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שבעת ימים denotes a septaine (old French) of days.

שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו, "You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days, etc." This is connected to the fact that the Israelites' dough did not rise due to the suddenness of the redemption. You may well ask how the Torah could legislate (verse 14) a memorial for something that had not even taken place yet? After all, the dough did not rise because of the constant motion of the people carrying it on their backs, something that occurred on the morrow! They had not even slaughtered the Passover lamb yet and already the Torah speaks of an annual memorial to something that had not happened as yet! The whole Exodus would not occur until after the Israelites had slaughtered the Passover and eaten it with unleavended bread, and had thereby acquired the merit enabling G'd to take them out of Egypt! This is the day which G'd would remember for them in order to take them out, etc.

שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו, “you will eat unleavened bread for seven days.” The Torah commanded that unleavened bread be eaten for the seven days of the Matzot festival and that the first and last day be observed as “holy convocations,’ i.e. that on those days there is a work prohibition. The first day is holy as it commemorates the beginning of the redemption, the last day as it represents its conclusion. You are aware already that the seven days symbolise the six directions plus G’d all of whom partake in G’d’s and Israel’s joy. The involvement of G’d and His emanations in this joy is the reason we have been warned in Nechemyah concerning the need to rejoice on a festival viz.: “Go eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks and send portions to whoever has nothing prepared, for the day is holy to our Lord. Do not be sad for the rejoicing in the Lord is the source of your strength.”

This teaches that on the seventh day of Pesach it is not obligatory to eat matzoh. . . [Rashi knows this] because of what is written in Devarim 16:8 [at the end of the verse of “Six days shall you eat matzos]: “And on the seventh day shall be a festival to Hashem your God.” If there was an obligation to eat matzoh on the seventh day, it should say expressly, “And on the seventh day you shall eat matzos and it shall be a festival.” This would be needed since that verse begins, “Six days shall you eat matzos,” hinting not on the seventh — thus we would think that the seventh day is an exception to the rule of eating matzoh. Therefore, [since at the end of the verse the seventh day is mentioned as being a festival while matzoh is omitted,] the verse is teaching [in the format of דבר שהיה בכלל ויצא מן הכלל ללמד ] that the seventh day is a festival alone, without an obligation to eat matzoh. We need not ask: Why is it not written, “In the evening you shall eat matzoh; for seven days do not eat chometz”? And then we would know that matzoh is obligatory on the first night, and optional for the remaining seven days. The answer is: We would then think that the verse means to start eating matzoh in the evening, and continue eating it all seven days in place of eating chometz. (See Re”m for further elaboration; what appears here is sufficient to understand Rashi.)

V. 15. שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו kann nicht das Gebot enthalten: sieben Tage lang מצות zu essen, denn wo die Tages- oder Jahreszahl nicht mit ב־ ausgedrückt ist, wie z. 8. בערב תאכלו, da drückt es notwendig eine Bestimmung aus, die die ganze Zeit durchdauert. So will: כי ששת ימים עשה ד׳ וגו׳ nicht sagen, in wie viel Tagen an der Schöpfung gearbeitet worden, sondern dass sechs Tage lang die Schöpfung ununterbrochen fortdauerte und erst mit dem siebenten Tage zum Abschluss gelangte. Als positives Gebot würde es demnach gebieten, ununterbrochen sieben Tage lang מצות zu essen, was ein Unsinn wäre. Es kann daher nur die Negation enthalten, sieben Tage lang, wenn man Brot essen will, nur Ungesäuertes essen zu dürfen. Ganz ebenso: בסכת תשבו שבעת ימים, das ebenso nur die Negation enthalten kann, wenn man in diesen sieben Tagen wohnen wollte, nur in סוכת wohnen zu dürfen, welches nicht ausschließt, die sieben Tage etwa auf Reisen zuzubringen. Positiv würde auch dies nämlich das Gebot enthalten, sieben Tage ununterbrochen in der סוכה bleiben zu müssen. Hierauf bezöge sich denn auch das: אך ביום הראשן ,אך. Die auf den ersten, den Peßachtag, folgenden sieben Mazzottage haben in betreff des מצה direkt nur jenen negativen Charakter. Allein an jenem ersten, dem Peßachtage, dem 14., tritt das positive Gebot ein: תשביתו שאור וגו׳. — Ebenso heißt es ferner nicht: כי כל אוכל חמץ מיום הראשן עד יום השביעי ונכרתה וגו׳, dann wäre nur der חייב כרת, welcher ununterbrochen vom ersten bis zum siebenten Tage nichts als חמץ gegessen hätte. So aber heißt es: Mit jedem חמץ-Essen wird man חייב כרת vom ersten bis zum siebenten Tage, d. h. man wird ח׳׳ב כרת על כל כזית וכזית. Das אך ביום הראשן וגו׳ ist Parenthese und das כי כל אוכל וגו׳ ist motivierende Ausführung des שבעת ימים וגו׳, wodurch eben die mehr negative Bedeutung dieses Gebotes deutlich hervortritt und bezieht sich naturgemäß dann dieses zweite יום הראשן nur auf den ersten dieser sieben Tage, somit den 15. Nissan. — Indem ferner hier das אך im Gegensatz zu der die ganze siebentägige Zeit ausfüllenden Bestimmung תאכלו der שבעת ימים steht, und somit das אך ביום ראשן וגו׳ ein positives Gebot einführt, das wohl an diesem ersten Tage, aber nicht am ganzen Tage zu erfüllen sein soll, so ist damit von selbst diesem אך die Bedeutung: חלק (Peßachim 5 a.) aufgedrückt, wonach das Gebot erst mit der zweiten Hälfte des Tages eintritt.

