilgrim feasts to bring the same fixed gift.
Answer: False
This is false. At three set feasts each year, at Unleavened Bread, Weeks, and Tabernacles, all the men of Israel were to present themselves before the LORD at the place He would choose, and none was to come with nothing to give (16:16). But the size of the gift was not fixed: each man gave as he was able, in proportion to the blessing God had given him (16:17). The same measure was used for the freewill offering at Weeks (16:10). The three yearly feasts and the rule against coming with empty hands go back to the covenant laws of Exodus (Exodus 23:14-17; 34:23). Paul voices a similar principle about the Corinthians’ gift for the believers in Jerusalem: where there is willingness, God accepts a gift measured by what a person has, not by what he lacks (2 Corinthians 8:12).
- Deuteronomy 16:16-17 (BSB)“Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed. Everyone must appear with a gift as he is able, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you.”The three pilgrim feasts are listed, and each worshiper’s gift is measured by the blessing he has received.
- Exodus 23:14-17 (BSB)“Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me. You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed. You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field. Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.”The covenant laws of Exodus already required three yearly feasts and forbade coming before God empty-handed.
- Exodus 34:23 (BSB)“Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.”The requirement that the men appear before the Lord three times a year is repeated when the covenant is renewed.
- 2 Corinthians 8:12 (BSB)“For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.”Writing about the collection for Jerusalem, Paul says an eager gift is acceptable according to what the giver has.
Theological
True or False: Deuteronomy 16:17 set one fixed amount that every worshiper had to bring to the pilgrim feasts.
Answer: False
This is false. All Israelite men were to present themselves before the LORD at the chosen place at three set feasts each year, at Unleavened Bread, Weeks, and Tabernacles, and none was to come with empty hands (16:16). Yet the gift was proportional, not uniform: each gave as he was able, in proportion to God’s blessing on him (16:17; compare 16:10). The requirement restates the Sinai covenant legislation (Exodus 23:14-17; 34:23). The gift is a response to grace already received, measured by God’s prior blessing, and Paul voices a similar proportionality regarding the Corinthians’ collection for the believers in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:12).
- Deuteronomy 16:16-17 (BSB)“Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed. Everyone must appear with a gift as he is able, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you.”The three pilgrim feasts are listed, and each worshiper’s gift is measured by the blessing he has received.
- Exodus 23:14-17 (BSB)“Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me. You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed. You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field. Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.”The covenant laws of Exodus already required three yearly feasts and forbade coming before God empty-handed.
- Exodus 34:23 (BSB)“Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.”The requirement that the men appear before the Lord three times a year is repeated when the covenant is renewed.
- 2 Corinthians 8:12 (BSB)“For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.”Writing about the collection for Jerusalem, Paul says an eager gift is acceptable according to what the giver has.
General
How was Israel to know when Weeks, the grain harvest feast, should be held (Deuteronomy 16:9-10)?
Answer: By counting seven weeks after the start of grain harvest
Weeks was the second of Israel’s three yearly pilgrim feasts, the festivals when the people traveled to worship at God’s chosen place. Its date was set by counting seven weeks after the first cutting of the ripe grain, the start of the harvest (16:9). Leviticus gives the same count of seven full weeks, fifty days in all, ending with a gift of new grain (Leviticus 23:15-16), and Exodus links the feast to the first yield of the wheat crop (Exodus 34:22). Because of the fifty-day count, the feast was later called Pentecost, a word meaning fiftieth, and it was on that day that the disciples were gathered together in Acts 2 (Acts 2:1).
- Deuteronomy 16:9-10 (BSB)“You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain. And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you,”The Feast of Weeks is dated by a count of seven weeks from the beginning of the grain harvest.
- Leviticus 23:15-16 (BSB)“From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you are to count off seven full weeks. You shall count off fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.”Leviticus sets the same count of seven full weeks, fifty days, ending with a gift of new grain.
- Exodus 34:22 (BSB)“And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.”Exodus ties the Feast of Weeks to the firstfruits of the wheat harvest.
- Acts 2:1 (BSB)“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.”The fifty-day feast, known by New Testament times as Pentecost, is the day on which the disciples were gathered in Acts 2.
