Moses prescribes the three pilgrimage festivals — Passover with unleavened bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Shelters — then appoints judges to administer righteous justice.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
The Hebrew calendar is organized around liberation memory: Passover recalls the exodus, Weeks celebrates the grain harvest with thanksgiving, and Shelters remembers the wilderness journey. The phrase lechem oni (v. 3, 'bread of hardship/poverty') redefines unleavened bread — it is not celebratory bread but slave bread, eaten in haste because there was no time to let it rise. The transition from festivals (vv. 1-17) to judges (vv. 18-20) is not random: righteous worship requires righteous justice.
Translation Friction
The word atseret (v. 8, 'solemn assembly') marks the concluding day of a festival period. We rendered it 'solemn assembly' but the Hebrew carries the sense of 'restraint' — a day of stopping, holding back from work. The phrase tsedeq tsedeq tirdof (v. 20, 'justice, justice you shall pursue') doubles the noun for emphasis — we preserved the repetition because flattening it to 'pursue justice' loses the Hebrew's insistence.
Connections
The festival calendar parallels Exodus 23:14-17 and Leviticus 23 with Deuteronomy's characteristic social inclusion (v. 11: 'you, your son, your daughter, your servant, the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, the widow'). The Passover command shapes the Last Supper narratives (Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22). The justice mandate in v. 20 grounds the prophetic tradition from Amos 5:24 to Micah 6:8.
Keep watch over the month of Aviv and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Aviv the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt during the night.
KJV Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
Notes & Key Terms
2 terms
Key Terms
פֶּסַחpesach
"Passover"—Passover, passing over, sparing, the Passover sacrifice, the Passover festival
From the root pasach ('to pass over, to skip, to spare'). The name recalls God's passing over Israelite houses during the tenth plague (Exod 12:13). The term refers both to the sacrificial lamb and to the festival itself.
אָבִיבAviv
"Aviv"—spring, ripening grain, fresh ears of grain, the month of spring
The month when barley ripens — roughly March/April. Named for the agricultural season rather than a numeral, tying the festival calendar to the land's cycles.
Translator Notes
The festival calendar opens with Passover, anchored to chodesh ha'Aviv ('the month of Aviv/Abib'). Aviv means 'spring' or 'ripening grain' — it refers to the month when barley reaches maturity (later called Nisan in the Babylonian calendar). The verb shamor ('keep watch, guard, observe') implies vigilant attention to the calendar. The phrase hotsi'akha YHWH... laylah ('the LORD brought you out... at night') anchors the festival to the historical event: the nighttime exodus from Egypt. Every annual observance re-enacts and memorializes that founding deliverance.
Sacrifice the Passover offering to the LORD your God from the flock or the herd, at the place the LORD will choose as the dwelling for His name.
KJV Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Deuteronomy's Passover instruction differs from Exodus 12, which specifies only a lamb (seh). Here, both tson uvaqar ('flock and herd' — sheep/goats and cattle) are permitted. This likely reflects the additional festival offerings (chagigah) that accompanied the Passover lamb during pilgrimage celebrations. The centralization formula — bammaqom asher yivchar YHWH leshakken shemo sham ('at the place the LORD will choose to cause His name to dwell there') — shifts Passover from a household celebration (as in Exodus 12) to a centralized pilgrimage festival.
Do not eat anything leavened with it. For seven days eat unleavened bread with it — bread of hardship — because you departed from the land of Egypt in urgent haste. Do this so that you remember the day you left Egypt for the rest of your life.
KJV Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
Notes & Key Terms
2 terms
Key Terms
מַצּוֹתmatstsot
"unleavened bread"—unleavened bread, flatbread, bread without yeast
Bread made without leaven (yeast/sourdough starter). The rapid departure from Egypt left no time for dough to rise, and the annual eating of matstsot re-enacts that urgency.
לֶחֶם עֹנִיlechem oni
"bread of hardship"—bread of affliction, bread of poverty, bread of hardship, humble bread
Unleavened bread is called 'bread of hardship' because it recalls the suffering and deprivation of slavery. It is the food of the oppressed, eaten in remembrance of the condition from which God delivered Israel.
