Deuteronomy 16:3
לֹא־תֹאכַל עָלָיו חָמֵץ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תֹּֽאכַל־עָלָיו מַצּוֹת לֶחֶם עֹנִי כִּי בְחִפָּזוֹן יָצָאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לְמַעַן תִּזְכֹּר אֶת־יוֹם צֵֽאתְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּֽיךָ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
לֹא־תֹאכַ֤ל עָלָיו֙ חָמֵ֔ץ שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֛ים תֹּֽאכַל־עָלָ֥יו מַצּ֖וֹת לֶ֣חֶם עֹ֑נִי כִּ֣י בְחִפָּז֗וֹן יָצָ֙אתָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לְמַ֣עַן תִּזְכֹּר֔ אֶת־י֤וֹם צֵֽאתְךָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ׃
οὐ φάγῃ ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ ζύμην· ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας φάγῃ ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ ἄζυμα, ἄρτον κακώσεως, ὅτι ἐν σπουδῇ ἐξήλθετε ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, ἵνα μνησθῆτε τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς ἐξοδίας ὑμῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς ὑμῶν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Non comedes in eo panem fermentatum: septem diebus comedes absque fermento afflictionis panem, quoniam in pavore egressus es de Ægypto: ut memineris diei egressionis tuæ de Ægypto, omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ.
No comerás con ella pan con levadura. Comerás con ella panes sin levadura durante siete días, el pan de la aflicción (porque salieron de la tierra de Egipto apresuradamente) para que recuerden el día en que salieron de la tierra de Egipto todos los días de su vida.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
No comerás con ella leudo; siete días comerás con ella pan por leudar, pan de aflicción, porque apriesa saliste de tierra de Egipto: para que te acuerdes del día en que saliste de la tierra de Egipto todos los días de tu vida.
You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste — so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Deuteronomy 16:3 prohibits eating leavened bread with the Passover offering and commands eating unleavened bread — called "bread of affliction" — for seven days. The reason given is that the people left Egypt bechippazon ("in haste", H2649), and the purpose is that they remember the day of their departure from Egypt for the rest of their lives.
Key words
- chaMetz ("leaven", H2557A) — masculine singular adjective functioning as a noun, the substance forbidden with the offering.
- maTzot ("unleavened bread", H4682) — feminine plural noun, the food prescribed for the seven-day period.
- Lechem 'Oni ("bread of affliction", H3899H + H6040) — construct chain: lechem ("bread of") governs 'oni ("affliction"), giving the unleavened bread its descriptive title.
- chippaZon ("haste", H2649) — masculine singular noun following the preposition ve ("in"), describing the manner of the Egyptian departure.
- tizKor ("you may remember", H2142) — qal jussive form after lema'an ("so that"), expressing purpose/result rather than simple future.
What the text says
The verse opens with a direct prohibition using lo' ("not", H3808) plus the imperfect to.Khal ("you will eat", H0398), a common construction for negative commands in legal Hebrew. The phrase 'aLav ("with it/on it", H5921A + suffix H9033) recurs twice, tying both the prohibition (verse-initial) and the positive command (to.Khal... matzot) to the same referent — the sacrificial item mentioned in the preceding context, here rendered "it/his" through the third-person suffix. The time frame shiv'At yaMim ("seven days", H7651 construct + H3117G) sets the duration for eating matzot.
The clause beginning with ki ("for/because", H3588A) introduces the historical rationale: departure from Egypt occurred bechippazon ("in haste"), using the perfect verb yaTzata ("you came out", H3318G) to mark this as a completed past event. The following clause, introduced by lema'an ("so that", H4616), shifts to purpose, using the jussive tizKor ("you may remember", H2142) rather than a simple future — grammatically marking intention rather than mere prediction. The object of remembering is expressed through the construct chain yom tzet'kha ("the day of your going out", H3117G + infinitive H3318G with suffix H9041), followed by the temporal totality kol yemei chaiYeikha ("all the days of your life", H3605 + H3117G construct + H2416E construct + suffix H9021).
Differences between versions
The LXX renders the second-person singular Hebrew verbs (yaTzata, tizKor) as second-person plural (ἐξήλθετε, μνησθῆτε), shifting the addressee from an individual "you" to a collective "you all," a pattern also reflected in SBLIBRE's plural "salieron... recuerden... de su vida." The Vulgate and BSB retain the singular address matching the Hebrew grammatical number.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.