Deuteronomy 16:9

The Festival of Weeks

16:9 You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them ¹  from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain.

Deuteronomy 15:1

Release for Debt Slaves

15:1 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation ²  of debts.

Deuteronomy 16:13

The Festival of Temporary Shelters

16:13 You must celebrate the Festival of Temporary Shelters ³  for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 28:7

28:7 The Lord will cause your enemies who attack ⁵  you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction ⁶  but flee from you in seven different directions.

Deuteronomy 31:10

31:10 He ⁷  commanded them: “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time of the cancellation of debts, ⁸  at the Feast of Temporary Shelters, ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 16:4

16:4 There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land ¹⁰  for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning. ¹¹ 

Deuteronomy 28:25

Curses by Defeat and Deportation

28:25 “The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror ¹²  to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Deuteronomy 7:1

The Dispossession of Nonvassals

7:1 When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you – Hittites, ¹³  Girgashites, ¹⁴  Amorites, ¹⁵  Canaanites, ¹⁶  Perizzites, ¹⁷  Hivites, ¹⁸  and Jebusites, ¹⁹  seven ²⁰  nations more numerous and powerful than you –

Deuteronomy 16:3

16:3 You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, symbolic of affliction, for you came out of Egypt hurriedly. You must do this so you will remember for the rest of your life the day you came out of the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 16:15

16:15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the Lord your God in the place he ²¹  chooses, for he ²²  will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do; ²³  so you will indeed rejoice!

[16:9]  ¹ tn Heb “the seven weeks.” The translation uses a pronoun to avoid redundancy in English.

[15:1]  ² tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּת (shÿmittat), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the cancellation of the debt and even pledges for the debt of a borrower by his creditor. This could be a full and final remission or, more likely, one for the seventh year only. See R. Wakely, NIDOTTE 4:155-60. Here the words “of debts” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Cf. NAB “a relaxation of debts”; NASB, NRSV “a remission of debts.”

[16:13]  ³ tn The Hebrew phrase חַג הַסֻּכֹּת (khag hassukot, “festival of huts” or “festival of shelters”) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is now preferable to the traditional “tabernacles” (KJV, ASV, NIV) in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. Clearer is the English term “shelters” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), but this does not reflect the temporary nature of the living arrangement. This feast was a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt, suggesting that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.

[16:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “when you gather in your threshing-floor and winepress.”

[28:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “who rise up against” (so NIV).

[28:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “way” (also later in this verse and in v. 25).

[31:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “Moses.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:10]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּה (shÿmittah), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the procedure whereby debts of all fellow Israelites were to be canceled. Since the Feast of Tabernacles celebrated God’s own deliverance of and provision for his people, this was an appropriate time for Israelites to release one another. See note on this word at Deut 15:1.

[31:10]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew phrase הַסֻּכּוֹת[חַג] ([khag] hassukot, “[festival of] huts” [or “shelters”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. See note on the name of the festival in Deut 16:13.

[16:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “leaven must not be seen among you in all your border.”

[16:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “remain all night until the morning” (so KJV, ASV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[28:25]  ⁷ tc The meaningless MT reading זַעֲוָה (za’avah) is clearly a transposition of the more commonly attested Hebrew noun זְוָעָה (zÿva’ah, “terror”).

[7:1]  ⁸ sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 b.c.) they were at their zenith, establishing outposts and colonies near and far. Some elements were obviously in Canaan at the time of the Conquest (1400-1350 b.c.).

[7:1]  ⁹ sn Girgashites. These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).

[7:1]  ¹⁰ sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200 b.c. or thereabouts.

[7:1]  ¹¹ sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000 b.c.). The OT identifies them as descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6), the only Hamites to have settled north and east of Egypt.

[7:1]  ¹² sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).

[7:1]  ¹³ sn Hivites. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12).

[7:1]  ¹⁴ sn Jebusites. These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).

[7:1]  ¹⁵ sn Seven. This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11. Moreover, the “Table of Nations” (Gen 10:15-19) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.

[16:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

[16:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

[16:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in all the work of your hands” (so NASB, NIV); NAB, NRSV “in all your undertakings.”