Deuteronomy 16:7

7 And thou shalt boil and roast and eat it in the place, which the Lord thy God shall choose; and thou shalt return in the morning, and go to thy house.

Deuteronomy 16:7 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 16:7

And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy
God shall choose
The word for "roast" signifies to "boil", and is justly so used, and so Onkelos here renders it, and the Septuagint version both roast and boil; but it is certain that the passover lamb was not to be boiled, it is expressly forbidden, ( Exodus 12:8 Exodus 12:9 ) wherefore some think the Chagigah is here meant, and the other offerings that were offered at this feast; and so in the times of Josiah they roasted the passover with fire, according to the ordinance of God; but the other holy offerings sod or boiled they in pots, cauldrons and pans, and divided them speedily among the people, ( 2 Chronicles 35:13 ) , but the passover lamb seems plainly to be meant here by the connection of this verse with the preceding verses; wherefore Jarchi observes, that this is to be understood of roasting with fire, though expressed by this word:

and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents;
not in the morning of the fifteenth, after the passover had been killed and eaten on the fourteenth, but in the morning, after the feast of unleavened bread, which lasted seven days, was over; though some think that they might if they would depart home after the passover had been observed, and were not obliged to stay and keep the feast of unleavened bread at Jerusalem, but march to their own cities; and so Aben Ezra observes, that some say a man may go on a feast day to his house and country, but, says he, we do not agree to it; and it appears from the observation of other feasts, which lasted as long as these, that the people did not depart to their tents till the whole was over; see ( 1 Kings 8:66 ) ( 2 Chronicles 7:10 ) and with this agrees the Targum of Jonathan,

``and thou shall turn in the morning of the going out of the feast, and go to thy cities.''

Jarchi indeed interprets it afterwards of the second day.

Deuteronomy 16:7 In-Context

5 thou shalt not have power to sacrifice the passover in any of the cities, which the Lord thy God gives thee.

6 But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, to have his name called there, thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even at the setting of the sun, at the time when thou camest out of Egypt.

7 And thou shalt boil and roast and eat it in the place, which the Lord thy God shall choose; and thou shalt return in the morning, and go to thy house.

8 Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day is a holiday, a feast to the Lord thy God: thou shalt not do in it any work, save what must be done by any one.

9 Seven weeks shalt thou number to thyself; when thou hast begun the sickle to the corn, thou shalt begin to number seven weeks.

Footnotes

• [a]. houses.