Leviticus 23:7
in Leviticus 23On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any regular work.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work.
KJV
In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
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This verse in Leviticus 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verse(1.) It is a holy convocation; that is, "If it lie within your reach, you shall sanctify it in a religious assembly: let as many as can come to the door of the tabernacle, and let others meet elsewhere for prayer, and praise, and the reading of the law," as in the schools of the prophets, while prophecy continued, and afterwards in the synagogues.
This site's exposition
On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly
on Leviticus 23:7-9
The week opens and closes with a sacred assembly, with an offering made by fire each day. The chapter bars regular work on its feast days but all work on the Sabbath at verse 3 and the Day of Atonement at verses 28 and 31. John Gill reads the lighter rule as allowing the preparing of food, so the two days of complete rest are guarded most closely.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The sabbath was given to the Jews to be observed literally, like other things, as rites symbolically signifying something deeper. A particular kind of vacation, you see, was enjoined on them. Take care to carry out what that vacation signifies. A spiritual vacation, I mean, is tranquility of heart; but tranquility of heart issues from the serenity of a good conscience. So the person who really observes the sabbath is the one who doesn't sin. This, after all, is the way the command was given to those who were commanded to observe the sabbath: "You shall perform no servile work." "Everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation,....
They were not idle days spent in sport and recreation (as many that are called Christians spend their holy days), but offerings were made by fire unto the Lord at his altar; and we have reason to think that the people were taught to employ their time in prayer, and praise, and godly meditation.
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּיּוֹם֙ | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן | harishon | <the> first | H7223 → | 182 times |
| מִקְרָא־ | mikra'- | a convocation of | H4744 → | 23 times |
| קֹ֖דֶשׁ | kodesh | holiness | H6944 → | 469 times |
| יִהְיֶ֣ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֑ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| כָּל־ | kol- | any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מְלֶ֥אכֶת | melekhet | work of | H4399 → | 167 times |
| עֲבֹדָ֖ה | ʾavodah | servitude | H5656 → | 145 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲשֽׂוּ׃ | taasu | you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
בַּיּוֹם֙on the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן<the> first
harishonH7223 →182 times
מִקְרָא־a convocation of
mikra'-H4744 →23 times
קֹ֖דֶשׁholiness
kodeshH6944 →469 times
יִהְיֶ֣הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֑םto <the> you
lakhem
כָּל־any
kol-H3605 →5413 times
מְלֶ֥אכֶתwork of
melekhetH4399 →167 times
עֲבֹדָ֖הservitude
ʾavodahH5656 →145 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲשֽׂוּ׃you will do
taasuH6213 →2628 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 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
Leviticus 23:21On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly, and you must not do any regular work. This is to be a permanent statute wherever you live for the generations to come.
it leads to
- Leviticus 23:2
“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.
- Genesis 17:7
I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Leviticus 23:4
These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times.
- Numbers 18:23
The Levites are to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come. The Levites will not receive an…
- Leviticus 23:14
You must not eat any bread or roasted or new grain until the very day you have brought this offering to your God. This is to be a permanent statute for the generations to…
- Leviticus 23:2
Through
Leviticus 23:25You must not do any regular work, but you are to present an offering made by fire to the LORD.’”
it leads to
- Leviticus 23:21
On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly, and you must not do any regular work. This is to be a permanent statute wherever you live for the generations to come.
- Leviticus 23:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Leviticus
This page draws on Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 270; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.