1And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 2Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The set feasts of Jehovah, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, these are My appointed times: 3Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath observance of rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work; it is the Sabbath of Jehovah in all your dwellings. 4These are the set feasts of Jehovah, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons: 5On the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the Passover unto Jehovah. 6And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto Jehovah; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no labor of work. 8And you shall offer an offering by fire unto Jehovah for seven days; and the seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no labor of work. 9And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 10Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land which I am giving to you, and have reaped its harvest, and have brought a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest; 11he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah, to be accepted for you; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, that is whole, as a burnt offering unto Jehovah. 13Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire unto Jehovah, for a soothing aroma; and its drink offering shall be one-fourth of a hin of wine. 14You shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor fruit until the same day that you have brought an offering unto your God; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 15And when you have counted for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, the day that you bring the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16Count fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath; and you shall offer a new grain offering unto Jehovah. 17You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits unto Jehovah. 18And you shall offer with the bread, seven lambs of the first year that are whole, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering unto Jehovah, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire for a soothing aroma unto Jehovah. 19And you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before Jehovah, with the two lambs. They shall be holy unto Jehovah for the priest. 21And you shall make a proclamation on the same day: it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no labor of work. It shall be a perpetual statute in all your dwellings throughout your generations. 22When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap to the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am Jehovah your God. 23And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 24Speak to the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath observance, a memorial of shouting with trumpet blasts, a holy convocation. 25You shall do no labor of work; and you shall offer an offering by fire unto Jehovah. 26And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying: 27Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be a Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and bring an offering by fire unto Jehovah. 28And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before Jehovah your God. 29For any soul that is not afflicted on that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30And any soul who does any work on that same day, that soul I will destroy from among his people. 31You shall do no work; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32It shall be to you a Sabbath observance of rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall observe your sabbath. 33And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 34Speak to the children of Israel, saying: The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Booths for seven days unto Jehovah. 35On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no labor of work. 36For seven days you shall offer an offering by fire unto Jehovah. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering by fire unto Jehovah. It is a solemn assembly, and you shall do no labor of work. 37These are the set feasts of Jehovah which you shall proclaim: holy convocations, to offer an offering by fire unto Jehovah, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, every matter for the day on its day; 38besides the Sabbaths of Jehovah, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give unto Jehovah. 39Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall keep the feast of Jehovah for seven days; on the first day there shall be a Sabbath observance, and on the eighth day a Sabbath observance. 40And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God for seven days. 41You shall hold it as a feast unto Jehovah for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. You shall hold it in the seventh month. 42You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are natives of Israel shall dwell in booths, 43that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God. 44Thus Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of Jehovah.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 OF SUNDRY FEASTS. (
Lev 23:1-
Lev 23:4)
Speak unto the children of Israel, . . . concerning the feasts of the Lord--literally, "the times of assembling, or solemnities" (
Isa 33:20); and this is a preferable rendering, applicable to all sacred seasons mentioned in this chapter, even the day of atonement, which was observed as a fast. They were appointed by the direct authority of God and announced by a public proclamation, which is called "the joyful sound" (
Ps 89:15). Those "holy convocations" were evidences of divine wisdom, and eminently subservient to the maintenance and diffusion of religious knowledge and piety.
3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest--(See on
Exod 20:8). The Sabbath has the precedence given to it, and it was to be "a holy convocation," observed by families "in their dwellings"; where practicable, by the people repairing to the door of the tabernacle; at later periods, by meeting in the schools of the prophets, and in synagogues.
4 These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons--Their observance took place in the parts of the year corresponding to our March, May, and September. Divine wisdom was manifested in fixing them at those periods; in winter, when the days were short and the roads broken up, a long journey was impracticable; while in summer the harvest and vintage gave busy employment in the fields. Besides, another reason for the choice of those seasons probably was to counteract the influence of Egyptian associations and habits. And God appointed more sacred festivals for the Israelites in the month of September than the people of Egypt had in honor of their idols. These institutions, however, were for the most part prospective, the observance being not binding on the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness, while the regular celebration was not to commence till their settlement in Canaan.
5 THE PASSOVER. (
Lev 23:5-
Lev 23:8)
the Lord's passover--(See
Exod 12:2,
Exod 12:14,
Exod 12:18). The institution of the passover was intended to be a perpetual memorial of the circumstances attending the redemption of the Israelites, while it had a typical reference to a greater redemption to be effected for God's spiritual people. On the first and last days of this feast, the people were forbidden to work [
Lev 23:7-
Lev 23:8]; but while on the Sabbath they were not to do any work, on feast days they were permitted to dress meat--and hence the prohibition is restricted to "no servile work." At the same time, those two days were devoted to "holy convocation"--special seasons of social devotion. In addition to the ordinary sacrifices of every day, there were to be "offerings by fire" on the altar (see
Num 28:19), while unleavened bread was to be eaten in families all the seven days (see
1Cor 5:8).