אך ביום הראשון, but on the first day, etc.: [the Torah now speaks of observances of the Passover in the future, as stated in verse 14 Ed.] The Torah warns that all leavened products must have been removed already on the “first” day, i.e. on the 14th of the month when the Paschal lamb has been slaughtered. Compare what our author has explained on Genesis 2,2: ויכל אלוקים ביום השביעי, “the Lord had completed on the seventh day.” He had completed on the sixth day, as the Torah described G–d as having “rested” on the seventh day.

שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו, “you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days.” Rashi tackles the problem that in Deuteronomy 16,8 the Torah writes that we are to eat unleavened bread for six days, whereas the seventh day is to be observed as the last day of the festival. This, according to Rashi, appears to teach that on that day no more unleavened bread need be eaten, as long as no leavened bread is eaten. How do we know that even during the first six days the eating of unleavened bread is also voluntary? It is learned from a certain rule applied to exegesis of the written text of the Torah, known as: דבר שהיה בכלל ויצא מן הכלל ללמד, לא ללמד על עצמו יצא, “when something had first been included in a general proposition, and then appears to have provided for an exception to that proposition only in order to teach something additional, this new instruction does not only apply to the new situation cited as example, but applies to the proposition as a whole.” In other words, all the seven days on which unleavened bread was to be eaten is contained as a proposition in our verse. The verse cited from Deuteronomy now came to teach an additional dimension of the proposition first legislated in our verse here. Having heard that eating unleavened bread on the seventh day is not obligatory, it follows that neither is the commandment to eat unleavened bread for six days. It was written only because eating leavened bread is prohibited during all the seven days. In order not to mislead us into believing that even on the first night of the festival the eating of unleavened bread is also “only” voluntary, the Torah wrote a special verse commanding the eating of the meat of the Passover offering together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs on that evening. [It is easy for us nowadays to remember this, as we recite a special benediction when eating unleavened bread only at the seder table on the first night. As far as the other meal times during the festival are concerned, if we wish to deny ourselves the pleasure of eating bread, we are free to do so. The line: בערב תאכלו מצות, spells out the duty to eat unleavened bread on that night. (Exodus 12,20) שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו, “you will eat matzot for seven days.” These seven days are symbolic of what our author terms the quarter month which was the duration of most of the plagues; שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו, this commandment is valid for all future generations and is an appendix to the words in verse 14 preceding it that חוקת עולם תחגהו, “you are to celebrate it as a festival forever.” These words could not possibly have referred to the unleavened bread the Israelites had eaten in Egypt, for even though the amount they had baked apparently lasted them for 61 meals each (30 days) it was eaten as a fulfillment of a commandment only on the first night.

שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו SEVEN DAYS SHALL YE EAT UNLEAVENED BREAD — But in another passage it slates: (Deuteronomy 16:8) “Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread”! This teaches regarding the seventh day of the Passover that it is not obligatory to eat unleavened bread on it, but only this is required viz., that one should not eat leavened food. Whence may we derive that the other six days, too, are optinal as regards the eating of unleavened bread? From what Scripture states: “Six days [shalt thou eat unnleavened bread]”. For the following is a Rule by which the Torah may be expounded: Anything that is included in a general statement and goes out (i. e. Scripture singles it out) from this general statement for the purpose of teaching something, does not go out from it in order to teach something regarding itself alone but it goes out from it to teach something about everything that is included in the general statement. Now the seventh day is included in the general statement “Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread”, and in the text “Six days shall thou eat unleavened bread” it has left the general statement. How is it with the seventh day? It is optional as regards the eating of unleavened bread, (as explained in the earlier portion of this comment)! This, according to the above rule, applies also to everything that was included in the general statement i. e. to the whole seven days, and therefore the other six days are also optional in this respect! One might think that the first night of the Passover is also optional (since it is part of the first day when as we have just shown the eating of unleavened bread is optional), therefore Scripture states, (v. 18) “at evening ye shall eat unleavened bread” Scripture thus fixes it as obligatory for that night (Pesachim 120a).

