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Deuteronomy Chapter Sixteen                            

 

Deuteronomy 16 Outlines

The Passover Reviewed (v.1~8)

The Feast of Weeks Reviewed (v.9~12)

The Feast of Tabernacles Reviewed (v.13~17)

Justice Must Be Administered (v.18~22)

New King James Version (NKJV)

 

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 16

This chapter treats of the three grand yearly festivals of the feast of passover when where and what was to be sacrificed how to be dressed and in what manner to be eaten Deuteronomy 16:1 of the feast of pentecost when to begin it where and how it was to be observed Deuteronomy 16:9 and of the feast of tabernacles when where and how long it was to be kept Deuteronomy 16:13 which three times in the year all the males were to appear before the Lord and not empty Deuteronomy 16:16 an order is given for the appointment of judges in the land to execute judgment Deuteronomy 16:18 and the chapter is closed with a caution against planting groves and setting up images Deuteronomy 16:21.

 

Deuteronomy 16:1   “Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.

   YLT  1`Observe the month of Abib -- and thou hast made a passover to Jehovah thy God for in the month of Abib hath Jehovah thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night;

Observe the month of Abib .... Sometimes called Nisan; it answered to part of our March and part of April; it was an observable month to be taken notice of; it was called Abib from the corn then appearing in ear and beginning to ripen and all things being in their verdure; the Septuagint calls it the month of new fruit; it was appointed the first of the months for ecclesiastic things and was the month in which the Israelites went out of Egypt and the first passover was kept in it and therefore deserving of regard; see Exodus 12:2.

for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night; for though they did not set out until morning when it was day light and are said to come out in the day yet it was in the night the Lord did wonders for them as Onkelos paraphrases this clause; that he smote all the firstborn in Egypt and passed over the houses of the Israelites the door posts being sprinkled with the blood of the passover lamb slain that night and therefore was a night much to be observed; and it was in the night Pharaoh arose and gave them leave to go; and from that time they were no more under his power and from thence may be reckoned their coming out of bondage; see Exodus 12:12.

 

Deuteronomy 16:2   2 Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd in the place where the Lord chooses to put His name.

   YLT  2and thou hast sacrificed a passover to Jehovah thy God of the flock and of the herd in the place which Jehovah doth choose to cause His name to tabernacle there.

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 and are expressly called passover offerings and peace offerings 2 Chronicles 30:21 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 TalmudF13T. Bab. Pesachim fol. 70. 2. ; 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 satietyF14Jarchi in loc. Maimon. Hilchot Corban Pesach c. 8. l. 3. ; but this was not reckoned obligatory upon themF15 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.

 

Deuteronomy 16:3   3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it that is the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste) that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.

  YLT  3`Thou dost not eat with it any fermented thing seven days thou dost eat with it unleavened things bread of affliction; for in haste thou hast come out of the land of Egypt; so that thou dost remember the day of thy coming out of the land of Egypt all days of thy life;

Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it .... With the passover as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; that is with the passover lamb nor indeed with any of the passover or peace offerings as follows; see Exodus 12:8.

seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread therewith; with the passover; this plainly shows that by the passover in the preceding verse is not meant strictly the passover lamb for that was eaten at once on the night of the fourteenth of the month and not seven days running and therefore must be put for the whole solemnity of the feast and all the sacrifices of it both the lamb of the fourteenth and the Chagigah of the fifteenth and every of the peace offerings of the rest of the days were to be eaten with unleavened bread:

even the bread of affliction; so called either from the nature of its being heavy and lumpish not grateful to the taste nor easy of digestion and was mortifying and afflicting to be obliged to eat of it seven days together; or rather from the use of it which was as Jarchi observes to bring to remembrance the affliction they were afflicted with in Egypt:

for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste; and had not time to leaven their dough; so that at first they were obliged through necessity to eat unleavened bread and afterwards by the command of God in remembrance of it; see Exodus 12:33

that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life; how it was with them then how they were hurried out with their unleavened dough; and that this might be imprinted on their minds the master of the family usedF16Haggadah Shel Pesach in Seder Tephillot fol. 242. Maimon. Chametz Umetzah c. 8. sect. 6. at the time of the passover to break a cake of unleavened bread and say this is the bread of affliction &c. or bread of poverty; as it is the way of poor men to have broken bread so here is broken bread.

