Exodus 23:17
in Exodus 23Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord Jehovah.
KJV
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God.
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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 in the year all thy males
The duty falls on the males and it fixes three pilgrimages a year for as long as Israel has a central place of worship. Luke 2:41 shows Joseph and Mary keeping it every year at the passover, and John 7:2 and 7:10 put Jesus at the feast of tabernacles under the same law. Acts 2:5 explains the crowd in Jerusalem at Pentecost, since devout men out of every nation were in the city because of this command.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
All thy males - All that were of competent years, and health and strength, and at their own disposal. 'Tis probable, servants were exempt: for none was to appear without an offering: but most of these had nothing to offer.
), 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 in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord thy God.
They must feast together before the Lord, eating and drinking together, in token of their joy in God and their grateful sense of his goodness to them; for a feast is made for laughter, Eccl. x. O what a good Master do we serve, who has made it our duty to rejoice before him, who feasts his servants when they are in waiting!
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
All thy males - Old men, sick men, male idiots, and male children under thirteen years of age, excepted; for so the Jewish doctors understand this command.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁלֹ֥שׁ | shalosh | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| פְּעָמִ֖ים | peamim | times | H6471 → | 118 times |
| בַּשָּׁנָ֑ה | bashanah | in the year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| יֵרָאֶה֙ | yeraeh | he will present himself | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זְכ֣וּרְךָ֔ | zekhurekha | male your | H2138 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| פְּנֵ֖י | penei | [the] presence of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הָאָדֹ֥ן׀ | haadon | the lord | H113 → | 333 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
שָׁלֹ֥שׁthree
shaloshH7969 →432 times
פְּעָמִ֖יםtimes
peamimH6471 →118 times
בַּשָּׁנָ֑הin the year
bashanahH8141 →877 times
יֵרָאֶה֙he will present himself
yeraehH7200 →1300 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זְכ֣וּרְךָ֔male your
zekhurekhaH2138 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
פְּנֵ֖י[the] presence of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הָאָדֹ֥ן׀the lord
haadonH113 →333 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
Deuteronomy 12:5Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:11
then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all…
- 2 Chronicles 7:12
the LORD appeared to him at night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
- Deuteronomy 26:2
you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go…
- Deuteronomy 12:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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; 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.