Exodus 23:14
in Exodus 23Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
KJV
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
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This verse in Exodus 23
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Three times . . . keep a feast . . . in the year--This was the institution of the great religious festivals--"The feast of unleavened bread," or the passover--"the feast of harvest," or pentecost--"the feast of ingathering," or the feast of tabernacles, which was a memorial of the dwelling in booths in the wilderness, and which was observed in the seventh month (Ex 12:2).
This site's exposition
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me
on Exodus 23:14-15
Three annual feasts are commanded to a people who own no land to keep them in. The first is unleavened bread in the month Abib, dated by the going out of Egypt in chapter 12, so the year is anchored on the deliverance and the other two are hung on the harvests that follow it. None shall appear before me empty attaches a cost to attendance, and Deuteronomy 16:17 later sets that cost by what a man is able to give.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The Passover, Pentecost, and feast of Tabernacles, in spring, summer, and autumn, were the three times appointed for their attendance; not in winter, because travelling was then uncomfortable; nor in the midst of their harvest.
), with some laws pertaining thereto. Gracious promises of the completing of the mercy God had begun for them, upon condition of their obedience. That God would conduct them through the wilderness (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Three times thou shall keep a feast unto me in the year. The feast of the passover, on the fourteenth of the month Nisan or March; and the feast of weeks or pentecost fifty days after that; and the feast of tabernacles on the fifteenth day of Tisri or September.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year - The three feasts here referred to were, 1. The feast of the Passover; 2. The feast of Pentecost; 3. The feast of Tabernacles. 1. The feast of the Passover was celebrated to keep in remembrance the wonderful deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
This is the first mention of the three great Yearly Festivals. The feast of Unleavened bread, in its connection with the Paschal Lamb, is spoken of in Exo. 12; 13: but the two others are here first named. The whole three are spoken of as if they were familiarly known to the people. The points that are especially enjoined are that every male Israelite should attend them at the sanctuary (compare Exo 34:23), and that he should take with him an offering for Yahweh, presenting himself before his King with his tribute in his hand. That this condition belonged to all the feasts, though it is here stated only in regard to the Passover, cannot be doubted. See Deu 16:16. Exo 23:15-16 On the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or the Passover, see Exo. 12:1-20, Exo 12:43-50; Exo 13:3-16; Exo 34:18-20; Lev 23:4-14. On the Feast of the Firstfruits of Harvest, called also the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Pentecost, see Exo 34:22; Lev 23:15-21. On the Feast of Ingathering, called also the Feast of Tabernacles, see Lev 23:34-36, Lev 23:39-43. Exo 23:16 In the end of the year - Compare Exo 34:22. The year here spoken of must have been the civil or agrarian year, which began after harvest, when the ground was prepared for sowing. Compare Lev 23:39; Deu 16:13-15. The sacred year began in spring, with the month Abib, or Nisan. See Exo 12:2 note, and Lev 25:9. When thou hast gathered - Rather, when thou gatherest in.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
[THREE TIMES.] The meaning of regalim. The word regel means a foot. Hence I.E.’s comment. is times. You shall serve only Me.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Rashi explained: “This verse is intended to bring every positive commandment also under the term of a prohibition, 367 So that if one fails to fulfill a positive commandment [as e.g.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁלֹ֣שׁ | shalosh | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| רְגָלִ֔ים | regalim | feet | H7272 → | 247 times |
| תָּחֹ֥ג | tachog | you will celebrate a festival | H2287 → | 16 times |
| לִ֖י | li | to <the> me | ||
| בַּשָּׁנָֽה׃ | bashanah | in the year | H8141 → | 877 times |
שָׁלֹ֣שׁthree
shaloshH7969 →432 times
רְגָלִ֔יםfeet
regalimH7272 →247 times
תָּחֹ֥גyou will celebrate a festival
tachogH2287 →16 times
לִ֖יto <the> me
li
בַּשָּׁנָֽה׃in the year
bashanahH8141 →877 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 16:16Three 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…
it leads to
- Psalms 96:8
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering and enter His courts.
- Proverbs 3:9–10
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
- Haggai 1:9
You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you…
- Exodus 23:14–17
Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.
- Matthew 2:11
On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense…
- Psalms 96:8
Through
Leviticus 23:5The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 16:1–8
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.
- Joshua 5:10
On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they kept the Passover.
- Deuteronomy 16:1–8
Through
Exodus 23:17Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.
it leads to
- 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…
- Deuteronomy 16:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.