Translator Notes
The chamets ('leavened bread') prohibition and the matstsot ('unleavened bread') requirement are linked to the exodus narrative: bechipazon yatsata ('you went out in haste/urgency'). The dough had no time to rise. The phrase lechem oni ('bread of affliction/hardship/poverty') describes the unleavened bread — it is poor person's bread, the bread of slaves and refugees. Eating it for seven days re-creates the sensory experience of the exodus. The purpose clause lema'an tizkor ('so that you will remember') establishes the festival as a memorial practice — kol yemei chayyekha ('all the days of your life') extends the obligation to every year of the individual's life.
No leaven may be found anywhere in your territory for seven days. And none of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day may remain until morning.
KJV And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Two prohibitions: first, se'or ('leaven/yeast starter') must not even be visible (lo yera'eh) anywhere in your territory (bekhol gevulekha) for seven days — a total purge of leaven from the household and beyond. Second, the sacrificial meat from the first evening must be consumed entirely before dawn — lo yalin... labboqer ('it shall not remain overnight until morning'). This mirrors the original Passover instructions in Exodus 12:10. Nothing sacred may be left to decay; the meal must be complete before the new day begins.
You may not sacrifice the Passover offering in just any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you.
KJV Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The centralization principle applies specifically to Passover: lo tukhal lizboach et happesach be'achad she'arekha ('you are not able to sacrifice the Passover in one of your gates'). The verb tukhal ('you are able, you may') frames the prohibition as impossibility within the covenant framework — it is not merely forbidden but categorically impermissible. This represents a significant shift from the household Passover of Exodus 12 to a centralized pilgrimage Passover.
Only at the place the LORD your God will choose as the dwelling for His name — there you must sacrifice the Passover offering in the evening, at sunset, at the same time of year that you departed from Egypt.
KJV But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Three temporal markers converge: ba'arev ('in the evening'), kevo hashemesh ('at the going down of the sun' — sunset), and mo'ed tsetekha miMitsrayim ('the appointed time of your departure from Egypt'). The sacrifice occurs at twilight — the transition between day and night — matching the original Passover timing (Exod 12:6). The word mo'ed ('appointed time, season') connects the annual observance to the historical moment: every Passover evening reenacts the original evening of deliverance.
Cook it and eat it at the place the LORD your God will choose, then in the morning you may return to your camps.
KJV And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb uvishalta ('you shall cook/boil') differs from Exodus 12:9, which specifies tseli esh ('roasted with fire') and prohibits boiling. The verb bashal can mean 'to cook' generally or 'to boil' specifically. The Chronicler resolves this by stating they 'cooked the Passover in fire' (2 Chr 35:13), using bashal in its general sense. The phrase ufanita babboqer vehalakhta le'ohalekha ('turn in the morning and go to your tents') indicates that pilgrims stayed overnight at the central sanctuary and departed the next morning. The word ohalekha ('your tents') may be literal (temporary pilgrim shelters) or metaphorical for 'your homes.'
From the root atsar ('to hold back, to restrain, to close'). The atseret closes a festival period — it 'holds back' the community from returning to ordinary life until the sacred time is formally concluded.
Translator Notes
The seven-day festival concludes with an atseret ('solemn assembly, closing ceremony') — a sacred gathering marked by cessation from work (lo ta'aseh melakhah — 'do no work'). The atseret signals the formal conclusion of the festival, like a bookend. The six days of eating unleavened bread (not seven, as in v 3 — the apparent discrepancy may indicate that the first day was counted separately as the Passover proper, with six additional days of unleavened bread following). The setumah marks the transition to the second festival.
Count seven weeks for yourself. Begin counting the seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.
KJV Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The second pilgrimage festival — Shavuot (Weeks) — is defined by a counting process: shiv'ah shavu'ot tispor lakh ('count seven weeks for yourself'). The starting point is mehachel chermesh baqqamah ('from when the sickle begins in the standing grain') — the first day of grain harvest. This creates a direct link between agriculture and worship: the festival is not dated to a fixed calendar day but to the harvest cycle. The counting of forty-nine days (seven weeks) creates the 'Counting of the Omer' practice (cf. Lev 23:15-16).
Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the LORD your God with a voluntary offering from your hand, given in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you.
