The document examines the appointed feasts and holy days as outlined in Leviticus 23, detailing the significance and observance of these occasions in the worship of God by the Israelites. It emphasizes the importance of the Sabbath and other festivals, describing their historical origins and the commandments associated with their observance. The commentary reflects on the communal aspects of these celebrations and their enduring relevance in Jewish tradition.

1. LEVITICUS 23 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
The Appointed Festivals
1The Lord said to Moses,
BARNES, "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.
GILL, "And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Much about the same time as before;
and having delivered to him various laws concerning the holiness of the people of Israel,
who were to serve him, and of the holiness of the priests, that were to minister in holy
things to him, and of the purity and perfections of their sacrifices, he here appoints
various times and seasons, for the more special worship and service of him:
HENRY 1-3, "Here is, I. A general account of the holy times which God appointed
(Lev_23:2), and it is only his appointment that can make time holy; for he is the Lord of
time, and as soon as ever he had set its wheels a-going it was he that sanctified and
blessed one day above the rest, Gen_2:3. Man may by his appointment make a good day
(Est_9:19), but it is God's prerogative to make a holy day; nor is any thing sanctified but
by the stamp of his institution. 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. They are called feasts. 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. Some read it, These are my assemblies, but that is co-
incident with convocations. I would rather read it, These are my solemnities; so the
1

2. word here used is translated (Isa_33:20), where Zion is called the city of our
solemnities: and, reading it so here, the day of atonement was as great a solemnity as
any of them. 2. They are the feasts of the Lord (my feasts), observed to the honour of his
name, and in obedience to his command. 3. They were proclaimed; for they were not to
be observed by the priests only that attended the sanctuary, but by all the people. And
this proclamation was the joyful sound concerning which we read, Blessed are the
people that know it, Psa_89:15. 4. They were to be sanctified and solemnized with holy
convocations, that the services of these feasts might appear the more honourable and
august, and the people the more unanimous in the performance of them; it was for the
honour of God and his institutions, which sought not corners and the purity of which
would be best preserved by the public administration of them; it was also for the
edification of the people in love that the feasts were to be observed as holy convocations.
II. A repetition of the law of the sabbath in the first place. Though the annual feasts
were made more remarkable by the general attendance at the sanctuary, yet these must
not eclipse the brightness of the sabbath, Lev_23:3. They are here told, 1. That on that
day they must withdraw themselves from all the affairs and business of the world. It is a
sabbath of rest, typifying our spiritual rest from sin, and in God: You shall do no work
therein. On other holy days they were forbidden to do any servile work (Lev_23:7), but
on the sabbath, and the day of atonement (which is also called a sabbath), they were to
do no work at all, no, not the dressing of meat. 2. On that day they must employ
themselves in the service of God. (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. Christ appointed the New Testament sabbath to be a holy
convocation, by meeting his disciples once and again (and perhaps oftener) on the first
day of the week. (2.) “Whether you have opportunity of sanctifying it in a holy
convocation or not, yet let it be the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. Put a
difference between that day and other days in your families. It is the sabbath of the Lord,
the day on which he rested from the work of creation, and on which he has appointed us
to rest; let it be observed in all your dwellings, even now that you dwell in tents.” Note,
God's sabbaths are to be religiously observed in every private house, by every family
apart, as well as by many families together in holy convocations. The sabbath of the Lord
in our dwellings will be their beauty, strength, and safety; it will sanctify, edify, and
glorify them.
K&D1-2, "This chapter does not contain a “calendar of feasts,” or a summary and
completion of the directions previously given in a scattered form concerning the festal
times of Israel, but simply a list of those festal days and periods of the year at which holy
meetings were to be held. This is most clearly stated in the heading (Lev_23:2): “the
festal times of Jehovah, which ye shall call out as holy meetings, these are they, My
feasts,” i.e., those which are to be regarded as My feasts, sanctified to Me. The festal
seasons and days were called “feasts of Jehovah,” times appointed and fixed by Jehovah
(see Gen_1:14), not because the feasts belonged to fixed times regulated by the course of
the moon (Knobel), but because Jehovah had appointed them as days, or times, which
were to be sanctified to Him. Hence the expression is not only used with reference to the
Sabbath, the new moon, and the other yearly feasts; but in Num_28:2 and Num_29:39
it is extended so as to include the times of the daily morning and evening sacrifice. (On
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3. the “holy convocation” see Exo_12:16.)
COFFMAN, "Verse 1
PART FOUR
ON HOLY DAYS AND SEASONS
(Leviticus 23-25)
Here begins the fourth major division of Leviticus dealing principally with the
various holy days and festivals observed by the children of Israel. This division
comprises Leviticus 23-25, with Leviticus 24 being somewhat of a parenthesis.
Significantly, these great festivals outlined here are still observed by the Jews all
over the world, although with changes that have inevitably occurred. There was
only one fast day, the Day of Atonement. In post-exilic times, the Jews imposed
many fasts upon their people, but without God's command or sanction. It was a
boast of the Pharisee (Luke 18) that he "fasted twice in the week"!
This part of Leviticus is distinguished by the continued use of "I am the Lord your
God," frequently used to terminate paragraphs. Here it divides this chapter into two
parts detailing the spring festivals (Leviticus 23:22), and the autumn festivals
(Leviticus 23:43). The major divisions of the chapter ending in those verses are
further subdivided by the clause, "this is a permanent rule for your descendants
wherever you dwell" (Leviticus 23:14,21,31,41).
The principal thrust of the chapter regards the people's observance of these
festivals. The detailed types of sacrifices required, which concerned chiefly the
priests, are presented later in Numbers (Numbers 28-29).
Some of these festivals occurred at times of the year when many festivals in the
pagan world had been observed continually for ages, and, as we should have
expected, critical enemies of the Bible try to find the origin of these O.T. festivals in
the older pagan ceremonies occurring about the same time, but all such attempts
have failed. "The original ground of these festivals was not the natural celebrations
of pagans, but historical. All of these observances derived from circumstances
attending the birth of the nation of Israel and their deliverance from Egyptian
bondage."[1] The divine origin of these celebrations is seen, for example, in the very
name Passover, which memorializes the passing over of the houses of Israel the
night when an angel of God slew the firstborn in all Egypt. Also, the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, during which no leaven was used for a whole week, still speaks,
as it did at the inception of the celebration, of the haste in which the children of
Israel were brought out of the land of their bondage, there being no time for leaven
3

4. to be allowed to rise! The finger of God was in all of those ancient festivals, and it is
still visible for those who will observe it. Thus, "The naturalistic identification of
these feasts with the harvest feasts of other nations is a mistake."[2]
"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 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. Six days shall work be done: but on the
seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner
of work: it is a sabbath unto Jehovah in all your dwellings."
"Holy convocations ..." These words "do not signify the necessity of a journey to the
sanctuary. Appearance at the tabernacle to hold the holy convocations was not
regarded as necessary either in the law itself or in later orthodox custom."[3] As a
matter of fact, and of history, religious meetings for the purpose of conducting
worship were held every sabbath day WHEREVER Jews lived; and, "It was out of
these that the synagogues arose."[4]
The sabbath itself is here mentioned somewhat parenthetically, because the sabbath
itself was NOT one of the great festivals about to be proclaimed. However, it was a
most vital part of the Jewish religion and is appropriately named here at the outset.
Besides, the observance of additional sabbaths was involved in festivals themselves.
"Ye shall do no manner of work ..." (Leviticus 23:3). This is a more restrictive
commandment than the one found in Leviticus 23:7,8,21,25,35,36, where "ye shall
do no servile work," is the prohibition. "There is a definite indication here that the
regular, frequently occurring sabbath was intended to be a holier day than any of
the set feasts."[5] Similarly, in Christianity, the extreme sanctity of the regular,
frequently-occurring Lord's Day services, constitute the holiest occasions of all.
What a shame it is that the historical church has tended to downgrade the weekly
observance and give the great stress to "special occasions," not commanded by the
Lord at all, but devised by men, such as Easter, Christmas, Whitsunday, Good
Friday, etc.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:41. Ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the
year— These days were spent in great festivity and joy; the highest part of which
consisted in the drawing and pouring out of water: the Talmudists say of this, that
he who never saw the rejoicing of drawing of water, knows not what rejoicing is.
This custom is thought to have been in memory of the miraculous water which
flowed from the rock in the wilderness; and undoubtedly was figurative of the
gospel-grace; see Zechariah 14:16. The words of Isaiah 12:3 were sung during this
ceremony; With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation: to which it is
believed our Saviour alluded, when he cried out in the temple, on the last day of this
solemnity; If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink: he that believeth on
me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, John
7:37-38. It is probable, that the Pagans derived their festivals in honour of Bacchus
from this feast of the Jews.
4

5. REFLECTIONS.—The sorrows of repentance are the certain forerunners of peace
and joy in believing. The humiliation of the day of atonement prepared for the feast
of tabernacles, one of the three great festivals, celebrated for eight days, with every
expression of gladness, with many sacrifices, and two days of solemn convocation.
During seven days, they lived in booths, made of the branches of trees; the eighth
was a holy day of rest and joy. They thus remembered their long abode in tents in
the wilderness, and God's care of them there: and as the fruits of the whole year
were now gathered in, this added to their thankfulness. Note; (1.) When we come to
our true land of rest, it will ever warm our hearts with peculiar gratitude, to
remember the hardships we have endured in the wilderness, and from which the
Lord delivered us. (2.) If the joy of harvest was so great, how much greater will be
our joy, when we shall reap the harvest of eternal glory! (3.) We, in this world, dwell
in booths, but in a few days we shall return to our house, which is from heaven, and
then everlasting joy will be upon our heads.
These solemnities were annually observed, besides their sabbaths and free-will
offerings; for nothing must interrupt our ordinary duties, and we are never
restrained from adding any farther portion of our time and substance to the
immediate service of God, if we find our hearts inclined, and our circumstances
enable us.
EBC, "
THE WEEKLY SABBATH
Leviticus 23:1-3
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say
unto them, The set feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, even these are My set feasts. Six days shall work be done: but on the
seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner
of work: it is a sabbath unto the Lord in all your dwellings."
The first verse of this chapter announces the purpose of the section as not to give a
complete calendar of sacred times or of seasons of worship, -for the new moons and
the sabbatic year and the jubilee are not mentioned, - but to enumerate such sacred
times as are to be kept as "holy convocations." The reference in this phrase cannot
be to an assembling of the people at the central sanctuary which is elsewhere
ordered {Exodus 34:23} only for the three feasts of passover, weeks, and atonement;
but rather, doubtless, to local gatherings for purposes of worship, such as, at a later
day, took form in the institution of the synagogues.
The enumeration of these "set times" begins with the Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3), as
was natural; for, as we have seen, the whole series of sacred times was sabbatic in
character. The sanctity of the day is emphasised in the strongest terms, as a
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6. shabbath shabbathon, a "sabbath of sabbatism,"-a sabbath of solemn rest, as it is
rendered by the Revisers. While on some other sacred seasons the usual occupations
of the household were permitted, on the Sabbath "no manner of work" was to be
done; not even was it lawful to gather wood or to light a fire.
For this sanctity of the Sabbath two reasons are elsewhere given. The first of these,
which is assigned in the fourth commandment, makes it a memorial of the rest of
God, when having created man in Eden, He saw His work which He had finished,
that it was very good, and rested from all His work. As created, man was participant
in this rest of God. He was indeed to work in tilling the garden in which he had been
placed; but from such labour as involves unremunerative toil and exhaustion he was
exempt. But this sabbatic rest of the creation was interrupted by sin; God’s work,
which He had declared "good," was marred; man fell into a condition of wearying
toil and unrest of body and soul, and with him the whole creation also was
"subjected to vanity". {Genesis 3:17-18 Romans 8:20} But in this state of things the
God of love could not rest; it thus involved for Him a work of new creation, which
should have for its object the complete restoration, both as regards man and nature,
of that sabbatic state of things on earth which had been broken up by sin. And thus
it came to pass that the weekly Sabbath looked not only backward, but forward;
and spoke not only of the rest that was, but of the great sabbatism of the future, to
be brought in through a promised redemption. Hence, as a second reason for the
observance of the Sabbath, it is said {Exodus 31:13} to be a sign between God and
Israel through all their generations, that they might know that He was Jehovah
which sanctified them, i.e., who had set them apart for deliverance from the curse,
that through them the world might be saved.
These are thus the two sabbatic ideas; rest and redemption. They everywhere
appear, in one form or another, in all this sabbatic series of sacred times. Some of
them emphasise one phase of the rest and redemption, and some another; the
weekly Sabbath, as the unit of the series, presents both. For in Deuteronomy
{Deuteronomy 5:15} Israel was commanded to keep the Sabbath in commemoration
of the exodus, as the time when God undertook to bring them into His rest; a rest of
which the beginning and the pledge was their deliverance from Egyptian bondage; a
rest brought in through a redemption.
Verses 1-44
THE SET FEASTS OF THE LORD
Leviticus 23:1-44
IT is ever an instinct of natural religion to observe certain set times for special
public and united worship. As we should therefore anticipate, such observances are
in this chapter enjoined as a part of the requirement of the law of holiness for Israel.
It is of consequence to observe that the Revisers have corrected the error of the
Authorised Version, which renders two perfectly distinct words alike as "feasts";
6

7. and have distinguished the one by the translation. "set feasts," the other by the one
word, "feasts." The precise sense of the former word is given in the margin
"appointed seasons." and it is naturally applied to all the set times of special
religious solemnity which are ordained in this chapter. But the other word
translated "feast,"-derived from a root meaning "to dance," whence "feast" or
"festival,"-is applied to only three of the former six "appointed seasons," namely,
the feasts of Unleavened Bread, of Pentecost, and of Tabernacles; as intended to be,
in a special degree, seasons of gladness and festivity.
The indication of this distinction is of importance, as completely meeting the
allegation that there is in this chapter evidence of a later development than in the
account of the feasts given in Exodus 34:1-35, where the number of the "feasts,"
besides the weekly Sabbath, is given as three, while here, as it is asserted, their
number has been increased to six. In reality, however, there is nothing here which
suggests a later period. For the object of the former law in Exodus was only to name
the "feasts" (haggim); while that of the chapter before us is to indicate not only
these, -which here, as there, are three, -but, in addition to these, all "appointed
seasons" for "holy convocations," which, although all mo’adim, were not all
haggim.
The observance of public religious festivals has been common to all the chief
religions of the world, both ancient and modern. Very often, though not in all cases,
these have been determined by the phases of the moon; or by the apparent motion of
the sun in the heavens, as in many instances of religious celebrations connected with
the period of the spring and autumnal equinoxes; and thus, very naturally, also with
the times of harvest and ingathering. It is at once evident that of these appointed
seasons of holy convocation, the three feasts (haggim) of the Hebrews also fell at
certain points in the harvest season; and with each of these, ceremonies were
observed connected with harvest and ingathering; while two, the feast of weeks and
that of tabernacles, take alternate names, directly referring to this their connection
with the harvest; namely, the feast of first fruits and that of ingathering. Thus we
have, first, the feast of unleavened bread, following passover, which was
distinguished by the presentation of a sheaf of the first fruits of the barley harvest,
in the latter part of March, or early in April; then, the feast of weeks, or first fruits,
seven weeks later, marking the completion of the grain harvest with the ingathering
of the wheat; and, finally, the feast of tabernacles or ingathering, in the seventh
month, marking the harvesting of the fruits, especially the oil and the wine, and
therewith the completed ingathering of the whole product of the year.
From these facts it is argued that in these Hebrew feasts we have simply a natural
development, with modifications, of the ancient and widespread system of harvest
feasts among the heathen; to which the historical element which appears in some of
them was only added as an afterthought, in a later period of history. From this point
of view, the idea that these feasts were a matter of supernatural revelation
disappears; what religious character they have belongs originally to the universal
religion of nature.
7

8. But it is to be remarked, first, that even if we admit that in their original character
these were simply and only harvest feasts, it would not follow that therefore their
observance, with certain prescribed ceremonies, could not have been matter of
Divine revelation. There is a religion of nature; God has not left Himself without a
witness, in that He has given men "rains and fruitful seasons," filling their hearts
with food and gladness. And, as already remarked in regard to sacrifice, it is no part
of the method of God in revelation to ignore or reject what in this religion of nature
may be true and right; but rather to use it, and build on this foundation.
But, again, the mere fact that the feast of unleavened bread fell at the beginning of
barley harvest, and that one-though only one-ceremony appointed for that festive
week had explicit reference to the then beginning harvest, is not sufficient to
disprove the uniform declaration of Scripture that, as observed in Israel, its original
ground was not natural, but historical; namely, in the circumstances attending the
birth of the nation in their exodus from Egypt.
But we may say more than this. If the contrary were true, and the introduction of
the historical element was an afterthought, as insisted by some, then we should
expect to find that in accounts belonging to successive periods, the reference to the
harvest would certainly be more prominent in the earlier, and the reference of the
feast to a historical origin more prominent in the later, accounts of the feasts. Most
singular it is then, upon this hypothesis, to find that even accepting the analysis, e.g.,
of Wellhausen, the facts are the exact reverse. For the only brief reference to the
harvest in connection with this feast of unleavened bread is found in this chapter 23,
of Leviticus, composed, it is alleged, about the time of Ezekiel; while, on the other
hand, the narrative in Exodus 12:1-51, regarded by all the critics of this school as
the earliest account of the origin of the feast of unleavened bread, refers only to the
historical event of the exodus, as the occasion of its institution. If we grant the
asserted difference in age of these two parts of the Pentateuch, one would thus more
naturally conclude that the historical events were the original occasion of the
institution of the festival, and that the reference to the harvest, in the presentation of
the sheaf of first fruits, was the later introduction into the ceremonies of the week.
But the truth is that this naturalistic identification of these Hebrew feasts with the
harvest feasts of other nations is a mistake. In order to make it out, it is necessary to
ignore or pervert most patent facts. These so-called harvest feasts in fact form part
of an elaborate system of sacred times, -a system which is based upon the Sabbath,
and into which the sacred number seven, the number of the covenant, enters
throughout as a formative element. The weekly Sabbath, first of all, was the seventh
day; the length of the great festivals of unleavened bread and of tabernacles was
also, in each case, seven days. Not only so, but the entire series of sacred times
mentioned in this chapter and in chapter 25 constitutes an ascending series of sacred
septenaries, in which the ruling thought is this: that the seventh is holy unto the
Lord, as the number symbolic of rest and redemption; and that the eighth, as the
first of a new week, is symbolic of the new creation. Thus we have the seventh day,
8

9. the weekly Sabbath, constantly recurring, the type of each of the series; then,
counting from the feast of unleavened bread, -the first of the sacred year, -the
fiftieth day, at the end of the seventh week, is signalised as sacred by the feast of
first fruits or of "weeks"; the seventh month, again, is the sabbatic month, of special
sanctity, containing as it does three of the annual seasons of holy convocation, -the
feast of trumpets on its first day, the great day of atonement on the tenth, and the
last of the three great annual feasts, that of tabernacles or ingathering, for seven
days from the fifteenth day of the month. Beyond this series of sacred festivals
recurring annually, in chapter 25, the seventh year is appointed to be a sabbatic
year of rest to the land, and the series at last culminates at the expiration of seven
sevens of years, in the fiftieth year, -the eighth following the seventh seven, -the
great year of jubilee, the supreme year of rest, restoration, and release. All these
sacred times, differing in the details of their observance, are alike distinguished by
their connection with the sacred number seven, by the informing presence of the
idea of the Sabbath, and therewith always a new and fuller revelation of God as in
covenant with Israel for their redemption.
Now, like to this series of sacred times, in heathenism there is absolutely nothing. It
evidently belongs to another realm of thought, ethics, and religion. And so, while it
is quite true that in the three great feasts there was a reference to the harvest, and so
to fruitful nature, yet the fundamental, unifying idea of the system of sacred times
was not the recognition of the fruitful life of nature, as in the heathen festivals, but
of Jehovah, as the Author and Sustainer of the life of His covenant people Israel, as
also of every individual in the nation. This, we repeat, is the one central thought in
all these sacred seasons; not the life of nature, but the life of the holy nation, as
created and sustained by a covenant God. The annual processes of nature have
indeed a place and a necessary recognition in the system, simply because the
personal God is active in all nature; but the place of these is not primary, but
secondary and subordinate. They have a recognition because, in the first place, it is
through the bounty of God in nature that the life of man is sustained; and, secondly,
also because nature in her order is a type and shadow of things spiritual. For in the
spiritual world, whether we think of it as made up of nations or individuals, even as
in the natural, there is a seedtime and a harvest, a time of first fruits and a time of
the joy and rest of the full ingathering of fruit, and oil, and wine. Hence it was most
fitting that this inspired rubric, as primarily intended for the celebration of spiritual
things, should be so arranged and timed, in all its parts, as that in each returning
sacred season, visible nature should present itself to Israel as a manifest parable and
eloquent suggestion of those spiritual verities; the more so that thus the Israelite
would be reminded that the God of the Exodus and the God of Sinai was also the
supreme Lord of nature, the God of the seed time and harvest, the Creator and
Sustainer of the heavens and the earth, and of all that in them is.
PULPIT, "Verses 1-5
PART IV. HOLY DAYS AND SEASONS: WEEKLY, MONTHLY, ANNUAL,
SEPTENNIAL, AND EVERY HALF-CENTURY.
9

