DeutéronomeChapitre 16

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Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for it was in the month of Abib that the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.

You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God from the flock and the herd, at the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for his name.

You shall eat no leavened bread with it. For seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may remember the day you left the land of Egypt.

No leaven shall be found anywhere in your territory for seven days, and none of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain until morning.

You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you.

Only at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name shall you sacrifice the Passover, in the evening at sunset, the appointed time when you came out of Egypt.

Cook it and eat it at the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you may turn back and go to your tents.

For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God; you shall do no work.

Count off seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.

Then keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing the LORD your God has given you.

And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your son and daughter, your male and female servants, the Levite in your towns, and the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow among you—at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.

Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and be careful to keep these statutes.

Keep the Feast of Booths for seven days, after you have gathered in the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.

Rejoice at your feast—you, your son and daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow who live in your towns.

For seven days you shall celebrate the feast to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose, for the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

Three times a year all your men shall appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. And no one shall appear before the LORD empty-handed.

Each shall give as he is able, in proportion to the blessing the LORD your God has given you.

Appoint judges and officials for yourselves in all the towns the LORD your God is giving you, tribe by tribe, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.

Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

Justice, and justice alone, you shall pursue, so that you may live and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Do not plant any tree as a sacred pole beside the altar you build for the LORD your God,

and do not set up a sacred pillar, for such things the LORD your God hates.

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Résumé2

Chapitre 16

Main Theme: The chapter gives instructions for the three annual pilgrimage festivals and for righteous administration of justice in Israel.

Content: Israel is to celebrate three festivals at the place the Lord chooses: Passover/Unleavened Bread in the month of Abib, commemorating the exodus from Egypt; the Festival of Weeks seven weeks later with voluntary offerings; and the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days at the harvest. All men must appear before the Lord three times a year, and no one is to come empty-handed. Judges and officials are to be appointed in all towns to judge fairly without taking bribes. Asherah poles and sacred stones beside altars are forbidden.

Key Words/Images:

The place the Lord chooses: A repeated expression pointing to centralized worship at one holy site.
Justice, justice you shall pursue: Double emphasis on righteousness as the foundation for life in the land.
Unleavened bread (matsot): Symbol of the hasty departure from Egypt and a reminder of deliverance.
Rejoicing before the Lord: The festivals include the entire household, Levites, foreigners, fatherless children, and widows in the celebration.

Contexte historique

Historical and Cultural Context for Deuteronomy 16

Events and Customs

The Three Pilgrimage Festivals

Chapter 16 addresses the three annual pilgrimage festivals (shalosh regalim) where all men in Israel were to appear before the Lord: Passover/Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks (shavuot), and the Festival of Tabernacles (sukkot). These festivals were connected to both the agricultural cycle and Israel's salvation history. Passover is celebrated in the "month of aviv" (March–April), marking the ripening of barley and commemorating the exodus from Egypt. The Festival of Weeks occurs seven weeks after the beginning of the grain harvest and celebrates the wheat harvest. The Festival of Tabernacles concludes the autumn harvest of grain and grapes.

In surrounding cultures, similar seasonal festivals tied to agriculture existed. Canaanite harvest festivals were celebrated at local shrines. What was unique about the Israelite festivals was their centralization to "the place the Lord will choose" and their historical grounding in salvation history, not merely in the cycles of nature. The requirement not to appear "empty-handed" (vv. 16–17) reflects the ancient custom of bringing gifts when appearing before a ruler or deity.

Judiciary and Officials

The regulations concerning judges and officials (vv. 18–20) reflect the need for an organized legal system within the cities. The combination "judges and officials" (shoftim veshotrim) indicates a two-part system: judges who rendered verdicts, and officials who ensured enforcement. The warning against bribery (v. 19) was highly relevant in a culture where such practices were widespread.

Key Terms

Month of Aviv (חֹדֶשׁ הָאָבִיב)

The word "aviv" means "fresh green ears" and refers to the month when barley ripens. This was the original Hebrew designation before the Babylonian calendar name "Nisan" was adopted after the exile (cf. Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7). The use of this ancient name underscores the text's connection to the agricultural calendar.

Bread of Affliction (לֶחֶם עֹנִי)

Unleavened bread is called "lechem oni" – "bread of affliction" or "poverty bread" (v. 3). This recalls the hardship of slavery in Egypt and the hasty flight that left no time for dough to rise. The term carries both a historical remembrance and an ethical exhortation toward humility.

Asherah (אֲשֵׁרָה)

The prohibition against planting an "asherah" beside the Lord's altar (v. 21) refers to sacred wooden poles or living trees that symbolized the fertility goddess Asherah. Such cult objects were extremely widespread in Canaanite religion and represented a constant temptation toward syncretism. Archaeological finds from Israelite cities show that this prohibition was often violated in practice.

Sacred Pillar (מַצֵּבָה)

The prohibition against erecting a "matseva" – a sacred pillar or stone column (v. 22) – is remarkable since the patriarchs raised such stones as memorials. In Canaanite religion, these pillars were linked to Baal worship, and by Moses' time they had become so associated with idolatry that they were forbidden at the Lord's sanctuary.

Chapter-Specific Findings

Archaeological excavations at Arad, Beersheba, and Dan have uncovered Israelite shrines with altars and in some cases traces of Asherah poles, confirming that the practices prohibited in vv. 21–22 actually occurred. The discovery of an inscription from Kuntillet Ajrud (c. 800 BC) mentioning "Yahweh and his Asherah" illustrates the religious syncretism these laws sought to prevent. These findings show that the centralization requirement in this chapter represented an ideal that stood in tension with actual religious practice throughout much of Israel's history.

Personnages

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Mots-clés7

Passover — An important Jewish festival celebrating the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
Unleavened Bread — Bread made without yeast, eaten during Passover to remember the haste with which the Israelites left Egypt.
Firstfruits — The first and best harvests offered to God as a sign of gratitude and honor.
Sabbatical Year — Every seventh year when the land was to rest and not be cultivated, so that the poor and animals could eat what grew naturally.
Feast of Tabernacles — A seven-day harvest festival during which the Israelites lived in shelters to remember their journey through the wilderness after being freed from Egypt.
Judge — A person chosen by God to lead and judge the Israelites with justice.
Sacrifice — A gift or act given to God to express gratitude, reverence, or to seek atonement for sins.