Deuteronomy 16:12
in Deuteronomy 16Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully follow these statutes.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
KJV
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 16
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God
on Deuteronomy 16:11-12
Rejoicing is commanded in company, and the list runs past the household to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widows. People with no land are named at the feast beside the household that holds some. Verse 12 gives the ground, “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt”.
This site's exposition
Remember that you were slaves
The memory of slavery is set beside the feast at which verse 11 seats servants, strangers, widows and orphans. Albert Barnes counts that widening of the feasts to the Levite, the widow and the orphan as Deuteronomy's own addition to Leviticus and Numbers. Freed slaves feast with their servants.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt,....
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.
What the Jewish commentators add
Rabbi Abraham [ibn Ezra] said that this phrase is connected with the expression and thy manservant, and thy maidservant. Verse. [mentioned in the first part of the preceding verse]. The correct interpretation is according to the plain meaning thereof, that you are to observe these statutes.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
He mentions here [that you are to rejoice] in the place which the Eternal thy G-d shall choose to cause His Name to dwell there, 359 Verse.
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)
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְזָ֣כַרְתָּ֔ | vezakharta | and you will remember | H2142 → | 230 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עֶ֥בֶד | ʾeved | a slave | H5650 → | 799 times |
| הָיִ֖יתָ | hayita | you were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם | bemitzrayim | in Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וְשָׁמַרְתָּ֣ | veshamarta | and you will take care | H8104 → | 468 times |
| וְעָשִׂ֔יתָ | veasita | and you will observe | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַֽחֻקִּ֖ים | hachukim | the statutes | H2706 → | 127 times |
| הָאֵֽלֶּה׃ פ | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
וְזָ֣כַרְתָּ֔and you will remember
vezakhartaH2142 →230 times
כִּי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עֶ֥בֶדa slave
ʾevedH5650 →799 times
הָיִ֖יתָyou were
hayitaH1961 →3559 times
בְּמִצְרָ֑יִםin Egypt
bemitzrayimH4714 →641 times
וְשָׁמַרְתָּ֣and you will take care
veshamartaH8104 →468 times
וְעָשִׂ֔יתָand you will observe
veasitaH6213 →2628 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַֽחֻקִּ֖יםthe statutes
hachukimH2706 →127 times
הָאֵֽלֶּה׃ פ<the> these
haelehH428 →746 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
Ephesians 2:11Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—
it leads to
- Colossians 2:11
In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.
- Colossians 2:13
When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,
- Colossians 3:11
Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
- Romans 2:28–29
A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
- Galatians 6:12
Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. They only do this to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ.
- Colossians 2:11
Through
Deuteronomy 16:15For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place He will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all…
it leads to
- Leviticus 23:36–42
For 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…
- Deuteronomy 30:16
For I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and increase, and the…
- Deuteronomy 28:8–12
The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.
- Leviticus 23:36–42
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
About Deuteronomy
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.