Deuteronomy 1 2 3a 3b 4 5 6 7a 7b 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16a 16b 17 18 19 20 21a 21b 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29a 29b 30 31 32 33 34
16:1 SHAMOR ET CHODESH HA AVIV VE ASITAH PESACH LA YHVH ELOHEYCHA KI BE CHODESH HA AVIV HOTSI'ACHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA MI MITSRAYIM LAILAH
שָׁמוֹר אֶת חֹדֶשׁ הָאָבִיב וְעָשִׂיתָ פֶּסַח לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ כִּי בְּחֹדֶשׁ הָאָבִיב הוֹצִיאֲךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִמִּצְרַיִם לָיְלָה
KJ (King James translation): 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.
BN (BibleNet translation): Observe the month of Aviv, and keep the Passover to YHVH your god; for in the month of Aviv YHVH your god brought you out of Mitsrayim by night.
AVIV: What were the names of the Egyptian months? As far as is known (click here for a very thorough background) they didn't name the months at all. Aviv was one of the Babylonian names, brought into the language at the time of the exile, and therefore provides another clue for dating the text. Tel Aviv (pronounced Tel Abib in the Arabic of its day) was one of the towns (the only one whose name we know for certain), about 50 miles from Nippur, where the captives from Yehudah were placed by Nebuchadnezzar after the conquest in 586 BCE (cf Ezekiel 3:15).
Note that Exodus 12, where this Yisra-Eli version of Passover is first instituted, does not actually name the month, but simply speaks of "this month", and denotes it as the "first month", though Tishrey, seven months later in the Autumn, would later (after the Babylonian exile) become the first month of a reconstituted calendar.
16:2 VE ZAVACHTA PESACH LA YHVH ELOHEYCHA TSON U VAKAR BA MAKOM ASHER YIVCHAR YHVH LESHAKEN SHEMO SHAM
וְזָבַחְתָּ פֶּסַח לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ צֹאן וּבָקָר בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְהוָה לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם
BN: And you shall sacrifice the Passover-offering to YHVH your god, from the flock and from the herd, in the place where YHVH shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
The phrasing is of course very convenient - and has been used repeatedly n the previous chapters: it doesn't specify anywhere at all, which allows the later Beney Yisra-El who are retroactively inventing this to place it anywhere they like, which happens to be Yeru-Shala'im, though it might not have been if history had worked out differently, and might have been problematic if somewhere specific had been named which didn't fit with later history.
16:3 LO TOCHAL ALAV CHAMETS SHIVAT YAMIM TOCHAL ALAV MATSOT LECHEM ONI BE CHIPAZON YATSATA ME ERETS MITSRAYIM LEMA'AN TIZKOR ET YOM TSETAM ME ERETS MITSRAYIM KOL YEMEY CHAYEYCHA
לֹא תֹאכַל עָלָיו חָמֵץ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תֹּאכַל עָלָיו מַצּוֹת לֶחֶם עֹנִי כִּי בְחִפָּזוֹן יָצָאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לְמַעַן תִּזְכֹּר אֶת יוֹם צֵאתְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ
BN: You shalt eat no leavened bread with it; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of affliction; for you came out of the land of Mitsrayim in a great hurry; this will serve as a memorial, through all the days of your life, to the day on which you came forth out of the land of Mitsrayim.
Pesach thus specifically denoted as a historical festival, commemorating the Exodus in much the manner of an Independence Day. Yet the unleavened bread retains what Pesach already was, the spring harvest festival dedicated to the Paso'ach, the limping god, the sacred corn-king who will manifest as David and Jesus later on, who at that time was Osher (Osiris) in Mitsrayim (Egypt), Tammuz in Bavel (Babylon).
So we can say that the facts as given here do not accord with the tale in the Book of Exodus. It is entirely clear there (Exodus 12) that the matzah was prepared in advance of the Passover, as matzah, and eaten in Mitsrayim on the evening of departure for the pilgrimage, as well as taken with for consumption during the Chag. The "false" historical account of the origins of the festival, transforming it into the one we still commemorate today, obviously happened somewhere between the writing of Exodus and the writing of Deuteronomy, but we cannot state when that might have been. All we can say is that this verse marks the moment at which the ancient Egyptian harvest-festival, which Mosheh's followers had celebrated then, was transformed into the Jewish Passover that has been celebrated forever since.
So we can say that the facts as given here do not accord with the tale in the Book of Exodus. It is entirely clear there (Exodus 12) that the matzah was prepared in advance of the Passover, as matzah, and eaten in Mitsrayim on the evening of departure for the pilgrimage, as well as taken with for consumption during the Chag. The "false" historical account of the origins of the festival, transforming it into the one we still commemorate today, obviously happened somewhere between the writing of Exodus and the writing of Deuteronomy, but we cannot state when that might have been. All we can say is that this verse marks the moment at which the ancient Egyptian harvest-festival, which Mosheh's followers had celebrated then, was transformed into the Jewish Passover that has been celebrated forever since.
