Deuteronomy 16:11

16:1-17 The laws for the three yearly feasts are here repeated; that of the Passover, that of the Pentecost, that of Tabernacles; and the general law concerning the people's attendance. Never should a believer forget his low estate of guilt and misery, his deliverance, and the price it cost the Redeemer; that gratitude and joy in the Lord may be mingled with sorrow for sin, and patience under the tribulations in his way to the kingdom of heaven. 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 enjoyment. If those who were under the law must rejoice before God, much more we that are under the grace of the gospel; which makes it our duty to rejoice evermore, to rejoice in the Lord always. 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 those who are in want. All who make God their joy, may rejoice in hope, for He is faithful that has promised.

And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God,.... Make a liberal feast, and keep it cheerfully, in the presence of God, in the place where he resides, thankfully acknowledging all his mercies and favours: thou, and thy son, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates; that dwelt in the same city, who were all to come with him to Jerusalem at this feast, and to partake of it with him: 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; who should be at Jerusalem at this time.

Verse 11. - Rejoice before the Lord. "The expression, to rejoice before the Lord , denotes here nothing else than to honor him by sacred songs; comp. Spencer, 'De Legg. Hebrews Ritual.,' p. 881, edit. 3" (Havernick, 'Introd.,' p. 157). In the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there ; rather, shall choose , as in ver. 15. Deuteronomy 16:11

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.

Feast of Weeks; and Deuteronomy 16:13-17 , Feast of Tabernacles. Nothing is here added to the rules given in Leviticus and Numbers except the clauses so often recurring in Deuteronomy and so characteristic of it, which restrict the public celebration of the festivals to the sanctuary, and enjoin that the enjoyments of them should be extended to the Levites, widows, orphans, etc.

9-12. Seven weeks shalt thou number—The feast of weeks, or a WEEK OF WEEKS: the feast of pentecost (see on [146]Le 23:10; also see Ex 34:22; Ac 2:1). As on the second day of the passover a sheaf of new barley, reaped on purpose, was offered, so on the second day of pentecost a sheaf of new wheat was presented as first-fruits (Ex 23:16; Nu 28:26), a freewill, spontaneous tribute of gratitude to God for His temporal bounties. This feast was instituted in memory of the giving of the law, that spiritual food by which man's soul is nourished (De 8:3).

11 . and thou shalt rejoice , etc.] See Deuteronomy 12:6 f., 11 f., 17 f., Deuteronomy 16:11 ; Deuteronomy 16:14 . It is not said that the worshippers shall eat the reshîth , for that has already been given to the Deity. See introd. note. and unto thine house, thou ] With Luc. read thou and thine house .

With regard to the Feast of Weeks (see at Exodus 23:16 ), it is stated that the time for its observance was to be reckoned from the Passover. Seven weeks shall they count "from the beginning of the sickle to the corn," i.e., from the time when the sickle began to be applied to the corn, or from the commencement of the corn-harvest. As the corn-harvest was opened with the presentation of the sheaf of first-fruits on the second day of the Passover, this regulation as to time coincides with the rule laid down in Leviticus 23:15 . "Thou shalt keep the feast to the Lord thy God according to the measure of the free gift of thy hand, which thou givest as Jehovah thy God blesseth thee." The ἁπ. λεγ. מסּת is the standing rendering in the Chaldee for דּי, sufficiency, need; it probably signifies abundance, from מסס equals מסה, to flow, to overflow, to derive. The idea is this: Israel was to keep this feast with sacrificial gifts, which every one was able to bring, according to the extent to which the Lord had blessed him, and ( Deuteronomy 16:11 ) to rejoice before the Lord at the place where His name dwelt with sacrificial meals, to which the needy were to be invited (cf. Deuteronomy 14:29 ), in remembrance of the fact that they also were bondmen in Egypt (cf. Deuteronomy 15:15 ).

The "free-will offering of the hand," which the Israelites were to bring with them to this feast, and with which they were to rejoice before the Lord, belonged to the free-will gifts of burnt-offerings, meat-offerings, drink-offerings, and thank-offerings, which might be offered, according to Numbers 29:39 (cf. Leviticus 23:38 ), at every feast, along with the festal sacrifices enjoined upon the congregation. The latter were binding upon the priests and congregation, and are fully described in Numbers 28 and 29, so that there was no necessity for Moses to say anything further with reference to them.