אהל the tent, the comparatively permanent | must form a symbolical expression of the selfdwelling of the wilderness) see vers. 42, 43, and surrender of the nation to Jehovah, renewed by comp. Ex. xii. 37; xiii. 20.-F. G.]. * * * the feasts, as it was elevated by the thanksgiving "With regard to the natural aspect of the Israelitish feasts, they are divided into pre-Mosaic, Mosaic (for that the feasts here appointed belong to the original Mosaic legislation is admitted by Knobel), and later feasts. "In the first class, however, can only be placed with certainty a tradition of the Sabbath, the feast of the new moon, and the harvest feast. Upon the heathen festal seasons see the full notes of Knobel, p. 537 sqq. "It is however in the highest degree noteworthy, that the Israelitish ordering of the feasts forms an unmistakable contrast to the heathen customs. At the time of the Spring feast the Jewish Easter was kept, which, in connection with its unleavened bread, expresses a very solemn meaning, and is not at all to be judged by the Christian Easter. At the time of the autumnal equinox, however, when the Syrians (and the Egyptians) mourned over the death of Adonis the summer sun (like the Germanic Baldur), the Jews kept their most joyful feast, and freely used the green branches of summer before they faded." [The contrast would bear to be even more strongly expressed, for the feast of Tabernacles occurred more than a month later than the autumnal equinox.-F. G.]. "It was as if they had wished to celebrate the triumph of the theocratic spirit over the natural sadness for the death of beautiful nature; as they certainly accent the blessing of God and His judgment in this present life in contrast to the dark Egyptian necromancy with its prophecy inspired this side the grave, and in contrast to the melancholy cultus of the world of death beyond the grave. "As to the explanation of the apparently superfluous days in the seven day feasts, the eighth day of unleavened bread, and the eighth day of the feast of Tabernacles (a question which also concerns the 50th week of the 50th year as a year of Jubilee), it is certainly sufficient to say, that the festal close of such great days or weeks and years was to be particularly emphasized. (Comp. Knobel, p. 549). "The second Easter day as the feast of the first beginning of the harvest, the beginning of the barley harvest, the feast of the ears (Abib, ear month), corresponds to the completed wheat harvest which was celebrated at the feast of Tabernacles (later, Pentecost because fifty days were reckoned from Easter to its celebration), and both these harvest feasts, of the necessities of life and of the abundance of life, form a contrast to the harvest feast of joy [feast of Tabernacles] for the refreshing and comforting gifts of God, the fruit, the oil and the wine. "A strikingly isolated position is given to the feast of Pentecost between the other feasts. Since as the chief harvest feast it seems to be only a natural feast, there was sought, and later, there was also found, in addition to its natural aspect, a holy and theocratic aspect also, in that this feast has been described as the feast of the law (since Maimonides. See on the other hand Keil, p. 151") [Translation p. 444, note]. *** "The increased sacrifices of the yearly feasts for His gifts, the ever new gifts of creation, the ever new gifts of atonement and of deliverance. That which makes feasts to be feasts is as follows: 1) They are high seasons appointed by God, seasons of the fulfilment of Divine promise and of human hope. 2) Seasons in which the union of God and man, as well as of men with one another, and thus fellowship with God and brotherhood with man was celebrated. 3) Seasons in which nature, together with man, appears in the dress of theocratic sanctification. 4) In which the highest happiness of human fellowship arises from the highest joyfulness of sacrifice to Jehovah. 5) Seasons which have a great sequence, and form a chain from the feast of deliverance in the night of judgment and of fear (Passover) to the feast of holy freedom and joy (Tabernacles).” Lange. In regard to the times of the festivals, it is to be remembered that God in His dealings with man always shows a tender regard for the nature with which He has constituted man. The Hebrew festivals were therefore so arranged as to combine the most important religious memorials and types with the occasions of national and social need. The Passover was the greatest of all the annual festivals of the Hebrews, and was the only one resting upon a distinct historical and miraculous event, and the only one, too, the neglect of which was accompanied with the penalty of excision (Num. ix. 13). The obligation to observe it was so urgent upon every adult circumcised Israelite, that alone of all the feasts it had attached to it a second observance at the same time in the following month for those who were prevented from keeping it by absence on a journey, or by defilement from contact with