16:4 VE LO YER'EH LECHA SE'OR BE CHOL GEVULCHA SHIVAT YAMIM VE LO YALIN MIN HA BASAR ASHER TIZBACH BA EREV BA YOM HA RISHON LA BOKER
KJ: 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.
BN: And no leaven shall be seen in your possession, within any of your borders, for seven days; nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain through the night and until the morning.
16:5 LO TUCHAL LIZBO'ACH ET HA PASACH BE ACHAD SHE'AREYCHA ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LACH
KJ: Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee:
BN: You may not sacrifice the Passover-offering within any of your gates, which YHVH your god is giving you.
HA PASACH: Should we be translating this as "the Paschal Lamb", and recognising that this will eventually be the tale of the the Crucifixion, just as it was previously the Akeda?
וְלֹא יֵרָאֶה לְךָ שְׂאֹר בְּכָל גְּבֻלְךָ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים וְלֹא יָלִין מִן הַבָּשָׂר אֲשֶׁר תִּזְבַּח בָּעֶרֶב בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן לַבֹּקֶר
BN: And no leaven shall be seen in your possession, within any of your borders, for seven days; nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain through the night and until the morning.
16:5 LO TUCHAL LIZBO'ACH ET HA PASACH BE ACHAD SHE'AREYCHA ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LACH
לֹא תוּכַל לִזְבֹּחַ אֶת הַפָּסַח בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ
BN: You may not sacrifice the Passover-offering within any of your gates, which YHVH your god is giving you.
HA PASACH: Should we be translating this as "the Paschal Lamb", and recognising that this will eventually be the tale of the the Crucifixion, just as it was previously the Akeda?
SHE'AREYCHA: Can mean the gates of your home, or of your apartment or condo campus, or of your private estate, or of your city.
16:6 KI IM EL HA MAKOM ASHER YIVCHAR YHVH ELOHEYCHA LESHAKEN SHEMO, SHAM TIZBACH ET HA PESACH BA AREV KE VO HA SHEMESH MO'ED TSET'CHA MI MITSRAYIM
כִּי אִם אֶל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם תִּזְבַּח אֶת הַפֶּסַח בָּעָרֶב כְּבוֹא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ מוֹעֵד צֵאתְךָ מִמִּצְרָיִם
BN: But at the place in which YHVH your god shall choose, to establish his name in a permanent dwelling; there you shall sacrifice the Passover-offering in the evening, at sunset, at the season when you came out of Mitsrayim.
16:7 U VISHALTA VE ACHALTA BA MAKOM ASHER YIVCHAR YHVH ELOHEYCHA BO U PHANITA VA BOKER VE HALACHTA LE OHALEYCHA
וּבִשַּׁלְתָּ וְאָכַלְתָּ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בּוֹ וּפָנִיתָ בַבֹּקֶר וְהָלַכְתָּ לְאֹהָלֶיךָ
BN: And you shall roast and eat it in the place which YHVH your god shall choose; and you shall turn in the morning, and go back to your tents.
This is a prohibition against non-community ceremony; it requires individuals to go to a set location, stay there for a period of time, participate in the communal rituals, and then return home - wherever home may be, though the text having just spoken of "gates" does make the "tents" somewhat of an anachronism. Do we have an ancient version and an updated version, and the scribe simply missed the need to change this?.
16:8 SHESHET YAMIM TOCHAL MATSOT U VA YOM HA SHEVIYI ATSERET LA YHVH ELOHEYCHA LO TA'ASEH MELACHAH
שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֹּאכַל מַצּוֹת וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי עֲצֶרֶת לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה מְלָאכָה
BN: For six days you shall eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to YHVH your god; you shall do no work that day.
SHESHET YAMIM: Six plus one really, because we have already done the first day, and the first night, and reached the second morning at the end of the last verse.
I am interested in the coincidence of the words MATSOT (מצות) and MITSVOT (מצות) - the doubled Vav being the only difference, but even that requires the Masoretic pointing. The same in the singular, of course.
Why was the Atseret for Pesach on the 7th day, but that of the new year, after the new year switched from spring to autumn, on the eighth day (Shemini Atseret)? And do they go back to eating leaven on the 7th, or the 8th? This definitely states the 7th day.
samech break
16:9 SHIVAH SHAVU'OT TISPAR LACH MEY HACHEL CHERMESH BA KAMAH TACHEL LISPOR SHIVAH SHAVU'OT
KJ: 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.
BN: You shall count seven weeks for yourselves; from the time the sickle is first put to the standing corn you shall begin to count seven weeks.