10. EXPOSITION
THIS Part consists of Leviticus 23:1-44, and Leviticus 25:1-55, with Leviticus
24:1-23 parenthetically introduced.
Every religion must have its round of holy days and seasons:
1. To give occasion for manifesting joyous thankfulness to the Giver of all good
things.
2. To keep alive the memory of past events around which religious associations
cling.
3. To impress upon the hearts of the worshippers those sacred mysteries which are
regarded as essential characteristics of the system.
1. The duty and happiness of rejoicing before the Lord find a prominent place
under the Mosaic dispensation, as they must in any religion where man feels himself
in a covenant relation with God, brought nigh to him by himself, and no longer
estranged from him who is his only true life and happiness. Accordingly, the first
thought of the annual Jewish festivals is that of joyous thankfulness, such as is
becoming to reconciled children grateful to their Father for the many bounties that
they receive at his hands. The first gift of God of which man becomes conscious is
that of the daily sustenance provided for him, and therefore we should expect holy
days to be appointed to commemorate the goodness of God in bestowing the gifts of
the earth. The first aspect, therefore, in which to regard the three great annual
festivals—the Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles—is that they were
days of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth dispensed by God to man.
First, with regard to the Passover. We read at Leviticus 24:10, Leviticus 24:11,
"When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest
thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf [or an omer] of the firstfruits of your harvest
unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you:
on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it." The words, "the morrow
after the sabbath," mean, as we shall see, the day after the first day of Unleavened
Bread, that is, the second day of the feast, Nisan 16, which fell early in April, when
the first barley was ripening in Palestine. On the 14th day of Nisan (the day of the
Paschal sacrifice) a certain quantity of standing barley was marked off, by men
specially appointed for the purpose, in a field ploughed the previous autumn and
sown at least ten weeks before the Passover, but not prepared artificially in such a
way as to hasten the crop. On the following day, Nisan 15, at sunset, three men were
sent to the selected field, and, in the presence of witnesses, cut the ears of corn
before marked, and brought them into the temple. On the next day, Nisan 16, this
corn, whether in the form of a sheaf or of flour, was offered to the Lord by being
waved before him, and then consigned to the priest. Here, by the presentation of the
10

11. firstfruits of the year, an acknowledgment is made that the products of the earth are
by right God's. This is one of the objects of the Feast of the Passover.
Secondly, as to Pentecost. After the sheaf, or omer, had been offered on Nisan 16, it
was allowable to make the new year's barley into bread, but the dedication of the
grain crops was not complete until a portion of the wheat crop had also been
offered. This was done a week of weeks later, at the Feast of Pentecost, forty-nine
days after the presentation of the barley, and fifty days after the first day of
Unleavened Bread. On this day, two leavened loaves, of the same size as the
shewbread loaves, were waved before the Lord, and then delivered to the priest.
These loaves were made out of ears of corn selected and reaped as the barley had
been seven weeks before, and then threshed and ground in the temple. They were
regarded as the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, though they were not made of the
first cut wheat; and from their presentation the festival has the name of the Feast of
Harvest (Exodus 23:16); the Feast of the Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest (Exodus
24:1-18 :22); the Day of the Firstfruits (Numbers 28:26); while, from its date
relatively to the Passover, it is called the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22;
Deuteronomy 16:10). The name, Feast of Pentecost, is found only in the Apocrypha
(Tobit 2:1; 2 Macc. 12:32), and in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; Acts 20:16; 1
Corinthians 16:8). The meat offerings might not be made of the new year's flour
until these two loaves had been offered.
Thirdly, with regard to the Feast of Tabernacles. The festivals connected with the
seasons of the year and the products of the soil were not ended until the Feast of
Ingathering (Exodus 23:16; Exodus 34:22), or Tabernacles (verse 34; Deuteronomy
16:13; Ezra 3:4; Zechariah 14:16; Jeremiah 7:2), had been celebrated. This festival
occurred about the beginning of October, and commemorated the final gathering in
of all the fruits of the year, specially of the olives and the grapes. It was observed by
a general dwelling in booths made of the branches of palms, willows, olives, pines,
myrtles, and other close-growing trees (verse 40; Nehemiah 8:15), in which all the
Israelite males, with the exception of the sick, lived for seven days, and kept harvest
home.
2. The second aspect in which to regard the annum festivals is the historical one.
The Passover is characterized by its historical associations to a greater degree than
either of the other festivals. The whole national life of the Israelites received its
character from the Egyptian Exodus, and accordingly the anniversaries of their
religious year began with its commemoration. It was the events which had taken
place in Egypt which gave to the Paschal sacrifice and the Paschal feast their
primary signification; and while to us the Passover festival serves as a proof of the
truth of those events, to the Jew it served as a memorial of them, preventing them
from ever being forgotten or disregarded (cf. Exodus 13:3-16). The ancient
Christian Fathers suggested that the Feast of Pentecost commemorated the
institution of the old dispensation at Sinai, as, to Christians, it recalled the
institution of the new Law by the gift of the fiery tongues at Jerusalem. This
suggestion was adopted by Maimonides and the later school of Hebrew
11

12. commentators, and it is a very probable conjecture; but as no appearance of it is
found in the Old or New Testaments, nor even in early Hebrew writers, it cannot be
regarded as a certainty. Historically, the Feast of Tabernacles is generally
considered to commemorate the dwelling in tents throughout the forty years'
wandering in the wilderness; but if this were so, it would have been called the Feast
of Tents, for the words "tent" and "tabernacle" differ, and the Israelites did not
dwell in tabernacles in the wilderness. Rather, it commemorates the first
encampment of the Israelites after setting forth from Egypt, which took place at
"Succoth," the meaning of which word is "tabernacle" (Exodus 12:37). Thus, as the
event historically associated with the first harvest festival, the Passover, was the
setting forth from Egypt, that associated with the last, the Feast of Tabernacles, was
the resting at the end of the first day's journey at Succoth, where the people now felt
that they were free, and began to rejoice in their freedom.
3. The typical character of the feasts, as well as their historical character, is more
apparent in the Passover than in the other two feasts. St. Paul's testimony on this
point is sufficient: "For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us
keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:7). Here we
have the typical character of the Paschal lamb, and of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, authoritatively declared to us. The blood of the lamb slain on the night
before the Exodus, being the means whereby the Israelites were delivered from the
destruction which fell on all the rest of the inhabitants of the land, typified the still
more efficacious bloodshedding by which the redemption of Christ's people was
wrought. The Feast of Pentecost, if it commemorated the gift of the Law at Mount
Sinai, pointed thereby to the giving of the better Law on the day when the Holy
Ghost descended upon the apostles in Jerusalem; and in any case, as a Feast of
Firstfruits, it was emblematic of those firstfruits of the Christian Church presented
to God on that day (Acts 2:41). The Feast of Tabernacles, in which God's people
commemorated their rejoicing in their newly found liberty after the slavery of
Egypt, awaits its full typical fulfillment in the spiritual joy of the redeemed after
they have been delivered from the burden of the flesh and the sufferings of the
world; but its typical meaning is partially fulfilled in the blessed peace and joy
spread abroad in the hearts of the children of God by reason of their adoption in
Christ, whereby we have obtained an inheritance with the saints (Ephesians 1:11,
Ephesians 1:18).
In the annual fast held on the 10th of Tisri, the great Day of Atonement, the typical
element outweighs any other. The present and the past sink away in comparison
with the future. The day suggests no thought of the seasons or of the products of the
earth, and it recalls no event of past history. It teaches a lesson—the need of
reconciliation; and by the entrance of the high priest into the holy of holies with
sacrificial blood, and by the ceremony of the scapegoat, it typically foreshadows how
that reconciliation is to he effected.
The monthly festivals had a purpose different from the annual. They occurred on
12

13. the new moon, or the first day of each month, and their intention was to dedicate
each month to God. Only one of these monthly festivals is mentioned in this chapter
the Feast of Trumpets. It is the feast of the new moon of the sacred seventh month,
with which the civil year began. Because it was New Year's Day, it had more
ceremonies attached to it than the first days of the other months. Whereas the feasts
of the new moons in other months only sanctified the special month which they
began, the Feast of Trumpets sanctified also the whole year, and was therefore an
annual as well as a monthly feast.
The weekly festival was the sabbath (see Exodus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:15). This
feast sanctified each week, as the monthly feasts sanctified each month; and like the
annual festivals, it looked both backwards and forwards: backwards, to the
sanctification bestowed upon it "Because that in it he had rested from all his work
which God created and made" (Genesis 2:3); forwards, to the great sabbath in
which Christ rested in the grave, and yet further onwards to another sabbath still to
be enjoyed by the people of God.
The sabbatical year and the jubilee were extensions of the sabbatical principle—
certain civil and religious institutions and regulations being attached to each of
them.
2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These
are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals
of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred
assemblies.
BARNES, "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
13

14. 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).
CLARKE, "These 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.
GILL, "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... Speak to them
to gather together, and then say unto them what follows, they all being obliged to keep
the feasts, and observe the solemnities hereafter directed to; though it may be the heads
of the tribes and the elders of the people were summoned together, and the following
things were delivered to them, and by them to the people:
concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, even these are my feasts; appointed and ordered by God, and to be
kept to the honour of his name; these are the general names for the particular holy times
and seasons after appointed; they are in general called "feasts", though one of them, the
day of atonement, was, strictly speaking, a fast; yet being a cessation from all work, and
opposed to working days, days of labour and business, it is comprehended in this
general title: nor is it unusual with other nations to call a fast a feast; so Aelianus (h)
relates of the Tarentines, that having been besieged by the Romans, and delivered from
them, in memory of their sufferings appointed a feast which was called a fast: the word
used has the signification of stated, fixed, appointed times and seasons, and of
convening or meeting together at such times, and that for the performance of solemn
worship and service, which is true of them all; for there are certain times of the week and
month fixed for them, and when the people in bodies assembled together, and in a
solemn manner worshipped the Lord; and these are called "convocations", because the
people were called together at those times by the priests, and that with the sound of a
trumpet, Num_10:2; and "holy", because separated from other days, and set apart for
holy services: the words may be rendered, as they are by many (i): "the solemnities of the
Lord, which ye shall proclaim holy convocations, these are my solemnities"; times for
holy, religious, and solemn service, of his appointment and for his glory: Aben Ezra
seems to understand all this of the sabbath only, which is next mentioned, expressed in
the plural number, because, as he observes, there are many sabbaths in a year; and
indeed the general title of the rest of the feasts is afterwards given, Lev_23:4.
JAMISON, "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. They were appointed by the direct
authority of God and announced by a public proclamation, which is called “the joyful
sound” (Psa_89:15). Those “holy convocations” were evidences of divine wisdom, and
eminently subservient to the maintenance and diffusion of religious knowledge and
14

15. piety.
COKE, "Leviticus 23:2. Concerning the feasts of the Lord, &c.— These words
might be rendered more unexceptionably thus: the solemnities of the Lord, which ye
shall proclaim, with holy proclamations, are these my solemnities: i.e. stripped of
the Hebrew idiom, these are the holy solemnities of the Lord, to be publicly
proclaimed and observed. They were to be proclaimed by the sound of a trumpet.
See Numbers 10:8. Solemnities is a more unexceptionable word than feasts, as the
day of atonement could not properly be styled a feast. The original word signifies
any appointed or regular assembly or congregation, and is very expressive of these
solemn meetings of the Jews. "The word used here," says Dr. Beaumont, "is the
same as in Genesis 1:14. ‫מועד‬ moed; and generally signifies a set time or season; but
is applied here to the solemn feasts which were appointed by God at their set-times
in the year."
ELLICOTT, " (2) Speak unto the children of Israel.—As the festivals here discussed
were to be solemnly kept by them, Moses is ordered to address these regulations to
the people or their representatives.
Concerning the feasts of the Lord . . . Better, the festivals of the Lord which ye shall
proclaim as holy convocations, these are my festivals. That is, the following festivals
God claims as His, on which solemn assemblies are to be held in the sanctuary.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:2
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, The set feasts of Yahweh, which
you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.”
Moses is to declare to the children of Israel what are His set feasts. He is to proclaim
them as ‘holy convocations’, holy ‘calling-togethers’. They are the times when His
people must come together for the purposes of joint worship and renewal of the
covenant which bound them all together as His people.
There were, of course, already recognised times of celebration among many nations
and tribes. They covered the lamb harvest, the barley harvest, the wheat harvest
and the harvest of summer fruits and vintage. But in Israel’s case they also included
celebration of the deliverance from Egypt at the Passover, and a recognition of the
nation’s failures at the Day of Atonement, and a reminder of when they had dwelt in
tents in the wilderness. Thus they were to celebrate both Yahweh’s continual
provision in the various harvests and Yahweh’s deliverance, both past and present,
deliverance from Egypt in the past (Passover), and deliverance from sin in the
present (Atonement).
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
[Concerning] the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be] holy
15

16. convocations, [even] these [are] my feasts.
Ver. 2. To be holy convocations.] Not bare rests, as Plato said, that the gods, pitying
men’s labour, appointed their festivals to be a remission of their labour. (a) {See
Trapp on "Exodus 20:8"} {See Trapp on "Exodus 20:9"} {See Trapp on "Exodus
20:10"} {See Trapp on "Exodus 20:11"}
PULPIT, "Leviticus 23:2
Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations,
even these are my feasts. The translation should rather be, The appointed times
which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my appointed times. The
appointed times (mo'adin) include the great fast as well as the festivals, and the
weekly and monthly as well as the annual holy days. The primary purpose with
which the following enumeration of holy days is introduced, is to give a list of the
holy convocations. While the Israelites were still dwelling in the wilderness, a holy
convocation appears to have been a religious assembly of all the males in the court
of the tabernacle. After the settlement in Canaan, a religious gathering for prayer or
festive rejoicing in all their dwellings, that is, wherever they lived, would have
satisfied the command to hold a holy convocation, except on the three great festivals,
when all who could, "kept the feast" at Jerusalem. There were in all seven holy
convocations in the year, besides the sabbath, namely, the first and last days of
Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Pentecost, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of
Trumpets, the first and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles.
BI 2-44, "These are My feasts.
The holy festivals
I. Commentators generally on this part of Hebrew law have remarked upon the social,
political, and commercial benefits resulting to the Jewish people from these national
festivals and convocations. They served to unite the nation, cemented them together as
one people, and prevented the tendency to the formation of separate cliques and
conflicting clans or states. These convocations also had great effect upon the internal
commerce of the Hebrew people. They furnished facilities for mutual exchanges, and
opened the ways of trade and business between the various sections.
II. There was also A direct religious value and forethought in the appointment of these
festivals. They prescribed public consociation in worship. Man is a worshipping being. It
is not only his duty, but his nature and native instinct to worship. Mere isolated worship,
without association in common set services, soon dwindles, flags, degenerates, and
corrupts. Neither does it ever reach that majesty and intense inspiration which comes
from open congregation in the same great acts of devotion. “As iron sharpeneth iron, so
man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” And just as the multitude of these
mutual sharpeners is increased, will their common devotion be deepened and
augmented.
III. I propose to speak more particularly of the typical relations of these holy feasts and
seasons. We have in them a system of types, chronologically arranged, to set forth the
16

17. true course of time—to prefigure the whole history of redemption in its leading outlines
from the commencement to the close.
1. The first was the Passover. It was a sort of perpetual commemoration of their
deliverance from the oppressor and from death—a standing testimonial that their
salvation was by the blood of the Lamb. It was the keynote of the Christian system
sounding in the dim depths of remote antiquity. That bondage in Egypt referred to a
still deeper and more degrading slavery of the spirit. That redemption was the
foreshadow of a far greater deliverance. And that slain lamb and its sprinkled blood
pointed to a meeker, purer, and higher Victim, whose body was broken and blood
shed for us and for many for the remission of sins.
2. The next was the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was a sort of continuation of
the Passover on the next day. The one refers to what Christ does and is to the
believer, and the other refers to what the true believer does in return. The one refers
to our redemption by blood and our deliverance from condemnation; the other to
our repentance and consecration to a new life of obedience, separated from the
leaven of unrighteousness. It is therefore plain why both were thus joined together as
one. Redemption is nothing to us if it does not lead us to a purification of ourselves
from the filthy ways and associations of the wicked, We can only effectually keep the
gospel feast by purging out the old leaven of malice and wickedness. Seven days was
this Feast of Unleavened Bread to be kept—a full period of time. We are to “serve
God in righteousness and holiness all the days of our life.” Our work is not done until
the week of our stay in this world ends. We must be faithful until death.
3. Joined with the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread was the additional
service of presenting before God the first sheaf of the barley harvest. “This,” says
Cumming, “was a beautiful institution, to teach the Israelites that it was not the soil,
nor the raindrops, nor the sunbeams, nor the dews, nor the skill of their
agriculturists, that they had to thank for their bounteous produce; but that they must
rise above the sower and reaper, and see God, the Giver of the golden harvest, and
make His praise the keynote to their harvest-home.” It was all this, but it had also a
deeper and more beautiful meaning. The broad field, sowed with good seed, with its
golden ears ripening for the harvest, is Christ’s own chosen figure of His kingdom
upon earth, and the congregation of His believing children maturing for the garners
of eternal life. In that field the chief sheaf is Jesus Christ Himself; for He was in all
respects “made like unto His brethren.” He is the “firstfruits.” He was gathered first,
and received into the treasure-house of heaven. It was the Passover time when He
came to perfect ripeness. It was during these solemnities that He was “cut off.” And
when the Spirit of God lifted Him from the sepulchre, and the heavens opened to
receive Him, then did the waving of the sheaf of firstfruits have its truest and highest
fulfilment. Until this sheaf was thus offered along with the blood of atonement there
could be no harvest for us.
4. There was another harvest, and another festival service connected with its
opening, fifty days later than the barley harvest. This was the wheat harvest, at which
was celebrated the Feast of Weeks, otherwise called Pentecost. The Passover shows
us Christ crucified; the sheaf of firstfruits shows us Christ raised from the dead and
lifted up to heaven as our forerunner; and the Pentecostal feast, with its two leavened
loaves, shows us Christ in the gracious influences of His Spirit wrought into the
hearts and lives of those who constitute His earthly Church. This spiritual kneading
took its highest and most active form on that memorable Pentecost when the
17

18. disciples “were all with one accord in one place,” and the Holy Spirit came down
upon them with gifts of mighty power. Three thousand souls were that day added to
the Church, It was a glad and glorious day for Christianity. It was the firstfruits of
wheat harvest brought with joyous thanksgiving unto God. But it was only the
firstfruits—the earnest of a vast and plenteous harvest of the same kind ripening on
the same fields. Thenceforward the world was to be filled with glad reapers gathering
in the sheaves, and with labourers kneading the contents of those sheaves into loaves
for God. Leaven there needs is in those loaves; but, presented along with the blood of
the chief of the flock and herd, they still become acceptable to Him who ordained the
service. There was a peculiar requirement connected with these laws for the wheat,
harvest well worthy of special attention. The corners of the fields and the gleanings
were to be left. This was a beautiful feature in these arrangements. It presents a good
lesson, of which we ought never to lose sight. But it was also a type. Of what, I have
not seen satisfactorily explained, though the application seems easy. If the wheat
harvest refers to the gathering of men from sin to Christianity, and from subjects of
Satan to subjects of grace, then the plain indication of this provision is that the entire
world, under this present dispensation, shall not be completely converted to God. I
believe that the time will come, and that it is largely and fully predicted in the
Scriptures, when “all shall know the Lord from the least unto the greatest”—when
there will not be a single sinner left upon the earth. But that time will not come until
a new dispensation with new instrumentalities shall have been introduced.
5. The next was the Feast of Trumpets. This was held on the first day of the seventh
month of the ecclesiastical year, which was the same as the first month of the civil
year. It was therefore a new-year festival, and at the same time the feast of
introduction to the Sabbatic month. Its chief peculiarity was the continual sounding
of trumpets from morning till evening. It was the grand type of the preaching of the
gospel. The Feast of Trumpets was, to a great extent, a preliminary of the great Day
of Atonement. We have already considered the peculiarities of this solemn day. Its
leading thought is contained in its name—at-one-ment—that is, agreement,
reconciliation, harmony, and peace with God. The Feast of Trumpets was a call to
this at-one-ment. The gospel is an appeal to men to be reconciled to God.
6. Immediately succeeding the great solemnity on the fifteenth day of the month
began another remarkable festival called tile Feast of Tabernacles. It was to
commemorate the forty years of tent life which their fathers led in the wilderness,
and pointed, the same as that which it commemorated, to that period of the
Christian’s career which lies between his deliverance from bondage and his entrance
into rest—that is, between his reconciliation to God and his final inheritance of the
promises. It celebrates the state of the believer while he yet remains in this present
life. This world is not our dwelling-place. We are pilgrims and strangers here,
tarrying for a little season in tents and booths which we must soon vacate and leave
to decay. “The earthly house of this tabernacle” must “be dissolved.” The places that
know us now shall soon know us no more. “Seven days”—a full period—were the
people of Israel to remain in these temporary tabernacles. And thus shall we be at the
inconvenience of a tent life for the full period of our earthly stay. But it was only once
in a year that Israel kept the Feast of Tabernacles. And so, when we once leave the
flesh, we shall never return to it again. Our future bodies shall be glorified, celestial,
spiritual bodies. It is also a precious thought connected with this subject that when
the Jews left their tents at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles it was the
Sabbath morning. This frail tent life is after all to be rounded off with the calm quiet
18