KJV And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
חַג שָׁבֻעוֹתchag shavu'ot
"Festival of Weeks"—Festival of Weeks, Pentecost, harvest festival
Named for the seven-week counting period from first grain harvest. Later known as Pentecost (Greek for 'fiftieth day'). In rabbinic tradition, it became associated with the giving of the Torah at Sinai. In Christianity, Pentecost marks the descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2).
Translator Notes
The chag shavu'ot ('Festival of Weeks') is celebrated with missat nidvat yadekha ('a proportion of the freewill offering of your hand'). The word missat (from the root masas, 'to measure') suggests proportional giving — the offering is calibrated to the giver's means. The phrase ka'asher yevarekekha YHWH ('as the LORD your God has blessed you') establishes proportionality as the governing principle: those blessed abundantly give abundantly; those blessed modestly give modestly. There is no fixed amount — generosity is relative to capacity.
Celebrate in the presence of the LORD your God — you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who lives in your towns, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow who are among you — at the place the LORD your God will choose as the dwelling for His name.
KJV And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The most expansive inclusion list in the festival calendar: the household (son, daughter, servants), the landless religious worker (Levite), and the three vulnerable populations (ger, yatom, almanah — foreigner, orphan, widow). All nine categories are commanded to celebrate together. The verb vesamachta ('you shall rejoice') makes joy an obligation, not an option. The Festival of Weeks is thus a powerful equalizer — at God's chosen place, social hierarchies dissolve into shared celebration.
Remember that you were once a slave in Egypt, and carefully observe these decrees.
KJV And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The exodus memory is invoked again as the foundation for inclusive celebration: vezakharta ki eved hayita beMitsrayim ('remember that you were a slave in Egypt'). The connection is implicit but powerful: because you were once excluded and enslaved, your festivals must include everyone — especially those who might otherwise be excluded. The petuchah paragraph break marks the major transition to the third pilgrimage festival.
Celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days after you have gathered the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress.
KJV Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
חַג הַסֻּכֹּתchag haSuccot
"Festival of Shelters"—Festival of Booths, Festival of Tabernacles, Festival of Shelters, Sukkot
Named for the temporary shelters (sukkot) that Israelites live in during the seven-day festival, recalling the wilderness period when Israel dwelt in temporary structures. It is also the final harvest festival, celebrating the completed agricultural year.
Translator Notes
The third pilgrimage festival: chag haSuccot ('Festival of Shelters/Booths/Tabernacles'). Unlike Passover (tied to the exodus) and Weeks (tied to wheat harvest), Sukkot is tied to the final ingathering (be'ospekha — 'when you gather in') from both the threshing floor (grain) and winepress (grapes). It is the autumn harvest festival, celebrating the completion of the agricultural year. The seven-day duration makes it the longest of the three pilgrimage festivals.
Rejoice during your festival — you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow who live in your towns.
KJV And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The inclusion list repeats from verse 11, reinforcing the principle: no festival may be celebrated alone or exclusively. The verb vesamachta ('you shall rejoice') appears again — joy is not merely permitted but commanded. The phrase bechagekha ('during your festival') makes the festival itself the occasion for joy. Sukkot was traditionally considered the most joyful of all festivals; the Talmud (Sukkah 51a) describes its celebrations as unparalleled.
For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and you will be nothing but joyful.
KJV Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase vehayita akh sameach ('you will be nothing but joyful' — literally, 'you will be only rejoicing') is one of the strongest joy commands in Scripture. The particle akh ('only, nothing but') intensifies the command — there should be no room for anything other than joy during this festival. The basis for this joy is God's comprehensive blessing: bekhol tevu'atekha ('in all your produce') and bekhol ma'aseh yadekha ('in all the work of your hands'). The completed harvest is visible evidence of divine faithfulness.
Three times each year, every male among you must appear before the LORD your God at the place He will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Shelters. No one may appear before the LORD empty-handed.
KJV Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This summary verse lists all three pilgrimage festivals together: chag hamMatstsot ('Festival of Unleavened Bread/Passover'), chag haShavu'ot ('Festival of Weeks'), and chag haSuccot ('Festival of Shelters'). The requirement applies to kol zekhurkhah ('all your males') — the pilgrimage obligation is mandatory for males, though women and children could attend and often did (cf. 1 Sam 1:3-4). The phrase yera'eh et penei YHWH ('shall appear before the face of the LORD') can also be read as a passive/niphal: 'shall be seen by the face of the LORD' — the encounter goes both ways. The prohibition velo yera'eh... reqam ('shall not appear empty') requires every pilgrim to bring an offering.
