Deuteronomy 16:12

12 And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and [so] {you shall diligently observe} these rules.

Deuteronomy 16:12 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 16:12

And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt,
&c.] 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 1 Corinthians 6:20 ) ( Titus 1:14 ) ( 1 Peter 1:17-19 ) .

Deuteronomy 16:12 In-Context

10 And [then] you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks for Yahweh your God with the measure of the freewill offering of your hand that you shall give [just] as Yahweh your God has blessed you.

11 And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite that [is] in your {towns} and the alien and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst in the place that Yahweh your God will choose to let his name dwell there.

12 And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and [so] {you shall diligently observe} these rules.

13 "You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths for yourselves seven days {at the gathering in of the produce} from your threshing floor and from your press;

14 and you shall rejoice at your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite and the orphan and the widow that [are] in your {towns}.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "you shall observe and do"