Leviticus 23:2
in Leviticus 23“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘These are My appointed feasts, the feasts of the LORD that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, The set feasts of Jehovah, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Leviticus 23
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThese are my feasts - The original word מועד moad is properly applied to any solemn anniversary, by which great and important ecclesiastical, political, or providential facts were recorded; see Clarke on Gen 1:14 (note). Anniversaries of this kind were observed in all nations; and some of them, in consequence of scrupulously regular observation, became chronological epochs of the greatest importance in history: the Olympiads, for example.
This site's exposition
the LORD said to Moses
on Leviticus 23:1-3
The calendar is announced as God's own before it is Israel's. Verse 2 calls them my feasts and leaves the people only the proclaiming of them.
This site's exposition
These are My appointed feasts
Adam Clarke gives the Hebrew word for appointed feast as moad. He defines it as any solemn anniversary kept to record great facts of worship, of the nation or of providence. Albert Barnes counts five annual set feasts: Passover, Pentecost, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and Tabernacles.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,....
As all inherent holiness comes from his special grace, so all adherent holiness from his special appointment. Now, concerning the holy times here ordained, observe, 1. The day of atonement, which was one of them, was a fast; yet, because most of them were appointed for joy and rejoicing, they are in the general called feasts.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The specified times for public worship according to the Law were; (1) The daily morning and evening sacrifices, sometimes called “the continual burnt-offering.” (2) The weekly Sabbath. (3) the day of the new moon. (4) the “set feasts” Num 29:39 or appointed times of annual observance, of which there were five, the Passover, the Day of Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. For each of these occasions special sacrifices were appointed Num. 28; 29.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The feasts - literally, the appointed times. So in Lev 23:4, Lev 23:37, etc. This section Lev. 23:1-38 sets forth for practical guidance the relation in which the appointed times of the Lord, weekly as well as annual, stood to the ordinary occupations of the people. Holy convocations - Days of sabbatical rest for the whole people; they owed their name to gatherings for religious edification, which, in later times, were probably held in every town and village in the holy land. There were in the course of the year, besides the weekly Sabbaths, seven days of holy convocation Exo 12:16; Num 28:18, Num 28:25-26; Num 29:1, Num 29:12, Num 29:35, with a distinction between them as regards strictness of observance (compare Lev 23:3, Lev 23:28 with Lev 23:7).
1 more voice on this verse
Modern Voices1 voice
While each of these feasts has a historical commemorative role, each also has a prophetic role.
How the passage was read
On Leviticus 23:1-44On Leviticus 23:1-44
The year Israel keeps
This chapter is the calendar of the whole Jewish year, and every feast in it is still on the calendar today. In order: the weekly Sabbath; Passover and Unleavened Bread in spring (now kept as the seder meal and a week without leavened bread); Firstfruits (the first sheaf of barley waved before God); Weeks, in Hebrew Shavuot, fifty days later (Christians know the Greek name: Pentecost); then in autumn the Day of Trumpets (now Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, announced by the ram's-horn trumpet called a shofar), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, the great fast), and Tabernacles, in Hebrew Sukkot, when families still build and eat in leafy backyard booths for a week, remembering the wilderness.
So when the New Testament says Jesus or Paul went up for “the feast,” it means one of these appointments: the same calendar, kept for over three thousand years.
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.
Sources: The Feasts of the LORD (this site's study of all seven) · Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1 (the four new years)
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דַּבֵּ֞ר | daber | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵ֤י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֔ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מוֹעֲדֵ֣י | moadei | [the] appointed feasts of | H4150 → | 223 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תִּקְרְא֥וּ | tikreu | you will proclaim | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אֹתָ֖ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִקְרָאֵ֣י | mikraei | convocations of | H4744 → | 23 times |
| קֹ֑דֶשׁ | kodesh | holiness | H6944 → | 469 times |
| אֵ֥לֶּה | ʾeleh | these | H428 → | 746 times |
| הֵ֖ם | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| מוֹעֲדָֽי׃ | moadai | [are] appointed feasts my | H4150 → | 223 times |
דַּבֵּ֞רspeak
daberH1696 →1141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בְּנֵ֤י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְאָמַרְתָּ֣and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
מוֹעֲדֵ֣י[the] appointed feasts of
moadeiH4150 →223 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
תִּקְרְא֥וּyou will proclaim
tikreuH7121 →733 times
אֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
מִקְרָאֵ֣יconvocations of
mikraeiH4744 →23 times
קֹ֑דֶשׁholiness
kodeshH6944 →469 times
אֵ֥לֶּהthese
ʾelehH428 →746 times
הֵ֖םthey
hemH1992 →553 times
מוֹעֲדָֽי׃[are] appointed feasts my
moadaiH4150 →223 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
Hosea 2:11I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:13–14
Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me— your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations. I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly.
- Amos 5:21
“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
- Amos 8:5
asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us…
- Jeremiah 16:9
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and…
- Jeremiah 7:34
I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”
- Isaiah 1:13–14
Through
Joel 2:15Blow the ram’s horn in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a sacred assembly.
it leads to
- Joel 1:14
Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
- Joel 1:14
Through
Leviticus 23:4These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:14
Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.
- Leviticus 23:37
These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for presenting offerings by fire to the LORD—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its designated…
- Exodus 23:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Chuck Missler, The Fall Feasts of Israel (article); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.