1"Guarda el mes de Abib y celebra la Pascua de Jehovah tu Dios, porque en el mes de Abib Jehovah tu Dios te sacó de Egipto, de noche. 2Sacrifica para Jehovah tu Dios la víctima de la Pascua, de las ovejas o de las vacas, en el lugar que Jehovah haya escogido para hacer habitar allí su nombre. 3"No comerás con ella ninguna cosa que tenga levadura. Durante siete días comerás con ella pan sin levadura, el pan de aflicción, para que te acuerdes todos los días de tu vida del día en que saliste de la tierra de Egipto. Pues con prisa saliste de la tierra de Egipto. 4Durante siete días no se verá levadura en tu casa, en ningún lugar de tu territorio. De la carne del animal que sacrifiques en el atardecer del primer día, no quedará nada hasta la mañana del día siguiente. 5"No podrás sacrificar la víctima de la Pascua en ninguna de las ciudades que Jehovah tu Dios te da. 6Sólo en el lugar que Jehovah tu Dios haya escogido para hacer habitar allí su nombre, sacrificarás la víctima de la Pascua, al atardecer, a la puesta del sol, a la hora en que saliste de Egipto. 7La asarás y la comerás en el lugar que Jehovah tu Dios haya escogido, y a la mañana siguiente podrás partir e ir a tu morada. 8Durante seis días comerás panes sin levadura, y en el séptimo día habrá asamblea festiva para Jehovah tu Dios; no harás ningún trabajo. 9"Siete semanas contarás; desde el comienzo de la siega de la mies comenzarás a contar siete semanas. 10Entonces celebrarás la fiesta de Pentecostés a Jehovah tu Dios; darás según la medida de la generosidad de tu mano, según Jehovah tu Dios te haya bendecido. 11Y en el lugar que Jehovah tu Dios haya escogido para hacer habitar allí su nombre, te regocijarás delante de Jehovah tu Dios, tú con tu hijo, tu hija, tu siervo, tu sierva, el levita que esté en tus ciudades, y el forastero, el huérfano y la viuda que estén en medio de ti. 12Acuérdate que tú fuiste esclavo en Egipto; por eso guardarás y cumplirás estas leyes. 13"Celebrarás durante siete días la fiesta de los Tabernáculos, cuando hayas recogido la cosecha de tu era y de tu lagar. 14Regocíjate en tu fiesta, tú con tu hijo, tu hija, tu siervo, tu sierva, el levita, el forastero, el huérfano y la viuda que estén en tus ciudades. 15Siete días celebrarás la fiesta a Jehovah tu Dios en el lugar que Jehovah haya escogido. Porque Jehovah tu Dios te habrá bendecido en todos tus frutos y en toda la obra de tus manos, y estarás muy alegre. 16"Tres veces al año se presentará todo hombre tuyo delante de Jehovah tu Dios en el lugar que él haya escogido: en la fiesta de los Panes sin Levadura, en la fiesta de Pentecostés y en la fiesta de los Tabernáculos. Nadie se presentará delante de Jehovah con las manos vacías; 17cada uno lo hará con el presente de su mano, conforme a lo que Jehovah tu Dios te haya bendecido. 18"Pondrás jueces y magistrados para ti en todas las ciudades que Jehovah tu Dios te da en tus tribus, para que juzguen al pueblo con justo juicio. 19No tuerzas el derecho; no hagas distinción de personas ni aceptes soborno, porque el soborno ciega los ojos de los sabios y pervierte las palabras de los justos. 20"La justicia, sólo la justicia seguirás, para que vivas y tengas en posesión la tierra que Jehovah tu Dios te da. 21"No plantarás para ti ningún árbol de Asera junto al altar de Jehovah tu Dios que te has de hacer. 22No levantarás piedras rituales, lo cual aborrece Jehovah tu Dios.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER. (Deu. 16:1-22)
Observe the month of Abib--or first-fruits. It comprehended the latter part of our March and the beginning of April. Green ears of the barley, which were then full, were offered as first-fruits, on the second day of the passover.
for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night--This statement is apparently at variance with the prohibition (
Exod 12:22) as well as with the recorded fact that their departure took place in the morning (
Exod 13:3;
Num 33:3). But it is susceptible of easy reconciliation. Pharaoh's permission, the first step of emancipation, was extorted during the night, the preparations for departure commenced, the rendezvous at Rameses made, and the march entered on in the morning.
2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover--not the paschal lamb, which was strictly and properly the passover. The whole solemnity is here meant, as is evident from the mention of the additional victims that required to be offered on the subsequent days of the feast (
Num 28:18-
Num 28:19;
2Chr 35:8-9), and from the allusion to the continued use of unleavened bread for seven days, whereas the passover itself was to be eaten at once. The words before us are equivalent to "thou shalt observe the feast of the passover."
3 seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread--a sour, unpleasant, unwholesome kind of bread, designed to be a memorial of their Egyptian misery and of the haste with which they departed, not allowing time for their morning dough to ferment.
5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates--The passover was to be observed nowhere but in the court of the tabernacle or temple, as it was not a religious feast or sacramental occasion merely, but an actual sacrifice (
Exod 12:27;
Exod 23:18;
Exod 34:25). The blood had to be sprinkled on the altar and in the place where the true Passover was afterwards to be sacrificed for us "at even, at the going down of the sun"--literally, "between the evenings."
6 at the season--that is, the month and day, though not perhaps the precise hour. The immense number of victims that had to be immolated on the eve of the passover--that is, within a space of four hours--has appeared to some writers a great difficulty. But the large number of officiating priests, their dexterity and skill in the preparation of the sacrifices, the wide range of the court, the extraordinary dimensions of the altar of burnt offering and orderly method of conducting the solemn ceremonial, rendered it easy to do that in a few hours, which would otherwise have required as many days.
7 thou shalt roast and eat it--(See on
Exod 12:8; compare
2Chr 35:13).
thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents--The sense of this passage, on the first glance of the words, seems to point to the morning after the first day--the passover eve. Perhaps, however, the divinely appointed duration of this feast, the solemn character and important object, the journey of the people from the distant parts of the land to be present, and the recorded examples of their continuing all the time (
2Chr 30:21 2Chr 35:17), (though these may be considered extraordinary, and therefore exceptional occasions), may warrant the conclusion that the leave given to the people to return home was to be on the morning after the completion of the seven days.
9 Seven weeks shalt thou number--The feast of weeks, or a WEEK OF WEEKS: the feast of pentecost (see on
Lev 23:10; also see
Exod 34:22;
Acts 2:1). As on the second day of the passover a sheaf of new barley, reaped on purpose, was offered, so on the second day of pentecost a sheaf of new wheat was presented as first-fruits (
Exod 23:16;
Num 28:26), a freewill, spontaneous tribute of gratitude to God for His temporal bounties. This feast was instituted in memory of the giving of the law, that spiritual food by which man's soul is nourished (
Deut 8:3).
13 Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days--(See on
Exod 23:14;
Lev 23:34;
Num 29:12). Various conjectures have been formed to account for the appointment of this feast at the conclusion of the whole harvest. Some imagine that it was designed to remind the Israelites of the time when they had no cornfields to reap but were daily supplied with manna; others think that it suited the convenience of the people better than any other period of the year for dwelling in booths; others that it was the time of Moses' second descent from the mount; while a fourth class are of opinion that this feast was fixed to the time of the year when the Word was made flesh and dwelt--literally, "tabernacled"--among us (
John 1:14), Christ being actually born at that season.
15 in all the works of thine hands . . . rejoice--that is, praising God with a warm and elevated heart. According to Jewish tradition, no marriages were allowed to be celebrated during these great festivals, that no personal or private rejoicings might be mingled with the demonstrations of public and national gladness.
16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God--No command was laid on women to undertake the journeys, partly from regard to the natural weakness of their sex, and partly to their domestic cares.
18 Judges and officers shalt thou make--These last meant heralds or bailiffs, employed in executing the sentence of their superiors.
in all thy gates--The gate was the place of public resort among the Israelites and other Eastern people, where business was transacted and causes decided. The Ottoman Porte derived its name from the administration of justice at its gates.
21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove--A grove has in Scripture a variety of significations--a group of overshadowing trees, or a grove adorned with altars dedicated to a particular deity, or a wooden image in a grove (
Judg 6:25;
2Kgs 23:4-6). They might be placed near the earthen and temporary altars erected in the wilderness, but they could not exist either at the tabernacle or temples. They were places, which, with their usual accompaniments, presented strong allurements to idolatry; and therefore the Israelites were prohibited from planting them.
22 Neither shalt thou set thee up any image--erroneously rendered so for "pillar"; pillars of various kinds, and materials of wood or stone were erected in the neighborhood of altars. Sometimes they were conical or oblong, at other times they served as pedestals for the statues of idols. A superstitious reverence was attached to them, and hence they were forbidden.