19. of a consecrated day that has no night, and to merge into a rest that is never more to
end. (J. A. Seiss, D. D.)
Feasts of the Lord
I. Sacred life is itself a festival.
1. Divine in its origin.
2. Blissful in its quality.
3. Enriched with frequent delights.
II. The Christian year has its festivities.
1. Time is interrupted by sacred seasons.
2. Human life is refreshed by the blessings of religion.
3. A witness to what is God’s will for man.
III. Gracious seasons are appointed for the church.
1. Days of rest and gladness.
2. Special times of revival.
3. Foretaste of Heaven’s joy. (W. H. Jellie.)
The great feasts
I. Political effects. Annual gatherings of the people exhibited the numerical strength of
the nation. As they went “from strength to strength,” i.e., from company to company
(Psa_84:7 marg.), on their way to Jerusalem, and saw the vast crowds flocking from all
parts of the kingdom to the capital, their patriotic ardour would be fired. The unity of the
nation, too, would be ensured by this fusion of the tribes. Otherwise they would be likely
to constitute separate tribal states. They would carry back to the provinces glowing
accounts of the wealth, power, and resources of the country.
II. Sanitary effects. They would greatly influence the health of the people. The Sabbath,
necessitating weekly cleansings, and rest from work, and laws and ceremonies
concerning disease (as leprosy) and purifications, deserve to be looked at in this light
also. The annual purifying of the houses at Feast of Unleavened Bread; the dwelling at
certain times in tents—leaving the houses to the free circulation of light and air; and the
repeated journey on foot to Jerusalem, must have had a great sanitary influence. As man
was the great object of creation, so his welfare—in many respects besides religion—was
plainly aimed at in these regulations.
III. Social effects. Promoted friendly intercourse between travelling companions.
Distributed information through the country at a time when the transmission of news
was slow and imperfect. Imported into remote provincial districts a practical knowledge
of all improvements in arts and sciences. Enlarged the general stock of knowledge by
bringing many minds and great variety of taste together. Spread before the eyes of the
nation the wonders collected in Jerusalem by the wealth and foreign alliances of Jewish
19

20. kings.
IV. Moral effects. The young looking forward to, the aged looking back upon, and all
talking about past or future pilgrimages to the city of the great King. Education, thus, of
memory and hope and desire. Influence of this on the habits of the people. Thrift
promoted to provide against expenses of the journey. The promise of bearing company
held out as reward to well-conducted youth. Enlargement of knowledge, improvement of
taste, advantage to health, fixing habits, etc., would all react morally on the character of
the people.
V. Religious effects. These the most important. Preserved the religious faith of the
nation, and religious unity among the people. Constantly reminded the people of the
Divinely wrought deliverances of the past. Promoted gratitude and trust. Testified the
reverence of the people for the Temple and its sacred contents. Influence of well-
conducted Temple services upon the synagogues through the land. Led the mind of the
nation to adore the one true and only God. (J. C. Gray.)
Seven feasts mentioned in this chapter
There were seven feasts which God commanded His people to observe every year. All
these feasts are mentioned in this chapter, and should be studied together so that their
relation may be seen. The first, the Sabbath, commemorated God’s rest from the work of
creation, and typified the rest of God’s people in the eternal Sabbath-keeping. The
second, the Passover, commemorated Israel’s redemption through the blood of the
paschal lamb, prior to their exodus from bondage, and typified our redemption through
Christ’s blood, previous to our exodus from the bondage of sin to the liberty wherewith
Christ makes us free (Gal_5:1). The third, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, typified the
holiness of life for which they were redeemed through blood (1Co_5:7-8). The fourth,
the Firstfruits, was a grateful assurance of the coming harvest, and typical of the
resurrection unto life of all believers, because Christ as their firstfruits has risen from the
dead (1Co_15:20; 1Co_15:23). The fifth, the Pentecost, has become universally known by
being the day on which the Holy Spirit was given to the twelve in the upper room in
Jerusalem (Act_2:1-4), and as in the Feast of Firstfruits (type of Christ’s resurrection),
the sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest was waved before the Lord, so on the Day
of Pentecost, the sheaf of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, typical of the gift of the
Holy Spirit and prophetic of the harvest of souls gathered to Christ through the power of
the Holy Spirit. The fifth, Feast of Trumpets, typical of Israel’s ingathering for their
millennial privileges, and of the call to all the world to come to the gospel feast. The
sixth, the Day of Atonement, typical of Christ’s atonement. The seventh, the Feast of
Tabernacles. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)
God’s holy days
Here we have a general account of the holy times which God appointed (Lev_23:2); and
it is only His appointment that can make time holy. For He is the Lord of time; and as
soon as ever He had set its wheels agoing, it was He that first sanctified and blessed one
day above the rest (Gen_2:3). Man may by His appointment make a good day (Est_
9:19), but it is God’s prerogative to make a holy day; nor is anything sanctified but by the
stamp of His institution. As all inherent holiness comes from His special grace, so all
20

21. adherent holiness from His special appointment. Now concerning the holy times here
ordained, observe—
1. They are called feasts. 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 general
called feasts. Some read it, “These are My assemblies,’ but that is coincident with
convocations. I would rather read it, “These are My solemnities”; so the Word here
used is translated (Isa_33:20), where Zion is called “the city of our solemnities.” And
reading it so here the Day of Atonement was as great a solemnity as any of them.
2. They are the feasts of the Lord: “My feasts.” Observed to the honour of His name,
and in obedience to His command.
3. They were proclaimed; for they were not to be observed by the priests only that
attended the sanctuary, but by all the people. And this proclamation was the joyful
sound which they were blessed that were within hearing of (Psa_89:15).
4. They were to be sanctified and solemnised with holy convocations that the
services of these feasts might appear the more honourable and august, and the
people more unanimous in the performance of them. It was for the honour of God
and His institutions, which sought not corners, and the purity of which would be
best preserved by the public administration of them; it was also for the edification of
the people in love that the feasts were to be observed as holy convocations. (Matthew
Henry, D. D.)
God’s festivals
The solemnities appointed were—
1. Many, and returned frequently; which was intended to preserve in them a deep
sense of God and religion, and to prevent their inclining to the superstitions of the
heathen. God kept them fully employed in His service that they might not have time
to hearken to the temptations of the idolatrous neighbourhood they lived in.
2. They were most of them times of joy and rejoicing. The weekly Sabbath is so, and
all their yearly solemnities except the Day of Atonement. God would thus teach them
that wisdom’s ways are pleasantness; and oblige them to His service by obliging
them to be cheerful in it and to sing at their work. Seven days were days of strict rest
and holy convocations: The first day, and the seventh, of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread; the Day of Pentecost; the day of the Feast of Trumpets; the first day, and the
eighth, of the Feast of Tabernacles; and the Day of Atonement: here were six for holy
joy, and one for holy mourning. We are commanded to rejoice evermore, but not to
be evermore weeping. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
The Sabbath
21

22. 3 “‘There are six days when you may work, but
the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of
sacred assembly. You are not to do any work;
wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.
BARNES, "The seventh day had been consecrated as the Sabbath of Yahweh, figuring
His own rest; it was the acknowledged sign of the covenant between God and His people.
See the Exo_20:1-11 notes. As such it properly held its place at the head of the days of
holy convocation.
CLARKE, "The seventh day is the Sabbath - This, because the first and greatest
solemnity, is first mentioned. He who kept not this, in the most religious manner, was
not capable of keeping any of the others. The religious observance of the Sabbath stands
at the very threshold of all religion. See Clarke’s note on Gen_2:3.
GILL, "Six days shall work be done,.... Or may be done by men, any sort of lawful
work and honest labour, for the sustenance of themselves and families:
but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest; from all bodily labour and work of any
kind; typical of rest by Christ and in him:
an holy convocation; when the people were called to holy exercises, to pray and
praise, and hear the word, and offer sacrifice:
ye shall do no work therein; not any at all, see Exo_31:15,
it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings: other feasts were kept in the
sanctuary, in the tabernacle or temple, or where they were; but this was not only
observed there and in their synagogues, but in their private houses, or wherever they
were, whether, travelling by sea or land; and so the Targum of Jonathan and Aben Ezra
interpret it.
JAMISON, "Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the
sabbath of rest — (See on Exo_20:8). The Sabbath has the precedence given to it, and
it was to be “a holy convocation,” observed by families “in their dwellings”; where
practicable, by the people repairing to the door of the tabernacle; at later periods, by
22

23. meeting in the schools of the prophets, and in synagogues.
K&D, "The seventh day is the Sabbath - This, because the first and greatest
solemnity, is first mentioned. He who kept not this, in the most religious manner, was
not capable of keeping any of the others. The religious observance of the Sabbath stands
at the very threshold of all religion. See Clarke’s note on Gen_2:3.
COKE, "Leviticus 23:3. The sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings— The
Sabbath is first briefly mentioned, as being the first and chief of these solemn
meetings; at all times and in all places religiously to be observed, in all their
dwellings.
REFLECTIONS.—The sabbath was a weekly feast, and still is such, to every true
believer, who especially fears then on God's word and ordinances. A holy rest was to
be observed. We must rest from sin as from labour. There was on it to be a holy
convocation. Nothing on that day must keep us from waiting in the courts of God's
house together—nothing but works of necessity. Note; If servants are kept from
Divine service to provide for our bodies, when they should be feeding their own
souls, the guilt of sabbath-breaking will be against the heads of that family. And not
only by a convocation, but in their dwellings the sabbath must be kept; public duties
are but a part of the service; on that day every house must be a temple, and resound
with prayer and praise. To prostitute the hours of the evening in vanity, or visiting,
or idleness, is to profane the day, as much as when we forsake the assembly of God's
people.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:3. The seventh day is first named as a holy convocation —
A day to be kept holy by every Israelite, in all places wheresoever they dwelt, as well
as while they lived in the wilderness; and as a day of rest, in which they were to do
no work — A similar prohibition is declared Leviticus 23:28, concerning the day of
expiation, excluding all works about earthly employments, whether of profit or of
pleasure; but upon other feast-days he forbids only servile works, as Leviticus 23:7;
Leviticus 23:21; Leviticus 23:36; for surely this manifest difference in the
expressions used by the wise God, must needs imply a difference in the things. In all
your dwellings — Other feasts were to be kept before the Lord in Jerusalem only,
whither all the males were to come for that end; but the sabbath was to be kept in
all places, both in synagogues, and in their private houses.
ELLICOTT, " (3) Six days shall work be done.—Recurring every week, and being
the most important as well as the oldest of all festivals, the sabbath introduces the
holy seasons. Hence, during the second Temple it was declared that “the sabbath is
in importance equal to the whole law; he who profanes the sabbath openly is like
him who transgresses the whole law.” The hour at which it began and ended was
announced by three blasts of the trumpets.
23

24. Ye shall do no work therein.—Better, ye shall do no manner of work, as the
Authorised version renders this phrase in Leviticus 23:31 of this very chapter. (See
Leviticus 16:29.) Whilst on all other festivals servile work only was forbidden (see
Leviticus 23:7-8; Leviticus 23:21; Leviticus 23:25; Leviticus 23:35-36), and work
connected with the preparation of the necessary food was permitted (see Exodus
12:16), the sabbath and the day of atonement were the only days on which the
Israelites were prohibited to engage in any work whatsoever. (See Leviticus 23:28;
Leviticus 23:30; Leviticus 16:29.) Though manual labour on the sabbath was
punished with death by lapidation (see Exodus 31:14-15; Exodus 35:2; Numbers
15:35-36), and though the authorities during the second Temple multiplied and
registered most minutely the things which constitute labour, yet these
administrators of the Law have enacted that in cases of illness and of any danger
work is permitted. They laid down the principle that “the sabbath is delivered into
your hand, but not you into the hand of the sabbath.” Similar is the declaration of
Christ (Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:27-28).
PETT, "Verse 3
The Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3).
Leviticus 23:3
“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a
holy convocation. You shall do no manner of work. It is a sabbath to Yahweh in all
your dwellings.”
The first celebration mentioned is of the seventh day feast. This was the Sabbath,
the seventh day, the day laid down in the covenant beginning at sunset after each
period of six working days when all work was to cease in the camp, and later
throughout the land (Exodus 20:11; Deuteronomy 5:12-14). Wherever they were
throughout the land they would on that day cease from labour, both they, and all
their servants, and all their bond-men and women. No manner of work could be
done. It was a Sabbath of solemn rest, in every dwelling. The whole of Israel was to
stop work as one. And as work ceased they would remember, ‘we were once in
bondage in the land of Egypt, we had to work without ceasing, and by His mighty
power Yahweh delivered us’ (Deuteronomy 5:15).
The Sabbath was a holy ‘calling-together’ in an act of obedience and tribute to
Yahweh, and recognition of His overlordship. This more than anything else would
bind them together, distinguishing them from all others, and forming a bond of
unity between them. They were the Sabbath-keepers to the glory of Yahweh.
On this day at the Central Sanctuary two lambs instead of one would be offered for
the morning and evening sacrifices (Numbers 28:9), and twelve loaves of showbread
were presented to God (Leviticus 24:5-9; 1 Chronicles 9:32). However far they may
24

25. be from that Sanctuary they would be aware that ‘the Priest’ was offering these on
their behalf.
There was no day like it anywhere else in the world. The Babylonian sabbatu was
not part of a regular cycle but occurred on specific days of the month (the
fourteenth, nineteenth, twenty first and twenty eighth), and was for the purposes of
religious observance and sacrifices in order to divert the wrath of certain gods. But
it was limited to certain classes of society, including the ruler and certain priests,
while work continued on it for others, as is evidenced by business contracts of which
we have copies. It was not a day of total rest. Other nations also had days in the
month on which there were certain restrictions, but none like the Sabbath. The
Sabbath was totally free from connection with the moon (see below). It was a new
idea altogether.
We are so used to the idea of ‘a week’ that we automatically read it into Scripture.
But everyone, including Israel, dated things by the moon. Everything happened on
such and such a day of a moon period. The first possible mention of ‘a week’ in the
sense in which we know it was in Jeremiah 5:24, and even there it is extremely
questionable. Otherwise the concept does not appear in the Old Testament. (Where
we find the translation ‘week’ we should retranslate as ‘seven’). The seven day
period leading up to the Sabbath operated independently of dating. There is never
any reference to a particular ‘day of the week’, it is always to a ‘day of the month’.
With regard to the Sabbath being a day of complete cessation of all work it is
difficult for us in our day, when we have so much free time, to recognise what it
must have been like to live in days when some had no free time at all, and when
many could find themselves literally worked without respite until they died of
exhaustion. The Sabbath ensured that this could not happen to anyone in Israel. No
exceptions were allowed specifically for this reason. Men must not be allowed to find
a way round it. All men, slave or free, must every seventh day have that one day of
total rest.
The timing of the ‘seventh’ day Sabbath was probably determined by the first day
on which manna appeared (Exodus 16:23). Whether it was known before that we do
not know. There is no mention of the Sabbath prior to that point, nor of a regular
day when men were to cease to work, even though, once commenced, it was
patterned on the seventh day of the creation narrative. But Moses declared that the
reason that Yahweh had given them the Sabbath was as a reminder of their
deliverance from bondage in Egypt by His mighty power (Deuteronomy 5:15).
Isaiah would later stress that it was to be a day when men remembered God and
sought His pleasure and not their own (Isaiah 58:13-14). Then they would be blessed
indeed.
Note On The Sabbath.
The first mention of the Sabbath is in Exodus 16. The impression given there
25

26. (Leviticus 23:23; Leviticus 23:25-26; Leviticus 23:29) is that when Moses spoke of
the Sabbath he was imparting new information. He was declaring that at the same
time as the giving of the Manna God had given them the Sabbath (Leviticus 23:29).
He explained that the seventh day of the giving of the manna was to be a holy
sabbath (a ‘ceasing from work’), and therefore also that every seventh day after that
was to be a Sabbath as it followed a six day supply of Manna.
Indeed the ‘rulers’ were confused about it and had to have it explained to them
(Leviticus 23:22). This can only be explained by the fact that they were at this stage
unaware of a regular Sabbath. If they had been their question could hardly have
arisen. Had the Sabbath already been instituted they would have expected that there
should be no gathering on the Sabbath.
The seventh day Sabbath was then firmly established as something which was to
continue while the Manna was given (Leviticus 23:26). Later in the giving of the
covenant at Sinai it was made a permanent feature, and there it was made a
reminder of creation (Exodus 20:8-11) which established its permanence. God had
rested on the seventh day and blessed it, and now also so must Israel on each
seventh day that followed the giving of Manna. But it should be noted that the
creation account says nothing about the Sabbath, nor about ‘a week’. Nor does it
suggest that time should follow that pattern. It simply speaks of a divinely perfect
period of ‘seven days’.
In fact Moses specifically declared in Deuteronomy 5:15 that the reason that
Yahweh commanded them to keep the Sabbath day was as a memorial of their
delivery from Egypt, with the ceasing from work symbolising their ceasing from
bondage. Every Sabbath as they ceased work it would be a reminder of that great
deliverance from bondage by the mighty power of Yahweh.
This gives good reason to think that Exodus 16 was in fact the time when the regular
permanent seventh day Sabbath was first established, in order to commemorate the
giving of the Manna as something better than the bread of Egypt, and as a symbol of
deliverance and of God’s care. Previously holy rest days had been mentioned on
which all work should cease (Exodus 12:16), and they were sometimes, but not
always, ‘seventh days’, but they had never been called sabbaths, and they were
specific memorial days indicating the beginning and ending of special feasts. The
Sabbath was something new.
Because it was a sabbath (shabbath - a stopping of work) they were to cease work on
it. It was a holy rest (shabbathon). This would hardly have needed to be explained if
they were familiar with it.
So while no specific statement was made in Exodus 16 that it was a new institution,
everything about the narrative suggests that it was. The sabbath had not previously
been mentioned, and the only mention of a seventh day feast previously was in
Exodus 13:6 and there it was a seventh day numbered from another day (the first
26

27. day after the fourteenth day of Abib) fixed by the moon. And new and full moons
did not always occur on a specific day of the week. Indeed in Exodus 13 there was
also a special feast on the first day after the fourteenth of Abib as well as on the
seventh after. Both were holy days. This was the pattern of special days elsewhere.
They were on fixed days of a moon period
It may well be therefore that the first giving of the Manna also represented the first
establishing of the strict seven day ‘week’ pattern and of the regular Sabbath.
Previously they probably simply numbered the days of each moon period and have
utilised periods of the moon for recording time, or followed the ways of the
Egyptians. This new way of measuring time from one Sabbath to another would be
another indication of their new nationhood, and their new position under God their
Provider. But they still dated everything under the old non-week system.
Indeed had the Sabbath and the seven day period on which it ended already been a
well recognised feature we might have expected that those who broke it (Exodus
16:27) would be put to death (compare Numbers 15:32-36). But instead they are
only rebuked for having disobeyed the command not to gather.
It is also interesting to note that there is no specific emphasis in Exodus 16 of doing
no work, although it may possibly be seen as implied in Leviticus 23:23 and
Leviticus 23:26-27, the latter only being stated, however, after the failure to observe
the Sabbath. This may be why they were only rebuked.
If this be so its introduction was probably made easier by the fact that ‘seven days’
(not directly related to the week) was often seen as a holy period (see Genesis 7:4;
Genesis 7:10; Genesis 8:10; Genesis 8:12; Genesis 8:22; Genesis 29:27-28; Genesis
50:10; Exodus 7:25; Exodus 12:15; Exodus 12:19; Exodus 13:6-7 and often). Seven
was the number of divine perfection. Thus they learned that from now on their life
was in a sense to be made up of holy periods of seven days in which God provided
their food for six days, followed by a day on which they ceased work as a reminder
of their deliverance from bondage.
It is true that in Genesis 2:1-3 God stopped working on ‘the seventh day’ from all
His activity in creation, but that is not applied there to any requirement for man to
observe it, and had it been a requirement when that was written we would have
expected it to be mentioned, especially if that was the intention. Nor is the seventh
day there called the Sabbath, although it is true that shabbath is related to shabath,
to stop, be at a standstill, stop working, the verb used there. Later in Exodus 20:10
(see also Exodus 31:17) this example is given as proving that the idea of the seventh
day was something which God has blessed but there is no necessary suggestion or
indication that the Sabbath itself was inaugurated at the time of creation. Creation
did not take place in a ‘week’, it took place over a seven day period. The distinction
is important for accuracy. As we have seen in Deuteronomy 5:14-15 it is in fact the
deliverance from Egypt that is given as the reason why God instituted the Sabbath.
The bondmen had become free and in gladness and gratitude would honour
27

28. Yahweh by dedicating a work-free day to Him.
Thus we should note that ‘the seventh day’ was not something that was fixed as the
last day in a week. The week did not come first. The idea of the seventh day of a
series of days came first. The reason that it was special was precisely because it was
the seventh day of a divinely complete series. It was because God introduced the
idea of a Sabbath every seventh day in Exodus 16 to follow each six day series of
giving of the Manna that the week eventually resulted. This brings out how
important the Manna was seen to be, that the giving of it led up after each six day
period to a Sabbath. God was sealing the fact that it was a divine supply. But for
calendar purposes they still thought of moon periods.
End of Note.
So the Sabbath was to be seen as primary. It would distinguish Yahweh’s people
from all others, and ensured that on one day in seven they turned from the demands
and trials of daily life to a day of contemplation and worship. Every seven days they
would observe a feast. It was to be Yahweh’s day, a day of ceasing work and a day
of remembering. It reminded them of creation, and of the Creator (Exodus 20:11). It
reminded them that their lives continually followed His creation pattern. It
reminded them that they had been delivered from bondage in the land of Egypt,
that they had not been able to cease work then, and that Yahweh had mightily
delivered them. Indeed the latter is why He commanded them to keep the Sabbath
day (Deuteronomy 5:15).
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day [is] the
sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work [therein]: it [is] the
sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Ver. 3. Ye shall do no work therein.] Save only works of piety, charity, and
necessity. These are allowed by our Saviour. [Mark 2:23-28; Mark 3:4] The Jews
superstitiously hold, (a) that it is not lawful for a blind man to lean upon a staff on a
Sabbath day, as the lame may: that if a flea bite a man on that day, he may take it,
but not kill it. That if a thorn prick him in the foot on that day, he may not pull it
out. That a tailor may not carry a needle, much less a sword; that a man may not
spet, (b) or be taken out of a jakes, as that Jew of Tewkesbury, who said,
“ Sabbata santa colo, de stercore {c} surgere nolo. ”
Whereunto the Earl of Gloucester replied,
“"Sabbata nostra quidem (Solomon) celebrabis ibidem." ”
“(Sir, reverence (d) of the Sabbath keeps me here:
And you, sir, reverence (e) shall our Sabbath there.)”
28

