Deuteronomy 16:9
in Deuteronomy 16You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: from the time thou beginnest to put the sickle to the standing grain shalt thou begin to number seven weeks.
KJV
Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 16
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Feast of Weeks; and Deu 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.
This site's exposition
Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee
on Deuteronomy 16:9-10
The count begins from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn, which fixes this feast to the state of the harvest rather than to a fixed date. Leviticus 23:15-16 counts the same seven weeks from the sheaf of the wave offering and arrives at fifty days, and the Greek word for fiftieth gives the day the name Pentecost that Acts 2:1 uses. The offering is called a tribute and a freewill offering in one breath, owed as tribute and measured by the giver according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee, and Gill sets 1 Corinthians 16:2 beside it for the same way of reckoning.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
There was plainly realized the number of this festival, which we read was figuratively foreshadowed in the Old Testament too, when it was ordered that at the end of seven weeks the bread of first fruits was to be offered to the Lord by the priests. This in very truth is recognized as having been offered to the Lord by the preaching of the apostles with which they are said to have exhorted the people on that day.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), that is, from the morrow after the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, for on that day (though it is probable the people did not begin their harvest till the feast was ended) messengers were sent to reap a sheaf of barley, which was to be offered to God as the first-fruits, Lev. xxiii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Seven weeks then shalt thou number unto thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Seven weeks shalt thou number--The feast of weeks, or a WEEK OF WEEKS: the feast of pentecost (see on Le 23:10; also see Ex 34:22; 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;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שִׁבְעָ֥ה | shivah | seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| שָׁבֻעֹ֖ת | shavuot | weeks | H7620 → | 20 times |
| תִּסְפָּר־ | tispor- | you will count | H5608 → | |
| לָ֑ךְ | lakh | for yourself | ||
| מֵהָחֵ֤ל | mehachel | from when begins | H2490 → | 143 times |
| חֶרְמֵשׁ֙ | chermesh | a sickle | H2770 → | |
| בַּקָּמָ֔ה | bakamah | in the standing grain | H7054 → | 10 times |
| תָּחֵ֣ל | tachel | you will begin | H2490 → | 143 times |
| לִסְפֹּ֔ר | lispor | to count | H5608 → | |
| שִׁבְעָ֖ה | shivah | seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| שָׁבֻעֽוֹת׃ | shavuot | weeks | H7620 → | 20 times |
שִׁבְעָ֥הseven
shivahH7651 →394 times
שָׁבֻעֹ֖תweeks
shavuotH7620 →20 times
תִּסְפָּר־you will count
tispor-H5608 →
לָ֑ךְfor yourself
lakh
מֵהָחֵ֤לfrom when begins
mehachelH2490 →143 times
חֶרְמֵשׁ֙a sickle
chermeshH2770 →
בַּקָּמָ֔הin the standing grain
bakamahH7054 →10 times
תָּחֵ֣לyou will begin
tachelH2490 →143 times
לִסְפֹּ֔רto count
lisporH5608 →
שִׁבְעָ֖הseven
shivahH7651 →394 times
שָׁבֻעֽוֹת׃weeks
shavuotH7620 →20 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 16:16Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast…
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:9–10
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
- Psalms 96:8
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering and enter His courts.
- Haggai 1:9
You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you…
- Exodus 23:14–17
Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.
- Matthew 2:11
On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense…
- Proverbs 3:9–10
Through
Acts 2:1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
it leads to
- Romans 15:6
so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Philippians 2:2
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose.
- Acts 1:13–15
When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas…
- Romans 15:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 21.20.2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.