Deuteronomy 16:7

7 Roast the meat and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. The next morning go back to your tents.

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 Do not offer the Passover sacrifice in just any town the Lord your God gives you,
6 but offer it in the place he will choose to be worshiped. Offer it in the evening as the sun goes down, which is when you left Egypt.
7 Roast the meat and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. The next morning go back to your tents.
8 Eat bread made without yeast for six days. On the seventh day have a special meeting for the Lord your God, and do not work that day.
9 Count seven weeks from the time you begin to harvest the grain,
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.