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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Deuteronomy, Chapter XVI].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
<CENTER>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>D E U T E R O N O M Y</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVI.</FONT>
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<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
In this chapter we have,
I. A repetition of the laws concerning the three yearly feasts; in
particular, that of the passover,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:1-8">ver. 1-8</A>.
That of pentecost,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:9-12">ver. 9-12</A>.
That of tabernacles,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:13-15">ver. 13-15</A>.
And the general law concerning the people's attendance on them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:16,17">ver. 16, 17</A>.
II. The institution of an inferior magistracy, and general rules of
justice given to those that were called into office,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:18-20">ver. 18-20</A>.
III. A caveat against groves and images,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:21,22">ver. 21, 22</A>.</P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Yearly Release.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God: for in the month of Abib the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God brought
thee forth out of Egypt by night.
&nbsp; 2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy
God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall
choose to place his name there.
&nbsp; 3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt
thou eat unleavened bread therewith, <I>even</I> 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.
&nbsp; 4 And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all
thy coast seven days; neither shall there <I>any thing</I> of the
flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all
night until the morning.
&nbsp; 5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy
gates, which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God giveth thee:
&nbsp; 6 But at the place which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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.
&nbsp; 7 And thou shalt roast and eat <I>it</I> in the place which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go
unto thy tents.
&nbsp; 8 Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh
day <I>shall be</I> a solemn assembly to the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God: thou shalt
do no work <I>therein.</I>
&nbsp; 9 Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the
seven weeks from <I>such time as</I> thou beginnest <I>to put</I> the
sickle to the corn.
&nbsp; 10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God
with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou
shalt give <I>unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God,</I> according as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God
hath blessed thee:
&nbsp; 11 And thou shalt rejoice before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God, thou, and
thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy
maidservant, and the Levite that <I>is</I> within thy gates, and the
stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that <I>are</I> among
you, in the place which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God hath chosen to place his
name there.
&nbsp; 12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt:
and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
&nbsp; 13 Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days,
after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:
&nbsp; 14 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
<I>are</I> within thy gates.
&nbsp; 15 Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy
God in the place which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall choose: because the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the
works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
&nbsp; 16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> empty:
&nbsp; 17 Every man <I>shall give</I> as he is able, according to the
blessing of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God which he hath given thee.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Much of the communion between God and his people Israel was kept up,
and a face of religion preserved in the nation, by the three yearly
feasts, the institution of which, and the laws concerning them, we have
several times met with already; and here they are repeated.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. The law of the passover, so great a solemnity that it made the whole
month, in the midst of which it was placed, considerable: <I>Observe
the month Abib,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
Though one week only of this month was to be kept as a festival, yet
their preparations before must be so solemn, and their reflections upon
it and improvements of it afterwards so serious, as to amount to an
observance of the whole month. The month of Abib, or of <I>new
fruits,</I> as the Chaldee translates it, answers to our March (or part
of March and part of April), and was by a special order from God, in
remembrance of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, made the
<I>beginning of their year</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+12:2">Exod. xii. 2</A>),
which before was reckoned to begin in September. This month they were
to keep the passover, in remembrance of their being <I>brought out of
Egypt by night,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
The Chaldee paraphrasts expound it, "Because they came out of Egypt by
daylight," there being an express order that they should not stir out
of their doors till morning,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+12:22">Exod. xii. 22</A>.
One of them expounds it thus: "<I>He brought thee out of Egypt,</I> and
did wonders <I>by night.</I>" The other, "and thou shalt eat the
passover <I>by night.</I>" The laws concerning it are,
1. That they must be sure to sacrifice the passover in the place that
God should choose
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
and in no other place,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:5-7"><I>v.</I> 5-7</A>.
The passover was itself a sacrifice; hence Christ, as our passover, is
said to be <I>sacrificed for us</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+5:7">1 Cor. v. 7</A>),
and many other sacrifices were offered during the seven days of the
feast
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+28:19">Num. xxviii. 19</A>,
&c.), which are included here, for they are said to be sacrificed <I>of
the flock and the herd,</I> whereas the passover itself was only of the
flock, either a lamb or a kid: now no sacrifice was accepted but from
the altar that sanctified it; it was therefore necessary that they
should to up to the place of the altar, for, though the paschal lamb
was entirely eaten by the owners, yet it must be killed in the court,
the blood sprinkled, and the inwards burned upon the altar. By
confining them to the appointed rule, from which they would have been
apt to vary, and to introduce foolish inventions of their own, had they
been permitted to offer these sacrifices within their own gates, from
under the inspection of the priests. They were also hereby directed to
have their eye up unto God in the solemnity, and the <I>desire of their
hearts towards the remembrance of his name,</I> being appointed to
attend where he had chosen <I>to place his name,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:2,6"><I>v.</I> 2 and 6</A>.
