Essay su Deuteronomio 16:78

To the other sacred calendars in Ex. 23:14–17, Ex. 34:18, 22–24, and Lev. 23, our passage adds the stipulation that the three harvest/pilgrimage festivals be observed exclusively “in the place that YHWH chooses / to have his name dwell” (v.2). “Blessing” and the individual’s capacity for giving are other important points.

This aspect of communal life has been treated before (e.g., Ex. 23:2–3, 6–9), but not with quite the impassioned edge found in v.20.

The destruction of pagan shrines is once again demanded. Both the Ashera and the “standing-stone” were connected to the theme of fertility, which in Canaanite worship was related to the gods’ generative power. Israelite thought, on the other hand, attributed fertility to a non- or meta-sexual God.