Leviticus 23:34
in Leviticus 23“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto Jehovah.
KJV
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.
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This verse in Leviticus 23
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
While the solid branches were reserved for the construction of the booths, the lighter branches were carried by men, who marched in triumphal procession, singing psalms and crying "Hosanna!" which signifies, "Save, we beseech thee!" (Ps 118:15, 25, 26). It was a season of great rejoicing.
This site's exposition
On the fifteenth day of the seventh month
on Leviticus 23:34-36
Tabernacles runs seven days and then adds an eighth. The eighth day is a convocation and solemn assembly of its own, and the chapter gives it no rite beyond an offering made by fire.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This feast was appointed to remind them of that time when they had no other dwellings in the wilderness, and to stir them up to bless God, as well for the gracious protection then afforded them, as for the more commodious habitations now given them; and to excite them to gratitude for all the fruits of the year newly ended, which were now compleatly brought in.
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying,....
Now, [1.] The afflicting of their souls on the day of atonement prepared them for the joy of the feast of tabernacles. The more we are grieved and humbled for sin, the better qualified we are for the comforts of the Holy Ghost. [2.] The joy of this feast recompensed them for the sorrow of that fast; for those that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The feast of tabernacles - In this solemnity the people left their houses, and dwelt in booths or tents made of the branches of goodly trees and thick trees, (of what kind the text does not specify), together with palm-trees and willows of the brook, Lev 23:40. And in these they dwelt seven days, in commemoration of their forty years’ sojourning and dwelling in tents in the wilderness while destitute of any fixed habitations. In imitation of this feast among the people of God, the Gentiles had their feasts of tents.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Seven days - Like the Passover, the feast of tabernacles commenced at the full moon, on the fifteenth day of the month, and lasted for seven days. The week of the feast was followed by an eighth day, forming strictly no part of it Lev 23:36, Num 29:35; Neh 8:18, which was a day of holy convocation, and appears to have been generally distinguished by the word translated “solemn assembly” Deu 16:8; 2Ki 10:20; Isa 1:13; Joe 1:14; Joe 2:15. From its derivation the word in the original appears strictly to denote a closing festival, and this rendering would apply with the most perfect fitness to the day after the week of the Feast of tabernacles, as the conclusion of the series of yearly festivals.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דַּבֵּ֛ר | daber | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֨ה | bachamishah | [is] on [the] fif- | H2568 → | 343 times |
| עָשָׂ֜ר | ʾasar | teen | H6240 → | 338 times |
| י֗וֹם | yom | day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| לַחֹ֤דֶשׁ | lachodesh | of the month | H2320 → | 284 times |
| הַשְּׁבִיעִי֙ | hashevii | <the> seventh | H7637 → | 98 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| חַ֧ג | chag | [the] festival of | H2282 → | 62 times |
| הַסֻּכּ֛וֹת | hasukot | <the> booths | H5521 → | 31 times |
| שִׁבְעַ֥ת | shivat | seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| יָמִ֖ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| לַיהֹוָֽה׃ | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
דַּבֵּ֛רspeak
daberH1696 →1141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֨ה[is] on [the] fif-
bachamishahH2568 →343 times
עָשָׂ֜רteen
ʾasarH6240 →338 times
י֗וֹםday
yomH3117 →2304 times
לַחֹ֤דֶשׁof the month
lachodeshH2320 →284 times
הַשְּׁבִיעִי֙<the> seventh
hasheviiH7637 →98 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
חַ֧ג[the] festival of
chagH2282 →62 times
הַסֻּכּ֛וֹת<the> booths
hasukotH5521 →31 times
שִׁבְעַ֥תseven
shivatH7651 →394 times
יָמִ֖יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
לַיהֹוָֽה׃to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →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
Nehemiah 8:14And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month.
it leads to
- Zechariah 14:16–19
Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- John 7:2
However, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 16:13–15
You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.
- Leviticus 23:40–43
On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willows of the brook. And you are to…
- Zechariah 14:16–19
Through
Exodus 34:22And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:16
You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 23:16
Through
Ezra 3:4They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with what is written, and they offered burnt offerings daily based on the number prescribed for each day.
it leads to
- Numbers 29:12–38
On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work, and you shall observe a feast to the LORD for seven days.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nehemiah 8:14–17
And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month.
- Numbers 29:12–38
Through
John 7:2However, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 16:13–16
You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.
- Deuteronomy 16:13–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies22
On this verse
On this chapter
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); 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.