But, when the solemnity was over, they might <I>turn and go unto their
tents,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
Some think that they might, if they pleased, return the very morning
after the paschal lamb was killed and eaten, the priests and Levites
being sufficient to carry on the rest of the week's work; but the first
day of the seven is so far from being the day of their dispersion that
it is expressly appointed for a <I>holy convocation</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+23:7,Nu+28:18">Lev. xxiii. 7; Num. xxviii. 18</A>);
therefore we must take it as Jonathan's paraphrase expounds it, <I>in
the morning after the end of the feast thou shalt go to thy cities.</I>
And it was the practice to keep together the whole week,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:17">2 Chron. xxxv. 17</A>.
2. That they must eat unleavened bread for seven days, and no leavened
bread must be seen in all their coasts,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:3,4,8"><I>v.</I> 3, 4, 8</A>.
The bread they were confined to is here called <I>bread of
affliction,</I> because neither grateful to the taste nor easy of
digestion, and therefore proper to signify the heaviness of their
spirits in their bondage and to keep in remembrance the haste in which
they came out, the case being so urgent that they could not stay for
the leavening of the bread they took with them for their march. The
Jewish writers tell us that the custom at the passover supper was that
the master of the family broke this unleavened bread, and gave to every
one a piece of it, saying, <I>This is</I> (that is, this signifies,
represents, or commemorates, which explains that saying of our Saviour,
<I>This is my body</I>) <I>the bread of affliction which your fathers
did eat in the land of Egypt.</I> The gospel meaning of this feast of
unleavened bread the apostle gives us,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+5:7">1 Cor. v. 7</A>.
<I>Christ our passover being sacrificed for us,</I> and we having
participated in the blessed fruits of that sacrifice to our comfort,
<I>let us keep the feast</I> in a holy conversation, free from <I>the
leaven of malice</I> towards our brethren and hypocrisy towards God,
and <I>with the unleavened bread of sincerity</I> and love.
<I>Lastly,</I> Observe, concerning the passover, for what end it was
instituted: "<I>That thou mayest remember the day when thou camest
forth out of Egypt,</I> not only on the day of the passover, or during
the seven days of the feast, but <I>all the days of thy life</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
as a constant inducement to obedience." Thus we celebrate the memorial
of Christ's death at certain times, that we may remember it at all
times, as a reason why we should <I>live to him that died for us and
rose again.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. Seven weeks after the passover the feast of pentecost was to be
observed, concerning which they are here directed,
1. Whence to number their seven weeks, <I>from the time thou beginnest
to put the sickle to the corn</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
that is, from the morrow after the first day of the feast of unleavened
bread, for on that day (though it is probable the people did not begin
their harvest till the feast was ended) messengers were sent to reap a
sheaf of barley, which was to be offered to God as the first-fruits,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+23:10">Lev. xxiii. 10</A>.
Some think it implies a particular care which Providence would take of
their land with respect to the weather, that their harvest should be
always ripe and ready for the sickle just at the same time.
2. How they were to keep this feast.
(1.) They must <I>bring an offering unto God,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
It is here called a <I>tribute of a free-will-offering.</I> It was
required of them as a tribute to their Sovereign Lord and owner, under
whom they held all they had; and yet because the law did not determine
the <I>quantum,</I> but it was left to every man's generosity to bring
what he chose, and whatever he brought he must give cheerfully, it is
therefore called a <I>free-will offering.</I> It was a grateful
acknowledgment of the goodness of God to them in the mercies of these
corn-harvests now finished, and therefore must be <I>according as God
had blessed them.</I> Where God sows plentifully he expects to reap
accordingly.
(2.) They must rejoice before God,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
Holy joy is the heart and soul of thankful praises, which are as the
language and expression of holy joy. They must rejoice in their
receivings from God, and in their returns of service and sacrifice to
him; our duty must be our delight as well as our enjoyments. They must
have their very servants to rejoice with them, "for remember
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
that <I>thou wast a bond-man,</I> and wouldest have been very thankful
if thy taskmasters would have given thee some time and cause for
rejoicing; and thy God did bring thee out to keep a feast with
gladness; therefore be pleasant with thy servants, and make them easy."
And, it should seem, those general words, <I>thou shalt observe and do
these statutes,</I> are added here for a particular reason, because
this feast was kept in remembrance of the giving of the law upon Mount
Sinai, fifty days after they came out of Egypt; now the best way of
expressing our thankfulness to God for his favour to us in giving us
his law is to <I>observe and do according to the precepts</I> of
it.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. They must keep the feast of tabernacles,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:13-15"><I>v.</I> 13-15</A>.
Here is no repetition of the law concerning the sacrifices that were to
be offered in great abundance at this feast (which we had at large,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+29:12">Num. xxix. 12</A>,
&c.), because the care of these belonged to the priests and Levites,
who had not so much need of a repetition as the people had, and because
the spiritual part of the service, which consisted in holy joy, was
most pleasing to God, and was to be the perpetual duty of a gospel
conversation, of which this feast was typical. Observe what stress is
laid upon it here: <I>Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
<I>and, because the Lord shall bless thee, thou shalt surely
rejoice,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
Note,
1. It is the will of God that his people should be a cheerful people.
If those that were under the law must rejoice before God, much more
must we that are under the grace of the gospel, which makes it our
duty, not only as here to rejoice in our feasts, but to <I>rejoice
evermore, to rejoice in the Lord always.</I>
2. When we rejoice in God ourselves we should do what we can to assist
others also to rejoice in him, by comforting the mourners and supplying
the necessitous, that even <I>the stranger, the fatherless, and the
widow may rejoice with us.</I> See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+29:13">Job xxix. 13</A>.
