Deuteronomy 16:2

2 And thou shalt offer pask to thy Lord God, of sheep, and of oxen, in the place which thy Lord God choose, that his name dwell there. (And thou shalt offer the Passover to the Lord thy God, yea, a sheep, or an ox, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name shall be there.)

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 Keep thou the month of new fruits, and of the beginning of summer, that thou make pask to thy Lord God; for in this month thy Lord God led thee out of Egypt in the night. (Observe thou the month of Abib, at the beginning of summer, and keep thou the Passover to the Lord thy God; for in this month the Lord thy God led thee out of Egypt in the night.)
2 And thou shalt offer pask to thy Lord God, of sheep, and of oxen, in the place which thy Lord God choose, that his name dwell there. (And thou shalt offer the Passover to the Lord thy God, yea, a sheep, or an ox, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name shall be there.)
3 Thou shalt not eat therein bread dighted with sourdough; in seven days thou shalt eat bread of affliction, (that is) without sourdough, for suddenly, either hastily, thou wentest out of Egypt, that thou have mind of the day of thy going out of Egypt, in all the days of thy life. (Thou shalt not eat it with any bread made with yeast; yea, for seven days thou shalt eat the bread of affliction, that is, bread made without yeast, for suddenly, or hastily, thou wentest out of Egypt, so that thou shalt remember the day of thy going out of Egypt, all the days of thy life.)
4 Nothing dighted with sourdough shall appear in all thy coasts by seven days, and of the flesh of that that is offered in the eventide, (that is, of the lamb of the pask,) shall not dwell in the first day in the morrowtide. (Nothing made with yeast shall appear in all thy land for seven days, and none of the flesh of what is offered in the evening, that is, of the Passover lamb, shall remain past the first day, into the next morning.)
5 Thou shalt not be able to offer pask in each of thy cities which thy Lord God shall give to thee, (Thou shalt not offer the Passover in all the cities which the Lord thy God shall give thee,)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.