שמור, “wait until the month of spring.” The month of Nissan is called the month of spring, as the spring equinox occurs always during that month.

Crops known as אביב, ripen during that month in the land of Israel. They are primarily the barley crops. We have been told this already in connection with the plague of hail in Exodus 9,31.

ועשית פסח, “and you must observe the Passover;” the Torah was forced to repeat this law as in verse 5 of this chapter it stipulated that once the people were in their own land they were forbidden to offer this offering and consume it in their own dwellings, outside of Jerusalem.

In the expression: ממצרים לילה, “from Egypt, at night,” the word לילה here refers only to the eating of the Passover, as the Exodus did not commence until the morning of the fifteenth of Nissan, and they had been absolutely forbidden on pain of death to leave their homes already during that night. (Exodus 12,22)

לא תאכל עליו חמץ, “you must not eat any leavened products with it.” The word עליו here means the same as the word: עמו, “with it,” elsewhere. Other examples where the word עליו is used in the same sense as here are: Exodus 12,9: ראשו על כרעיו ועל קרבו, “its head with its legs, and with the inwards thereof.” Compare also Exodus 34,25: לא תשחוט על חמץ דם זבחי, “do not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread. “

שבעת ימים תאכל עליו מצות, “for seven consecutive days shall you eat unleavened bread with it.” In this verse we best translate the word: עליו as “on account of it.” Compare also Psalms 44,23: כי עליך הורגנו כל היום, “for on Your account we are being killed every day;” compare also Psalms 69,8: כי עליב נשאני חרפה, “for on Your account have I been reviled.” In other words: you are to eat unleavened bread on account of the Passover sacrifice which you offer as a memorial of the Exodus from Egypt.

לחם עוני, “bread of affliction.” Poor people when given a small amount of flour, do not have a vessel at hand in order to make a proper dough. They also do not have enough time to spare to wait for the dough to rise before baking it. Therefore they throw the mixture of flour and water into the heated stove at once and retrieve is as soon as it is baked.

כי בחפזון יצאת, “for when you departed from Egypt you were in a great hurry;” G-d could have waited until the Israelites had baked their dough by taking their time. However, He wanted them to have an eternal reminder of the haste in which their departure had taken place, and therefore He urged them to act with haste.

למען תזכור את יום צאתך ממצרים, “all this in order that you will have a visible reminder of the day that you came out of Egypt.” Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah is quoted in the Haggadah shel Pessach as saying that although he feels as if seventy years old, he had not properly understood the meaning of the words: “in order that you may remember the day you came out of Egypt all the days of your lives,” until the sage ben Zoma had explained the word כל in this verse to mean: “the whole days of your lives,” i.e. not only the daylight hours but also during the nighttime.

ולא ילין מן הבשר, “and no part of the meat of the Passover lamb is to remain uneaten until the morning of the 15th of the month.”If it were allowed to remain uneaten all night long, it would follow that this sacrifice is the only one for which no timelimit for eating it had been fixed by the Torah. Rashi comments that this limitation actually had been decreed only for the original Passover which had been consumed in Egypt. This seems difficult, as we have a verse in Exodus 34,24 as well as in Numbers 9,12 where this prohibition to leave part of the Passover until the following morning is spelled out clearly.

לא תוכל לזבוח את הפסח באחד שעריך, “you must not slaughter the Passover in one of your gates;” this applies not only to the Passover but to all other sacrifices. The reason it has been repeated here is that seeing that the Torah had decreed that during the days of the Passover festival unleavened bread only must be eaten “in all your dwellings,” I might have concluded that seeing that at least on the first night when the Passover lamb is to be eaten at the same time as unleavened bread, someone might have erred believing that what applied to the eating of Matza would apply also to the Passover lamb. An alternate interpretation: even though the Torah had already warned concerning this, it saw fit to repeat the warning because seeing that this was a sacrifice permitted (commanded) to be eaten by all the commoners, it could also be slaughtered everywhere.

שם תזבח את הפסח, “there only, (in the place decreed by the Lord) you will slaughter the Passover.” Seeing that the Torah, in connection with the offerings of the firstling male animals which could be consumed only on the hallowed grounds of the Temple, and seeing that the rules of the second Passover (for people who through no fault of their own had been unable to slaughter it on the fourteenth day of Nissan, were also written in Numbers chapter 9, and there no mention was made of where such a substitute Passover was to be slaughtered, the Torah here makes sure that we cannot remain in any doubt about this. Not only the date, but also the location are of the essence. The Torah here did not bother to mention New Year’s or the Day of Atonement, as neither of these Holy Days involves assemblies in Jerusalem.

בערב, “in the evening;” this may be understood literally, i.e. after noon, until nightfall. In the Jewish calendar, the evening commences “a half hour after noon.” Since the Israelites did not leave until the morning of the following day, our verse must speak about the afternoon and evening of the day before. The author admits that there is nowhere a definite proof that the evening starts that early, he cites support from verses in Jeremiah 6,4,

ובשלת, the true meaning of the word בשל is: “to make something ready and fit to eat.” The author cites Genesis 40,10, הבשילו אשכלותיה ענבים, “its grape clusters had become ripe,” or Exodus 23,19: גם, לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו "do not boil the kid in the milk of its mother,” as support.