3. We must rejoice in God, not only because of what we have received
and are receiving from him daily, but because of what he has promised,
and we expect to receive yet further from him: because <I>he shall
bless thee,</I> therefore <I>thou shalt rejoice.</I> Those that make
God their joy may <I>rejoice in hope,</I> for he is faithful that has
promised.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
IV. The laws concerning the three solemn feasts are summed up
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>),
as often before,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:16,34:23">Exod. xxiii. 16, 17; xxxiv. 23</A>.
The general commands concerning them are,
1. That all the males must then make their personal appearance before
God, that by their frequent meeting to worship God, at the same place,
and by the same rule, they might be kept faithful and constant to that
holy religion which was established among them.
2. That none must appear before God empty, but every man must bring
some offering or other, in token of a dependence upon God and gratitude
to him. And God was not unreasonable in his demands; let every man but
give as he was able, and no more was expected. The same is still the
rule of charity,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+16:2">1 Cor. xvi. 2</A>.
Those that give to their power shall be accepted, but those that give
beyond their power are accounted worthy of double honour
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+8:3">2 Cor. viii. 3</A>),
as the poor widow that gave <I>all she had,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:4">Luke xxi. 4</A>.</P>
<A NAME="De16_18"> </A>
<A NAME="De16_19"> </A>
<A NAME="De16_20"> </A>
<A NAME="De16_21"> </A>
<A NAME="De16_22"> </A>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates,
which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and
they shall judge the people with just judgment.
&nbsp; 19 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.
&nbsp; 20 That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou
mayest live, and inherit the land which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God giveth
thee.
&nbsp; 21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the
altar of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
&nbsp; 22 Neither shalt thou set thee up <I>any</I> image; which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
thy God hateth.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Here is,
I. Care taken for the due administration of justice among them, that
controversies might be determined, matters in variance adjusted, the
injured redressed, and the injurious punished. While they were encamped
in the wilderness, they had <I>judges and officers</I> according to
their numbers, rulers of thousands and hundreds,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+17:25">Exod. xvii. 25</A>.
When they came to Canaan, they must have them according to their towns
and cities, in all their gates; for the courts of judgment sat in the
gates. Now,
1. Here is a commission given to these inferior magistrates: "Judges
to try and pass sentence, and officers to execute their sentences,
shalt thou make thee." However the persons were pitched upon, whether
by the nomination of their sovereign or by the election of the people,
<I>the power were ordained of God,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+13:1">Rom. xiii. 1</A>.
And it was a great mercy to the people thus to have justice brought to
their doors, that it might be more expeditious and less expensive, a
blessing which we of this nation ought to be very thankful for.
Pursuant to this law, besides the great sanhedrim that sat at the
sanctuary, consisting of seventy elders and a president, there was in
the larger cities, such as had in them above 120 families, a court of
twenty-three judges, in the smaller cities a court of three judges. See
this law revived by Jehoshaphat,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+19:5,8">2 Chron. xix. 5, 8</A>.
2. Here is a command given to these magistrates to do justice in the
execution of the trust reposed in them. Better not judge at all than
not judge with just judgment, according to the direction of the law and
the evidence of the fact.
(1.) The judges are here cautioned not to do wrong to any
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
nor to take any gifts, which would tempt them to do wrong. This law had
been given before,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:8">Exod. xxiii. 8</A>.
(2.) They are charged to do justice to all: "<I>That which is
altogether just shalt thou follow,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
Adhere to the principles of justice, act by the rules of justice,
countenance the demands of justice, imitate the patterns of justice,
and pursue with resolution that which appears to be just. <I>Justice,
justice, shalt thou follow.</I>" This is that which the magistrate is
to have in his eye, on this he must be intent, and to this all personal
regards must be sacrificed, to do <I>right to all</I> and <I>wrong to
none.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. Care taken for the preventing of all conformity to the idolatrous
customs of the heathen,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+16:21,22"><I>v.</I> 21, 22</A>.
They must not only not join with the idolaters in their worships, not
visit their groves, nor bow before the images which they had set up,
but,
1. They must not plant a grove, nor so much as a tree, near God's
altar lest they should make it look like the altars of the false gods.
They made groves the places of their worship either to make it secret
(but that which is true and good desires the light rather), or to make
it solemn, but the worship of the true God has enough in itself to make
it so and needs not the advantage of such a circumstance.
2. They must not set up any image, statue, or pillar, to the honour of
God, for it is a thing which the Lord hates; nothing belies or
reproaches him more, or tends more to corrupt and debauch the minds of
men, than representing and worshipping by an image that God who is an
infinite and eternal Spirit.</P>
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