Exodus 23:15

You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses the assembled Israelites in the wilderness, issuing covenant stipulations that follow the civil and moral laws of the preceding chapter.

The words — חַג הַמַּצּוֹת (chag ha-matzot) means "festival of unleavened breads," and תֹּאכַל (to'khal) translates "you will eat," anchoring the command in literal, timed consumption.

The thread — The text explicitly names the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the month of Abib, linking it to Luke 22:7 as the Passover backdrop, while Exodus 34:20 and Proverbs 3:9 parallel the requirement to bring offerings rather than appear empty-handed.

Why it lands — The verse commands seven days of eating unleavened bread in Abib to mark the Exodus and forbids appearing before God without an offering. It demands precise calendar observance and tangible provision for worship.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

Cross-references

Luke 22:7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed.
Exodus 34:20 You must redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed.
Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops;
Numbers 28:16 The fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover.
Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.
Leviticus 23:5 The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
2 Kings 23:21 The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover of the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”
Exodus 12:14 And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.
Exodus 12:43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: No foreigner is to eat of it.