Deuteronomy 16:4
in Deuteronomy 16No leaven is to be found in all your land for seven days, and none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day shall remain until morning.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And there shall be no leaven seen with thee in all thy borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which thou sacrificest the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
KJV
And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 16
Commentary
5 notes on this verseChrist our passover being sacrificed for us, and we having participated in the blessed fruits of that sacrifice to our comfort, let us keep the feast in a holy conversation, free from the leaven of malice towards our brethren and hypocrisy towards God, and with the unleavened bread of sincerity and love.
This site's exposition
You must not eat leavened bread with it
on Deuteronomy 16:3-4
Unleavened bread is given a name, “the bread of affliction”, and a reason, “you left the land of Egypt in haste”. The command attached is to remember, and Adam Clarke reads the plain taste of the bread as the thing that carried the memory.
This site's exposition
No leaven is to be found
Exodus 13:7 kept leaven out of Israel's borders for seven days, and this verse keeps it out of all the land. Paul applies the feast at 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, where Christ is the Passover sacrifice and the old leaven is cleaned out. Matthew Henry names that leaven malice and hypocrisy.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 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.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-13/16/18-anchored-1-8
And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days,....
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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵרָאֶ֨ה | yeraeh | it will be seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| לְךָ֥ | lekha | by you | ||
| שְׂאֹ֛ר | seor | leaven | H7603 → | |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| גְּבֻלְךָ֖ | gevulkha | territory your | H1366 → | 240 times |
| שִׁבְעַ֣ת | shivat | seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| יָמִ֑ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָלִ֣ין | yalin | it will remain overnight | H3885 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | any of | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַבָּשָׂ֗ר | habasar | the meat | H1320 → | 270 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תִּזְבַּ֥ח | tizbach | you will sacrifice | H2076 → | 134 times |
| בָּעֶ֛רֶב | baerev | in the evening | H6153 → | 134 times |
| בַּיּ֥וֹם | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הָרִאשׁ֖וֹן | harishon | <the> first | H7223 → | 182 times |
| לַבֹּֽקֶר׃ | laboker | to the morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יֵרָאֶ֨הit will be seen
yeraehH7200 →1300 times
לְךָ֥by you
lekha
שְׂאֹ֛רleaven
seorH7603 →
בְּכָל־in all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
גְּבֻלְךָ֖territory your
gevulkhaH1366 →240 times
שִׁבְעַ֣תseven
shivatH7651 →394 times
יָמִ֑יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָלִ֣יןit will remain overnight
yalinH3885 →
מִן־any of
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַבָּשָׂ֗רthe meat
habasarH1320 →270 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
תִּזְבַּ֥חyou will sacrifice
tizbachH2076 →134 times
בָּעֶ֛רֶבin the evening
baerevH6153 →134 times
בַּיּ֥וֹםon the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הָרִאשׁ֖וֹן<the> first
harishonH7223 →182 times
לַבֹּֽקֶר׃to the morning
labokerH1242 →214 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
Exodus 12:8They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
it leads to
- Exodus 34:25
Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to Me along with anything leavened, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 16:7
And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents.
- Exodus 34:25
Through
Exodus 34:25Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to Me along with anything leavened, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:18
You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 12:10
Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over.
- Exodus 23:18
Through
Exodus 12:15For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 16:3
You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 17:14
But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
- Exodus 23:15
You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was…
- Exodus 34:18
You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, you are to eat unleavened bread as I commanded you. For in the…
- Deuteronomy 16:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.