¹sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.
²tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
³tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
⁴tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.
⁵tn Heb “leaven must not be seen among you in all your border.”
⁶tn The Hebrew text includes “until morning.”
⁷tn Heb “gates.”
⁸tn Heb “the Passover.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
⁹tc The MT reading la# (“unto”) before “the place” should, following the Samaritan Pentateuch, Syriac, Targums, and Vulgate, be omitted in favor of b (<oqM*B^), “in the place.”
¹⁰tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
¹¹tn The rules that governed the Passover meal are found in Exod 12:1-51, and Deut 16:1-8. The word translated “cook” (lv^B*, bashal) here is translated “boil” in other places (e.g. Exod 23:19, 1 Sam 2:13-15). This would seem to contradict Exod 12:9 where the Israelites are told not to eat the Passover sacrifice raw or boiled. However, 2 Chr 35:13 recounts the celebration of a Passover feast during the reign of Josiah, and explains that the people “cooked (lv^B*) the Passover sacrifices over the open fire.” The use of lv^B* with “fire” (va@, ’esh) suggests that the word could be used to speak of boiling or roasting.
¹²tn The words “on that day” are not in the Hebrew text; they are supplied in the translation for clarification.
¹³tn Heb “the seven weeks.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.
¹⁴tn The Hebrew phrase toub%v* gj^ is otherwise known in the OT (Exod 23:16) as ryx!q* (“harvest”) and in the NT as penthcosth (Pentecost).
¹⁵tn Heb “the sufficiency of the offering of your hand.”
¹⁶tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
¹⁷tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
¹⁸tn Heb “gates.”
¹⁹tn The Hebrew phrase tK)S%h^ [gj^] (“[festival of] huts” [or “shelters”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is probably better than the traditional “tabernacles” in light of the meaning of the term hK*s% (“hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. The nature of the celebration during this feast as a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt suggests that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.
²⁰tn Heb “when you gather in your threshing-floor and winepress.”
²¹tn Heb “in your gates.”
²²tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
²³tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
²⁴tn Heb “the work of your hands.”
²⁵tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 16:1.
²⁶tn Heb “a man must give according to the gift of his hand.” This has been translated as second person for stylistic reasons, in keeping with the second half of the verse, which is second person rather than third.
²⁷tn The Hebrew term <yr]f=vw+, usually translated “official, officer,” or the like, derives from the verb rfv (“to write”). The noun became generic for all manner of public officials. Here, however, it may be appositionally epexegetical to “judges,” thus resulting in the phrase, “judges, that is, civil officers,” etc. Whoever the <yr]f=v are, their task here is that of judging.
²⁸tn Heb “gates.”
²⁹tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness.”
³⁰tn Heb “twist, overturn.”
³¹tn Or “innocent.”
³²tn Heb “justice, justice.” The repetition is emphatic; one might translate as “pure justice” or “unadulterated justice.”
³³tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”
sn Sacred Asherah pole. This refers to a tree (or wooden pole) dedicated to the worship of Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. See also Deut 7:5.
³⁴sn Sacred pillar. This refers to the stelae (stone pillars; the Hebrew term is tb)X@m^, m^X@b)t) associated with Baal worship, perhaps to mark a spot hallowed by an alleged visitation of the gods. See also Deut 7:5.
³⁵tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.