a dead body—the only causes which interfered with the eating of the paschal lamb. Historically, it was far more generally observed than either of the other festivals. Attached to this, and often included in the general name of Passover, was the week of unleavened bread; but the strictness of the command for the observance of the Passover itself did not apply to this. Deut. xvi. 7. The Passover was celebrated in the month Abib or Nisan; and this month, as the month of the great national deliverance from Egypt, became the first of the ecclesiastical year. Just at this time occurred the beginning of the barley harvest, and the festival for this was accordingly so associated with the Passover, that a sheaf of the first-fruits was to be waved before the Lord on the morrow after the Sabbath. The time of the feast of weeks, or Pentecost, was determined by the Passover, from which it was distant just fifty-two days, as we still reckon from Good-Friday to Whitsunday; for seven weeks complete, or forty-nine days were reckoned from "the morrow after the Sabbath," or the second day after the eating of the Paschal lamb itself, making fifty-one days, and then the feast was to be held on the following day. The symbolism of the sevens is therefore to be sought rather in the means of computing the time than in the relation of the festivals to one another. Pentecost occurred at the close of the grain harvest, and See was celebrated as a thanksgiving, with especial liberality to the poor and needy in remembrance that the Israelites themselves had been bondmen in Egypt. (Deut. xvi. 9-12). This feast continued but a single day, and its distinguishing rite was the waving before the Lord of two leavened loaves prepared from the first fruits of the wheat. the other days, and especially of the festival Sabbaths, one year with another, upon the weekly Sabbath; but on several of these days the prohibition extended only to servile work, and the feasts were probably largely used like European fairs, for purposes of trade. See a slightly different computation in Michaelis, Laws, Art. 201. The three greater festivals, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, were required to be observed by the assembling of the whole adult male population at the place of the sanctuary. This was doubtless fully carried out during the life in the wilderness, but does not appear to have been ever completely observed in subse ever, attended by large numbers, and the devouter part of the people went up to the sanctuary at least once in the year (1 Sam. i. 3, 21; Luke ii. 41, etc.), which appears to have been most commonly at the Passover. The women were not obliged, but were allowed to attend, and frequently did so, as well as partake of the Paschal lamb. With the coming in of the seventh month the civil year began. Of the existence of this year as distinguished from the ecclesiastical year, there can be no reasonable doubt. It has indeed been called in question; "but the form of expression in Ex. xii. 2, the commencement of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years in the month Ethanim, or Tisri, the tradition of both the rab-quent history. All these festivals were, howbinical and Alexandrian Jews, and the fact that the new moon festival of Tisri is the only onenot excepting that of Nisan-which is distinguished by peculiar observance, seem to bear sufficient testimony to a more ancient computation of time than that instituted by Moses in connection with the Passover. Another argument is furnished by Ex. xxiii. 16." Clark. Accordingly, as generally in all times and among all nations, the New Year was ushered in by a special observance. Among the Hebrews this took the form of the Feast of Trumpets." This was marked by "an holy convocation;" but attendance upon it was not obligatory. On the tenth day of the same month occurred the solemn fast of the Day of Atonement already treated in ch. xvi. Both these continued but a single day. On the fifteenth day of the same month (which was thus far more marked by religious solemnities than any other), began the Feast of Tabernacles, continuing for seven days with "an holy convocation" following on the eighth day. The attendance obligatory at this would naturally have led to a large presence of the people on the Day of Atonement, only five days before. It was the great harvest festival at the close of the agricultural season, corresponding to our Thanksgiving day, and was very joyfully cele brated. It was also connected with the theocratic system by the injunction to dwell in booths in memory of the Exodus from Egypt. With all these, and pervading them, was the weekly Sabbath, a remembrancer in its recurrence of God's rest from the work of creation (Ex. xx. 11), and in its determination to the seventh day of the week of the deliverance from Egypt (Deut. v. 15). Besides these annual feasts, there were the Sabbatical years, when the land was required to lie fallow, and all fruits were common property. This command could hardly have been complied with at all until after the return from the captivity (see 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21), and the existence of such an unobserved law is a strong proof of the genuineness of the Mosaic legislation. There was also the Year of Jubilee, the fiftieth year, which as it affected the tenure of land that had been sold, is likely to have been more continuously observed. It certainly was recognized in the days of Jeremiah (Jer. xxxii. 