29. In all your dwellings.] Where you are to sanctify this rest, and to repair to your
synagogues. [Acts 15:21]
PULPIT, "The seventh day is the sabbath of rest. This is a very strong expression,
literally, the sabbath of sabbatism, which doubles the force of the single word. Ye
shall do no work therein. The sabbath and the Day of Atonement were the only days
in which no work might be done, whereas on the other festivals it was only no
servile work that might be done. It is not to be observed solely where the tabernacle
is pitched or the temple is built, but in every town and village of Canaan—in all
your dwellings. In the sanctuary itself the peculiar characteristics of the sabbath
were a holy convocation, the renewal of the shewbread, and the burnt offering of
two lambs with their meat and drink offerings (Numbers 28:9, Numbers 28:10);
elsewhere it was observed only by the holy convocation and rest from all labour. It
commenced at sunset on Friday evening, and continued till sunset on Saturday
evening. In later days the hour at which it began was announced by three blasts of
the priests' trumpets, immediately after which a new course of priests entered on
their ministry.
The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened
Bread
4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the
sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their
appointed times:
BARNES, "The recurrence of the sabbatical number in the five annual days of holy
convocation should be noticed.
GILL, "These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations,.... What
follow besides the sabbath mentioned:
which ye shall proclaim in their seasons; the proper times of the year, the day or
days, and month in which they are to be observed; these were to be proclaimed by the
29

30. priests with the sound of trumpet, namely, what follow, for they are put together, which
had been before for the most part singly delivered.
HENRY 4-14, "Here again the feasts are called the feasts of the Lord, because he
appointed them. Jeroboam's feast, which he devised of his own heart (1Ki_12:33), was
an affront to God, and a reproach upon the people. These feasts were to be proclaimed in
their seasons (Lev_23:4), and the seasons God chose for them were in March, May and
September (according to our present computation), not in winter, because travelling
would then be uncomfortable, when the days were short, and the ways foul; not in the
middle of summer, because then in those countries they were gathering in their harvest
and vintage, and could be ill spared from their country business. Thus graciously does
God consult our comfort in his appointments, obliging us thereby religiously to regard
his glory in our observance of them, and not to complain of them as a burden. The
solemnities appointed them were, 1. Many and returned frequently, which was intended
to preserve in them a deep sense of God and religion, and to prevent their inclining to
the superstitions of the heathen. God kept them fully employed in his service, that they
might not have time to hearken to the temptations of the idolatrous neighbourhood they
lived in. 2. They were most of them times of joy and rejoicing. The weekly sabbath is so,
and all their yearly solemnities, except the day of atonement. God would thus teach them
that wisdom's ways are pleasantness, and engage them to his service by encouraging
them to be cheerful in it and to sing at their work. Seven days were days of strict rest and
holy convocations; the first day and the seventh of the feast of unleavened bread, the day
of pentecost, the day of the feast of trumpets, the first day and the eighth of the feast of
tabernacles, and the day of atonement: here were six for holy joy and one only for holy
mourning. We are commanded to rejoice evermore, but not to be evermore weeping.
Here is,
I. A repetition of the law of the passover, which was to be observed on the fourteenth
day of the first month, in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt and the
distinguishing preservation of their first-born, mercies never to be forgotten. This feast
was to begin with the killing of the paschal lamb, Lev_23:5. It was to continue seven
days, during all which time they were to eat sad bread, that was unleavened (Lev_23:6),
and the first and last day of the seven were to be days of holy rest and holy convocations,
Lev_23:7, Lev_23:8. 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.
II. An order for the offering of a sheaf of the first-fruits, upon the second day of the
feast of unleavened bread; the first is called the sabbath, because it was observed as a
sabbath (Lev_23:11), and, on the morrow after, they had this solemnity. A sheaf or
handful of new corn was brought to the priest, who was to heave it up, in token of his
presenting it to the God of Heaven, and to wave it to and fro before the Lord, as the Lord
of the whole earth, and this should be accepted for them as a thankful acknowledgment
of God's mercy to them in clothing their fields with corn, and of their dependence upon
God, and desire towards him, for the preserving of it to their use. For it was the
expression both of prayer and praise, Lev_23:11. A lamb for a burnt-offering was to be
offered with it, Lev_23:12. As the sacrifice of animals was generally attended with meat-
offerings, so this sacrifice of corn was attended with a burnt-offering, that bread and
flesh might be set together on God's table. They are forbidden to eat of their new corn till
this handful was offered to God; for it was fit, if God and Israel feast together, that he
30

31. should be served first. And the offering of this sheaf of first-fruits in the name of the
whole congregation did, as it were, sanctify to them their whole harvest, and give them a
comfortable use of all the rest; for then we may eat our bread with joy when we have, in
some measure, performed our duty to God, and God has accepted our works, for thus all
our enjoyments become clean to us. Now, 1. This law was given now, though there was
no occasion for putting it in execution till they came to Canaan: in the wilderness they
sowed no corn; but God's feeding them there with bread from heaven obliged them
hereafter not to grudge him his share of their bread out of the earth. We find that when
they came into Canaan the manna ceased upon the very day that the sheaf of first-fruits
was offered; they had eaten of the old corn the day before (Jos_5:11), and then on this
day they offered the first-fruits, by which they became entitled to the new corn too (Lev_
23:12), so that there was no more occasion for manna. 1. This sheaf of first-fruits was
typical of our Lord Jesus, who has risen from the dead as the first-fruits of those that
slept, 1Co_15:20. That branch of the Lord (Isa_4:2) was then presented to him, in virtue
of the sacrifice of himself, the Lamb of God, and it was accepted for us. It is very
observable that our Lord Jesus rose from the dead on the very day that the first-fruits
were offered, to show that he was the substance of this shadow. 3. We are taught by this
law to honour the Lord with our substance, and with the first-fruits of all our increase,
Pro_3:9. They were not to eat of their new corn till God's part was offered to him out of
it (Lev_23:14), for we must always begin with God, begin our lives with him, begin every
day with him, begin every meal with him, begin every affair and business with him; seek
first the kingdom of God.
JAMISON, "These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim in
their seasons — Their observance took place in the parts of the year corresponding to
our March, May, and September. Divine wisdom was manifested in fixing them at those
periods; in winter, when the days were short and the roads broken up, a long journey
was impracticable; while in summer the harvest and vintage gave busy employment in
the fields. Besides, another reason for the choice of those seasons probably was to
counteract the influence of Egyptian associations and habits. And God appointed more
sacred festivals for the Israelites in the month of September than the people of Egypt
had in honor of their idols. These institutions, however, were for the most part
prospective, the observance being not binding on the Israelites during their wanderings
in the wilderness, while the regular celebration was not to commence till their settlement
in Canaan.
CALVIN, "4.These are the feasts of the Lord. The other festivals which Moses here
enumerates have an affinity to the Sabbath. In the first place the Passover is put, the
mystery of which I have annexed, not without reason, to the First Commandment,
for its institution was there explained, inasmuch as it acted as a restraint on the
people from falling away to strange gods. In that rite they were initiated to the
service of God, that they might abandon all the superstitions of the Gentiles, and
acquiesce in the pure instruction of the Law. The Passover, therefore, in itself was a
supplement to the First Commandment; yet the day recurring from year to year is
fitly enumerated amongst the other festivals. And surely it is plain that the Fourth
31

32. Commandment had no other object or use except to exercise the people in the
service of God; but since the killing of the lamb represented the grace of adoption
whereby God had bound them to Himself, it was necessary to annex it to the First
Commandment. Let my readers therefore now be content with the other part, i.e.,
that its annual celebration was a help to the perpetual recollection by the Israelites
of their redemption.
COFFMAN, "Verse 4
"These are the set feasts of Jehovah, even holy convocations, which ye shall
proclaim in their appointed season. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the
month at even, is Jehovah's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is
the feast of unleavened bread unto Jehovah: seven days ye shall eat unleavened
bread. In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work.
But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah seven days: in the seventh
day is a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work."
Sometimes one encounters the proposition that "six feasts are mentioned in this
chapter, whereas there are only three in Exodus 34," with the usual reference to
"later editors," "redactors," etc., but, as Kellogg pointed out, the three major feasts
here: Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles are carefully distinguished and
set apart from the others by "the use of the Hebrew word [~haggiym], a word that
sets them apart and signifies a special degree of gladness and festivity."[6] The
purpose in Exodus was to name only the [~haggiym]; whereas, here, "the appointed
seasons" are named (distinguished by the Hebrew word [~haggam]). Since the
[~haggam] included also the [~haggiym] given in Exodus 34, they were of necessity
included here also.[7]
PASSOVER. This was the great celebration of the night of God's deliverance from
Egyptian bondage, an event that followed immediately after the tenth and final
visitation of God's wrath upon Egypt in the slaying of the firstborn. It was
celebrated on the fourteenth of Nisan (the old name was Abib), the first month of
the ecclesiastical year.
FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD. This followed at once upon the celebration of
Passover; it lasted seven days; and both the first day (the fifteenth) and the last day
(the twenty-first) were also observed as holy convocations (sabbaths, or periods of
rest). In this appears the back-to-back sabbaths on the successive dates of Nisan
14,15 which also occurred while our Lord was in the tomb. That is why Matthew
wrote, "And after the sabbaths (plural) were past ... came Mary Magdalene ... etc."
(Matthew 28:1, see the Greek Text). The recognition of this truth has a significant
bearing upon determining what day it was when our Lord was crucified.
"Ye shall do no servile work ..." (Leviticus 23:7). We have already noted that this
was a less strict command than the "no manner of work" prohibited on the sabbath.
Orlinsky gave the meaning of this phrase as, "You shall not work at your
32

33. occupation."[8]
Both the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were discussed at length in
my commentary on Exodus, and they will appear a third time in Numbers 28.
It should be remembered, however, that both Passover and Unleavened Bread are
significant in their implications for Christians. Christ is our Passover. He is the
great Antitype of the Passover Lamb. His blood redeems people, not by being
sprinkled on a door-post, but by Christ's shedding his blood on Calvary for the sins
of the whole world.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is likewise significant. "Bread signifies communion
or fellowship with Christ, and the leaven which was purged out signifies sin, or
evil."[9] Christians are commanded to "purge out the old leaven" (1 Corinthians
5:7,8; 2 Corinthians 7:1; and Galatians 5:7,9).
ELLICOTT, " (4) These are the feasts of the Lord.—Because the following are the
festivals proper as distinguished from the sabbath (see Leviticus 23:37-38), and
because they are now enumerated in their regular order, the introductory heading is
here repeated.
Ye shall proclaim in their seasons.—By the blast of trumpets on the day of the
month on which they are to be observed.
EBC, "THE FEAST OF PASSOVER AND UNLEAVENED BREAD
Leviticus 23:4-14
"These are the set feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall
proclaim in their appointed season. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the
month at even, is the Lord’s passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is
the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye shall eat unleavened
bread. In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work.
But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh
day is a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work. And the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be
come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye
shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest: and he shall
wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the
sabbath the priest shall wave it. And in the day when ye wave the sheaf, ye shall
offer a he-lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord.
And the meal offering thereof shall be two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour
mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savour: and the
drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. And ye shall eat
neither bread, nor parched corn, nor fresh ears, until this selfsame day, until ye
have brought the oblation of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your
33

34. generations in all your dwellings."
Leviticus 23:5-8 give the law for the first of the annual feasts, the passover and
unleavened bread. The passover lamb was to be slain and eaten on the evening of
the fourteenth day; and thereafter, for seven days, they were all to eat unleavened
bread. The first and seventh days of unleavened bread were to be kept as a "holy
convocation"; in both of which "servile work," i.e., the usual occupations in the
field or in one’s handicraft, were forbidden. Further than this the restriction did not
extend.
The utter impossibility of making this feast of passover also to have been at first
merely a harvest festival is best shown by the signal failure of the many attempts to
explain on this theory the name "passover" as applied to the sacrificial victim, and
the exclusion of leaven for the whole period. Admit the statements of the Pentateuch
on this subject, and all is simple. The feast was a most suitable commemoration by
Israel of the solemn circumstances under which they began their national life; their
exemption from the plague of the death of the firstborn, through the blood of a slain
victim; and their exodus thereafter in such haste that they stopped not to leaven
their bread.
And there was a deeper spiritual meaning than this. Whereas, secured by the
sprinkling of blood, they then fed in safety on the flesh of the victim, by which they
received strength for their flight from Egypt, the same two thoughts were thereby
naturally suggested which we have seen represented in the peace offering; namely,
friendship and fellowship with God secured through sacrifice, and life sustained by
His bounty. And the unleavened bread, also, had more than a historic reference; else
it had sufficed to eat it only on the anniversary night, and it had not been
commanded also to put away the leaven from their houses. For leaven is the
established symbol of moral corruption; and in that the passover lamb having been
slain, Israel must abstain for a full septenary period of a week from every use of
leaven, it was signified in symbol that the redeemed nation must not live by means of
what is evil, but be a holy people, according to their calling. And the inseparable
connection of this with full consecration of person and service, and with the
expiation of sin, was daily symbolised (Leviticus 23:8) by the "offerings made by
fire," burnt offerings, meal offerings, and sin offerings, "offerings made by fire unto
the Lord."
On "the morrow after the Sabbath" (Leviticus 23:15) of this sacred week, it was
ordered (Leviticus 23:10) that "the sheaf of the first fruits of the (barley) harvest"
should be brought "unto the priest"; and (Leviticus 23:11) that he should
consecrate it unto the Lord, by the ceremony of waving it before Him. This wave
offering of the sheaf of first fruits was to be accompanied (Leviticus 23:2-13) by a
burnt offering, a meal offering, and a drink offering of wine. Until all this was done
(Leviticus 23:14) they were to "eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor fresh ears"
of the new harvest. By the consecration of the first fruits is ever signified the
consecration of the whole, of which it is the first part, unto the Lord. By this act,
34

35. Israel, at the very beginning of their harvest, solemnly consecrated the whole
harvest to the Lord; and are only permitted to use it, when they receive it thus as a
gift from Him. This ethical reference to the harvest is here expressly taught; but still
more was thereby taught in symbol.
For Israel was declared {Exodus 4:22} to be God’s firstborn; that is, in the great
redemptive plan of God, which looks forward to the final salvation of all nations,
Israel ever comes historically first. "The Jew first, and also the Greek," is the New
Testament formula of this fundamental dispensational truth. The offering unto God,
therefore, of the sheaf of first fruits, at the very beginning of the harvest, -in fullest
harmony with the historic reference of this feast, which commemorated Israel’s
deliverance from bondage and separation from the nations, as a first fruits of
redemption, -symbolically signified the consecration of Israel unto God as the
firstborn unto Him from the nations, the beginning of the world’s great harvest.
But this is not all. For in these various ceremonies of this first of the feasts, all who
acknowledge the authority of the New Testament will recognise a yet more
profound, and prophetic, spiritual meaning. Passover and unleavened bread not
only looked backward, but forward. For the Apostle Paul writes, addressing all
believers: {1 Corinthians 7:1-40; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13} "Purge out the old leaven,
that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened. For our passover also hath
been sacrificed, even Christ: wherefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth";-an exposition so plain that comment is scarcely needed. And as
following upon the passover, on the morrow after the Sabbath, the first day of the
week, the sheaf of first fruits was presented ‘before Jehovah, so in type is brought
before us that of which the same Apostle tells us, {1 Corinthians 15:20} that Christ,
in that He rose from the dead on the first day after the Sabbath, became "the first
fruits of them that are asleep"; thus, for the first time, finally and exhaustively
fulfilling this type, in full accord also with His own representation of Himself {John
12:24} as "a grain of wheat;” which should "fall into the earth and die, and then,
living again, bear much fruit."
PETT, " The Set Feasts.
Leviticus 23:4
“These are the set feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall
proclaim in their appointed season.”
The writer now goes on to outline the recurring feasts, ‘the set feasts’ other than the
Sabbath, which were to occur throughout the year, ‘in their appointed season’.
These were almost certainly based on agricultural feasts with which they were
already familiar, but with them also being given a new significance. The Patriarchs
would certainly have observed such feasts at lambing and at harvest times.
35

36. These indicated that not only was the passage of time from Sabbath to Sabbath in
His hands, but also the times and seasons. While the earth remained, seedtime and
harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night would not cease
(Genesis 8:22), and they were to recognise the fact and be grateful for it.
The three main feasts, Unleavened Bread, Sevens and Tabernacles, were the times
when the men of all Israel would gather together at the Central Sanctuary to
worship Yahweh, and to renew the covenant (Exodus 23:14; Deuteronomy 16:16
with 1-17). And every seven years at Tabernacles there would be a reading of the
whole covenant (Deuteronomy 31:10-13).
5 The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the
fourteenth day of the first month.
BARNES, "In these verses, the Passover, or Paschal Supper, and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, are plainly spoken of as distinct feasts. See Exo_12:6, Exo_12:15,
Exo_12:17; Num_28:16-17.
Lev_23:5
See Exo_12:6. According to the Hebrew mode of reckoning, the 15th day of the month
began on the evening of the 14th. The day of holy convocation with which the Feast of
Unleavened Bread commenced Lev_23:7 was the 15th, and that with which it terminated
was the 21st. Compare Num_28:16-17.
Lev_23:6
Feast - The three festivals (often called the Great Festivals), Passover, Pentecost and
tabernacles, to which the name ‫חג‬ chag, i. e. a feast or rejoicing properly belongs Lev_
23:6, Lev_23:34, Lev_23:39, Lev_23:41, were distinguished by the attendance of the
male Israelites at the national sanctuary (compare Exo_23:17; Exo_34:23; Deu_16:16).
In later times they were called by the rabbins “pilgrimage feasts.” It is worthy of note
that the Hebrew word is identical with the Arabic “haj”, the name of the pilgrimage to
Mecca, from which comes the well-known word for a pilgrim, “haji”.
CLARKE, "The Lord’s passover - See this largely explained in the notes on Exo_
12:21-27 (note).
36

37. GILL, "In the fourteenth day of the first month,.... The month Nisan, the same
with Abib, the month in which the children of Israel came out of Egypt, for which reason
it was made the first month in the year, answering to part of our March and part of
April; and for the same reason was the passover kept at this time, as follows:
at even is the Lord's passover; that is, that was the time for the keeping the
passover, even "between the two evenings", as it may be rendered; from the sixth hour
and onward, as Jarchi, trial is, after noon or twelve o'clock the middle of the day, as
Gersom, when the sun began to decline; See Gill on Exo_12:6.
JAMISON, "Lev_23:5-8. The Passover.
the Lord’s passover — (See Exo_12:2, Exo_12:14, Exo_12:18). The institution of
the passover was intended to be a perpetual memorial of the circumstances attending
the redemption of the Israelites, while it had a typical reference to a greater redemption
to be effected for God’s spiritual people. On the first and last days of this feast, the
people were forbidden to work [Lev_23:7, Lev_23:8]; but while on the Sabbath they
were not to do any work, on feast days they were permitted to dress meat - and hence
the prohibition is restricted to “no servile work.” At the same time, those two days were
devoted to “holy convocation” - special seasons of social devotion. In addition to the
ordinary sacrifices of every day, there were to be “offerings by fire” on the altar (see
Num_28:19), while unleavened bread was to be eaten in families all the seven days (see
1Co_5:8).
Leviticus 23:5. In the fourteenth day — See Exodus 12:18. At even — For all the
Jewish festivals were kept from evening to evening, their day beginning in the
evening. Is the Lord’s passover — Exodus 12:11. Though Moses had often before
mentioned this, and several other of their solemnities, he here sets them down all
together, according to the order of time in which they were kept, that this chapter
might serve the Jews for a general table of all their religious festivals.
ELLICOTT, " (5) In the fourteenth day of the first month.—This month is called
Abib in the Pentateuch (Exodus 13:4; Exodus 23:15; Deuteronomy 16:1), and Nisan
in the later books of Scripture (Nehemiah 2:1; Esther 3:7). The fourteenth day of
this month is about the beginning of April. On this day, which was called both “the
preparation for the Passover” (John 19:14), and “the first day of Passover,” all
handicraftsmen, with the exception of tailors, barbers, and laundresses, were
obliged to relinquish work either from morning or from noon, according to the
custom of the different places in Palestine. Leaven was only eaten till midday, and it
had to be burned in the afternoon. The time for desisting from and burning the
leaven was thus indicated: “Two desecrated cakes of thanksgiving offerings were
placed on a bench in the Temple; as long as they were thus exposed all the people
ate leaven. When one of them was removed they abstained from eating, but did not
burn it; but when the other was taken away all the people began burning the
leaven.” It was on this day that every Israelite who was not infirm, ceremonially
37