 

Deuteronomy 16:4   4 And no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until morning.

   YLT  4and there is not seen with thee leaven in all thy border seven days and there doth not remain of the flesh which thou dost sacrifice at evening on the first day till morning.

And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days .... For before the passover they were to search diligently every room in the house and every hole and crevice that none might remain any where; see Exodus 12:15

neither shall there be anything of the flesh which thou sacrificedst the first day at even remain all night until the morning; which may be understood both of the flesh of the passover lamb as Aben Ezra according to Exodus 12:10 and of the flesh of flocks and herds or of the Chagigah; according to Jarchi this Scripture speaks of the Chagigah of the fourteenth which was not to remain on the first day of the feast (the fifteenth) until the morning of the second day (the sixteenth).

 

Deuteronomy 16:5   5 “You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you;

   YLT  5`Thou art not able to sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee

Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates .... Or cities as the Targum of Jonathan so called because they usually had gates to them in which public affairs were transacted; but in none of these only in the city of Jerusalem the place the Lord chose might they kill the passover and eat it and other passover offerings:

which the Lord thy God giveth thee; in the land of Canaan and which land was given them of God.

 

Deuteronomy 16:6   6 but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide there you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight at the going down of the sun at the time you came out of Egypt.

   YLT  6except at the place which Jehovah thy God doth choose to cause His name to tabernacle -- there thou dost sacrifice the passover in the evening at the going in of the sun the season of thy coming out of Egypt;

But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in .... To place the ark and the mercy seat with the cherubim over them where he caused his Shechinah or divine Majesty to dwell; and this was at Jerusalem where the temple was built by Solomon:

there thou shalt sacrifice the passover; kill and eat the paschal lamb:

at even at the going down of the sun; between the two evenings it was killed before the sun was set and afterwards at night it was eaten; the Targum of Jonathan is "and at evening at the setting of the sun ye shall eat it until the middle of the night:"

at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt; or as the same Targum "the time of the beginning of your redemption out of Egypt;'which was when Pharaoh rose at midnight and gave them leave to go; from thence their redemption commenced though they did not actually set out until the morning.

 

Deuteronomy 16:7   7 And you shall roast and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents.

   YLT  7and thou hast cooked and eaten in the place on which Jehovah thy God doth fix and hast turned in the morning and gone to thy tents;

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 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 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 16:8   8 Six days you shall eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.

   YLT  8six days thou dost eat unleavened things and on the seventh day [is] a restraint to Jehovah thy God; thou dost do no work.

Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread .... In other places it is ordered to be eaten seven days Exodus 12:15 and here it is not said six only; it was to be eaten on the seventh as on the other though that is here distinguished from the six because of special and peculiar service assigned to it but not because of an exemption from eating unleavened bread on it. The Jews seem to understand this of different corn of which the bread was made and not of different sort of bread; the Targum of Jonathan is on the first day ye shall offer the sheaf (the firstfruits of the barley harvest) and on the six days which remain ye shall begin to eat the unleavened bread of the new fruits and so Jarchi:

and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God; a holy convocation devoted to religious exercises and the people were restrained according to the sense of the word from all servile work as follows:

thou shalt do no work therein; that is the business of their callings their trades and manufactories; they were obliged to abstain from all kind of work excepting what was necessary for the dressing of food and in this it differed from a sabbath; see Exodus 12:16.

 

Deuteronomy 16:9   9 “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain.

   YLT  9`Seven weeks thou dost number to thee; from the beginning of the sickle among the standing corn thou dost begin to number seven weeks

Seven weeks then shalt thou number unto thee .... And then another feast was to take place called from hence the feast of weeks and sometimes Pentecost from its being the fiftieth day:

begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn; for the sheaf of the wave offering as the first fruits of barley harvest which was done on the morrow after the sabbath in the passover week and from thence seven weeks or fifty days were reckoned and the fiftieth day was the feast here ordered to be kept; so the Targum of Jonathan "after the reaping of the sheaf ye shall begin to number seven weeks;'see Leviticus 23:15.