Why was the Atseret for Pesach on the 7th day, but that of the new year, after the new year switched from spring to autumn, on the eighth day (Shemini Atseret)? And do they go back to eating leaven on the 7th, or the 8th? This definitely states the 7th day.
samech break
16:9 SHIVAH SHAVU'OT TISPAR LACH MEY HACHEL CHERMESH BA KAMAH TACHEL LISPOR SHIVAH SHAVU'OT
שִׁבְעָה שָׁבֻעֹת תִּסְפָּר לָךְ מֵהָחֵל חֶרְמֵשׁ בַּקָּמָה תָּחֵל לִסְפֹּר שִׁבְעָה שָׁבֻעוֹת
KJ: 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.
BN: You shall count seven weeks for yourselves; from the time the sickle is first put to the standing corn you shall begin to count seven weeks.
Normally we reckon Shavu'ot as seven weeks and one day from Pesach, but this does not actually make that specific. Unless there was an assumption at that time that the day after the end of Pesach was also first-sickle day, and therefore the first day of the counting of the Omer... but wait, it isn't the latter; that began on the 2nd day of Pesach itself; so is there a disparity, even a conflict, here, because they can't be raising sickles on the 2nd day of Pesach, because it's a Chag, and the Shabat prohibitions apply... one more for the theologians!
16:10 VE ASITA CHAG SHAVU'OT LA YHVH ELOHEYCHA MISAT NIDVAT YADCHA ASHER TITEN KA ASHER YEVARECHECHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA
וְעָשִׂיתָ חַג שָׁבֻעוֹת לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִסַּת נִדְבַת יָדְךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּתֵּן כַּאֲשֶׁר יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
KJ: 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:
BN: And you shall keep Shavu'ot, the Feast of Weeks, to YHVH your god after the measure of the freewill-offering which you shall bring by hand, to whatever degree YHVH your god has blessed you.
The precise explanation of this lies in Deuteronomy 14:22 and the verses that follow, where we are told that "Every year you shall give a tenth of the produce of your crop that is grown in your field". What is brought for sacrifice is this "tax" , but based on "the increase of your seed... year by year"; so you may bring more than last year, or less than, or the same for your grapes but different for your dates, depending on how successful you have been, and that latter is what is meant by the phrase here "to whatever degree YHVH your god has blessed you".
16:11 VE SAMACHTA LIPHNEY YHVH ELOHEYCHA ATAH U VINCHA U VITECHA VA AVDECHA VA AMATECHA VE HE LEVI ASHER BI SHE'AREYCHA VE HA GER VE HA YATOM VE HE ALMANAH ASHER BE KIRBECHA BA MAKOM ASHER YIVCHAR YHVH ELOHEYCHA LESHAKEN SHEMO SHAM
וְשָׂמַחְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְהַלֵּוִי אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ וְהַגֵּר וְהַיָּתוֹם וְהָאַלְמָנָה אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבֶּךָ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם
KJ: 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.
BN: And you shall rejoice before YHVH your god, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your man-servant, and your maid-servant, and the Levite who is within your gates, and the stranger, and the orphan and the widow in your community, in the place in which YHVH your god shall choose to cause his name to dwell.
Establishing the most fundamental feature of Judaism, that everything eventually comes down to either fasting or feasting.
16:12 VE ZACHARTA KI EVED HAYITA BE MITSRAYIM VE SHAMARTA VE ASITA ET HA CHUKIM HA ELEH
וְזָכַרְתָּ כִּי עֶבֶד הָיִיתָ בְּמִצְרָיִם וְשָׁמַרְתָּ וְעָשִׂיתָ אֶת הַחֻקִּים הָאֵלֶּה
KJ: And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
BN: And you shall remember that you were a mortgaged labourer in Mitsrayim; and you shall observe and do these statutes.
EVED: again translated as "bondsman", not "slave" - funny how, when it's convenient for one piece of theology, "avadim hayinu be Mitsrayim" gets translated one way, and when it's convenient for another piece of theology, it gets translated the other way! My translation is based on my reading of Genesis 41 and especially Genesis 47.
pey break
16:13 CHAG HA SUCCOT TA'ASEH LECHA SHIVAT YAMIM BE ASPHECHA MI GARNECHA U MI YIKVECHA
חַג הַסֻּכֹּת תַּעֲשֶׂה לְךָ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים בְּאָסְפְּךָ מִגָּרְנְךָ וּמִיִּקְבֶךָ
BN: You shall keep Sukot, the feast of Tabernacles, for seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing-floor and from your winepress.
Pesach, Shavu'ot and Sukot thus listed together - the three pilgrim festivals. Chag, or Hajj.
