1Halte den Monat Abib, und feiere das Passah Jehova, deinem Gott; denn im Monate Abib hat dich Jehova, dein Gott, ausgeführt aus Aegypten in der Nacht. 2Und schlachte das Passah Jehova, deinem Gott, Kleinvieh und Großvieh, an dem Orte, den Jehova wählen wird, seinen Namen daselbst wohnen zu lassen. 3Du sollst kein Gesäuertes dazu essen; sieben Tage sollst du dazu ungesäuertes Brod des Elendes essen; denn in Eilfertigkeit bist du ausgezogen aus dem Lande Aegypten, damit du also dich erinnerst an den Tag, an dem du ausgezogen bist, aus dem Lande Aegypten, die ganze Zeit deines Lebens. 4Und es soll kein Sauerteig bei dir gesehen werden in deinem ganzen Gebiete sieben Tage lang; auch soll nichts von dem Fleische, das du des Abends am ersten Tage schlachtest, über Nacht bleiben bis zum andern Morgen. 5Du darfst das Passah nicht schlachten in einem deiner Thore, die Jehova, dein Gott, dir geben wird; 6sondern an dem Orte, den Jehova, dein Gott, wählen wird, seinen Namen daselbst wohnen zu lassen, sollst du das Passah am Abend schlachten, wann die Sonne untergeht, um die Zeit, da du auszogst aus Aegypten. 7Und du sollst es kochen und essen an dem Orte, den Jehova, dein Gott, wählen wird, und am Morgen umkehren, und nach deinen Zelten gehen. 8Sechs Tage sollst du Ungesäuertes essen; und am siebenten Tage, wo Festversammlung ist zu Ehren Jehova's, deines Gottes, sollst du keine Arbeit verrichten. 9Sieben Wochen sollst du dir zählen, und zwar von da an, wo die Sichel an die Saat kommt, sollst du anfangen zu zählen sieben Wochen. 10Dann sollst du feiern das Fest der Wochen Jehova, deinem Gott, mit dem, was freiwillig deine Hand geben kann, je nachdem dich gesegnet hat Jehova, dein Gott. 11Und du sollst dich freuen vor Jehova, deinem Gott, du und dein Sohn, und deine Tochter, und dein Knecht, und deine Magd, und der Levit, der in deinen Thoren ist, und der Fremdling, und der Waise, und die Wittwe, die in deiner Mitte sind, an dem Orte, den Jehova, dein Gott, wählen wird, seinen Namen daselbst wohnen zu lassen. 12Und du sollst eingedenk seyn, daß du ein Knecht warest in Aegypten, und halten und befolgen diese Satzungen. 13Das Fest der Laubhütten sollst du sieben Tage feiern, wann du eingesammelt hast von deiner Tenne, und von deiner Kelter. 14Und du sollst dich freuen an deinem Feste, du und dein Sohn, und deine Tochter, und dein Knecht, und deine Magd, und der Levit, und der Fremdling, und der Waise, und die Wittwe, die in deinen Thoren sind. 15Sieben Tage sollst du Jehova, deinem Gott, das Fest feiern, an dem Orte, den Jehova wählen wird; denn segnen wird dich Jehova, dein Gott, in deinem ganzen Einkommen, und in aller Arbeit deiner Hände; deßwegen sollst du ganz fröhlich seyn. 16Dreimal im Jahre sollen alle deine Männlichen erscheinen vor Jehova, deinem Gott, an dem Orte, den er wählen wird; am Feste des Ungesäuerten, und am Feste der Wochen, und am Feste der Laubhütten. Niemand soll leer erscheinen vor Jehova; 17Jeder mit dem, was seine Hand geben kann, nach dem Segen Jehova's , deines Gottes, den er dir gegeben hat. 18Richter und Vorsteher sollst du dir setzen in allen deinen Thoren, die Jehova, dein Gott, dir geben wird in deinen Stämmen, die sollen richten das Volk mit gerechtem Gerichte. 19Du sollst nicht beugen das Recht; du sollst die Person nicht ansehen; und sollst kein Geschenk nehmen; denn das Geschenk blendet die Augen der Weisen, und verdreht die Sache der Gerechten. 20Dem Rechte sollst du nachjagen, damit du lebest und besitzest das Land, das Jehova, dein Gott, dir geben wird. 21Du sollst dir keinen Hain pflanzen, überhaupt keinen Baum neben dem Altare Jehova's, deines Gottes, den du dir machest. 22Und du sollst dir keine Säule aufrichten, welche Jehova, dein Gott, hasset.
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.