Observe
the month of Abib1
by keeping the passover to the Lord
your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord
your God brought you out of Egypt by night.2
You shall offer the passover sacrifice to the Lord
your God, from the flock and the herd, at the place that the Lord
will choose as a dwelling for his name.3
You must not eat with it anything leavened.4 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it—the bread of affliction—because you came out of the land of Egypt in great haste, so that all the days of your life you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt. No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days; and none of the meat of what you slaughter on the evening of the first day shall remain until morning.
You are not permitted to offer the passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you.5 But at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name, only there shall you offer the passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, the time of day when you departed from Egypt. You shall cook it and eat it at the place that the Lord your God will choose; the next morning you may go back to your tents. For six days you shall continue to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly for the Lord your God, when you shall do no work.6
1 My Study Bible ties this celebration strongly into the agricultural calender, as a separate influence from the Exodus.
You must not eat with it anything leavened.4 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it—the bread of affliction—because you came out of the land of Egypt in great haste, so that all the days of your life you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt. No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days; and none of the meat of what you slaughter on the evening of the first day shall remain until morning.
You are not permitted to offer the passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you.5 But at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name, only there shall you offer the passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, the time of day when you departed from Egypt. You shall cook it and eat it at the place that the Lord your God will choose; the next morning you may go back to your tents. For six days you shall continue to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly for the Lord your God, when you shall do no work.6
1 My Study Bible ties this celebration strongly into the agricultural calender, as a separate influence from the Exodus.
2
Freedom from Egypt occupies such a central space in the Jewish
calender
3
Again emphasizing the importance of the place of sacrifice
4
Study Bible points out that this gives herders (the sacrifice) and
farmers (the bread) both a role in the festival.
5
Again, really emphasizing one single place as the center of their
worship.
6
As usual, a sabbath from work is part of the festival.
Take-home: In celebration of the Passover, both the escape from Egypt and exclusivity of worship to God are remembered as the agrarian community begins a new spring.
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