38. defiled, uncircumcised, or beyond fifteen miles from the walls of Jerusalem, had to
appear before the Lord in the holy city, with an offering in proportion to his means
(Exodus 23:5; Deuteronomy 16:16-17). Those who came from the country were
gratuitously accommodated by the inhabitants with the necessary apartments (Luke
22:10-12; Matthew 26:18), and the guests in acknowledgment of the hospitality they
received left to their hosts the skins of the paschal lambs, and the vessels which they
used in their religious ceremonies. Josephus, who was an eye-witness to the fact, tells
us that at the Passover, in the reign of Nero, there were 2,700,000 people, when
256,500 lambs were sacrificed. Most of the Jews must therefore have encamped in
tents without the walls of the city, as the Mohammedan pilgrims now do at Mecca. It
was for this reason that the Romans took great precaution, using both force and
conciliatory measures, during the festivals (Matthew 26:5; Luke 13:1).
At even.—Or, in the evening, as the Authorised version renders this phrase in the
parallel passage (Exodus 12:6), literally, denotes between the two evenings. The
interpretation of this expression constituted one of the differences between the
Sadducees and the Pharisees during the second Temple, and seriously affected the
time for offering up the paschal lamb and the evening sacrifices. According to the
Sadducees it denotes the time between the setting of the sun and the moment when
the stars become visible, or when darkness sets in, i.e., between six and seven
o’clock, a space of about one hour and twenty minutes. According to the Pharisees,
however, “between the two evenings” means from the afternoon to the disappearing
of the sun. The first evening is from the time when the sun begins to decline towards
the west, whilst the second is when it goes down and vanishes out of sight. This is the
reason why the paschal lamb in the evening sacrifice began to be killed and the
blood sprinkled at 12.30 p.m. This is more in harmony with the fact that the large
number of sacrifices on this day could only be offered up in the longer period of
time.
The Lord’s passover.—Also called “the feast of unleavened bread.” (See Leviticus
23:6.)
PETT, "Leviticus 23:5
“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, is Yahweh’s
passover.”
The first feast was the Passover which occurred on the fourteenth of Abib/Nisan
(March/April), fourteen days after the new moon which marked the beginning of
the new year as established in Egypt (Exodus 12:2). This was in remembrance of
their deliverance from Egypt when Yahweh ‘passed over’ their houses when he
smote the firstborn of Egypt (Exodus 12:2-14; Exodus 12:21-36). Later the feast and
the feast of unleavened bread would be seen as united together in one as ‘the
Passover’ (Luke 22:1). Whatever happened in their future Israel never forgot how
God had delivered them from Egypt.
38

39. At this feast over a thousand years later (John 19:14-18) God’s great Passover
Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ would be offered as the Lamb of God Who takes away
the sin of the world (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7).
PULPIT, "Leviticus 23:5
In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover. The month of
Nisan was made the first month of the religious year in consequence of the original
Passover having taken place in it (Exodus 12:2). On the occasion of the first, or
Egyptian, Passover, all heads of a family, either singly or two or three heads of
families in conjunction, provided themselves with a lamb or a kid on the 10th day of
Nisan, killed it in the evening of the 14th, and, taking a bunch of hyssop, dipped it in
the blood and struck the lintel and two side posts of the doors of their houses with
the blood. They then roasted the animal whole for eating, added to it unleavened
bread, and garnished it with bitter herbs. They made themselves ready to eat it by
dressing themselves for a journey, "with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet,
and their staff in their hands" (Exodus 12:11), and thus they ate it in haste, in a
standing position. The meaning of the ceremony is explained by what was taking
place at the same time. On the same night, after the blood had been sprinkled upon
the lintel and side posts, God slew the firstborn of all who had not exhibited this
symbol of their having been brought into covenant with himself, and the Israelites
set off hurriedly on their departure from Egypt. It was commanded that the day
should be kept hereafter in like manner as a memorial, and that the following seven
days should be kept as a Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:14, Exodus 12:15).
This command is here concisely repeated, as it is again repeated in Deuteronomy
16:1-8. One very considerable change was, however, necessarily made in the method
of its observance. Originally, each head of a household or combination of
households sacrificed the lamb himself, and sprinkled the blood upon the doorposts
and lintel. But after the establishment of the Aaronic priesthood and the withdrawal
of the priestly authority previously vested in each head of a house (Deuteronomy
8:1-20, Deuteronomy 9:1-29), and after the stringent prohibition of sacrificing
elsewhere than in the court of the tabernacle had been issued (Deuteronomy
17:1-20), this could not continue. Accordingly, we find in the Book of Deuteronomy
the direct injunction, "Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy
gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee: but at the place which the Lord thy God
shall choose to place his Name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even, at
the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt"
(Deuteronomy 16:5, Deuteronomy 16:6). A result from this rule was that every male
Israelite had to present himself at Jerusalem, and there slay his lamb on the day of
the Passover, which in the time of Nero, brought between two and three million
pilgrims to Jerusalem each year. The crowd of pilgrims took their way to the temple,
and were admitted into the court in three divisions. There they slew each man his
lamb, while the priests offered the blood on the altar, and the Levites sang the
Hallel. Then they bore away the lambs, roasted them whole on a spit of
pomegranate wood, taking care that no bone should be broken, and prepared the
Paschal supper. At the supper, as well as at the sacrifice, a change of manner was
39

40. introduced. "As the guests gathered round the Paschal table, they came no longer,
as at the first celebration, with their loins girded, with shoes on their feet, and a staff
in their hands; that is, as travelers waiting to take their departure. On the contrary,
they were arrayed in their best festive garments, joyous and at rest, as became the
children of a king. To express this idea, the rabbis also insisted that the Paschal
supper, or at least part of it, must be eaten in that recumbent position with which we
are familiar from the New Testament. 'For,' say they, 'they use this leaning posture,
as free men do, in memorial of their freedom.' And again, 'Because it is the manner
of slaves to eat standing, therefore now they eat sitting and leaning, in order to show
that they have been delivered from bondage into freedom.' And finally, 'No, not the
poorest in Israel may eat till he has sat down, leaning.' But though it was deemed
desirable to sit leaning during the whole Paschal supper, it was only absolutely
enjoined while partaking of the bread and the wine" (Edersheim, 'Temple Service').
The essentials of the Paschal feast were the Paschal lamb, the unleavened bread, and
the bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8). To these were afterwards added a dish formed from
an animal sacrificed on the Passover day, a composition of dates and other dried
fruits, and four cups of red wine mixed with water, the last of which came to be
regarded as essential as that which had been commanded in the Law. The Rabbi
Gamaliel is reported by the Mishna to have said, "Whoever fails to explain three
things in the Passover fails to fulfill his duty. These are the Paschal lamb, the
unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs. The Paschal lamb means that God passed
over the houses of our fathers in Egypt, which were sprinkled with blood; the
unleavened bread, that our fathers were hurried out of Egypt; the bitter herbs, that
the Egyptians made the lives of our fathers in Egypt bitter" (Pes. Deuteronomy
10:15). The wine was regarded so necessary an adjunct, that it is ordered that every
householder must provide himself with four cups, even if he had to sell or pawn his
coat, or hire himself out for a servant, or receive money from the poor's box, in
order to do so (Pes. 1). The supper began with drinking the first cup of wine, before
which a grace, or thanksgiving, of the following character was said:—"Blessed art
thou, Jehovah our God, who hast created the fruit of the vine! Blessed art thou,
Jehovah our God, King of the universe, who hast chosen us from among all people,
and exalted us from among all languages, and sanctified us with thy
commandments! And thou hast given us, in love, the solemn days for joy, and the
festivals and appointed seasons for gladness, and this, the day of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, the season of our freedom, a holy convocation, the memorial of
our departure from Egypt. For us hast thou chosen; and us hast thou sanctified
from among all nations, and thy holy festivals with joy and with gladness hast thou
caused us to inherit. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who sanctifiest Israel and the
appointed seasons! Blessed art thou, Lord, King of the universe, who hast preserved
us alive, and sustained us, and brought us to this season" (Edersheim, 'Temple
Service'). After drinking the first cup, there followed a general washing of hands,
after which the company ate some of the bitter herbs. Then the second cup was
filled, and in order to carry out the injunction of Exodus 12:26, Exodus 12:27, the
youngest member of the company inquired, "What mean ye by this service?" And
the president of the feast replied, "It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who
passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the
40

41. Egyptians, and delivered our houses." At the same time, he explained the purport of
the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs, and called upon the company to give
thanks for what God had wrought for them and for their fathers, ending with
Psalms 113:1-9, Psalms 114:1-8, sung by all present. The second cup was then
drunk, and after second washing of hands, the unleavened bread was broken, and
thanks again given, after which the pieces of bread, the bitter herbs, the other
sacrificial dish (if any), and the Paschal lamb were partaken of in turn. The third
cup was then filled, thanks were again given, and the cup was drunk. This cup had
the name of the "cup of blessing," owing to the blessing said over it, and it was
succeeded after an interval by the fourth cup, when Psalm 115-118 (which, with
Psalms 113:1-9, Psalms 114:1-8, made up the Hallel) were sung, followed by a
prayer of thanksgiving.
6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s
Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven
days you must eat bread made without yeast.
BARNES, "Lev_23:6
Feast - The three festivals (often called the Great Festivals), Passover, Pentecost and
tabernacles, to which the name ‫חג‬ chag, i. e. a feast or rejoicing properly belongs Lev_
23:6, Lev_23:34, Lev_23:39, Lev_23:41, were distinguished by the attendance of the
male Israelites at the national sanctuary (compare Exo_23:17; Exo_34:23; Deu_16:16).
In later times they were called by the rabbins “pilgrimage feasts.” It is worthy of note
that the Hebrew word is identical with the Arabic “haj”, the name of the pilgrimage to
Mecca, from which comes the well-known word for a pilgrim, “haji”.
CLARKE, "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of
unleavened bread unto the Lord,.... Which was the day the children of Israel went
out of Egypt with their dough and leaven, having not time to leaven it; in remembrance
of which this feast was appointed:
seven days ye must eat unleavened bread; see Exo_12:15.
PETT, "Verses 6-8
41

42. The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6-8).
Leviticus 23:6
“And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to
Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.”
Passover was immediately followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus
12:15-20; Numbers 28:16-25) which began when the moon was full. This was
probably an old feast adapted for the new situation of fleeing from Egypt. For seven
days unleavened bread was to be eaten as a reminder of the speed with which they
had had to leave Egypt. But the unleavened bread may also have previously
celebrated a newly arrived harvest when the old leavened grain would no longer be
required. It may well have once celebrated the beginning of the barley harvest when
the Patriarchs were in Canaan, and have been continued by long custom as a feast
to celebrate even when things were different in Egypt (old habits die hard), possibly
being adapted to connect with the wheat harvest or with lambing or some other
aspect of life in Egypt. The old customs would continue although their significance
would be reinterpreted. Once they reached Canaan it would be re-established with
its old significance (Leviticus 23:10-11).
7 On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do
no regular work.
BARNES, "Lev_23:7
No servile work - literally, no work of labor, no work that belongs to one’s worldly
calling, such as labor in agriculture or handicraft. The preparation of food was permitted
Exo_12:16, a licence not granted on the weekly Sabbath, or on the day of atonement
Lev_23:28, Lev_23:30; Exo_20:10; Exo_35:3.
GILL, "In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation,.... That is, on the first
of the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread, even the fifteenth day of the month
Nisan; this was separated from the other days of the festival, and more particularly
devoted to religions exercises, see Exo_12:16,
ye shall do no servile work therein; such as agriculture, or any manufacture or
mechanical business, which they and their servants were at other times employed in; but
they might bake bread, and boil or roast their meat, and walk abroad, which they might
not do on their sabbaths; and therefore it is so expressed as to distinguish it from the
work forbidden on that day.
42

43. ELLICOTT, " (7) In the first day.—That is, the first of the seven days, or the
fifteenth of the month Nisan. (See Exodus 12:16.)
Ye shall do no servile work therein.—Servile work was defined during the second
Temple to consist in building, pulling down edifices, weaving, reaping, threshing,
winnowing, grinding, &c, whilst needful work which was allowed was killing beasts,
kneading dough, baking bread, boiling, roasting, &e. For violating this law the
offender was not to be stoned to death, as in the case of violating the sabbath, but to
receive forty stripes save one.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:7
“In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work.”
The first day of that week was to be a sabbath, no matter which day it fell on
(Exodus 12:16), a day when no servile work was done. The minimum necessary so
that they could eat and celebrate the feast was allowed. This restriction was possibly
not quite as rigid as for the regular Sabbath.
8 For seven days present a food offering to the
Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred
assembly and do no regular work.’”
BARNES, "Lev_23:8
The sacrifices here meant are named in Num_28:19-24.
GILL, "But ye shall offer an offering made by, fire unto the Lord seven
days,.... A burnt offering was to be offered unto the Lord on everyone of the seven days,
which were two young bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs; besides a meat offering, and
a goat for a sin offering, Num_28:19,
43

44. in the seventh day is an holy convocation, ye shall do no servile work
therein; as on the first day, that was on account of the Israelites going out of Egypt; and
this is said, on account of Pharaoh and his host being drowned on it; See Gill on Exo_
12:16.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:8. Ye shall offer — unto the Lord seven days — Every day
of the seven was to have a sacrifice offered upon it, about which there are particular
directions, Numbers 28:10-25; and the first and last days of the week’s festival were
to be days of universal assembly for religious duties at the place of public worship.
ELLICOTT, " (8) But ye shall offer.—Better, and ye shall offer. In addition to the
daily ordinary sacrifices, there were offered on this day, and on the following six
days, two young bullocks, a ram, and seven lambs of the first year, with meat
offerings for a burnt offering, and a goat for a sin offering (Numbers 28:19-23). Be
sides these public sacrifices, there were the voluntary offerings which were made by
every private individual who appeared before the Lord in Jerusalem (Exodus 23:15;
Deuteronomy 16:16), and which, according to the practice during the second
Temple, consisted of (1) a burnt offering of not less in value than sixteen grains of
corn; (2) a festive offering called chagigah, the minimum value of which was thirty-
two grains of corn; and (3) a peace or joyful offering (Deuteronomy 27:7), the value
of which was left to be determined by the good will of the offerer in accordance with
Deuteronomy 27:7. These victims were offered with the ritual prescribed in
Leviticus 3:1-5; Leviticus 7:16-18; Leviticus 7:29-34.
In the seventh day . . . ye shall do no servile work.—This was, in all respects,
celebrated like the first, with the exception that it did not commence with the
paschal meal. During the intervening days the people indulged in public
amusements, as dances, songs, games, &c, to fill up the time in harmony with the
joyful and solemn character of the festival. They were also allowed to irrigate dry
land, dig watercourses, repair conduits, reservoirs, roads, &c.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:8
“But you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh seven days. In the seventh
day is a holy convocation, you shall do no servile work.”
The seventh day was also ‘a holy convocation’, a further sabbath (and the regular
Sabbath would fall somewhere during the seven day period). Each day of the feast
an offering by fire would be made to Yahweh.
This feast is a reminder to us of the need to remove from our lives all the leaven of
wickedness and malice and to partake of the unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). We are to purge out the old leaven so that we might be
like a new lump, totally unleavened. We are also to beware of the leaven of false
teaching, the ‘leaven of the Pharisees’ (Matthew 16:6; Matthew 16:12), and of
worldly constraint, ‘the leaven of Herod’ (Mark 8:15).
44

45. PULPIT, "Leviticus 23:8
The Feast of Unleavened Bread was instituted at the same time with the Feast of the
Passover (Exodus 12:15-17), and from the beginning the two festivals were
practically but one festival, never separated, though separable in idea. The
Passover, strictly so called, lasted but one day, Nisan 14; the Feast of Unleavened
Bread lasted seven days, Nisan 15-21. The whole made a festival of eight days, called
indifferently the Feast of the Passover, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The bread
to be eaten throughout the festival was unleavened, in order to remind the Israelites
of the historical fact that on account of the urgency of the Egyptians, "the people
took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in
their clothes upon their shoulders" (Exodus 12:34), and quitted the land of their
affliction in haste. Accordingly, in the Book of Deuteronomy it is appointed, "Seven
days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for
thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the
day when thou earnest forth out of the laud of Egypt all the days of thy life"
(Deuteronomy 16:3).
Leviticus 23:7, Leviticus 23:8
The first and the last day were to be days of holy convocation, on which no servile
work might be done. It was on the first day, Nisan 15, that our Lord was crucified.
The Pharisees found nothing in the holiness of the day to prevent their taking
virtual part in his seizure and condemnation and death; but we are told by St. John
that "they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled,
but that they might eat the Passover" (John 18:28). What is meant in this passage by
"the Passover" is not the Paschal lamb which had already been consumed, but
probably the peace offering, or chagigah, which had to be offered and eaten on the
first day of Unleavened Bread. The public sacrifices on each of the seven days of the
week were two young bullocks, one ram, and seven Iambs for a burnt offering, with
the accompanying meat offerings, and one goat for a sin offering (Numbers
28:19-24). And these were followed by peace offerings made at the discretion of
individuals, "according to the blessing of the Lord which he had given them"
(Deuteronomy 16:17).
Offering the Firstfruits
9 The Lord said to Moses,
45

46. BARNES, "These verses contain a distinct command regarding the religious services
immediately connected with the grain harvest, given by anticipation against the time
when the people were to possess the promised land.
GILL, "And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time, for what follow are
the other feasts and holy convocations before spoken of:
COFFMAN, ""And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of
Israel, and say unto them, When ye are come into the land which I give unto you,
and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of
your harvest unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah, to be
accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And in
the day when ye wave the sheaf, ye shall offer a he-lamb without blemish a year old
for a burnt-offering unto Jehovah. And the meal-offering thereof shall be two tenth
parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto
Jehovah for a sweet savor; and the drink-offering thereof shall be of wine, the
fourth part of a hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched grain, nor fresh
ears, until this selfsame day, until ye have brought the oblation of your God: it is a
statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings."
Lofthouse and other critics, ever anxious to attack the unity of Biblical passages,
assert: "That the chapter is not a unity is shown by the new beginnings in Leviticus
23:9."[10] Such expressions as that found in Leviticus 23:9 are found literally
dozens of times in the O.T., and the use of it again here is no evidence whatever of a
"new beginning." Those who hope to fragment the unity of this chapter must find
something a lot better than that.
"On the morrow after the sabbath shall wave it ..." "These words mean `the day
after the first day of unleavened bread'."[11] The great significance of this lies in the
fact of ultimate fulfillment of the inherent prophecy that Christ would rise from the
dead on "the third day." Christ was crucified on Thursday. Friday was the first day
of unleaven bread. Saturday was the ordinary sabbath. And Sunday was the day
after the morrow of the first day of unleavened bread. Thus, it was the occurrence
during the Passion Week of those back-to-back sabbaths that resulted in the fiftieth
day (the Pentecost) coming on Sunday. (See my commentary on Mark 14:42.)
"The meaning of this phrase has been the subject of much controversy. Is the
sabbath in question the ordinary sabbath, or is it the first day of unleavened bread
(also a sabbath)?"[12] Wenham went on to declare that, "Orthodox Judaism and
most modern commentators favor the second suggestion."[13] Of course, there was
controversy among the Jews over which was meant even in the days of Christ's
earthly ministry. The Pharisees insisted that the sabbath was a weekly sabbath
46

47. (Saturday), and the Sadducees made it the "high sabbath" of the first day of
unleavened bread (John 19:31). This old controversy is reflected in the statement of
the gospel of Luke that, "When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all
together ... etc." (Acts 2:1) It is a pity that this extremely illuminating passage
should have been changed in our version (American Standard Version), and in the
Douay, RSV and many others. The use of "fully come" shows that there was a
dispute about when it came, that the apostles honored the more extensive count (as
in the second interpretation), and that the Holy Spirit came on the day that the
apostles accepted as Pentecost. It is notable that the apostles did not follow the lead
of the Pharisees. Lightfoot noted that the apostles' Pentecost did not coincide with
the Jewish Pentecost.[14] Dosker also admitted that according to Matthew, Mark,
and Luke, the Passover that year occurred on Thursday, Nisan 14, hence, Passover
fell on Saturday, which, of course, would have been the case if there had been only
one sabbath that week! Dosker was also mystified by the fact that according to
John, the Passover that year occurred on Friday the 14th of Nisan. The back-to-
back sabbaths explain everything connected with this question, which is called "one
of the knottiest problems in harmonizing the Christian gospels."[15] The only thing
that makes this problem difficult, however, is the erroneous tradition that Christ
was crucified on Friday. Add that other sabbath to John's calculations and
Pentecost comes out on Sunday where it belongs. The "sabbath" in Matthew and
Mark was not Saturday at all, but Friday, "the high day" mentioned by John,
namely, the first day of unleavened bread.
"Ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits ..." (Leviticus 23:10). Just as the Passover
was inherently a prophecy of the crucifixion of Christ our Passover, so also the first-
fruits three days later contained the inherent prophecy of the rising of Christ from
the dead "on the third day." "Thus this feast prefigured the resurrection of Christ
as `the first-fruits' from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:23; Romans 8:29)."[16]
"And the drink-offering ..." This verse and Leviticus 23:18,37 are the only mention
of a drink-offering in Leviticus.[17] Apparently, the drink-offering was always the
accompaniment of a greater offering and did not appear to be of the same rank and
importance. How this wine was used was given thus by Josephus: "They bring the
same quantity of oil which they do of wine, and they pour the wine about the
altar."[18]
In later times this feast of the first-fruits came to be called Pentecost, which is
derived from the Greek word meaning "fiftieth," which was reckoned by counting
seven weeks (49 days) plus one day after the Passover. This complete cycle of seven
weeks also resulted in its being called "the Feast of Weeks."
ELLICOTT, "(9) And the Lord spake unto Moses.—As the celebration of the sheaf
of first-fruits formed no part of the original institution of the Passover (Exodus
12:1-20), and as the omer ritual could not be observed in the wilderness, where there
was no sowing of corn, it is here enacted as a prospective part of the feast of
unleavened bread, and hence is introduced by a separate formula.
47

