Deuteronomy 16 Study Notes

16:13-15 After the Israelites left Egypt, they lived in temporary shelters for forty years thereafter, underscoring the transient nature of their journey and their dependence on the Lord for sustenance. Exodus 23:16 refers to this time as the Festival of Ingathering but makes no allusion to the wilderness experience nor does Deuteronomy. Leviticus, however, draws attention to the fact that the Lord “made the Israelites live in shelters when [he] brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Lv 23:43). The Festival of Shelters thus served to remind Israel of its fragile history in the wilderness and to celebrate God’s goodness to them in the land and the joy that would result in the crops from the work of their hands.

16:14 The list of persons here characterizes the Festival of Shelters not only as a time of feasting and worship, but also as an annual opportunity to attend to the needs of some of the lowliest and most neglected of Israel’s population.

16:16-17 No one is too poor to give something, and no one is expected to give more than he can. The OT tenth adheres to this standard and is therefore a measure for NT giving. Jesus illustrated this principle when he drew attention to a poor widow who dropped only two tiny coins into the temple treasury. She had done better than the rich, he said, “for they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty” (Mk 12:44).

16:18-20 Righteous judgment is the application of the law so as to conform to a set standard determined either by fiat or precedent. In the covenant law, the standard is Torah itself, so any judgment is righteous only to the extent that it conforms to Torah, which itself reflects the just and righteous character of the Lord.

16:21-22 The Asherah and sacred pillar were cult objects representing the chief goddess and god (Baal) respectively. A hint of syncretism is evident here in that Israel was told not to erect these pagan symbols next to the altar of the Lord. Recent discoveries in the Negev have confirmed that the Lord was sometimes worshiped along with Asherah, who is even described wrongly as his wife.