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Deuteronomy

About this book
Chapter 16

1 Observe the month Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month he brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to locate his name. 3 You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as symbolic of affliction, for you came out of Egypt hurriedly. You must do this so you will remember for the rest of your lives the day you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning. 5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your villages that the Lord your God is giving you, 6 but you must sacrifice it in the evening in the place where he chooses to locate his name, at sunset, the time of day you came out of Egypt.⁠ 7 You must boil13 and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses;⁠ you may return the next morning to your tents.⁠ 8 You must eat bread made without yeast for six days. The seventh day you are to hold an assembly for the Lord your God; you must not do any work on that day. 9 You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain. 10 Then you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks before the Lord your God with the voluntary offering that you will bring, in proportion to how he has blessed you. 11 You shall rejoice before him—you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows among you—in the place where the Lord chooses to locate his name. 12 Furthermore, remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and so be careful to observe these statutes. 13 You must celebrate the Feast of Shelters for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest. 14 You are to rejoice in your festival,⁠ you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows who are in your villages. 15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the Lord your God in the place he chooses, for he will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do; so you will indeed rejoice! 16 Three times a year all your males must appear before the Lord your God in the place he chooses for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Shelters; and they must not appear before him empty-handed. 17 Every one of you must give as you are able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you. 18 You must appoint judges and civil servants for each tribe in all your villages that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly.⁠ 19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort the words of the righteous.⁠ 20 You must pursue justice alone so that you may live and inherit the land the Lord your God is giving you.⁠ 21 You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself.⁠ 22 You must not erect a sacred pillar, a thing the Lord your God detests.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 16:14 and Nehemiah 8:9

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Deuteronomy commands the people to celebrate the Festival of Booths with joy, including servants, foreigners, orphans, and widows. Nehemiah shows the community observing the festival in this way after the exile, building shelters and rejoicing together.

Passages

Deuteronomy 16:14

Hebrew Bible
12 Furthermore, remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and so be careful to observe these statutes. 13 You must celebrate the Feast of Shelters for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest. 14 You are to rejoice in your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows who are in your villages. 15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the Lord your God in the place he chooses, for he will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do; so you will indeed rejoice! 16 Three times a year all your males must appear before the Lord your God in the place he chooses for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Shelters; and they must not appear before him empty-handed.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Nehemiah 8:9

Hebrew Bible
7 Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—all of whom were Levites—were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing. 8 They read from the book of God’s law, explaining it and imparting insight. Thus the people gained understanding from what was read. 9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priestly scribe, and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law. 10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 Then the Levites quieted all the people saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy. Do not grieve.”
400–301 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Nehemiah

References

"... The Priestly norms and Holiness Code present the Festival of Booths as a communal recollection of the exodus accompanied by appropriate sacrificial offerings (Numbers 29:12–38 [P]; Leviticus 23:33–38, 39–43 [H]). The narrative in Nehemiah embodies the Holiness prescriptions that the people live in booths as their ancestors had done in the wilderness (Nehemiah 8:15–17; compare Leviticus 23:39–43 [H]). This code mentions a construction made from four species of trees, including palms and willows, while the Book of Nehemiah expands the list to include olive and myrtle trees (Leviticus 23:40; Nehemiah 8:15). The Priestly tradition stipulates sacrificial offerings for each day of the festival (Numbers 29:12–28; compare Leviticus 23:36–38). The Nehemiah narrative follows the Priestly and Holiness traditions by including an eighth day of “solemn assembly” to conclude the Festival of Booths (Nehemiah 8:18; compare Leviticus 23:36; Numbers 29:35–38). Furthermore, the Nehemiah account emphasizes the “joy” that characterizes the festival, thereby reflecting the disposition mandated in the Holiness and Deuteronomic codes (Nehemiah 8:12, 17b; compare Leviticus 23:40; Deuteronomy 16:14–15) ..."
Michael W. Duggan, “Hanukkah in 1 and 2 Maccabees: An Intertextual Reading,” in Intertextual Explorations in Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature, ed. Jeremy Corley and Geoffrey David Miller (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2019), 172–201.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Deuteronomy 16:14 and Nehemiah 8:9

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