Theological
How was the date of the Weeks festival fixed, according to Deuteronomy 16:9-10?
Answer: By counting seven weeks after the start of grain harvest
Weeks had no fixed calendar date in Deuteronomy; it was reckoned by counting seven weeks after the first cutting of the ripe grain (16:9). Leviticus specifies the count as seven full weeks, fifty days, concluding with a gift of new grain (Leviticus 23:15-16), and Exodus identifies it with the first yield of the wheat crop (Exodus 34:22). The fifty-day reckoning gave the feast its later Greek name, Pentecost, the day on which the disciples were assembled in Acts 2 (Acts 2:1).
- Deuteronomy 16:9-10 (BSB)“You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain. And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you,”The Feast of Weeks is dated by a count of seven weeks from the beginning of the grain harvest.
- Leviticus 23:15-16 (BSB)“From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you are to count off seven full weeks. You shall count off fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.”Leviticus sets the same count of seven full weeks, fifty days, ending with a gift of new grain.
- Exodus 34:22 (BSB)“And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.”Exodus ties the Feast of Weeks to the firstfruits of the wheat harvest.
- Acts 2:1 (BSB)“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.”The fifty-day feast, known by New Testament times as Pentecost, is the day on which the disciples were gathered in Acts 2.
General
Israel’s rejoicing at Weeks was to include servants, Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows (Deuteronomy 16:11). What reminder follows in 16:12?
Answer: That they themselves had once been slaves in Egypt
The joy of this harvest feast was not only for the head of the house. Sons and daughters, male and female servants, the Levite (a member of the tribe set apart to serve God, who had no land of his own), the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow were all to rejoice together in the LORD’s presence (16:11). Moses then reminds Israel that they themselves had been slaves in Egypt (16:12). People who had once been powerless were to make room at the feast for the powerless among them. The same reasoning appears elsewhere: God loves the foreigner and defends orphans and widows, so Israel is to show love to foreigners, having been foreigners in Egypt (Deuteronomy 10:18-19), and God’s rescue from slavery is the reason for kindness to the needy (Deuteronomy 24:18). The tithe, a tenth of the harvest, given every third year also fed these same groups (Deuteronomy 14:29).
- Deuteronomy 16:11-12 (BSB)“and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully follow these statutes.”The whole household and the vulnerable in the community rejoice together, followed by a reminder of Israel’s slavery in Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 10:18-19 (BSB)“He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.”God’s love for the foreigner and care for orphans and widows is the ground for Israel’s love of the foreigner, since they too were foreigners in Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 24:18 (BSB)“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from that place. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.”Israel’s redemption from slavery is again given as the reason for kindness to the needy.
- Deuteronomy 14:29 (BSB)“Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.”The third-year tithe provided for the same groups: the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.
Theological
Following the inclusive rejoicing of Deuteronomy 16:11, what motive clause does 16:12 add?
Answer: That they themselves had once been slaves in Egypt
The festal joy of Weeks extends beyond the family to servants, the Levite, the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow (16:11), and the command is grounded in a motive clause: Israel had been slaves in Egypt (16:12). The redeemed are to reflect their Redeemer’s character toward the marginal. Deuteronomy repeatedly grounds such generosity in God’s own care for the vulnerable and in Israel’s former sojourning (Deuteronomy 10:18-19) and redemption (Deuteronomy 24:18), and the third-year tithe institutionalized the same provision (Deuteronomy 14:29). Ethics flows from grace: obedience is the grateful response of those God has already delivered.
- Deuteronomy 16:11-12 (BSB)“and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully follow these statutes.”The whole household and the vulnerable in the community rejoice together, followed by a reminder of Israel’s slavery in Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 10:18-19 (BSB)“He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.”God’s love for the foreigner and care for orphans and widows is the ground for Israel’s love of the foreigner, since they too were foreigners in Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 24:18 (BSB)“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from that place. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.”Israel’s redemption from slavery is again given as the reason for kindness to the needy.
- Deuteronomy 14:29 (BSB)“Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.”The third-year tithe provided for the same groups: the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.