 

Deuteronomy 16:10   10 Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you.

   YLT  10and thou hast made the feast of weeks to Jehovah thy God a tribute of a free-will offering of thy hand which thou dost give as Jehovah thy God doth bless thee.

And thou shall keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God .... The feast of Pentecost at which time the Spirit was poured down upon the apostles Acts 2:1.

with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand; there were two wave loaves which were ordered to be brought and seven lambs one young bullock and two rams for a burnt offering together with the meat and drink offerings belonging thereunto and a kid of the goats for a sin offering and two lambs for a peace offering Leviticus 23:17 and besides all this there was to be a voluntary contribution brought in their hands; for this was one of those feasts at which all the males were to appear before the Lord and none of them empty:

which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God

according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee; no certain rate was fixed it was to be a free gift and in proportion to a man's abilities or what the Lord had blessed him with.

 

Deuteronomy 16:11   11 You shall rejoice before the Lord your God you and your son and your daughter your male servant and your female servant the Levite who is within your gates the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.

   YLT  11And thou hast rejoiced before Jehovah thy God thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy man-servant and thy handmaid and the Levite who [is] within thy gates and the sojourner and the fatherless and the widow who [are] in thy midst in the place which Jehovah thy God doth choose to cause His name to tabernacle there

And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God .... Make a liberal feast and keep it cheerfully in the presence of God in the place where he resides thankfully acknowledging all his mercies and favours:

thou and thy son and thy manservant and thy maidservant and the Levite that is within thy gates; that dwelt in the same city who were all to come with him to Jerusalem at this feast and to partake of it with him:

and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow that are among you in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there; who should be at Jerusalem at this time.

 

Deuteronomy 16:12   12 And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

   YLT  12and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in Egypt and hast observed and done these statutes.

And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt .... And now delivered from that bondage; the consideration of which should make them liberal in their freewill offering and generous in the feast they provided and compassionate to the stranger widow and fatherless:

and thou shalt observe and do these statutes; concerning the passover the feast of unleavened bread and of Pentecost and the peace offerings and the freewill offerings belonging to them: and nothing could more strongly oblige them to observe them than their redemption from their bondage in Egypt; as nothing more engages to the performance of good works than the consideration of our spiritual and eternal redemption by Christ 1 Corinthians 6:19.

 

Deuteronomy 16:13   13 “You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress.

   YLT  13`The feast of booths thou dost make for thee seven days in thine in-gathering of thy threshing-floor and of thy wine-vat;

Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days .... Which began on the fifteenth day of Tisri or September; see Leviticus 23:34 &c.

after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine; and therefore sometimes called the feast of ingathering Exodus 23:16 barley harvest began at the passover and wheat harvest at Pentecost; and before the feast of tabernacles began the vintage and the gathering of the olives were over as well as all other summer fruits were got in.

 

Deuteronomy 16:14   14 And you shall rejoice in your feast you and your son and your daughter your male servant and your female servant and the Levite the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates.

   YLT  14and thou hast rejoiced in thy feast thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy man-servant and thy handmaid and the Levite and the sojourner and the fatherless and the widow who [are] within thy gates.

And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast .... At this feast of tabernacles and ingathering of the fruits of the earth in token of gratitude and thankfulness for the goodness of God bestowed on them; the Targum of Jonathan adds with the flute and the pipe making use of instrumental music to increase the joy on this occasion:

thou and thy son &c. See Gill on Deuteronomy 16:11

 

Deuteronomy 16:15   15 Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands so that you surely rejoice.

   YLT  15Seven days thou dost feast before Jehovah thy God in the place which Jehovah doth choose for Jehovah thy God doth bless thee in all thine increase and in every work of thy hands and thou hast been only rejoicing.

Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God .... The feast of tabernacles still spoken of:

in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: the city of Jerusalem:

because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy increase and in all the works of thine hands; both in the increase of their fields vineyards and oliveyards and also in their several handicraft trades and occupations they were employed in; so Aben Ezra interprets all the works of their hands of merchandise and manufactories:

therefore thou shalt surely rejoice; extremely heartily and sincerely and not fail to express joy on this occasion and manifest it by a generous freewill offering to the Lord and a bountiful entertainment for himself his family friends and others.

 

Deuteronomy 16:16   16 “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.

   YLT  16`Three times in a year doth every one of thy males appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which He doth choose -- in the feast of unleavened things and in the feast of weeks and in the feast of booths; and they do not appear before Jehovah empty;

Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God .... This has been observed before Exodus 23:17 and is repeated here for the sake of mentioning the place where they were to appear which before now was not observed and indeed it is chiefly for that the other festivals are here recited:

in the place which he shall choose; which though not expressed is now easily understood; and the three times at which they were to appear there were in the feast of unleavened bread and in the feast of weeks and in the feast of tabernacles; or passover Pentecost and tabernacles; and of numbers of people going up from the country to each of these feasts we have instances in the New Testament; to the passover Luke 2:42 to Pentecost Acts 2:5 to tabernacles John 7:2

and they shall not appear before the Lord empty; Aben Ezra observes the meaning is not empty of the tribute of the freewill offering of their hand and which Jarchi more fully explains of the burnt offerings of appearance and of the peace offerings of the Chagigah or money answerable to them; which according to the MisnahF17Chagigah c. 1. sect. 2. was a meah of silver for a burnt offering and two pieces of silver for the Chagigah which weighed thirty two barley cornsF18Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. .

 

Deuteronomy 16:17   17 Every man shall give as he is able according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.

   YLT  17each according to the gift of his hand according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which He hath given to thee.

Every man shall give as he is able .... The quantity to be given is not fixed in the law but the wise men appointed it as observed on Deuteronomy 16:16 but it is left by the Lord to the generosity of the people only giving this general rule that they should do according to their ability and as the Lord had prospered them; see 1 Corinthians 16:2 so Jarchi "every man that hath many eatables and much goods shall bring many burnt offerings and many peace offerings.'

 

Deuteronomy 16:18   18 “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates which the Lord your God gives you according to your tribes and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

   YLT  18`Judges and authorities thou dost make to thee within all thy gates which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee for thy tribes; and they have judged the people -- a righteous judgment.

Judges and officers shall thou make thee .... Judges were fixed in the sanhedrim or court of judicature and those that have lawsuits come before them; officers are masters of the staff and whip and they stand before the judges and go into markets streets and shops to order the weights and measures and to smite all that do wrong; and all they do is by order of the judges; so MaimonidesF19Hilchot Sanhedrin c. 1. sect. 1. : the qualifications of judges to be chosen and constituted by the people are thus described by him. In the sanhedrim greater or lesser they place only men wise and understanding expert in the wisdom of the law and masters of great knowledge and that know some of the other sciences as medicine arithmetic astronomy and astrology the ways of soothsayers diviners and wizards and the vanities of idolatry that they may know how to judge them; and they set in the sanhedrim only priests Levites and Israelites who are genealogized; nor do they set an old man there nor an eunuch nor a king but an high priest if he is qualified with wisdom; and they must be free from blemishes and of a good stature and appearance and understand many languages and not hear by an interpreter; and though all this was not precisely required of the sanhedrim of three judges yet these same things ought to be in everyone of them wisdom and meekness and fear and hatred of money and love of truth and love of men and to be of a good reportF20Ib. c. 2. sect. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. and these were to be placed in

all thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes; that is in every city as Onkelos and so Jarchi; and usually the courts of judicature were held in the gates of cities and it was only in the land of Israel not without it that they were obliged to set up courts of judicature as MaimonidesF21Ib. c. 1. sect. 2. observes; who also asks how many courts were fixed in Israel and what the number they consisted of? to which he answers they fixed at first the great court in the sanctuary and it was called the great sanhedrim and its number were seventy one; and again they set up two courts of twenty three one at the door of the court and the other at the door of the mountain of the house (and so in the Misnah)F23Sanhedrin c. 10. sect. 2. ; and they set up in every city in Israel in which were one hundred and twenty (men or families) or more a lesser sanhedrim which sat in the gate and their number were twenty three judges; in a city in which there were not one hundred and twenty they placed three judges for there is no court less than threeF24Ib. sect. 3 4. :

and they shall judge the people with just judgment; give a right and just sentence in all cases that come before them according to the laws of God and the rules of justice and equity.

