Most Bibles have “Passover” as a section heading for Deuteronomy 16:1-8.  But is this correct?  Are these 8 verses referring to Passover?  Let’s take a look.

Deu 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.
Deu 16:2  Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God, from the flock and the herd [baqar], in the place where the LORD chooses to put His name.
Deu 16:3  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.
Deu 16:4  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 [ereb] remain overnight until morning.
Deu 16:5  “You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you;
Deu 16:6  but at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight [ereb], at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt.
Deu 16:7  And you shall roast [bashal] and eat it in the place which the LORD your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents.
Deu 16:8  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.

This passage is not referring to the sacrifice of the Passover lambs, but rather the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Here are some differences which prove this.

1) “The LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night”, verse 1

The Israelites stayed in their home the night of the Passover and they left Egypt by night the next day, the First Day of Unleavened Bread. 

Exo 12:22  … And you shall not go out, anyone from the door of his house until morning.

Deu 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.

So, verse 1 is referring to Unleavened Bread and not Passover.

2) “You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God, from the flock and the herd [baqar]”, verse 2.

The Hebrew word translated herd is baqar, which specifically refers to bovine animals.  But no bovine animal was allowed for the Passover sacrifice, only a lamb or a kid goat. 

Exo 12:5  A flock animal, a male without blemish, a yearling, shall be to you. You shall take from the sheep or from the goats.

However, the Passover offerings made on each of the days during the Feast of Unleavened Bread could be of the flock and herd (lambs and calves).  This shows that verse 2 is not referring to the Passover sacrifice.

3) “the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight [ereb]”, verse 4, and “You shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight [ereb], at the going down of the sun”, verse 6

Ex 12:6 and Num 9:3, 11 command the Passover lamb to be killed between the two evenings, beyn ereb.

Exo 12:6  Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight [beyn ereb].

Num 9:3  On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight [beyn ereb], you shall keep it at its appointed time. According to all its rites and ceremonies you shall keep it.”

Num 9:11  On the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight [beyn ereb], they may keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

In verses 4 and 6 ereb is used which is better translated as evening.  This shows that verses 4 and 6 are not referring to the Passover sacrifice.

4) “You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you; but at the place where the LORD your God chooses”, verses 5 and 6.

The Passover lamb was sacrificed at home, that is, within your gates.  This shows that verses 5 and 6 are not referring to the Passover sacrifice.

5) “And you shall roast [boil] and eat it”, verse 7

The Hebrew word translated roast is bashal.  This is an incorrect translation.  It should be translated boil.  The commandment is to roast the Passover lamb.  Boiling it was not allowed. 

Exo 12:8  And they shall eat the flesh in this night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Exo 12:9  Do not eat it raw, or at all boiled in water, but roasted with fire; its head with its legs and with its inward parts.

This shows that verse 7 is not referring to the Passover sacrifice.

From these highlighted verses it’s clear that Deuteronomy 16:1-8 is referring to Unleavened Bread and not the Passover.  Furthermore, looking at the context we see following directly on, verses 9-12 give instructions on keeping the Feast of Weeks and then verses 13-17 give instructions on keeping the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).  There are two other places where the Holy Days are listed in a similar manner, and they are Exodus 23:14-17 and Exodus 34:18-23, where they are listed as three seasons. 

1. Feast of Unleavened Bread
2. Feast of Pentecost, Firstfruits, or Weeks
3. Feast of Tabernacles, Booths, or Ingathering.

This passage in Deuteronomy is giving instruction on the three Feast seasons in a similar manner.

This being the case why does Deuteronomy 16:1-8 use the term Passover if it is referring to Unleavened Bread?  The reason is that the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are sometimes referred to collectively as “Passover”.  It is possible these verses were edited by Ezra to aid understanding during the canonisation of the Old Testament. 

Some might ask why does verse 8 say, “Six days you shall eat unleavened bread …”?  Why six days and not seven?  Verses 3 and 4 command unleavened bread to be eaten for seven days.  So, verse 8 doesn’t contradict this.  It just emphasizes that the seventh day is a sacred assembly, “… and on the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly”.