48. PETT, "Verses 9-14
The Firstfruit of the Barley Harvest On The Second Day of Unleavened Bread
(Leviticus 23:9-14).
Leviticus 23:9
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,’
This continually repeated may suggest that these details had been provided and
built up separately and were now being drawn together to form a total picture. But
again there is the emphasis that they were all God-given.
PULPIT, "Leviticus 23:9-14
A second command is given on the subject of the Feast of Unleavened Bread
respecting those ceremonies which were only to be made use of when the Israelites
had reached Canaan. It has reference to the second day of Unleavened Bread, which
is called the morrow after the sabbath, the first day of the feast being meant by the
sabbath, on whatever day of week it may have occurred. It was on this second day
that the presentation of the first or wave sheaf of barley took place, according to the
command, Ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow
after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Which command was fulfilled in the
following manner. "Already, on the 14th of Nisan, the spot whence the first sheaf
was to be reaped bad been marked out by delegates from the Sanhedrim, by tying
together in bundles, while still standing, the barley that was to be cut down. Though
for obvious reasons it was customary to choose for the purpose the sheltered Ashes
valley across Kedron, there was no restriction on that point, provided the barley
had grown in an ordinary field—of course in Palestine itself—and not in garden or
orchard land, and that the soil had not been manured nor yet artificially watered.
When the time for cutting the sheaf had arrived, that is, on the evening of the 15th
of Nisan (even though it was a sabbath)just as the sun went down, three men, each
with a sickle and basket, formally set to work. But in order clearly to bring out all
that was distinctive in the ceremony, they first asked of the bystanders three times
each of these questions: 'Has the sun gone down?' 'With this sickle?' 'Into this
basket?' ' On this sabbath?' (or first Passover day); and lastly, 'Shall I reap?'
Having been each time answered in the affirmative, they cut down barley to the
amount of one ephah, or ten omers, or three seahs, which is equal to about three
pecks and three pints of our English measure. The ears were brought into the court
of the temple" (Edersheim, 'Temple Service'). The sheaf composed of these ears (for
the Authorized Version is right in considering that it is the sheaf, and not the omer
of flour made out of the ears of barley, that is meant by ‫ר‬ ֶ‫מ‬ֹ‫,ע‬ though Josephus and
the Mishna take it the other way) was on the following day waved by the priests
before the Lord, in token of its consecration, and through it, of the consecration of
48

49. the whole barley crop to the Lord. With it was offered the burnt offering of a lamb,
a meat offering double the usual quantity, and a drink offering. This passage and
Leviticus 23:18 and Leviticus 23:37, are the only places in the Book of Leviticus
where the drink offering is mentioned. Until the waving of the sheaf, neither bread
nor parched corn, nor green ears, that is, no grain in any form, might be eaten. We
may imagine how delicacies made of the new flour would at once appear in the
streets as soon as the sheaf had been waved.
10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them:
‘When you enter the land I am going to give you
and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a
sheaf of the first grain you harvest.
BARNES, "Lev_23:10
Sheaf - The original word, “omer”, means either a sheaf Deu_24:19; Rth_2:7, or a
measure Exo_16:16. Our version is probably right in this place. The offering which was
waved Lev_7:30 was most likely a small sheaf of barley, the grain which is first ripe. The
first fruits of the wheat harvest were offered seven weeks later in the loaves of Pentecost.
See Lev_23:15-17. The two offerings thus figure the very commencement and the
completion of the grain harvest; compare Rth_1:22; Rth_2:23.
GILL, "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... What is next
observed, it being incumbent on them to do what is enjoined:
when ye be come into the land which I give unto you: the land of Canaan, which
God had given by promise to their fathers and to them, and which they were now going
to inherit: as yet they were in a wilderness, where there were no sowing nor reaping, nor
any harvest; so that the following law, though now given, could not take place till they
came into the land of Canaan:
and shall reap the harvest thereof; the barley harvest, which was about this time,
the month Nisan, and which had the name Abib, from the barley being then in the ear,
see Exo_9:31; for the wheat harvest was not till seven weeks after:
then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest;
to with it as after directed: this is called an omer in the text, which was the tenth part of
49

50. an ephah, Exo_16:36; and so Jarchi interprets it here; according to the Jewish writers,
when the sheaf was reaped, the corn was beat out and winnowed, and dried by the fire,
and then ground in a mill, and an omer, or a tenth part of an ephah of the flour of it was
taken, and oil and frankincense put upon it, an handful of which being put upon the
altar, the rest was the priest's; and with this pretty much agrees the account Josephus
gives, who says, on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth (day of
Nisan), of the fruits they have reaped they take a part; for they do not touch them before,
accounting it just to honour God first, from whom they receive the plenty of these
things; and bring the firstfruits of the barley after this manner, having dried the handful
of ears, and bruised them, and cleansed them from the bran, they bring to the altar a
tenth part to God, and casting one handful of it on the altar, they leave the rest for the
use of the priests; and from thence forward it is lawful to reap publicly and privately (k):
this has been in some part imitated by the Heathens: the Egyptians, who ascribe the
invention of the fruits of the earth, particularly wheat and barley, to Isis and Osiris, in
memory of it, and as a testimony of their gratitude for it, at the time of harvest, bring an
handful of the first ears of corn, and beating themselves near them, call upon Isis; and in
some cities, at the feast of Isis, vessels of wheat and barley were carried about in great
pomp, as Diodorus Siculus (l) relates.
JAMISON, "ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto
the priest — A sheaf, literally, an omer, of the first-fruits of the barley harvest. The
barley being sooner ripe than the other grains, the reaping of it formed the
commencement of the general harvest season. The offering described in this passage was
made on the sixteenth of the first month, the day following the first Passover Sabbath,
which was on the fifteenth (corresponding to the beginning of our April); but it was
reaped after sunset on the previous evening by persons deputed to go with sickles and
obtain samples from different fields. These, being laid together in a sheaf or loose
bundle, were brought to the court of the temple, where the grain was winnowed,
parched, and bruised in a mortar. Then, after some incense had been sprinkled on it, the
priest waved the sheaf aloft before the Lord towards the four different points of the
compass, took a part of it and threw it into the fire of the altar - all the rest being
reserved to himself. It was a proper and beautiful act, expressive of dependence on the
God of nature and providence - common among all people, but more especially
becoming the Israelites, who owed their land itself as well as all it produced to the divine
bounty. The offering of the wave-sheaf sanctified the whole harvest (Rom_11:16). At the
same time, this feast had a typical character, and pre-intimated the resurrection of
Christ (1Co_15:20), who rose from the dead on the very day the first-fruits were offered.
CALVIN, "Verse 10
10.When ye be come to the land. Moses now lays down rules as to the second day of
festival, which was dedicated to the offering of the first-fruits. The ceremony is
described that they should deliver a handful into the hand of the priest; though
some think that the measure is signified which was the tenth part of an Ephah. The
word Omer (345) means both. But in this passage the expression “handful” is most
appropriate, since it represented in a lively manner the beginning of the harvest;
inasmuch as it was not lawful to taste even of parched grain before the offering of
the firstfruits. The priest lifted it up before the altar, but with a waving motion; for
50

51. thus the Hebrews distinguish between the two modes, (346) ‫,תרומה‬ therumah, which
was lifted up, and ‫תנופה‬ , thenuphah, which is mentioned here, and which was waved
towards the four points of the compass, and then a sacrifice and libation were made.
We know that heathen nations (347) thus invented gods and goddesses presiding
over the fruits, so that the earth was the great and common mother of gods and men.
Into this error the Jews would have straightway fallen, or would have gorged
themselves without thinking about God, unless they had been reminded by this
ceremony that the Father of their subsistence was in heaven, whose minister the
earth was for providing their food. For since the whole harvest was consecrated in
the single handful, it was as if they had shewn that whatever the earth produced
altogether belonged to God. But thus the admirable goodness of God was
conspicuous, when, in claiming what was His own, He did not at all diminish the
food of the people; afterwards they received, as if from His hand, whatever each
individual had stored at home, just as though it had come out of His sanctuary.
Paul’s statement is well known, “For if the first-fruit be holy, the lump is also holy,”
(Romans 11:16,) wherein he alludes to this ancient ceremony of the Law. The word
which they translate “unto your acceptance,” (348) is the same which interpreters
elsewhere render “good pleasure,” and refer to the people, as if it were said, “at
your own will,” or “ad libitum,” as it is barbarously said. But I have before shewn
that it must be understood of the favor and good-will of God, although it is
transferred in a passive sense to the people, as in Psalms 106:4, ‫,רצון‬ ratson, or the
favor of the chosen people, means the gratuitous love wherewith God regards His
Church. But Moses signifies that the fruits of the earth cannot otherwise be eaten
with a clear conscience, because they would not feel that God accepted them, and
looked upon them with paternal affection. The ceremony, now abolished, still
remains in full force amongst us as regards its substance, for nothing but the
acknowledgment of God’s bounty, which springs from faith and thanksgiving,
sanctifies whatever we receive of His hand.
Next to the first-fruits comes the feast of seven weeks, which the Greeks have
rendered Pentecost, having reference to the same object; for after they had offered
the first-fruits from the standing harvest, they added another token of gratitude in
the shape of the loaves and the greater sacrifice. It must however be observed, that
the two loaves are required of every family, and that they consist of two-tenths; but
that the sacrifices of seven lambs, one bullock, and two rams, and also of a goat and
two lambs, is enjoined upon the whole people. This is in fact the legitimate
acknowledgment of God’s liberality, because the waving of the sheaf, as being
performed in haste, was but a trifling one; since we have seen that before they
touched the grain, God required that the first-fruits should be offered to Him, until
at leisure and in a more convenient season they might more fully discharge their
duty. Thus what we have above observed respecting the first-fruits, was only a
preparation for the day of Pentecost, on which the holy oblation was not ears of
wheat, but loaves made of the new wheat.
Vos, O clarissima mundi
Lumina, labentem coelo quae ducitis annum,
51

52. Liber et alma Ceres; vestro si munere tellus
Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit arista,
Poculaque inventis Acheloia miscuit uvis, etc —5:5-9.
COKE, "Verse 10
Leviticus 23:10. When ye be come into the land— See Deuteronomy 12:10;
Deuteronomy 12:32. This precept could not take place till they came into the land of
Canaan, as they neither sowed nor reaped in the wilderness:—and shall reap, might
be rendered, more consistently with the context, shall begin, or be about to reap; see
Deuteronomy 16:9. Josephus says, that the sheaf to be brought upon this occasion,
or the handful, as the margin of our English Bibles has it, consisted, not of the stalks
of corn as they were cut, but of the corn ears dried by the fire; see ch. Leviticus 2:14.
The harvest here mentioned, signifies the barley harvest, which began about the
passover, Exodus 9:31. The wheat harvest began at pentecost, when they offered the
first-fruits, mentioned Leviticus 23:17. "These first-fruits," says Calmet, "were
reaped by men delegated for that purpose, and presented, in the name of the
community, to the priest, who waved them towards the four quarters, in sign of
their being consecrated to the Sovereign of the universe."
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:10. When ye come into the land, &c. — In the wilderness
they sowed no corn, and therefore could not be obliged by this precept till they came
into Canaan. And shall reap the harvest — Begin to reap, as the sense shows, and is
explained Deuteronomy 16:9. Then ye shall bring a sheaf — Or handful, as the
margin has it; but in the Hebrew it is omer.
And they did not offer this corn in the ear, or by a sheaf, or handful, but, as
Josephus affirms, and may be gathered from Leviticus 2:14-16, purged from the
chaff, dried, and beaten out.
ELLICOTT, " (10) When ye be come into the land.—This is the third of the four
instances in Leviticus where a law is given prospectively, having no immediate
bearing on the condition of the people of Israel. (See Leviticus 19:23.)
Then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest.—Better, ye shall bring
the first-fruit omer of your harvest. The omer had to be from the best and ripest
standing corn of a field near Jerusalem. The measure of an omer was of the meal
obtained from the barley offering. Hence three seahs = one ephah, or ten omers,
were at first gathered in the following manner :—“Delegates from the Sanhedrim
went into the field nearest to Jerusalem a day before the festival, and tied together
the ears in bundles whilst still fastened to the ground.”
PETT, "Leviticus 23:10-11
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you are come into the land
which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the
52

53. first-fruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh,
to be accepted for you. On the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.”
Once they were again in Canaan (this was continually stressed so as to maintain
their hope for the future) they would revive the celebration of the firstfruits of the
barley harvest, and during the feast of Unleavened Bread, on the evening after the
Sabbath, would bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest to the priest for him
to wave before Yahweh. This would be accepted by Him on their behalf as an
acknowledgement of gratitude for the harvest.
11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it
will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to
wave it on the day after the Sabbath.
BARNES, "Lev_23:11
On the morrow after the sabbath - It is most probable that these words denote
the 16th of Abib, the day after the first day of holy convocation (see Lev_23:5-8 note),
and that this was called “the Sabbath of the Passover”, or, “the Sabbath of unleavened
bread”.
CLARKE, "He shalt wave the sheaf - He shall move it to and fro before the
people, and thereby call their attention to the work of Divine Providence, and excite their
gratitude to God for preserving to them the kindly fruits of the earth. See Clarke’s note
on Exo_29:27, and Exodus 7 at end.
GILL, "And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord,.... Or the omer of barley;
this was done by the priest in the tabernacle and temple, where was the presence of God,
and that before the handful of it was put upon the altar; which agitation or waving was,
as Gersom says, towards the cast; it was moved to and fro, backwards and forwards,
upwards and downwards, to make an acknowledgment to the Lord of heaven and earth,
that the fruits of the earth and the plentiful harvest were of him, and to give him the
praise and glory of it:
to be accepted for you; of the Lord, as a thanksgiving to him, for the harvest now
ripe, and the appointed time of it, and the plenty thereof; and that the remainder might
be sanctified and blessed to them, and they have leave to gather it in, which they had not
till this was done:
53

54. on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it; not after the seventh
day, but after the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, which was a sabbath, in
which no servile work was to be done, Lev_23:7; and so the Targum of Jonathan calls it
the day after the first good day of the passover, which was the sixteenth of Nisan, as
Josephus expressly says, in the place above referred to; and so it is generally understood
by Jewish writers (m) the account given of this affair is this; the messengers of the
sanhedrim went out (from Jerusalem over the brook Kidron to the fields near it) on the
evening of the feast, (i.e. at the going out of the fifteenth) and at the beginning of the
sixteenth of Nisan, and bound the standing corn in bundles, that so it might be the more
easily reaped; and all the neighbouring cities gathered together there, that it might be
reaped in great pomp; and when it was dark, one said to them, is the sun set? they said,
yes. With this sickle (shall I reap?) they said, yes. In this basket (shall I put it?) they said,
yes. If on a sabbath day, he said to them, On this sabbath day (shall I do it?) they said,
yes (n). These questions were put and answered three times; then they reaped it and put
it into the baskets, and brought it to the court, where they parched it before the fire, to
fulfil the commandment of parched corn; then they put it in mills for grinding beans,
and took out of it a tenth part (of an ephah), which was sifted with eighteen sieves; then
oil and frankincense were poured upon it, being mixed; and it was waved, and brought,
and a handful taken and burnt, and the rest was eaten by the priests; and when they had
offered the omer, they went out and found the streets of Jerusalem full of meal and
parched corn (o), there being now full liberty to reap what they would: now this sheaf of
the firstfruits was typical of Christ; it being of barley, may denote the mean estate of
Christ in his humiliation; and but one sheaf for all the people, may signify that Christ is
the one Mediator, Saviour, and Redeemer: yet as a sheaf comprehends many stalks and
grains, so Christ has a complication of blessings in him; yea, he had all his people
representatively in him, when he was offered for the whole body of his mystical Israel, all
the children of God scattered abroad; the manner of reaping it, by persons deputed by
the sanhedrim on the eve of a festival of the passover, in the sight of much people,
without Jerusalem, near Kidron, exactly agrees with the apprehending of Christ in the
night near Kidron, by persons sent from the Jewish sanhedrim, and his suffering
publicly without the gates of Jerusalem; it being brought to the priests in the court, and
threshed, winnowed, dried, and parched by the fire, and ground in mills, may denote the
various dolorous sufferings of Christ, by means of the priests and elders of the people;
and oil and frankincense being put on it, may denote the acceptableness of his sacrifice
to God; and the waving of it, his resurrection from the dead, which was on the very day
this sheaf was waved; who is the firstfruits of them that sleep in him, and which
sanctifies the whole body of them, and ensures their resurrection unto eternal life; see
1Co_15:20.
COKE, "Verse 11
Leviticus 23:11. On the morrow after the sabbath— By the sabbath here, is to be
understood, not the weekly sabbath, but the first day of unleavened bread, spoken
of Leviticus 23:7 which is called the sabbath, or rest, because it was a festival,
whereon they were to rest from all servile labour, as was usual on their weekly
sabbath: and this is common, says Strabo, both to Greeks and Barbarians; to keep
their holidays with a festival remission of their labours.
54

55. The Hebrew, says Dr. Beaumont, is morrow of the sabbath; meaning not the
ordinary sabbath, but the sabbath of the passover, which was always the 15th of
Nisan, or March, the first day of unleavened bread, called the feast, Numbers 28:17
on which days were sabbatisms; (Leviticus 23:24; Leviticus 23:32; Leviticus 23:39.)
so the morrow after was always the 16th of Nisan.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:11. He shall wave the sheaf — Or omer, rather. In the
name of the whole congregation, it was lifted up toward heaven, as an
acknowledgment to God for his goodness, and with prayer for his blessing upon all
their ensuing harvest, which it, as it were, sanctified to them, and of which it gave
them a comfortable use. For then we may eat our bread with joy, when God hath
accepted our works. And thus should we always begin with God; begin our lives
with him, begin every day with him, begin every work and business with him: Seek
ye first the kingdom of God — Reader, dost thou do this? The morrow after the
sabbath — After the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, which was a
sabbath, or day of rest, as appears from Leviticus 23:7; or upon the sixteenth day of
the month. And this was the first of those fifty days, in the close whereof was the
feast of pentecost.
ELLICOTT, " (11) And he shall wave the sheaf.—Better, and he shall wave the
omer. The priest mixed with the omer of meal a log of oil, put on a handful of
frankincense (see Leviticus 2:15), as on other meat-offerings, waved it, took a
handful of it and caused it to ascend in smoke (see Leviticus 2:16), and then
consumed the residue in company with his fellow-priests. Immediately after this
ceremony, bread, parched corn, green ears, &c, of the new crop were exposed for
sale in the streets of Jerusalem, as, prior to the offering of the omer, no use whatever
was allowed to be made of the new corn.
On the morrow after the sabbath.—The interpretation of this phrase also
constituted one of the differences between the Pharisees and the Sadducees during
the second Temple. According to the Pharisees, the term sabbath here, as elsewhere
(see Leviticus 23:24; Leviticus 23:32; Leviticus 23:39), is not the weekly sabbath, but
the next day, or the first day of the holy convocation, the first day of Passover, on
which the Israelites had to abstain from all unnecessary work. It is the 16th of
Nisan. The Sadducees, however, maintained that it is to be understood in its literal
sense as denoting the weekly sab-bath in the Passover week, which might happen to
fall within the seven days, and possibly the fifth or sixth day of the festival. But this
is against the import of Leviticus 23:15. Here the feast of Pentecost is to be reckoned
from this sabbath, and if this sabbath might either be on the second or sixth day of
the Passover, not only would the feast of Pentecost have no definite day, but the
Passover itself would, in the course of time, be displaced from the fundamental
position which it occupies in the order of the annual festivals. Hence the Pharisees,
rightly regarding the word sabbath here as an alternative term for the day of holy
convocation, took the morrow after the sabbath to denote Nisan 16. On the
afternoon of this day, therefore, the inhabitants of the neighbouring towns of
55

56. Jerusalem assembled together “so that the reaping might take place amidst great
tumult.” As soon as it became dark, each of the reapers asked, “Has the sun gone
down?” To which the people replied, “Yes.” They asked twice again, “Has the sun
gone down?” to which the people each time replied, “Yes.” Each reaper then asked
three times, “Is this the scythe? “to which the people each time replied “Yes.” “Is
this the box?” they next asked three times. “Yes,” was again thrice the reply of the
people. “Is this the Sabbath?” the reaper asked three times; and three times the
people replied, “Yes.” “Shall I cut?” he asked three times; and three times the
people replied, “Yes.” When cut it was laid in boxes, brought into the court of the
Temple, threshed with canes and sticks, that the grains might not be crushed, and
laid in a roast with holes, so that the fire might touch each grain. Thereupon it was
spread in the court of the sanctuary for the wind to pass over it, and ground in a
barley mill which left the hulls unground. The flour thus obtained was sifted
through thirteen different sieves, each one finer than its predecessor. In this manner
was the prescribed omer or tenth part got from the seah.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be
accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
Ver. 11. And he shall wave the sheaf.] This signified that they and theirs were
accepted of God through Christ.
On the morrow after the Sabbath.] Here the Lord’s day was prefigured, saith one,
therefore prescribed, and instituted of God. This shake day sheaf was a pregnant
type of Christ’s rising again, the firstfruits from the dead. It was fulfilled in Christ’s
resurrection, the day after the Sabbath. And because this Sabbath was chiefly
meant of the Passover (which was a high Sabbath) it was a double Sabbath wherein
Christ rested in the grave. The very next morning was Christ waved before the
Lord, when, in the earthquake, he rose from the dead "the firstfruits of them that
sleep," and there hence entered the everlasting gates as a King of glory, [Psalms
24:7] which psalm is in the Greek called A psalm of David of the first day of the
week.
12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must
sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a
year old without defect,
56