ששת ימים תאכל מצות, “for six consecutive days you must eat unleavened bread;” this too is basically a repetition as the commandment to eat unleavened bread only during all the days of Passover has already been spelled out, so that this line adds only that whereas during six of these days the eating of bread is optional (unleavened bread only of course,) on the first day, when the Passover is being eaten to the accompaniment of the eating of matza, i.e. eating “bread,” is mandatory. The subject of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover therefore is to be understood as follows: you will go up to Jerusalem no later than so that you time your arrival to be not later than noon, and having gotten rid of any chametz, something leavened, you proceed to slaughter your Passover lamb, and prepare it for consumption in the evening, and in the meantime you have baked your matzot which does not take long. When you have performed all the rituals on that evening, you are free to leave Jerusalem in the morning, [if you live within the distance that travel is allowed on a festival. Ed.] During the remaining six days, when you feel the desire to eat bread, you may bake fresh matzot every day.

וביום השביעי, “and on the seventh day;” this is the seventh day when you started counting from the night of the Seder.

עצרת, “shall be a solemn an assembly;” on that day you will abstain from all the activities that you have abstained from during the preceding six days. [This translation of the word: עצרת is borrowed from the commentary of Rash’bam Ed.]

שבעה שבעות, “seven weeks;” the reason why this verse too is a kind of repetition, i.e. we had already heard that unleavened bread was to be eaten during the festival of Passover, after which seven weeks were to be counted, etc. in Leviticus 23,14-22, is that there is a new element here, i.e. that the count is to begin when the first offering of the new barley harvest, the omer, is offered to G-d in the Temple. The validity of this law as a Biblical law is related to the Jewish people living on their own land at that time. (Compare verse 11)

ועשית חג שבועות, “you will keep the festival of weeks;” the author refers to his commentary on the significance of this festival in Leviticus chapter 23, where he explained why the Torah did not give us a date for when this festival is to be observed, as opposed to all the other festivals where the month and days they are to be observed have been spelled out.

וזכרת כי עבד היית במצרים, “you are to remember that you used to be a slave in Egypt.” It is noteworthy that this festival, as opposed to Passover, New Year’s Day fasting on the day of Atonement, and Sukkot, is not accompanied by specific rituals which are to serve as such reminders. This is why it was necessary for the Torah here to tell us that we must remember the significance of this day without visible reminders of its significance.

כי עבד היית במצרים; “the Torah reminds you that your preoccupation with bringing in the wheat harvest at this time is not to be considered as more important than a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, for if the Lord had not taken you out of bondage in Egypt you would not have a crop to harvest. While you had been in Egypt you did not have an opportunity to rest and enjoy a festival, so doing once you have taken up residence in your own country is by itself a fitting reminder of how your status has changed.

חג הסוכות, “the festival of huts;” this has also been repeated on account of the words: “in the place that the Lord will choose, i.e. Jerusalem.” (verse 15)

באספך מגרנך, “when you have gathered in from your threshing grounds;” into your house;

ומיקבך, “and from your winepress,” into the storage vats.”

ושמחת בחגך, “you shall rejoice on your festival;” “rejoicing” has been mentioned already in connection with the festival of weeks (verse 11); The reason why it was mentioned there is that it is the period of harvesting a major part of the grain harvest. (Isaiah 9,2.) At the time of Sukkot, such joy is increased greatly as everything that the fields and orchards produce is now being gathered in. Joy is not mentioned in connection with Passover as the season of ingathering produce has not yet started. Furthermore” we have been taught in the Mishnah Rosh hashanah 16,1 that one of the four days on which the world is being judged concerning the produce for the coming year is Passover. In other words, the fate of the harvest still hangs in the balance, and it would be premature to rejoice therefore.

שבעת ימים תחוג, “you are to celebrate for seven days;” seeing that in the days before Passover you have been very preoccupied with its preparations, as well as the harvesting of the barley crop, and in the days preceding Pentecost you have been preoccupied with harvesting the wheat crop, I bothered you with an interruption of only one day. By the time Sukkot arrives, your harvests have all been brought safely under a roof so that you did not have much to distract you, you can afford to enjoy this festival for seven days without having concerns of a secular nature. An alternate interpretation: you have already gathered a lot in your house in preparation for the journey, including the Second Tithe which must be consumed in Jerusalem. It will take you seven days to consume all this, as opposed to Passover and Shavuot when you do not bring so much with you to Jerusalem. Still another interpretation: Seeing that the mussaph offerings are different each day, this festival is actually like seven festivals of one day each. This is why this festival is different from the seven days known as חג המצות, “the festival of unleavened breads.”

