1Observe le mois des épis, et fais la Pâque à YEHOVAH ton Dieu; car c'est dans le mois des épis que YEHOVAH ton Dieu t'a fait sortir d'Égypte, pendant la nuit. 2Et sacrifie la Pâque à YEHOVAH ton Dieu, du gros et du menu bétail, au lieu que YEHOVAH aura choisi pour y faire habiter son nom. 3Tu ne mangeras point de pain levé avec la Pâque; pendant sept jours, tu mangeras, en la célébrant, des pains sans levain, du pain d'affliction, car tu es sorti à la hâte du pays d'Égypte; afin que tu te souviennes, tous les jours de ta vie, du jour où tu sortis du pays d'Égypte. 4On ne verra point chez toi de levain, dans tout ton territoire, pendant sept jours; et l'on ne gardera rien jusqu'au matin, de la chair du sacrifice que tu auras fait le soir du premier jour. 5Tu ne pourras pas sacrifier la Pâque dans l'un quelconque des lieux que YEHOVAH ton Dieu te donne; 6Mais seulement au lieu que YEHOVAH ton Dieu aura choisi pour y faire habiter son nom; c'est là que tu sacrifieras la Pâque, le soir, dès que le soleil sera couché, au moment où tu sortis d'Égypte. 7Et tu la feras cuire et tu la mangeras, au lieu que YEHOVAH ton Dieu aura choisi. Et le matin tu t'en retourneras, et t'en iras dans tes tentes. 8Pendant six jours tu mangeras des pains sans levain, et au septième jour, il y aura une assemblée solennelle à YEHOVAH ton Dieu: tu ne feras aucune œuvre. 9Tu compteras sept semaines; tu commenceras à compter ces sept semaines dès qu'on commencera à mettre la faucille dans la moisson; 10Puis tu célébreras la fête des semaines à l'honneur de YEHOVAH ton Dieu, en présentant de ta main l'offrande volontaire, que tu donneras selon que YEHOVAH ton Dieu t'aura béni. 11Et tu te réjouiras devant YEHOVAH ton Dieu, toi, ton fils, ta fille, ton serviteur et ta servante, et le Lévite qui est dans tes portes, et l'étranger, l'orphelin et la veuve qui seront parmi toi, au lieu que YEHOVAH ton Dieu aura choisi pour y faire habiter son nom. 12Et tu te souviendras que tu as été esclave en Égypte, et tu prendras garde à pratiquer ces statuts. 13Tu célébreras la fête des tabernacles pendant sept jours, quand tu auras recueilli les produits de ton aire et de ta cuve. 14Et tu te réjouiras en célébrant la fête, toi, ton fils, ta fille, ton serviteur et ta servante, et le Lévite, l'étranger, l'orphelin et la veuve qui seront dans tes portes. 15Pendant sept jours tu célébreras la fête à l'honneur de YEHOVAH ton Dieu, au lieu que YEHOVAH aura choisi; car YEHOVAH ton Dieu te bénira dans toute ta récolte et dans tout l'ouvrage de tes mains; et tu seras tout entier à ta joie. 16Trois fois l'année, tout mâle d'entre vous se présentera devant YEHOVAH ton Dieu, au lieu qu'il aura choisi: à la fête des pains sans levain, à la fête des semaines, et à la fête des tabernacles; et l'on ne se présentera pas devant YEHOVAH à vide. 17Chacun donnera à proportion de ce qu'il aura, selon la bénédiction que YEHOVAH ton Dieu t'aura donnée. 18Tu t'établiras des juges et des officiers dans toutes tes portes que YEHOVAH ton Dieu te donne, selon tes tribus, et ils jugeront le peuple d'un jugement juste. 19Tu ne pervertiras point le droit; tu n'auras point égard à l'apparence des personnes; et tu ne prendras pas de présent; car le présent aveugle les yeux des sages, et trouble les paroles des justes. 20Tu suivras exactement la justice, afin que tu vives et que tu possèdes le pays que YEHOVAH ton Dieu te donne. 21Tu ne te planteras point d'emblème d'Ashéra, aucun arbre, auprès de l'autel que tu dresseras à YEHOVAH ton Dieu. 22Tu ne te dresseras point non plus de statue. Car YEHOVAH ton Dieu hait ces choses.
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.