6-15). On the question whether it had continued to be observed in the intervening time, see Maimonides and Ewald in the affirmative, Michaelis (Laws, Art. 76) and Winer (sub voce), who are in doubt, and Kranold (p. 80) and Hupfeld (pt. iii., p. 20), who confidently deny that the provisions for this year ever came into actual operation. Precisely what was meant by an holy convocation we have no means of ascertaining, except from the word itself. Doubtless in the wilderness life it would have meant a general assembling of the people for the purposes of the day, and the same sense may be held to apply to the three great festivals when all males were required to appear at the place of the sanctuary, In regard to the detail of these several festi- but this cannot be true, after the settlement in vals, see the Exegetical. The Jews were prohibited by the law from all work only on the fifty-two weekly Sabbaths and on the Day of Atonement; they were also prohibited from all servile work on the days of holy convocation, viz. two each in connection with the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, one at the Feast of Pentecost, and one at the New Moon of Tisri, the seventh month. There is no prescription in the law in regard to cessation of work on the other New Moons; but from Amos viii. 5 they appear to have been, at least in later times, observed as Sabbaths. These would make in all seventy days, which would be reduced somewhat by the occurrence of some of Canaan, of the weekly Sabbath and of the Day of Atonement. Probably there were on these days gatherings for religious edification accompanied with rest from work in the various towns and villages throughout the land, just as there were in the Synagogues after the return from the Captivity. There were also probably such gatherings at the time of the Convocations of the greater festivals of those who did not go up to the Sanctuary. Besides the weekly Sabbaths, there were in all seven Convocations in the year: the first and last days of the feasts of unleavened bread, and of Tabernacles, the days of Pentecost and of Atonement, and the Feast of Trumpets. CHAPTER XXIII. 1-44. 1,2 AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts [unto them, The appointed times of the LORD which ye shall proclaim as holy convocations, these are my appointed times']. 2 3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. 4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even [These appointed times' of the LORD are] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons [appointed times']. 5,6 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the 7 LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have 8 an holy convocation: ye shall do no serviles work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. (9, 10 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf" of the firstfruits of your 11 harvest unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be ac12 cepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb [a ram'] without blemish 13 of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the meat offering [oblation] thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 1 Ver. 2. The word according to all authorities means primarily a fixed, appointed time (Gen. xxi. 2; Jer. viii. 7, etc.) and it is so translated in ver. 4 in their seasons, Thence it came to be used for the festivals occurring at set times (Zech. viii. 19). Besides these meanings the word has the divided signification of the assembly which came together at these times, and then the assembly or congregation generally (whence the expression Tabernacle of congregation), and then also the place of the assembly. The derivative significations are here out of the question. It occurs in this chapter five times, and is not elsewhere used in Lev. except in the phrase Tabernacle of congregation. With the same exception, it is uniformly translated time or season (set or appointed) in Gen. and Ex., and generally in Num. The translation four times by feasts in this chap. is therefore exceptional and supported only by a few instances in Num. It is better therefore to conform the translation here to the usage. There is a difficulty with either translation in the fact that a holy convocation was not proclaimed on the Day of Atonement;-that is broadly applied to all, which was strictly true of nearly all the particulars mentioned. But feasts labors under the further disadvantage that the Day of atonement was a fast. 2 Ver. 3. The translation necessarily fails to convey the full force of the Heb. na naw a very strong expression used only of the days and years of rest appointed in the Mosaic legislation. 