Each person must give according to what he can afford, in proportion to the blessing the LORD your God has given you.
KJV Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The proportional giving principle is restated: ish kemattenat yado ('each man according to the gift of his hand' — according to his ability). The phrase kevirkat YHWH Elohekha ('according to the blessing of the LORD your God') makes God's blessing the measure — you give from what God has given you. This prevents both the wealthy from giving token amounts and the poor from being burdened beyond their means. The setumah marks the transition from the festival calendar to the judicial section.
Appoint judges and officials for yourselves in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, tribe by tribe. They must judge the people with righteous justice.
KJV Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
A compound phrase combining procedure (mishpat — formal legal judgment) with substance (tsedeq — righteousness, what is morally right). Justice must be both procedurally correct and substantively righteous.
Translator Notes
The judicial section introduces two roles: shoftim ('judges' — those who render legal decisions) and shotrim ('officers/officials' — those who enforce judicial decisions, functioning as court administrators or police). The phrase bekhol she'arekha ('in all your gates/towns') mandates a local judicial system — justice must be accessible to every community, not concentrated only at the central sanctuary. The mandate is mishpat tsedeq ('judgment of righteousness/just judgment') — not merely formal legal process but substantively righteous outcomes.
Do not pervert justice. Do not show favoritism. Do not accept a bribe, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
KJV Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Three judicial corruptions are prohibited: lo tatteh mishpat ('do not bend/pervert justice' — distorting legal outcomes), lo takkir panim ('do not recognize faces' — showing favoritism based on status, wealth, or personal connection), and lo tiqqach shochad ('do not accept a bribe'). The reason for the bribe prohibition is psychological: hashochad ye'avver einei chakhamim ('a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise') — even wise, experienced judges become unable to see truth clearly when corrupted by payment. The parallel vayesallef divrei tsaddiqim ('and twists the words of the righteous') indicates that bribery doesn't just affect stupid people — it corrupts even those who are normally righteous and wise.
Justice — justice alone — you must pursue, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.
KJV That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
צֶדֶקtsedeq
"justice"—justice, righteousness, rightness, fairness, what is correct
The doubling tsedeq tsedeq creates the strongest possible emphasis in Hebrew. Justice is not merely a desirable quality but the essential condition for national life. Without it, the covenant community cannot survive.
Translator Notes
The emphatic repetition tsedeq tsedeq tirdof ('justice, justice you shall pursue') is one of the most quoted phrases in the Hebrew Bible. The doubling of tsedeq is interpreted variously: 'justice and only justice,' 'thorough justice,' 'justice in every case,' or 'justice by just means.' The verb tirdof ('you shall pursue, you shall chase') implies active, energetic effort — justice does not come to you; you must chase it. The stakes are national survival: lema'an tichyeh veyarashta et ha'arets ('so that you may live and possess the land'). Justice and life in the land are inseparable — injustice leads to exile.
Do not set up an Asherah pole — any kind of wooden pole — beside the altar of the LORD your God that you will build.
KJV Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The prohibition against planting an asherah (a sacred wooden pole or tree associated with the Canaanite goddess Asherah) beside YHWH's altar addresses the specific temptation of syncretism — blending Canaanite and Israelite worship at the same site. The phrase kol ets ('any tree/wood') broadens the prohibition: no wooden cult object of any kind may stand near God's altar. The placement of this law after the justice section (vv 18-20) may seem abrupt, but it connects to the judicial theme: just as justice must be pure and uncompromised, so must worship.
And do not erect a sacred pillar — the LORD your God detests them.
KJV Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The matstsevah ('standing stone, sacred pillar') prohibition echoes 12:3, where Israel was commanded to smash the nations' pillars. The brief but powerful phrase asher sane YHWH Elohekha ('which the LORD your God hates') uses the strongest possible language of divine aversion. The personal emotional language — God 'hates' these objects — moves beyond legal prohibition to theological revulsion. The setumah marks the end of this section, transitioning to chapter 17's judicial and royal legislation.