Deuteronomy 16:6
in Deuteronomy 16You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but at the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell 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.
KJV
But at the place which the Lord 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.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 16
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover
on Deuteronomy 16:5-7
The place which the LORD shall choose falls fifteen times in this book, all of them between chapters 12 and 26, and four stand in this chapter at verses 2, 6, 7 and 15 without the place ever being named. Exodus 12 kept the passover in the houses with the blood struck on the door posts, and here it may not be killed within any of thy gates at all. Albert Barnes takes that gathering of worship to one sanctuary as the point the whole chapter turns on, and the older commentators hold both accounts by reading Exodus 12 as the ordinance of the night in Egypt and this chapter as its standing form in the land. The Samaritan Pentateuch reads the phrase as a place already chosen and identifies it with Gerizim, which is the root of the question the woman raises at John 4:20.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The feast of pentecost, ver. 9-12 That of tabernacles, ver. 13-15. All the males are to attend them, ver. 16, 17. An appointment of Judges and officers, ver. 18-20.
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The passover was itself a sacrifice; hence Christ, as our passover, is said to be sacrificed for us ( 1 Cor. v. 7 ), and many other sacrifices were offered during the seven days of the feast ( Num. xxviii.
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But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
at the season--that is, the month and day, though not perhaps the precise hour. The immense number of victims that had to be immolated on the eve of the passover--that is, within a space of four hours--has appeared to some writers a great difficulty.
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How the passage was read
On Deuteronomy 16:1-17On Deuteronomy 16:1-17
Three times a year, on the road
This passage sets the rhythm behind half the New Testament's travel scenes: three times a year (Passover, Weeks, Tabernacles) every Israelite male was to appear “before the LORD” at the one chosen place, which became Jerusalem. That is pilgrimage: whole families and villages walking or riding for days, camping, filling the city to bursting. It is why the boy Jesus is in Jerusalem in Luke 2, why the city is crowded at the crucifixion, and why devout Jews “from every nation” are there at Pentecost in Acts 2.
The Mishnah opens its tractate on the festival visit by asking exactly who is obligated to make the trip (Chagigah 1:1): men were bound; women and children came freely, as Mary did.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Chagigah 1:1 (who must appear) · Luke 2:41 (the family's yearly pilgrimage)
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֠י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִֽם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּק֞וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִבְחַ֨ר | yivchar | he will choose | H977 → | 171 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לְשַׁכֵּ֣ן | leshaken | to cause to dwell | H7931 → | 129 times |
| שְׁמ֔וֹ | shemo | name his | H8034 → | 864 times |
| שָׁ֛ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| תִּזְבַּ֥ח | tizbach | you will sacrifice | H2076 → | 134 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַפֶּ֖סַח | hapesach | the passover | H6453 → | 49 times |
| בָּעָ֑רֶב | baarev | in the evening | H6153 → | 134 times |
| כְּב֣וֹא | kevo' | when goes | H935 → | 2568 times |
| הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ | hashemesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
| מוֹעֵ֖ד | moed | [the] time of | H4150 → | 223 times |
| צֵֽאתְךָ֥ | tzetekha | coming out you | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃ | mimitzrayim | from Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
כִּ֠יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִֽם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּק֞וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יִבְחַ֨רhe will choose
yivcharH977 →171 times
יְהוָ֤הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙God your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
לְשַׁכֵּ֣ןto cause to dwell
leshakenH7931 →129 times
שְׁמ֔וֹname his
shemoH8034 →864 times
שָׁ֛םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
תִּזְבַּ֥חyou will sacrifice
tizbachH2076 →134 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַפֶּ֖סַחthe passover
hapesachH6453 →49 times
בָּעָ֑רֶבin the evening
baarevH6153 →134 times
כְּב֣וֹאwhen goes
kevo'H935 →2568 times
הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁthe sun
hashemeshH8121 →134 times
מוֹעֵ֖ד[the] time of
moedH4150 →223 times
צֵֽאתְךָ֥coming out you
tzetekhaH3318 →1067 times
מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃from Egypt
mimitzrayimH4714 →641 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 12:5Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:11
then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all…
- 2 Chronicles 7:12
the LORD appeared to him at night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
- Deuteronomy 26:2
you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go…
- Deuteronomy 16:2
You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name.
- Deuteronomy 12:11
Through
Hebrews 9:26Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:20
He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake.
- Hebrews 9:12
He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.
- Hebrews 1:2
But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.
- Matthew 25:34
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
- 1 Peter 1:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.