16:14 VE SAMACHTA BE CHAGECHA ATAH U VINCHA U VITECHA VE AVDECHA VA AMATECHA VE HE LEVI VE HA GER VE HE YATOM VE HA ALMANAH ASHER BI SHE'AREYCHA
וְשָׂמַחְתָּ בְּחַגֶּךָ אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְהַלֵּוִי וְהַגֵּר וְהַיָּתוֹם וְהָאַלְמָנָה אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ
BN: And you shall celebrate your festival, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your man-servant, and your maid-servant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan and the widow who are within your gates.
16:15 SHIVAT YAMIM TACHOG LA YHVH ELOHEYCHA BA MAKOM ASHER YIVCHAR YHVH KI YEVARECHECHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA BE CHOL TEVU'AT'CHA U VE CHOL MA'ASEH YADECHA VE HAYITA ACH SAMEYACH
KJ: 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:
BN: Three times each year all your men shall appear before YHVH your god in the place which he shall choose; on Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and on Shavu'ot, the Feast of Weeks, and on Sukot, the Feast of Tabernacles; but they may not appear before YHVH empty-handed.
Note that this only applies to men; women are not named, which leads to much theological debate as to whether they are therefore excluded, or simply exempt (based on the "time-bound" laws elsewhere); though it could be argued from the text that the women are free to see YHVH at any time, while the men are restricted to just these occasions (no one but me in the entire history of the religion has ever made this argument). And it could also be argued, equally legitimately, that the women don't need to attend the rituals, because they are all cermonies for worshipping Yahweh, who was the male god, the divine priapus, whereas the women have their own temple in which to worship YHVH's consort, his equal other-half, who requires nothing from them except the regular production of children, and the maintenance of their well-being once they are born.
And yet the previous verses most definitely do include them - in the feasting anyway, in the celebrations.
שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תָּחֹג לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְהוָה כִּי יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכֹל תְּבוּאָתְךָ וּבְכֹל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶיךָ וְהָיִיתָ אַךְ שָׂמֵחַ
KJ: 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.
BN: For seven days you shall celebrate with a feast to YHVH your god, in the place which YHVH shall choose; because YHVH your god shall bless you in all your produce, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be in a state of perfect contentment.
16:16 SHALOSH PE'AMIM BA SHANAH YERA'EH CHOL ZECHURCHA ET PENEY YHVH ELOHEYCHA BA MAKOM ASHER YIVCHAR BE CHAG HA MATSOT U VE CHAG HA SHAVU'OT U VE CHAG HA SUKOT VE LO YETRA'EH ET PENEY YHVH REYKAM
BN: For seven days you shall celebrate with a feast to YHVH your god, in the place which YHVH shall choose; because YHVH your god shall bless you in all your produce, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be in a state of perfect contentment.
16:16 SHALOSH PE'AMIM BA SHANAH YERA'EH CHOL ZECHURCHA ET PENEY YHVH ELOHEYCHA BA MAKOM ASHER YIVCHAR BE CHAG HA MATSOT U VE CHAG HA SHAVU'OT U VE CHAG HA SUKOT VE LO YETRA'EH ET PENEY YHVH REYKAM
שָׁלוֹשׁ פְּעָמִים בַּשָּׁנָה יֵרָאֶה כָל זְכוּרְךָ אֶת פְּנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחָר בְּחַג הַמַּצּוֹת וּבְחַג הַשָּׁבֻעוֹת וּבְחַג הַסֻּכּוֹת וְלֹא יֵרָאֶה אֶת פְּנֵי יְהוָה רֵיקָם
BN: Three times each year all your men shall appear before YHVH your god in the place which he shall choose; on Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and on Shavu'ot, the Feast of Weeks, and on Sukot, the Feast of Tabernacles; but they may not appear before YHVH empty-handed.
Note that this only applies to men; women are not named, which leads to much theological debate as to whether they are therefore excluded, or simply exempt (based on the "time-bound" laws elsewhere); though it could be argued from the text that the women are free to see YHVH at any time, while the men are restricted to just these occasions (no one but me in the entire history of the religion has ever made this argument). And it could also be argued, equally legitimately, that the women don't need to attend the rituals, because they are all cermonies for worshipping Yahweh, who was the male god, the divine priapus, whereas the women have their own temple in which to worship YHVH's consort, his equal other-half, who requires nothing from them except the regular production of children, and the maintenance of their well-being once they are born.
And yet the previous verses most definitely do include them - in the feasting anyway, in the celebrations.
16:17 ISH KE MATNAT YADO KE VIRCHAT YHVH ELOHEYCHA ASHER NATAN LACH
אִישׁ כְּמַתְּנַת יָדוֹ כְּבִרְכַּת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָךְ
BN: Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of YHVH your god which he has given you.
end of Sedra Re'eh.
This is not the end of the chapter in most Christian versions; I have separated the two "halves" because of the change of sedra in the Yehudit original.
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