שבעת ימים תחוג, “you shall celebrate for seven days; but the eighth day is a special day, the final day; it does not need to be spelled out here. It is as if with the conclusion of the seventh day the eighth day commences automatically. [Our author mentions this as in Leviticus chapter 23 the eighth day has been given special mention as if it were part of the first seven days. Ed.] The fact is that that day has not been mentioned either in connection with the pilgrimage festivals in Exodus chapter 23 or in Exodus chapter 34. [The simplest reason is that the people observing that day have already been in Jerusalem for seven days and do not have to travel there now again. Ed.] On every occasion when the mussaph offerings are mentioned, the eighth day is mentioned also, as it has a different offering, (as in Leviticus 23,36. and Numbers 29,35.)

והיית אך שמח, “and you shall be altogether joyful.” According to Rashi, we learn from this formulation that also the night of the eighth day is included in the time for active enjoyment. In other words, although days begin at nightfall, in this instance the last day is perceived as an extension of the seven previous days. On the other hand, the period of such joyfulness is not part of the evening of the first day as it has not been preceded by an especially joyful day. This has been spelled out in the Talmud. The plain meaning of the text, however, is that seeing that by now all the produce produced by the fields and the orchards have been harvested and put into storage your joy is complete. This is also why in connection with Passover, when none of this is the case, the Torah permits the pilgrims to return home on the day following the first day of the festival, i.e. the 16th day of Nissan. This is in spite of the fact that the duration of that festival is seven days.

שלש פעמים בשנה, “three times annually;” why did this have to be repeated? In order that you should not say that seeing that when the Torah writes about the festival of Shavuot in verse 11: “you shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord your G-d, you, your son and your daughter, your male servant as well as your female servant;” whereas on the Passover festival when no mention has been made of joy, the father need not take along his family, and the Torah had spoken of “all your males,” the sons have to be taken along on each of these festivals. A different interpretation: the instruction had to be repeated as we might have thought that the commandment not to appear before G-d emptyhanded which is written only here and in connection with Passover, also applies on the third pilgrimage festival.

כל זכורך, “all of your males;” the law applies to all those who are able to make the journey with your males, i.e. not including people whose vocation is such that their very presence is so offensive due to the way they smell, for instance, that they would not be allowed to present themselves before a temporal king either, far less before the King of Kings. The details of these restrictions have been spelled out in the Talmud, tractate Chagigah 4,1.

בחג המצות ובחג השבועות, on the festival of unleavened breads and the festival of Shavuot; the Torah compares these two festivals to one another as both allow for offering the specific gift offerings at a later occasion. This period lasts for seven days. (Talmud tractate Rosh Hashanah 4,2.)

ובחג הסוכות, “and on the festival of huts;” the reason that it has been named here separately is that the Sages taught with regard to those who are liable for vows of monetary payment, for various offerings, for vows of charity tithes or for all the agricultural gifts that must be given to the poor, once three Festivals have passed they transgress the prohibition: “You shall not delay”. Rabbi Shimon says: These three Festivals must be in their proper order, with the festival of Passover first and Sukkot last. (Rosh Hashana 4ab)

שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך, “Judges and policemen shall you provide for yourselves in all your gates;” this paragraph has been inserted in the Torah at this point in order to tell you that although you are obligated to travel to the place where the priests officiate all year three times a year and you can submit all your legal problems to them on those occasions, this arrangement will suffice until you have judges and enforcers in all your towns (Ibn Ezra)

לא תטה משפט ולא תקח שוחד, “do not pervert judgment, nor accept any bribe;” earlier in Exodus 23,6 the subject of not perverting judgment when destitute people are before the court has already been discussed; here the warning concerns all the people. [The people addressed are primarily the judges. Ed.].

ולא תקח שוחד, do not even accept a bribe in order to pass fair judgment. Bribing judges in order for them not to pervert justice has already been forbidden.

ויסלף, “nor pervert,” we find this root used in the same sense in Proverbs 11,3: וסלף בוגדים ישדם, “but the perversity of the treacherous will destroy them.”.

דברי צדיקים, “the words of the righteous.” Here the Torah refers to the litigants, not the judges. Compare Deuteronomy 25,1: והצדיקו את הצדיק, “by justifying the righteous.”

צדק צדק תרדוף, “Justice, Justice, you are to pursue;” here too the Torah addresses the litigants. [Bechor Shor notes that this warning is addressed to the judges, as well as to the litigants. Ed.]

לא תטע לך אשרה, “do not plant for yourself an asherah; even if that asherah was not meant to be used as a place of worship. When conflicting claims face a judge, and he has to decide with which claims to deal with first, he is to deal with any matter that involves idolatry first. The term describes trees at the entrance to house of worship. Rashi understands the verse as prohibiting the planting of a tree or house on the Temple Mount. The words: לא תטע, would refer to the former, and the words: כל עץ, would refer to someone building a house, i.e. even from wood that is not fit to become a tree, having been cut and then reassembled.

אצל מזבח, “next to an altar;” it was a common practice for the pagans to do this. This has been explained in Judges 6,25. Furthermore, the purpose of not allowing such trees in such locations was to prevent people seeing someone going there from thinking that that individual was on his way to worshipping an idol. Jeremiah 17,2, describes such worship of an asherah as a widely accepted practice.