Something that was included in a general rule and was singled out. . . The Rashbam explains (Pesachim 120a) that the seventh day was included in [the general rule of our verse,] “You must eat matzos for seven days.” But it was singled out in Devarim: “And on the seventh day shall be a festival to Hashem your God.” For there, “you shall eat matzos” is not mentioned. This teaches about itself: on the seventh day, matzoh is merely optional. From this method we derive that it was singled out not only to teach about itself; rather, to teach something new concerning the rule as a whole. (Re”m rejects this approach and explains it differently; [see previous entry].)

In support of our contention that the Torah here does not speak of a commandment to eat unleavened bread for seven days, you will note that Pessachim 120 arrives at the conclusion that the mention of "seven days you shall eat unleavened bread" in our verse is not a commandment but a voluntary observance, the commandment to eat unleavened bread applying only on the night the Passover is eaten; the duty to eat unleavened bread became effective only on the evening preceding the Exodus. In later generations, the eating of unleavened bread was not a reminder of a miracle at all. Perhaps the manner in which the Torah reports this legislation is meant to tell us that the eating of unleavened bread on the night of the Passover will be accounted for the people eating it as if they had eaten unleavened bread during all the seven days of that holiday.

Wir haben bereits מצה als Ausdruck des עבדות, der sozialen Unselbständigkeit begriffen; ihren Gegensatz bildet המץ; somit ist חמץ Ausdruck der sozialen Selbständigkeit. Der Peßachtag soll uns לזכרון werden, soll den Moment unseres Erstehens zur Freiheit und Selbständigkeit immer wieder aufs neue ins Bewusstsein rufen, und uns der Art und Weise nie vergessen lassen, wie wir zur Freiheit und Selbständigkeit gelangt. Der Tag darum, der uns unser Erstehen zur Freiheit und Selbständigkeit bringt, führt einen ganzen Kreis von Tagen bei uns ein, nicht mit den Zeichen der Freiheit, sondern mit Entfernung des Symbols der Selbständigkeit. שבעת ימים, einen vollen Kreis von Tagen dürfen wir uns kein Brot der Selbständigkeit erlauben, ja an dem Tage, an welchem wir selbständige Persönlichkeit und selbständiges Eigentumsgebiet erlangt — ויקחו להם — איש — לבית — an diesem Tage müssen wir aus allen unsern Eigentumsgebieten — מבתיכם — das spezifische Zeichen sozialer Selbständigkeit selbsttätig entfernen, und dürfen dann sieben Tage lang unsere Person nicht mit dem Brote der Selbständigkeit nähren, haben uns wohl zu erinnern, und es damit auszusprechen, daß im Momente unseres Entstehens zur Freiheit und Selbständigkeit, weder in unserer Person noch in unserem Machtgebiet eine Spur von Selbständigkeit, oder auch nur von der Fähigkeit, Selbständigkeit zu erringen (שאור) gewesen, wir noch in der ganzen Unfreiheit und Ohnmacht waren, und nur Gottes frei gebietende Macht uns zur Freiheit und Selbständigkeit erstehen ließ; denn wer in diesen sieben Gedächtnistagen der Erstehung zur Freiheit auch nur irgend eine die Erhaltung der Persönlichkeit merklich fördernde Größe vom Brote der Selbständigkeit isst, (אוכל כזית חמץ), der leugnet eben damit den göttlichen Ursprung unserer Erstehung zur Freiheit, der bekennt eben damit diese Erstehung als menschliche Errungenschaft und der tilgt eben damit seiner Person die Zukunft in Israel aus, indem er den Boden der jüdischen Vergangenheit verlassen. —

אך ביום הראשון תשבותו, “but on the first of these seven days you are to abstain from work (normal weekday activities)”. According to the plain meaning of the text, תשביתו plural mode of שבת, as in Genesis 2,2: ויכל אלוקים ביום השביעי, “on the seventh day G-d had completed, etc.” it is impossible to interpret that verse as G-d having been busy with creative activity. He clearly had completed that activity by the evening of the sixth day. On the seventh day He found that His work had come to an end. In our paragraph the Torah repeats the same approach. The words: you shall abstain from work on its first day, mean that you had completed your preparations for the festival before the evening of the 14th day of Nissan. As soon as that day dawned, you found yourself in a state of rest.