10 THE SHEAF OF FIRST FRUITS. (
Lev 23:9-
Lev 23:14)
ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest--A sheaf, literally, an omer, of the first-fruits of the barley harvest. The barley being sooner ripe than the other grains, the reaping of it formed the commencement of the general harvest season. The offering described in this passage was made on the sixteenth of the first month, the day following the first Passover Sabbath, which was on the fifteenth (corresponding to the beginning of our April); but it was reaped after sunset on the previous evening by persons deputed to go with sickles and obtain samples from different fields. These, being laid together in a sheaf or loose bundle, were brought to the court of the temple, where the grain was winnowed, parched, and bruised in a mortar. Then, after some incense had been sprinkled on it, the priest waved the sheaf aloft before the Lord towards the four different points of the compass, took a part of it and threw it into the fire of the altar--all the rest being reserved to himself. It was a proper and beautiful act, expressive of dependence on the God of nature and providence--common among all people, but more especially becoming the Israelites, who owed their land itself as well as all it produced to the divine bounty. The offering of the wave-sheaf sanctified the whole harvest (
Rom 11:16). At the same time, this feast had a typical character, and pre-intimated the resurrection of Christ (
1Cor 15:20), who rose from the dead on the very day the first-fruits were offered.
15 FEAST OF PENTECOST. (
Lev 23:15-
Lev 23:22)
ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath--that is, after the first day of the passover week, which was observed as a Sabbath.
16 number fifty days--The forty-ninth day after the presentation of the first-fruits, or the fiftieth, including it, was the feast of Pentecost. (See also
Exod 23:16;
Deut 16:9).
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals, &c.--These loaves were made of "fine" or wheaten flour, the quantity contained in them being somewhat more than ten pounds in weight. As the wave-sheaf gave the signal for the commencement, the two loaves solemnized the termination of the harvest season. They were the first-fruits of that season, being offered unto the Lord by the priest in name of the whole nation. (See
Exod 34:22). The loaves used at the Passover were unleavened; those presented at Pentecost were leavened--a difference which is thus accounted for, that the one was a memorial of the bread hastily prepared at their departure, while the other was a tribute of gratitude to God for their daily food, which was leavened.
21 ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein--Though it extended over a week, the first day only was held as a Sabbath, both for the national offering of first-fruits and a memorial of the giving of the law.
22 thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, &c.--(See on
Lev 19:9). The repetition of this law here probably arose from the priests reminding the people, at the presentation of the first-fruits, to unite piety to God with charity to the poor.
24 FEAST OF TRUMPETS. (
Lev 23:23-
Lev 23:25)
In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath--That was the first day of the ancient civil year.
a memorial of blowing of trumpets--Jewish writers say that the trumpets were sounded thirty successive times, and the reason for the institution was for the double purpose of announcing the commencement of the new year, which was (
Lev 23:25) to be religiously observed (see
Num 29:3), and of preparing the people for the approaching solemn feast.
27 there shall be a day of atonement . . . and ye shall afflict your souls--an unusual festival, at which the sins of the whole year were expiated. (See
Lev 16:29-
Lev 16:34). It is here only stated that the severest penalty was incurred by the violation of this day.
34 the feast of tabernacles, for seven days unto the Lord--This festival, which was instituted in grateful commemoration of the Israelites having securely dwelt in booths or tabernacles in the wilderness, was the third of the three great annual festivals, and, like the other two, it lasted a week. It began on the fifteenth day of the month, corresponding to the end of our September and beginning of October, which was observed as a Sabbath; and it could be celebrated only at the place of the sanctuary, offerings being made on the altar every day of its continuance. The Jews were commanded during the whole period of the festival to dwell in booths, which were erected on the flat roofs of houses, in the streets or fields; and the trees made use of are by some stated to be the citron, the palm, the myrtle, and the willow, while others maintain the people were allowed to take any trees they could obtain that were distinguished for verdure and fragrance. While the solid branches were reserved for the construction of the booths, the lighter branches were carried by men, who marched in triumphal procession, singing psalms and crying "Hosanna!" which signifies, "Save, we beseech thee!" (
Ps 118:15,
Ps 118:25-
Ps 118:26). It was a season of great rejoicing. But the ceremony of drawing water from the pool, which was done on the last day, seems to have been the introduction of a later period (
John 7:37). That last day was the eighth, and, on account of the scene at Siloam, was called "the great day of the feast." The feast of ingathering, when the vintage was over, was celebrated also on that day [
Exod 23:16;
Exod 34:22], and, as the conclusion of one of the great festivals, it was kept as a sabbath.