57. GILL, "And ye shall offer that day, when ye wave the sheaf,.... Besides the daily
sacrifice of the morning and evening, and the additional offerings made on everyone of
the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread:
an he lamb without blemish of the first year, for a burnt offering unto the
Lord; typical of the perfect and immaculate Lamb of God, whose sufferings are fitly
signified by a burnt offering; and which were endured at the time he became the
firstfruits of his people, and sanctified them.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:12-13
“And in the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a he-lamb without blemish
a year old for a whole burnt offering to Yahweh. And its grain offering shall be two
tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire to
Yahweh for a pleasing odour; and its drink-offering shall be of wine, the fourth part
of a hin.”
On the same day a whole burnt offering of a year old lamb would be offered
together with a grain offering (seven litres) mingled with oil and a drink offering
(1:7 litres) of wine. These would be offerings made by fire to Yahweh, and their
offering would give Him pleasure, arising as a pleasing odour. Each of these
represented an expression of gratitude to God. for the gift of lambs, the gift of
barley harvest and the gift of wine.
13 together with its grain offering of two-tenths of
an ephah[a] of the finest flour mixed with olive
oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a
pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a
quarter of a hin[b] of wine.
BARNES, "Lev_23:13
Two tenth deals - Two omers, or tenth parts of an ephah, about a gallon and three
quarters. See Lev_19:36 note. The double quantity (contrast Exo_29:40; Num_15:4;
Num_28:19-21), implying greater liberality, was appropriate in a harvest feast.
57

58. Drink offering - This and Lev_23:18, Lev_23:37 are the only places in the book of
Leviticus in which drink-offerings are mentioned. See the Exo_29:40 note.
GILL, "And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour
mingled with oil,.... The usual measure of flour to a meat offering was one tenth deal,
Exo_29:40; but here it is doubled: some Jewish writers say (p) one tenth was on account
of the lamb that was offered at this time, and the other as was suitable for a meat
offering; but the true reason seems to be, because it was on account of the fruits of the
earth and the plenty thereof; and therefore a double measure of fine flour mixed with oil
was required as a token of gratitude; for thankfulness ought to be in proportion to
mercies:
an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savour; an handful of it was
burnt upon the altar, and was received with acceptance by the Lord, and the rest was
eaten by the priests, Lev_2:2,
and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin;
which was the common quantity for a drink offering, Exo_29:40; for, as Jarchi observes,
though the meat offering was doubled, the drink offering was not; the reason of which
seems to be, because these offerings were on account of the harvest and not the vintage:
the Targum of Jonathan calls it wine of grapes, to distinguish it from wine that might be
made of other things, but not to be used in drink offerings, only the pure juice of the
grape.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:13. Two tenth-deals — Or parts, of an ephah; that is, two
omers; whereas in other sacrifices of lambs there was but one tenth-deal prescribed.
The reason of which disproportion may be this; that one of the tenth-deals was a
necessary attendant upon the lamb, and the other was peculiar to this feast, and was
an attendant upon the oblation of the corn, and was offered with it in thanksgiving
to God for the fruits of the earth.
ELLICOTT, "(13) Two tenth deals of fine flour.—Ordinarily only one-tenth deal of
fine Hour was required for a meat-offering (Exodus 29:40; Numbers 15:4; Numbers
28:9; Numbers 28:13, &c.), to exhibit the plentiful harvest. With the exception of the
handful of flour and oil, and of all the frankincense, this meat-offering was the
perquisite of the priests. (See Leviticus 2:2-3.)
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:13 And the meat offering thereof [shall be] two tenth deals of
fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD [for] a sweet
savour: and the drink offering thereof [shall be] of wine, the fourth [part] of an hin.
Ver. 13. Two tenth deals.] This was double to the ordinary proportion, [Numbers
15:4] because on such an occasion.
58

59. 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new
grain, until the very day you bring this offering to
your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the
generations to come, wherever you live.
BARNES, "Lev_23:14
Bread ... parched corn ... green ears - These are the three forms in which grain
was commonly eaten. The old name, Abib, signified “the month of green ears.” See Jos_
5:11.
CLARKE, "Ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears -
It is right that God, the dispenser of every blessing, should be acknowledged as such, and
the first-fruits of the field, etc., dedicated to him. Concerning the dedication of the first-
fruits, see the note on Exo_22:29. Parched ears of corn and green ears, fried, still
constitute a part, and not a disagreeable one, of the food of the Arabs now resident in the
Holy Land. See Hasselquist.
GILL, "And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears,....
That is, they were not allowed to make bread of the new corn, as Aben Ezra and Gersom
explain it; for they were obliged to eat unleavened bread at this time: but it might not be
made of the new corn, until the above offering was made; nay, they were not allowed to
parch any of the grains of corn, and eat them; yea, even they might not pluck and eat the
green ears, though of ever so small a quantity. The Jews say (q), if it was the quantity of
an olive of either of these, a man was to be beaten for it:
until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God; which
includes all the offerings on this account, the offering of the firstfruits, the offering of the
he lamb, and the meat offering and the drink offering; until these were offered up, the
new corn might not be eaten in any form:
it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations; until the Messiah
came, who is the substance of these shadows:
in all your dwellings; not at Jerusalem only, but in the several parts of the land of
Canaan; yea, as Ben Gersom says, whether in the land, or without the land; a later writer
says, it is forbidden to eat of the new corn at this time, whether bread, parched corn, or
59

60. green ears, until the beginning of the night of the eighteenth of Nisan, and in the land of
Israel, until the beginning of the night of the seventeenth of Nisan (r).
COKE, "Leviticus 23:14. Ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, &c.— That
is, no bread or corn of this year's produce; a reasonable testimony of their respect
and gratitude to God, the giver of all good gifts. Pliny tells us, that the Romans
offered the first-fruits of their corn and wine to the gods, before they tasted thereof
themselves.
Note; 1. They who come to acknowledge divine mercies, shall have their souls
refreshed, as with marrow and fatness. (2.) Holy seasons should be observed in a
holy manner. (3.) God has a right to his sheaf: we must honour him with part of our
substance, if we would have his blessing on the rest. (4.) These first-fruits were
typical of Jesus's rising, as the first-fruits from the dead, and thereby assuring us of
our own resurrection.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:14. Ye shall eat neither bread nor corn — Of this year’s
growth. This was a most reasonable testimony of their respect for God, to give him
the first place, and pay their tribute of gratitude to the donor before they used his
gifts. They who lived at a distance from the tabernacle, or temple, were allowed to
eat new corn on this day after mid-day, because the offering to God was always
presented before that time.
ELLICOTT, " (14) And ye shall eat neither bread.—In acknowledgment of the
bountiful Giver of the new harvest, it was ordained that the Israelites were not to
taste any of it till they had dedicated the first- fruit to the Lord. By bread is meant
the unleavened bread which they were now enjoined to eat. The unleavened bread
for the first and the second days of Passover was prepared from the last year’s
harvest, but the bread for the following days could only be made from the new
harvest after the normal dedication of it to the Lord.
Parched corn.—See Leviticus 2:14.
Green ears.—The expression carmel, which the Authorised version renders “full
ears” in Lev. 214, the authorities during the second Temple took to denote the five
kinds of the new grain, viz., wheat, rye, oats, and two kinds of barley, which were
forbidden to be used in any form whatsoever prior to this public dedication of the
harvest to the Lord. The same custom of dedicating the first-fruits of the harvest to
the divine beings also obtained amongst the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and other
nations of antiquity.
A statute for ever . . . —See Leviticus 3:17; Leviticus 7:23-25.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:14
60

61. “And you shall eat neither bread, nor parched grain, nor fresh ears, until this
selfsame day, until you have brought the oblation of your God. It is a statute for
ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”
Until this oblation and firstfruit was offered to God they were not to partake of
anything to do with the harvest. They must eat neither bread, nor parched grain nor
fresh ears. God’s goodness must be acknowledged first.
The firstfruit reminds us of many things. It reminds us that we must never be slow
in expressing our gratitude to God for His provision. We have much to be grateful
for and we must not be like the healed lepers of whom only one returned to Jesus to
give thanks (Luke 17:17). It reminds us that we must continually give thanks for
Jesus Christ Who is the firstfruits of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20). And it
reminds us that we who have been begotten again by Him are the firstfruits of His
creation (James 1:18)
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor
green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God:
[it shall be] a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Ver. 14. And ye shall eat neither bread.] It was fit that God the giver should have
the first.
The Festival of Weeks
15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you
brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off
seven full weeks.
BARNES, "Lev_23:15
The morrow after the sabbath - See Lev_23:11 note.
Seven sabbaths - More properly, seven weeks (compare Deu_16:9). The word
Sabbath, in the language of the New Testament as well as the Old, is used for “week”
61

62. (Lev_25:8; Mat_28:1; Luk_18:12, etc.).
CLARKE, "Ye shall count unto you - seven Sabbaths - That is, from the
sixteenth of the first month to the sixth of the third month. These seven weeks, called
here Sabbaths, were to be complete, i. e., the forty-nine days must be finished, and the
next day, the fiftieth, is what, from the Septuagint, we call pentecost. See the note on
Luk_6:1.
GILL, "And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath,....
Not the seventh day sabbath in the passover week, nor the whole feast of unleavened
bread, but the first day of it, which was an holy convocation, a sabbath in which no
servile work was to be done, Lev_23:7; and it was from the day after this, even the
sixteenth of Nisan, that the following count was to be made; so the Targum of Jonathan,
after the first feast day of the passover: and Josephus (s) is very clear in it, that
Pentecost, or the feast of weeks, was the fiftieth day from the sixteenth of Nisan, when
the above offerings were made:
from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; which plainly
points out the express day from whence the count was to begin, even on the day when
the sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest was offered:
seven sabbaths shall be complete; or seven weeks, that is, forty nine days; and
hence, Jarchi says, we learn that the count began from the evening, or otherwise the
weeks would not be complete; and Gersom thinks the day in which the sheaf was offered
is included in the days counted; for the count began from the day after the first of the
passover, and lo, seven days are seven weeks of days, which make forty nine days.
HENRY 15-22, "Here is the institution of the feast of pentecost, or weeks, as it is
called (Deu_16:9), because it was observed fifty days, or seven weeks, after the passover.
It is also called the feast of harvest, Exo_23:16. For as the presenting of the sheaf of
first-fruits was an introduction to the harvest, and gave them liberty to put in the sickle,
so they solemnized the finishing of their corn-harvest at this feast. 1. Then they offered a
handful of ears of barley, now they offered two loaves of wheaten bread, Lev_23:17.
This was leavened. At the passover they ate unleavened bread, because it was in
remembrance of the bread they ate when they came out of Egypt, which was unleavened;
but now at pentecost it was leavened, because it was an acknowledgment of God's
goodness to them in their ordinary food, which was leavened. 2. With that sheaf of first-
fruits they offered only one lamb for a burnt-offering, but with these loaves of first-fruits
they offered seven lambs, two rams, and one bullock, all for a burnt-offering, so giving
glory to God, as the Lord of their land and the Lord of their harvest, by whose favour
they lived and to whose praise they ought to live. They offered likewise a kid for a sin-
offering, so taking shame to themselves as unworthy of the bread they ate, and imploring
pardon for their sins, by which they had forfeited their harvest-mercies, and which they
had been guilty of in the receiving of them. And lastly, two lambs for a sacrifice of peace-
offerings, to beg a blessing upon the corn they had gathered in, which would be neither
sure nor sweet to them without that blessing, Hag_1:9. These were the only peace-
offerings that were offered on the behalf of the whole congregation, and they were
62

63. reckoned most holy offerings, whereas other peace-offerings were but holy. All these
offerings are here appointed, Lev_23:18-20. 3. That one day was to be kept with a holy
convocation, Lev_23:21. It was one of the days on which all Israel was to meet God and
one another, at the place which the Lord should choose. Some suggest that whereas
seven days were to make up the feast of unleavened bread there was only one day
appointed for the feast of pentecost, because this was a busy time of the year with them,
and God allowed them speedily to return to their work in the country. This annual feast
was instituted in remembrance of the giving of the law upon mount Sinai, the fiftieth day
after they came out of Egypt. That was the feast which they were told in Egypt must be
observed to God in the wilderness, as a memorial of which ever after they kept this feast.
But the period and perfection of this feast was the pouring out of the Spirit upon the
apostles on the day of this feast (Act_2:1), in which the law of faith was given, fifty days
after Christ our passover was sacrificed for us. And on that day (as bishop Patrick well
expresses it) the apostles, having themselves received the first-fruits of the Spirit, begat
three thousand souls, through the word of truth, and presented them, as the first-fruits
of the Christian church, to God and the Lamb.
To the institution of the feast of pentecost is annexed a repetition of that law which we
had before (Lev_19:9), by which they were required to leave the gleanings of their fields,
and the corn that grew on the ends of the butts, for the poor, Lev_23:22. Probably it
comes in here as a thing which the priests must take occasion to remind the people of,
when they brought their first-fruits, intimating to them that to obey even in this small
matter was better than sacrifice, and that, unless they were obedient, their offerings
should not be accepted. It also taught them that the joy of harvest should express itself
in charity to the poor, who must have their due out of what we have, as well as God his.
Those that are truly sensible of the mercy they receive from God will without grudging
show mercy to the poor.
JAMISON, "Lev_23:15-22. Feast of Pentecost.
ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath — that is, after
the first day of the passover week, which was observed as a Sabbath.
K&D 15-17, "The law for the special observance of the feast of Harvest (Exo_23:16)
is added here without any fresh introductory formula, to show at the very outset the
close connection between the two feasts. Seven whole weeks, or fifty days, were to be
reckoned from the day of the offering of the sheaf, and then the day of first-fruits
(Num_28:26) or feast of Weeks (Exo_34:22; Deu_16:10) was to be celebrated. From
this reckoning the feast received the name of Pentecost (ἡ πεντηκοστή, Act_2:1). That
‫ת‬ ‫ת‬ ָ‫בּ‬ַ‫שׁ‬ (Lev_23:15) signifies weeks, like ‫ת‬ ‫ע‬ ֻ‫ב‬ָ‫שׁ‬ in Deu_16:9, and τὰ σάββατα in the
Gospels (e.g., Mat_28:1), is evident from the predicate ‫ת‬ֹ‫ימ‬ ִ‫מ‬ ְ‫,תּ‬ “complete,” which would
be quite unsuitable if Sabbath-days were intended, as a long period might be reckoned
by half weeks instead of whole, but certainly not by half Sabbath-days. Consequently
“the morrow after the seventh Sabbath” (Lev_23:16) is the day after the seventh week,
not after the seventh Sabbath. On this day, i.e., fifty days after the first day of Mazzoth,
Israel was to offer a new meat-offering to the Lord, i.e., made of the fruit of the new
harvest (Lev_26:10), “wave-loaves” from its dwellings, two of two-tenths of an ephah of
63

64. fine flour baked leavened, like the bread which served for their daily food, “as first-fruits
unto the Lord,” and of the wheat-harvest (Exo_34:22), which fell in the second half of
May and the first weeks of June (Robinson, Palestine), and therefore was finished as a
whole by the feast of Weeks. The loaves differed from all the other meat-offerings, being
made of leavened dough, because in them their daily bread was offered to the Lord, who
had blessed the harvest, as a thank-offering for His blessing. They were therefore only
given to the Lord symbolically by waving, and were then to belong to the priests (Lev_
23:20). The injunction “out of your habitations” is not to be understood, as Calvin and
others suppose, as signifying that every householder was to present two such loaves; it
simply expresses the idea, that they were to be loaves made for the daily food of a
household, and not prepared expressly for holy purposes.
COFFMAN, ""And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath,
from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven sabbaths shall
there be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number
fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meal-offering unto Jehovah. Ye shall bring out of
your habitations two wave-loaves of two tenth parts of an ephah: they shall be of
fine flour, they shall be baken with leaven, for first-fruits unto Jehovah. And ye
shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish a year old, and one young
bullock, and two rams: they shall be a burnt-offering unto Jehovah, with their meal-
offering, and their drink-offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor
unto Jehovah. And ye shall offer one he-goat for a sin-offering, and two he-lambs a
year old for a sacrifice of peace-offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the
bread of the first-fruits for a wave-offering before Jehovah, with the two lambs:
they shall be holy to Jehovah for the priest. And ye shall make proclamation on the
selfsame day; there shall be a holy convocation unto you; ye shall do no servile
work: it is a statute forever in of all your dwellings throughout your generations."
"A new meal-offering ..." This was to be new in several ways:
(1) It would be from a new crop.
(2) It would be of a new kind of grain (wheat), barley being used for the first-fruits
(Leviticus 23:13). "The Talmudic tradition is that this offering was wheat, whereas
the first-fruits was of barley."[19]
(3) The loaves would be baked with leaven (Leviticus 23:17), contrasting with the
bread of the feast of unleavened bread.
(4) This "newness" prefigured the coming of the Gentiles (a new kind of people) into
God's church, which began on Pentecost, with the significant fact (typified by the
leaven) that there would continue an element of evil within the holy church itself.
This latter fact received emphasis from Jesus Christ in the great parables of the
kingdom which represented the "tares" growing in the wheat, and the "good and
bad fishes alike" being encompassed within the visible structure of it (See Matthew
64

65. 13).
(5) The use of leavened bread on this occasion may also have indicated that,
"complete and final redemption was not yet attained by the church,[20] but that her
probation had begun.
PENTECOST. The great festival proclaimed here was that of the fiftieth day, or
Pentecost, as reckoned from the day after the morrow of the first day of unleavened
bread. (See Leviticus 23:11.) This was the first day of the week, Sunday, the day of
the week on which Jesus rose from the dead, the church was begun, and that of
successive appearances of Jesus Christ to his disciples assembled for Lord's Day
worship. (See the extended comment on "Pentecost" in my commentary on Acts
2:1.)
"Ye shall offer a new meal-offering ..." (Leviticus 23:16). Orlinsky gave the meaning
here as, "An offering of new grain,"[21] but, as indicated by subsequent Jewish
practice, it might also have included the meaning of "a new kind of grain." (Wheat
instead of barley).
"Two wave-loaves ... baken with leaven ..." (Leviticus 23:17). Why two loaves?
Unger was of the opinion that, "This anticipated the N.T. Pentecost when, under the
administration of the Holy Spirit, both Jews and Gentiles were baptized into union
with the glorified Christ."[22]
COKE, "Leviticus 23:15. Ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the
sabbath— From the second day of unleavened bread, Leviticus 23:7; Leviticus 23:11
that is, from the 16th day of the first month, they were to reckon seven sabbaths, i.e.
seven weeks complete; and the next day after the seventh sabbath or week, making
just 50 days, was to be the first of another festival, hence commonly called pentecost
or the fiftieth; when the first-fruits of the wheat harvest were to be offered,
Leviticus 23:17. This festival was partly commemorative of God's goodness in giving
the law from mount Sinai, on the 50th day after their coming out of Egypt; and
partly gratulatory for the fair hope of completing their harvest; and it was also
typical of the gospel law; see Exodus 19:1 and Acts 2:1; Acts 2:47. Archbishop
Usher observes, that our blessed Lord being slain at the feast of the passover, rested
in his grave the whole sabbath following, which was the day of unleavened bread.
The next day after, the sheaf or omer of the first-fruits, of barley-harvest was
offered to the Lord; when Christ rose from the dead, and became the first-fruits of
them that slept: from this day the account of the seven sabbaths or weeks was
computed; and upon the morrow after the seventh, i.e. upon the Lord's day, was
celebrated the feast of weeks, or the day of the first-fruits; because then the first-
fruits of the second, or wheat harvest were offered; as likewise the feast of harvest;
because it was the principal and last harvest of the year. On this day the apostles,
having themselves received the first-fruits of the spirit, converted no less than 3000
souls, and presented them, as the first-fruits of the Christian church, to God. Now
the seventh day of the week, or Jewish sabbath, being purposely passed over in the
65

66. observation of the feast of weeks, and that great solemnity kept on the first day of
the week, it is no wonder that the Christian church has appropriated that day
instead of the seventh for public worship.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:15-16. From the morrow — From the sixteenth day of the
month, and the second day of the feast of unleavened bread, inclusively; seven
sabbaths shall be complete — Namely, forty-nine days; unto the morrow after the
seventh sabbath — Which made just fifty days; whence this feast, from a Greek
word, πεντηκοστη, pentecoste, which signifies the fifteenth day, was called
pentecost. Ye shall offer a new meat (or flower) offering — Another first-fruit-
offering, made of wheat, which was then ripe.
ELLICOTT, " (15) Ye shall count . . . from the morrow after the sabbath.—That is,
from the day following the first day of holy convocation, which was a rest day. As
this was the fifteenth of Nisan, the counting began from the sixteenth (see Leviticus
23:11), the day on which the omer of the first-fruits was presented to the Lord.
Seven sabbaths shall be complete.—Better, seven weeks shall be complete. That is,
seven entire weeks, making forty-nine days. The expression sabbath denotes here a
week, hence the parallel passage substitutes the word week, viz., “seven weeks shalt
thou number unto thee” (Deuteronomy 16:9), The same usage is to be found in the
New Testament. Thus the passage rendered in the Authorised version, “the first day
of the week,” is “the first day of the sabbath” (Matthew 28:1); and “I fast twice in
the week” (Luke 18:12), is, “I fast twice in the sabbath.” In accordance with the
injunction here given, the Jews to the present day begin to count the forty-nine days
at the conclusion of the evening service on the second day of Passover, and
pronounce the following blessing every evening of the forty-nine days: “Blessed art
thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast sanctified us with thy
commandments, and hast enjoined us to count the omer. This is the first day of the
omer. May it please thee, O Lord our God, and the God of our fathers, to rebuild
the sanctuary speedily in our days, and give us our portion in thy Law.
EBC, "THE FEAST OF PENTECOST
Leviticus 23:15-21
"And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that
ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall there be complete:
even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye
shall offer a new meal offering unto the Lord. Ye shall bring out of your habitations
two wave loaves of two tenth parts of an ephah: they shall be of fine flour, they shall
be baken with leaven, for first fruits unto the Lord. And ye shall present with the
bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two
rams: they shall be a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meal offering, and
their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the
Lord. And ye shall offer one he-goat for a sin offering, and two he-lambs of the first
66