 

Deuteronomy 16:19   19 You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality nor take a bribe for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

   YLT  19Thou dost not turn aside judgment; thou dost not discern faces nor take a bribe for the bribe blindeth the eyes of the wise and perverteth the words of the righteous.

Thou shall not wrest judgment .... Or pervert it pass a wrong sentence or act contrary to justice; this is said to the judges as a direction to them and so what follows:

thou shalt not respect persons; so as to give the cause on account of outward circumstances and relations; as in favour of a rich man against a poor man merely for that reason or of a near relation or intimate friend and acquaintance against a stranger but justice should be administered without favour or affection to any; as Jarchi puts it he was to make no difference in his address and behaviour to contending parties before him; he was not to be tender and soft to one and hard to the other or let one stand and another sit:

neither take a gift: as a bribe to give the cause wrong: at Thebes in Egypt as Diodorus SiculusF25Bibliothec. l. 1. c. 45. relates in a court on a wall were images of judges to the number of thirty; in the midst of them was the chief judge; having Truth hanging down from his neck (which seems to be in imitation of the Urim of the high priest of the Jews) his eyes shut and many books by him; by which image was shown that judges should receive nothing and that the chief judge should look to truth only:

for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous; see Exodus 23:8 the Jews have a saying that a judge that takes a bribe and perverts judgment does not die of old age or till his eyes become dimF26Misn. Peah c. 8. sect. 9. .

 

Deuteronomy 16:20   20 You shall follow what is altogether just that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

   YLT  20Righteousness -- righteousness thou dost pursue so that thou livest and hast possessed the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee.

That which is altogether just shalt thou follow .... Or "justice" "justice"F1צדק צדק strict justice and nothing else:

that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee; that is continue in the possession of it.

 

Deuteronomy 16:21   21 “You shall not plant for yourself any tree as a wooden image near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God.

   YLT  21`Thou dost not plant for thee a shrine of any trees near the altar of Jehovah thy God which thou makest for thyself

Thou shall not plant thee a grove of any trees .... Of any sort of trees as oaks or any other; not but that it was lawful to plant trees and groves of them but not for a religious or idolatrous use: particularly

near unto the altar of the Lord thy God which thou shalt make thee; as the Heathens did near their altars lest it should be thought to be done for a like superstitious and idolatrous use; which evil the Jews sometimes fell into in the times of wicked reigns and which their good and pious kings removed and destroyed; see 2 Kings 18:4 and HecataeusF2Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 4. p. 408. an Heathen historian relates of the city of Jerusalem that there were there no image nor plantation nor grove nor any such thing.

 

Deuteronomy 16:22   22 You shall not set up a sacred pillar which the Lord your God hates.

   YLT  22and thou dost not raise up to thee any standing image which Jehovah thy God is hating.

Neither shalt thou set up any image .... Graven or molten of man beast fish or fowl; the word signifies a "statue or pillar"F3מצבה στηλην Sept. "statuam" V. L. Pagninus Montanus Tig. vers. Fagius Drusius Grotius Junius & Tremellius Piscator; so Ainsworth. which was set up for idolatry; for as Aben Ezra observes what was not set up for idolatry was not forbidden as when erected in memory of any action or remarkable event; see Joshua 22:10 &c.

which the Lord thy God hateth; as he does every species of idolatry or that has any tendency to it; it being so opposite to his being perfections and glory; and therefore nothing should be done like it because it is so hateful to him.

 

──John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible