Deuteronomy 16:8
in Deuteronomy 16For six days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day you shall hold a solemn assembly to the LORD your God, and you must not do any work.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Jehovah thy God; thou shalt do no work therein.
KJV
Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 16
Commentary
3 notes on this verseSix days shalt thou eat unleavened bread,.... In other places it is ordered to be eaten seven days, Exo 12:15 and here it is not said six only; it was to be eaten on the seventh as on the other, though that is here distinguished from the six, because of special and peculiar service assigned to it, but not because of an exemption from eating unleavened bread on it.
This site's exposition
For six days you must eat unleavened bread
Exodus 12:15 and Leviticus 23:6 give seven days of unleavened bread, and this verse gives six with a solemn assembly on the seventh. John Gill answers that the text does not say six only. He counts the seventh day apart because assembly and rest were laid on it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-13/16/18-anchored-1-8
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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שֵׁ֥שֶׁת | sheshet | six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| יָמִ֖ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| תֹּאכַ֣ל | tokhal | you will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| מַצּ֑וֹת | matzot | unleavened bread<s> | H4682 → | 53 times |
| וּבַיּ֣וֹם | uvaiyom | and [will be] on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י | hashevii | <the> seventh | H7637 → | 98 times |
| עֲצֶ֙רֶת֙ | ʾatzeret | an assembly | H6116 → | |
| לַיהוָ֣ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲשֶׂ֖ה | taaseh | you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מְלָאכָֽה׃ ס | melakhah | work | H4399 → | 167 times |
שֵׁ֥שֶׁתsix
sheshetH8337 →216 times
יָמִ֖יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
תֹּאכַ֣לyou will eat
tokhalH398 →810 times
מַצּ֑וֹתunleavened bread<s>
matzotH4682 →53 times
וּבַיּ֣וֹםand [will be] on the day
uvaiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י<the> seventh
hasheviiH7637 →98 times
עֲצֶ֙רֶת֙an assembly
ʾatzeretH6116 →
לַיהוָ֣הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲשֶׂ֖הyou will do
taasehH6213 →2628 times
מְלָאכָֽה׃ סwork
melakhahH4399 →167 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Leviticus 23:36For seven days you are to present an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made by fire to…
it leads to
- Nehemiah 8:18
Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. The Israelites kept the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day they…
- John 7:37
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
- 2 Chronicles 7:8–11
So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast for seven days.
- Numbers 29:12–38
On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work, and you shall observe a feast to the LORD for seven days.
- Joel 2:15
Blow the ram’s horn in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a sacred assembly.
- Nehemiah 8:18
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.