אך ביום הראשון תשביתו שאור EVEN THE FIRST DAY YE SHALL HAVE PUT AWAY LEAVEN — This means on the eve of the festival ye shall put it away — and that day is termed “the first (הראשון) day” because it is immediately before the seven days: We find in another passage, too, that a thing which precedes another is termed ראשון, as in (Job. 15:7) “Wast thou born ראשון Adam”, i. e. wast thou born before Adam? — But perhaps the text it referring only to the first of the seven days (i. e. the word ראשון has its ordinary meaning of first, and leavened food must be removed on the first day of the Festival and not on the preceding day)! Scripture, however, states: (Exodus 34:25) “Thou shalt not offer together with leaven [the blood of my sacrifice]” — i. e. thou shalt not slaughter the Passover sacrifice whilst leavened bread is still existent (but the Passover sacrifice was slaughtered on the afternoon of the day before the first day of the Festival; consequently all leavened food must have been removed by the hour of slaughter)(Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:15:4; cf. Pesachim 5a).

Therefore, the Torah states: “In the evening you shall eat matzos.” As Rashi explains (Pesachim 28b), the verse of “In the evening you shall eat matzos” would be superfluous, [if not to establish eating matzos on the first night as an obligation for all generations]. For it already said (v. 8), “They shall eat it [the korbon Pesach] with matzos and bitter herbs,” [which teaches us the obligation of matzoh in the time of the Beis Hamikdash]. And [as regards eating matzoh as something optional,] the first night is already included in our verse, “You must eat matzos for seven days,” since “days” includes the nights, as we learn from, “Until the twenty-first day of the month” (v. 18).

G'd commanded two kinds of מקראי קדש, "holy convocations," one on the first day, i.e. the 15th of Nissan and one on the seventh day, i.e. the 21st day of Nissan. The latter "holy convocation" was in respect of the final stage of the redemption, the drowning of the pursuing Egyptians in the sea. There were two separate miracles which needed to be commemorated then.

Die Etymologie von מצה und חמץ (siehe Kap. 2, V. 13) שׂאר dürfte mit. Sturm, verwandt sein und das die starke, gärende Bewegung bewirkende Agens ,שׂער bedeuten.

כי כל אוכל חמץ, “for anyone eating leavened matter, etc.” the Torah had to spell out the penalty for eating leavened matter during these seven days, as otherwise people would have thought that while they had to eat unleavened bread on the first night, and were expected to eat unleavened bread during the whole seven days, they could also eat leavened matter if they so chose. If they were to be allowed to do so, the impact of subsisting on unleavened bred for seven days would be lost on them. Therefore the Torah added: ולא יאכל חמץ, “nothing leavened must be eaten.”

הנפש ההיא [FOR WHOSOEVER EATETH ANYTHING LEAVENED..] THAT SOUL [SHALL BE CUT OFF] — if it eats unleavened bread when it is in its will (נפש) and with its full consciousness — this would exclude one who does so being under some external compulsion (force majeure) (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:15:5).

When [that soul] has its full faculties and knowledge. I.e., one who transgresses intentionally. The Mechilta states this clearly.

Another reason accounting for the seven days from the 15th to the 21st of Nissan being considered as a unit, i.e. שבעת ימים instead of שבעה ימים, is because G'd did not formulate the prohibition not to eat leavened bread as an outright commandent, such as "do not eat חמץ." I would have thought that a person who does not eat leavened matter during these days is neither culpable nor has he acquired special merit. The Torah therefore implies that not eating חמץ is equivalent to eating מצה and that such a person has acquired the merit of seven consecutive positive commandments (one for each day he did not eat חמץ.) [I believe the author refers to the fact that the prohibition of eating leavened matter in verse 19 is phrased impersonally, i.e. "anyone who eats leavened matter will be cut off from his people," whereas the repetition in verse 20 which addresses itself directly to the people makes no mention of seven days. If this is not the correct interpretation we must assume an uncorrected error in all the earlier manuscripts. Somewhat remarkably, the author does not comment on either verse 19 or verse 20 in this chapter. Ed.]

מישראל [THAT SOUL SHALL BE CUT OFF] FROM ISRAEL — I might understand from this that he shall be cut off from Israel and that he will be able to betake himself to another nation! Scripture therefore states in another passage, (Leviticus 22:3) “[that soul shall be cut off] from my presence” — in every place that is My territory (i. e. everywhere) (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:15:5).

The reason the Torah already mentioned seven days here is that the Israelites should be occupied with the performance of מצות right until the moment on the seventh day when the last stage of the redemption would be completed after G'd had displayed even greater miracles than previously.

There is another mystical reason for the number seven, the root of the souls of the Jewish people being equated with שבעה עינים, as we know from Zachariah 3,9, and the community of Israel is therefore frequently referred to as בת שבעה, "the seven-fold one," compare Zohar volume 3 page 6). [According to Rabbi Moshe Cordovero in his פרדס רמונים the expression שבעת ימים is a reference to the emanation בינה which presides over the 6 days preceding it, i.e. which are subordinate to it. Ed.]