3 Ver. 4. The Heb. has 77, the Sam. prefixes 1. According to Houbigant the former refers to what has preceded, the latter to what follows. In this case the Sam, reading is preferable. 4 Ver. 5. The missing D is supplied in 15 MSS. and the Sam. • Ver. 7. “y nox, occupation of a work, signifies labor at some definite occupation, e. g., the building of the tabernacle, Ex. xxxv. 24; xxxvi. 1, 3; hence occupation in connection with trade or one's social calling, such as agriculture, handicraft, etc.; whilst is the performance of any kind of work, e. g., kindling fire for cooking food (Ex. XXXV. 2, 3)." Keil. TT: • Ver. 10. pj'. The A. V. is probably right in translating here sheaf, which according to the lexicographers is the primary meaning of the word. See Dent. xxiv. 19; Ruth ii. 7, 15, etc. It is so translated by the LXX., Vulg., and Luther, as well as by Gesen., Fürst, Lee, and others. On the other hand Josephus (Ant. ii. 10, 5), and the Mishna, take it in its de rived and more usual sense of an Omer, viz., of the flour from the grain, offered with oil and frankincense as an oblation. Perhaps in later times the omer of the flour was substituted for the original sheaf of the grain. 7 Ver. 12. 3. See Textual Note 5 on iii. 7. Here the sex is indicated. .... 8 Ver. 13. in. See Textual Note 2 on ii. 1. The pronoun is masc. with reference to the sex of the sacrifice. T :' Ver. 13. The A. V. here and in the previous clanse substitutes the def. art. for the masc. pronoun. The Heb. text is pointed in accordance with the kri which is also the Sam. reading. 14 shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn [grain], nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath" shall ye number fifty days; and 17 ye shall offer a new meat offering [oblation] unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves" of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; 18 they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs [rams'] without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two [full-grown"] rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering [oblation], and their drink offer19 ings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD. Then ye shall sacrifice one kid [buck's] of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs [rams'] of 20 the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two 21 lambs [rams']: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. 22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God. 15 23, 24 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath [a sabbath rest"], a memorial of blowing of trumpets, is an holy convocation. 25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 26, 27 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be [only the tenth of this seventh month is16] a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer 28 an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD 29 your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, 30 he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. 31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your ge 10 Ver. 15. Some critics (Keil, Clark, and others) would render here and in xxv. 8 seven weeks, in accordance with the use of in the Talmud, and of σáßßarov in the N. T. The word seems to be used here, however, rather by a figure of speech as in xxv. 2, 4, etc., and the definite meaning of week to be of later origin. The ' on which Keil relies, agrees with the main idea. 11 Ver. 17. The Sam. here supplies the word in which is uniformly translated cakes in the A. V., and may indicate the kind of bread used. 19 Ver. 187 indicates strong and full-grown rams of maturer age than the of the first clause. The Sam. 3 MSS. and LXX. add "without blemish." 13 Ver. 19. Diy-y. See Textual Note on iv. 23. 14 Ver. 24. here stands by itself without the used in ver. 3. When thus used by itself Rosenmüller says “de iis tantum feriis dicitur, quæ non in septimum hebdomadis diem, qui, cessatio ab opere kar' ¿§oxǹv dicitur, incidit." It should therefore be rendered by another term, and the one suggested by Clark is adopted. 15 Ver. 24. There is nothing in the Heb. corresponding to the words of trumpets, which should therefore be in italics, ➡ a memorial of a joyful noise. is frequently used in connection with va זכְרוֹן תְּרוּעָה The Heb. reads simply rions kinds of trumpets and other instruments (Num. xxxi. 6; Lev. xxv. 9; Ps. cl. 5), denoting the clangor of those instruments, but it is also quite as frequently used without reference to an instrument of any kind (Num. xxii. 21; Job viii. 21 xxxiii. 26; Ezra iii. 11, 13, etc.). The silver trumpets of the temple were however blown on all the festivals, including the new moons (Num. x. 10), and there is no reason to question the tradition that on "the feast of trumpets" horns or cornets of some kind were blown generally throughout the land. The LXX. has propóovvor oaλniyуwr, the Vulg. memoriale clangentibus tubis. 