Deuteronomy 16:2

2 You shall offer the passover sacrifice to the Lord your God, from the flock and the herd, at the place that the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his name.

Deuteronomy 16:2 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 16:2

Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy
God
In the month Abib, and in the night of that month they came out of Egypt, even on the fourteenth day of it at night, between the two evenings, as the Targum of Jonathan; which was a lamb, and typical of Christ, the passover sacrificed for us, ( 1 Corinthians 5:7 )

of the flock and the herd;
that is, you shall sacrifice also the offerings which were offered throughout the seven days of unleavened bread, and these were both sheep and oxen, ( Numbers 28:19 Numbers 28:24 ) and are expressly called passover offerings and peace offerings, ( 2 Chronicles 30:21-24 ) ( 2 Chronicles 35:7 2 Chronicles 35:8 2 Chronicles 35:9 ) , for what was strictly and properly the passover was only of the flock, a lamb, and not of the herd, or a bullock; though Aben Ezra says there were some that thought that in Egypt it was only a lamb or a kid, but now it might be a bullock; which he observes is not right. It may be indeed that the word "passover" here is a general term, comprehending the whole passover solemnity, and all the sacrifices of the seven days: the Jews commonly understand this clause of the Chagigah, or feast of the fifteenth day, the first day of unleavened bread, and so the Targum of Jonathan,

``and the sheep and the oxen on the morrow;''

some distinguish them thus, the flock for the duty of the passover, the herd for the peace offerings, so Aben Ezra; or as Jarchi interprets it, the flock of the lambs and kids, and the herd for the Chagigah or festival; in the Talmud F13; the flock, this is the passover; the herd, this is the Chagigah, so Abendana: there was a Chagigah of the fourteenth day, which was brought with the lamb and eaten first, when the company was too large for the lamb, that their might eat with satiety F14; but this was not reckoned obligatory upon them F15, but they were bound to bring their Chagigah on the fifteenth day:

in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name
there;
that is, at Jerusalem, as the event has shown; hence we read of the parents of our Lord going up to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover, ( Luke 2:41 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F13 T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 70. 2.
F14 Jarchi in loc. Maimon. Hilchot Corban Pesach, c. 8. l. 3.
F15 T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 71. 1, 2. Maimon. ut supra, (F14) c. 10. sect. 13. Aruch in voc. (gx) , fol. 58. 1.

Deuteronomy 16:2 In-Context

1 Observe the month of Abib by keeping the passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
2 You shall offer the passover sacrifice to the Lord your God, from the flock and the herd, at the place that the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his name.
3 You must not eat with it anything leavened. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it—the bread of affliction—because you came out of the land of Egypt in great haste, so that all the days of your life you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt.
4 No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days; and none of the meat of what you slaughter on the evening of the first day shall remain until morning.
5 You are not permitted to offer the passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.