Bible Study Deuteronomy 16
‹ Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 16 · WEB

The Three Great Feasts and the Appointment of Judges

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Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the LORD your God; for in the month of Abib, the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
2You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God from the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
3You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
4No yeast shall be seen with you in all your borders for seven days. None of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at evening shall remain all night until the morning.
5You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates, which the LORD your God gives you;
6but at the place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the time when you came out of Egypt.
7You shall roast it and eat it in the place which the LORD your God shall choose. In the morning you shall return to your tents.
8Six days you shall eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work.
9You shall count seven weeks; from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain you shall begin to count seven weeks.
10You shall keep the feast of weeks to the LORD your God with a tribute of a free will offering of your hand, which you shall give according to how the LORD your God blesses you.
11You shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are among you—in the place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
12You shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt. You shall observe and do these statutes.
13You shall keep the feast of booths seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your wine press.
14You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates.
15You shall keep a feast to the LORD your God seven days in the place which the LORD shall choose; because the LORD your God will bless you in all your increase and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful.
16Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which he shall choose: at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty.
17Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you.
18You shall make judges and officers for yourself in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes. They shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
19You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality; neither shall you take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.
20You shall follow righteousness, and righteousness only, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God gives you.
21You shall not plant an Asherah pole for yourself beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make.
22Neither shall you set yourself up a sacred pillar; which the LORD your God hates.
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Summary

Moses legislates the three annual pilgrimage feasts: Passover/Unleavened Bread (commemorating the Exodus), Feast of Weeks/Pentecost (celebrating the grain harvest fifty days later), and Feast of Booths/Tabernacles (celebrating the full harvest). Each feast is characterized by communal joy that explicitly includes servants, Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows — no one left out. Moses then appoints judges for every city and community, commanding absolute impartiality and the refusal of bribes. The chapter closes with a prohibition against Asherah poles and sacred pillars near God's altar.

Themes

  • Ritual memory: annual feasts as embodied rehearsal of God's saving acts
  • Inclusive joy: worship that encompasses every level of society
  • Justice as a pillar of covenant life — impartiality, no bribes
  • The rhythm of the liturgical calendar as a way of ordering community life around God
  • Generous giving in proportion to how much God has blessed

Key verses

  • Deut 16:14 — “You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son, your daughter...the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates.”
  • Deut 16:19-20 — “You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality; neither shall you take a bribe...You shall follow righteousness, and righteousness only.”
  • Deut 16:3 — “You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction...that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.”

Context & background

The three annual feasts described here — Passover (Pesach), Weeks (Shavuot), and Booths (Sukkot) — became the defining pilgrimage festivals of Jewish life. They are still observed by Jewish communities worldwide today. In the New Testament, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) was the occasion for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, when Jewish pilgrims "from every nation under heaven" were gathered in Jerusalem — modern Jerusalem in Israel. The Feast of Booths was observed during Jesus' ministry (John 7), and Passover was the context for the Last Supper and the crucifixion. The command to appear "not empty" (v. 16) — bringing an offering proportional to God's blessing — became a foundational giving principle.

Cross-references

  • 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 — "Christ our Passover has been sacrificed"
  • Acts 2:1-4 — The Holy Spirit poured out on Pentecost (Feast of Weeks)
  • Amos 5:21-24 — God rejects feasts without justice — the two themes of this chapter must go together
  • Exodus 12 — The original Passover institution
  • John 7:37-38 — Jesus at the Feast of Booths, declaring himself living water

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What are the three annual pilgrimage feasts in this chapter?

  2. Observe

    Who must be included in the joy of the feasts (vv. 11, 14)?

  3. Interpret

    What does feast-inclusion teach about how God defines worship?

  4. Interpret

    Why does Moses place justice instructions right after feast laws?

  5. Apply

    What regular rhythms help you remember God's saving acts?

  6. Apply

    Where are you tempted to "pervert justice" — favoring those who benefit you?

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