16 Ver. 27. J is a particle of limitation, and thus in this case of emphasis. It is better to omit the italicised words there shall be, and translate according to the usual construction of a Heb. clause ending with N. ye shall 32 nerations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest,' and afflict your souls; in the ninth day of the month at even," from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath [your rest1]. 33, 34 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for 35 seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall 36 do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly," and ye shall do no servile work therein. 37 These are the feasts [appointed times'] of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering [an oblation], a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every 38 thing upon his day: beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD. 39 23 Also [Only] in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered [at your gathering in"] in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a 40 sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs [fruit"] of goodly trees,22 branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the 41 brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever 42 in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in 43 booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts [appointed times1] of the LORD. 44 18 Ver. 32. The margin of the A. V. is more correct than the text. The Heb. is Danavn. :: 19 Ver. 36. is a word the signification of which has been much questioned. The translation of the LXX. ¿ŝódióv ori, meaning the close of the festival, is defended by Fürst, and adopted by Patrick; so also Theodoret, referring not only to this feast, but to the whole cycle of feasts, TÒ TÉλOS TŵV ÉOPT@v, and so also Keil. Michaelis, using an Arabic etymology, interprets it of pressing out the grapes. The sense of the margin of the A. V. day of restraint is said to be advocated by Iken in a special dis-ertation (Con. Ikenii Dissertatt. Ludg. Batav. 1749) and is adopted by Abarbanel and other Jewish writers. The text of the A. V. assembly is defended by Roseumüller (3d Ed.), advocated by Gesenius, and is that given by Onkelos, the Vulg., and Syr. The LXX, also elsewhere translates the word navýyupis (Amos, v. 2) and σvvodos (Jer. ix. 2). The word occurs but ten times, in five of which it refers to the last day of one of the great feasts, and in one other (Jer. ix. 2 [1]) it clearly means assembly. Josephus (Ant. iii. 10, 6) applies it as a customary phrase to the feast of Pentecost. It is the day referred to in Jno. vii. 37 as "the last day, that great day of the feast." 20 Ver. 39. DONE. It is better to preserve the indefiniteness of the original which does not determine whether the harvest was already fully gathered. Clark thinks that this could rarely have been the case. T: 21 Ver. 40. The Heb., as noted in the margin of the A. V., is fruit, and it is better to retain the word even if it be explained (Keil) of "the shoots and branches of the trees." According to the most ancient traditions, however, it was customary at this feast to carry in one hand some fruit, and the word is retained in all the ancient versions. זז 22 Ver. 40. 77, lit. ornamental trees, a generic word including the various kinds specified just below. So the Sam., LXX., Syr., and Vulg., the lexicons, and most interpreters. Jewish tradition, however, incorporated into the Targums and Josephus (Ant. xiii. 13, 5) understands it specifically of the Citron. 23 Ver. 40. The rendering of the A. V. is sustained by almost all authorities, meaning trees of various kinds having thick foliage. The Targums all interpret it specifically of myrtles, which cannot be right, as in the account of the celebration of this feast in Neh. viii. 15 the myrtie and the thick trees are distinguished. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. This chapter consists of five Divine communications to Moses, beginning respectively with vers. 1, 9, 23, 26 and 33, all of which, except that concerning the day of Atonement, ver. 26, he is directed to speak unto the children of Israel. The first of these (1-8) relates to the weekly Sabbath, the Passover, and the following feast of unleavened bread; the second (9-22) to the wave sheaf in connection with the last feast, and the feast of weeks, or Pentecost; the third (23-25) to the civil New Year, or the New Moon of the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year; the fourth (26-32) to the great Day of Atonement; the last (33–44) to the feast of tabernacles. Ver. 2 forms the heading or introduction to the whole chapter. This is a full list of all those days and years, all the appointed times which the Lord had marked out as to be separated and distinguished from the ordinary course of the daily life; yet it does not include the |