67. year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread
of the first fruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall
be holy to the Lord for the priest. And ye shall make proclamation on the selfsame
day; there shall be a holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work: it is a
statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations."
Next in order came the feast of first fruits, or the feast of weeks, which, because
celebrated on the fiftieth day after the presentation of the wave sheaf in passover
week, has come to be known as Pentecost, from the Greek numeral signifying fifty.
It was ordered that the fiftieth day after this presentation of the first sheaf of the
harvest should be kept as a day of "holy convocation," with abstinence from all
"servile work." The former festival had marked the absolute beginning of the
harvest with the first sheaf of barley; this marked the completion of the grain
harvest with the reaping of the wheat. In the former, the sheaf was presented as it
came from the field; in this case, the offering was of the grain as prepared for food.
It was ordered (Leviticus 23:16) that on this day "a new meal offering" should be
offered. It should be brought out of their habitations and be baken with leaven. In
both particulars, it was unlike the ordinary meal offerings, because the offering was
to represent the ordinary food of the people. Accompanied with a sevenfold burnt
offering, and a sin offering, and two lambs of peace offerings, these were to be
waved before the Lord for their acceptance, after the manner of the wave sheaf
(Leviticus 23:18-20). On the altar they could not come, because they were baken
with leaven.
This festival, as one of the sabbatic series, celebrated the rest after the labours of the
grain harvest, a symbol of the great sabbatism to follow that harvest which is "the
end of the age". {Matthew 13:39} As a consecration, it dedicated unto God the daily
food of the nation for the coming year. As passover reminded them that God was the
Creator of Israel, so herein, receiving their daily bread from Him, they were
reminded that He was also the Sustainer of Israel; while the full accompaniment of
burnt offerings and peace offerings expressed their full consecration and happy
state of friendship with Jehovah, secured through the expiation of the sin offering.
Was this feast also, like passover, prophetic? The New Testament is scarcely less
clear than in the former case. For after that Christ, first having been slain as "our
Passover," had then risen from the dead as the "Firstfruits," fulfilling the type of
the wave sheaf on the morning of the Sabbath, fifty days passed; "and when the day
of Pentecost was fully come," came that great outpouring of the Holy Ghost, the
conversion of three thousand out of many lands, {Acts 2:1-47} and therewith the
formation of that Church Of the New Testament whose members the Apostle James
declares {James 1:18} to be "a kind of first fruits of God’s creatures." Thus, as the
sheaf had typified Christ as "the Firstborn from the dead," the presentation on the
day of Pentecost of the two wave loaves, the product of the sheaf of grain, no less
evidently typified the presentation unto God of the Church of the firstborn, the first
fruits of Christ’s death and resurrection, as constituted on that sacred day. This
then was the complete fulfilment of the feast of weeks regarded as a redemptive
67

68. type, showing how, not only rest, but also redemption was comprehended in the
significance of the sabbatic idea. And yet, that complete redemption was not
therewith attained by that Church of the firstborn on Pentecost was presignified in
that the two wave loaves were to be baken with leaven. The feast of unleavened
bread had exhibited the ideal of the Christian life; that of first fruits, the
imperfection of the earthly attainment. On earth the leaven of sin still abides.
PETT, "Verses 15-22
The Feast of Sevens (Weeks) or Harvest - Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-22).
This was a one day feast (Deuteronomy 16:9-12) to be held fifty days after
unleavened bread.
Leviticus 23:15-16
“And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day
that you brought the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven sabbaths shall there be
complete, even to the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall you number fifty days;
and you shall offer a new meal-offering to Yahweh.”
From the second day of unleavened bread, the day after the initial Sabbath, the day
of waving of the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven seven day periods ending with the
Sabbath are to be measured, and then on the next day, the fiftieth, the feast of
sevens is to be celebrated. This was a joyous feast which celebrated the gathering of
the harvest and expressed gratitude to God for His provision of food.
Note the continual emphasis on ‘sevens’. Unleavened Bread lasts seven days, and
then seven sevens lead up to the fiftieth day Feast of Sevens. The final feast will be in
the seventh moon period. This divinely perfect and sacred number underlines all.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the
sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths
shall be complete:
Ver. 15. Seven Sabbaths.] That is, seven weeks. The Sabbath is queen of all the days
of the week; and therefore carries the name of the whole week.
SIMEON, "FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS
Leviticus 23:15-17. And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath,
from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven Sabbaths shall be
complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty
days; and ye shall offer a new meat-offering unto the Lord. Ye shall bring out of
your habitations two wave-loaves, of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they
shall be baken with leaven; they are the first-fruits unto the Lord.
68

69. THERE is no blessing which is not enhanced by a sense of reconciliation and
acceptance with God. An ungodly man has his very provisions cursed to him [Note:
Deuteronomy 28:16-19.] ; whilst to the righteous “God hath given all things richly to
enjoy.” Indeed, it is to present, no less than to future, happiness, that God calls his
people. He bids us weep, it is true; but he no-where bids us to be always mourning:
on the contrary, he commands us to “rejoice in him always, yea, to “rejoice
evermore:” and assures us, that, though our “weeping may endure for a night, joy
shall come in the morning.” We have this beautifully exemplified in the
appointments under the law. One day in the year was appointed for national
humiliation, namely, the day of atonement, wherein all were commanded to afflict
their souls: but the very next day, and the whole week following it, was appointed
for a feast [Note:, 6.] ; by which appointment it was clearly intimated, that they who
had obtained reconciliation with God through the atonement of Christ, had reason
to rejoice throughout the whole remainder of their lives.
The week succeeding the Passover was called “the feast of unleavened bread:” on
the first day of which they were to present to God a sheaf of newly reaped barley;
and, fifty days after that, two loaves of wheaten bread; both of them being the first-
fruits, the one of the barley harvest, and the other of the wheat. Hence these two
periods were called the feasts of “first fruits:” and the appointment of them may be
considered in a three-fold view; as,
I. Commemorative—
[The day on which the sheaf of barley was to be presented unto God, was that on
which they had come out of Egypt: and it was to be kept in commemoration of that
event; that, when they were enjoying the peaceful fruits of industry, they might call
to mind the labour and travail they had endured in the land of their captivity.
The fiftieth day after that, was the day on which the law of God had been delivered
to them from Mount Sinai. This was no less a mercy than the former: for whilst by
the former they were rescued from bondage to men, by the latter they were brought
into the service of God [Note: The two are spoken of precisely in this way, as
equalled by each other, but by nothing else. Deuteronomy 4:32-35.].
Both of these events were to be remembered on the days thus set apart [Note:
Deuteronomy 16:9; Deuteronomy 16:12.], in order that He who had done such great
things for their bodies and their souls, might have the glory due unto his name.
And here we cannot but observe, how beneficial it is to the Church to have
particular times set apart for the special remembrance of the various wonders of
redemption. If indeed the observance of such institutions were required of us as
necessary to salvation, or inculcated as contributing to work out for us a justifying
righteousness, or represented as superseding the necessity of a more frequent
remembrance of them, or enjoined, as Jeroboam’s was, in opposition to the
69

70. commands of God [Note: 1 Kings 12:33.], we should be ready to join with those who
reprobate such appointments. But experience proves, that the appointment of
seasons for the distinct consideration of particular subjects, has been productive of
the greatest good; and that the more solemnly those seasons are devoted to the
special purposes for which they are set apart, the more will humility, and every
Christian grace, flourish in the soul. And, if the annual remembrance of an earthly
deliverance was pleasing and acceptable to God, there can be no reasonable doubt,
but that the annual commemoration of infinitely richer mercies (provided only that
we guard against self-righteousness and superstition) must be pleasing to him also.]
But these feasts derived a still greater importance from being,
II. Typical—
[Two of the greatest events which ever happened from the foundation of the world,
and which are the source and warrant of all our hopes, occurred on the days
appointed for these feasts, and were typically prefigured by them.
On the former of those days, that I mean on which the Israelites came out of their
graves in Egypt, (which was the first-fruits of their deliverance, as the wave-sheaf
was of the barley harvest,) Christ rose from the dead, and rose, not as an individual,
but “as the first-fruits of them that slept [Note: 1 Corinthians 15:20.] ;” and has
thereby assured to us the resurrection of all his people to a life of immortality and
glory [Note: 1 Corinthians 15:21-23.].
On the latter of those clays, namely, the fiftieth day, on which the law was given,
(which, like the first-fruits of the wheat harvest, was the pledge and earnest of those
mercies which they were afterwards to enjoy under the immediate government of
God,) on that day, I say, the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the Apostles [Note:
Acts 2:1. “Pentecost” means the fiftieth day; for which, it is evident, the
communication of this blessing was reserved: and it was communicated when that
day “was fully come.”], who then “received the first-fruits of the Spirit [Note:
Romans 8:23.].” As on that day God had proclaimed his law, so on that day he
promulged his Gospel; and gathered to himself three thousand souls, who were the
first-fruits of that glorious harvest [Note: Revelation 14:4.], which shall in due time
be reaped, when “all shall know the Lord from the least even to the greatest,” and
“all the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ.”
In these views the feasts of which we are speaking become exceedingly important. It
is true, they were but shadows, and very obscure shadows too: but to us who have
the substance, and on whom “the true light shineth,” they are worthy of most
attentive consideration; as being the first rude drafts or models of that glorious
edifice which we inhabit.]
But these feasts are of further use to us, as,
70

71. III. Instructive—
[There is not any thing which we are more interested to know than our obligations
to God, and our consequent duty towards him: yet these are clearly and strongly
represented to us in the ordinances before us.
Behold our obligations to God. In each of these feasts the first-fruits were “waved”
before God [Note: 1, 17], in token that every earthly blessing was derived from him.
This was done in the name of the whole congregation; so that, whatever diligence or
skill any had used in the cultivation of their land, they did not arrogate any thing to
themselves, but gave glory to Him “from whom alone proceeds every good and
perfect gift.” Happy would it be for us, if we also learned this lesson, so as to have
our minds duly impressed with the goodness of our God! — — —].
Corresponding with our obligations to God is our duty towards him. If we have
received every thing from him, it is our bounden duty to devote every thing to him,
and improve every thing for the honour of his name. And, as at the former of these
feasts they offered only one sheaf, and one lamb, but at the latter they presented two
loaves, and seven lambs [Note: 2, 18.], so, in proportion as God has multiplied his
mercies towards us, we also should enlarge our exercises of gratitude, liberality, and
devotion.
Shall these sentiments be thought an undue refinement on the subject before us?
They are the very sentiments which God himself suggests in reference to these very
institutions. We are expressly told in this view to honour him with all that we have,
and all that we are. Have we property? “We must “honour the Lord with our
substance, and with the first-fruits of all our increase:” and, lest that should be
thought likely to impoverish us, and it should be deemed advisable rather to gather
in our harvest first, and then give him out of our abundance, he particularly guards
us against any such covetous and distrustful thoughts, and tells us that a believing
and thankful dedication of our first-fruits is the most likely way to ensure to
ourselves an abundant harvest [Note: Proverbs 3:9-10.]. Alas! how melancholy it is
that, when we are receiving so many harvests at God’s hands, not a few of us are
found to grudge him even a sheaf!
But it is not our property only that we should devote to God: we should give him our
whole selves. We are told that “God hath set apart him that is godly for himself
[Note: Psalms 4:3.],” exactly as he did the first-fruits of old, of which it would have
been sacrilege to rob him: and every one that professes a hope in Christ is called
upon to consider himself in that very view, namely, “as a kind of first-fruits of his
creatures [Note: James 1:18.].” Yes, Beloved, “we are not our own; we are
redeemed, and bought with a price: and therefore are bound to glorify God with our
bodies and our spirits, which are his [Note: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.].”
Only let these instructions be impressed upon our minds, and exemplified in our
lives, and then we shall make the best possible improvement of these typical
71

72. institutions. Yea, whether we contemplate the types or the things typified, the
improvement of them must be the same. From the resurrection of Christ we must
learn to rise again to newness of life; and from the outpouring of the Spirit we must
learn to cherish and obey his sanctifying operations. Thus will both Law and Gospel
be transcribed into our lives, and God be glorified in all his dispensations.]
PULPIT, "Leviticus 23:15-21
The Feast of Pentecost lasted but one day. From the morrow after the sabbath—that
is, from the second day of Unleavened Bread—the day that ye brought the sheaf of
the wave offering; seven sabbaths, i.e; weeks, were to be counted, making forty-nine
days, and on the day following the completion of the seventh sabbath (meaning here
the seventh week), the festival was to be held, whence its later name of Pentecost, or
Fiftieth-day Feast. It would have fallen about the beginning of June—a season of the
year which would have made the journey to Jerusalem easy. The characteristic
offering of the day was that of two wave loaves of two tenth deals … of fine flour …
baken with leaven. These loaves were regarded as the firstfruits unto the Lord of the
wheat harvest, although the greater part of the crop had now been reaped and
housed. They were to be leavened and brought out of your habitations; that is, they
were to consist of such bread as was ordinarily used in daily life. They were made
out of ears of wheat selected and cut like the barley in the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, and then threshed and ground in the temple court. Each loaf contained an
omer of flour, amounting to about five pints, and would therefore have weighed
about five pounds. With these were offered two lambs, which were waved before the
Lord by being led backwards and forwards before the tabernacle or the temple, and
then the loaves were waved also, but they were not placed upon the altar, as they
were leavened. The twentieth verse, which is somewhat obscure in the Authorized
Version, should be punctuated as follows. And the priest shall wave them (the two
lambs) with the bread of the firstfruits (the two loaves) for a wave offering before
the Lord; with the two lambs they (the loaves) shall be holy to the Lord for the
priest. The other sacrifices to be offered on this day are described in the text as
seven lambs,… one young bullock, and two rams … for a burnt offering unto the
Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings,… and one kid of the goats
for a sin offering. In the Book of Numbers (Numbers 28:27) they are stated to be
"seven lambs," "two young bullocks," "one ram," with meat and drink offerings,
and "one kid of the goats." Seeing that in Leviticus one young bullock and two rams
are commanded, and in Numbers "two young bullocks and one ram," it is
reasonable to suppose that a copyist's error has found its way into one or the other
text. The feast was to be kept as a day of holy convocation, and no servile work was
to be done upon it. The number of sacrifices offered by individuals who had come to
Jerusalem caused the festivity to be in practice continued for several days
subsequent to the festival itself.
72

73. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the
seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of
new grain to the Lord.
BARNES, "Lev_23:16
The morrow after the seventh week was the 50th day after the conclusion of a week of
weeks. The day is called in the Old Testament, “the feast of harvest” Exo_23:16, “the
feast of weeks,” “the feast of the first fruits of wheat harvest” Exo_34:22; Deu_16:10,
and “the day of the first fruits” Num_28:26. The word “Pentecost” used in the heading of
this chapter in English Bibles is found only in the Apocrypha and the New Testament,
Tobit 2:1; 2 Macc. 12:32; Act_2:1; Act_20:16; 1Co_16:8.
GILL, "Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath,.... Or weeks, forty nine
days being counted, the following was the fiftieth day, or Pentecost:
shall ye number fifty days; from whence this feast had the name of Pentecost, Act_
2:1; all in Israel were obliged to number those days, except women and servants (t): the
manner of doing it was this (u); on the night of the second (day of the passover), after
the evening prayer, they began to number; but if anyone forgot to number at the
beginning of the night, he went and numbered all the night; for the commandment is for
everyone to number by himself, and he ought to number standing, and to bless first, and
number the days and weeks: How? on the first day he says, This is one day, until he
comes to seven days, and then he says, This is the seventh day, which is one week; and
on the eighth day he says, This is the eighth day, which is one week and one day, and so
till he comes to the fourteenth; then he says, This is the fourteenth day, which make two
weeks; and in this way he numbers, and goes on until the forty ninth day: and ye shall
offer a new meat offering unto the Lord; that is, of new corn, as the Targum of Jonathan
and Jarchi explain it, and this was of wheat; for it was the offering for the wheat harvest,
which was offered on the fiftieth day from the offering of the sheaf or omer of the barley
harvest.
JAMISON, "number fifty days — The forty-ninth day after the presentation of the
first-fruits, or the fiftieth, including it, was the feast of Pentecost. (See also Exo_23:16;
Deu_16:9).
ELLICOTT, " (16) Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath.—That is, the
day after the seven complete weeks, or the fiftieth day. Hence its name, “Pentecost,
or fiftieth-day” feast in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; Acts 20:16; 1 Corinthians
16:8), and “feast of weeks” in the Old Testament (Exodus 34:12; Deuteronomy
73

74. 16:10; Deuteronomy 16:16; 2 Chronicles 8:13). The fiftieth day, according to the
Jewish canons, may fall on the 5th, 6th, or 7th of Sivan, the third month of the year,
i.e., from the new moon of May to the new moon of June.
Shall offer a new meat offering.—That is, of the first-fruits of the wheat-harvest in
contradistinction to the omer first-fruits, which was of barley-harvest. Hence this
festival is also called “the feast of harvest” (Exodus 23:16), because it concluded the
harvest of the later grain.
TRAPP, "Verse 16
Leviticus 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number
fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Ver. 16. Shall ye number fifty days.] And then keep the feast of Pentecost or of
weeks, so called because it was seven weeks after the passover.
17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made
of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour,
baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits
to the Lord.
BARNES, "Lev_23:17
Habitations - Not strictly houses, but places of abode in a general sense. It seems
here to denote the land in which the Israelites were to dwell so as to express that the
flour was to be of home growth. The two loaves were to be merely waved before Yahweh
and then to become the property of the priests. No bread containing leaven could be
offered on the altar (see the Lev_2:11 note). The object of this offering seems to have
been to present to the Lord the best produce of the earth in the actual condition in which
it is most useful for the support of human life. It thus represented in the fittest manner
the thanksgiving which was proper for the season. The loaves appear to be distinctively
called “the first fruits for Yahweh,” and references to them are found in Rom_11:16;
1Co_15:20, 1Co_15:23; Jam_1:18; Rev_14:4, etc. As these loaves offered before Yahweh
sanctified the harvest of the year, so has “Christ the firstfruits” sanctified the Church,
which, in its union with Him as the firstfruits, becomes also the Sanctifier of the world.
74

75. See the services for Whitsuntide.
CLARKE, "And ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two
tenth deals,.... Out of their habitations in the land of Canaan; and not out of those
without the land, as Jarchi observes; and not out of all of them, as Ben Gersom remarks;
though the Vulgate Latin version has it, out of "all" of our habitations, but wrongly; and
indeed out of no one particular habitation, because it was at the public expense; but they
were brought from some part of the country or another, even the quantity of two tenth
parts of an ephah, or two omers of wheat flour made into two loaves, which were to be,
and were waved before the Lord, and hence so called; and are the same with the new
meat offering, or rather bread offering, made of the new corn, in the preceding verse, so
Jarchi:
they shall be of fine flour; of wheat flour, the finest of it, of which all meat or bread
offerings were made; and this was particularly on account of the wheat harvest, and
therefore it was proper that the finest of the wheat should be used on this occasion; See
Gill on Lev_2:1; each loaf or cake, according to Maimonides (w), was seven hands'
breadths long, four hands' breadths broad, and four fingers high:
they shall be baked with leaven; the common meat offering was unleavened, part of
which was burnt on the altar, where no leaven might be burnt, Lev_2:4; and from hence
it may be concluded that no part of these loaves was to be burnt, but the whole of them
fell to the share of the priests:
they are the firstfruits unto the Lord; which he claimed as his, and gave unto his
priests; and it was but right and just he should have them, as an acknowledgment of all
coming from his hands, and as expressive of gratitude for them, and for the
sanctification of the rest; hence this is called the feast of the firstfruits of wheat harvest,
Exo_34:22.
JAMISON, "Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two
tenth deals, etc. — These loaves were made of “fine” or wheaten flour, the quantity
contained in them being somewhat more than ten pounds in weight. As the wave-sheaf
gave the signal for the commencement, the two loaves solemnized the termination of the
harvest season. They were the first-fruits of that season, being offered unto the Lord by
the priest in name of the whole nation. (See Exo_34:22). The loaves used at the Passover
were unleavened; those presented at Pentecost were leavened - a difference which is thus
accounted for, that the one was a memorial of the bread hastily prepared at their
departure, while the other was a tribute of gratitude to God for their daily food, which
was leavened.
COKE, Leviticus 23:17. They shall be baken with leaven— No leaven was to be
burnt upon the altar; see ch. Leviticus 2:11. Accordingly, these loaves were to be
waved before the Lord, not burnt upon the altar; see Leviticus 23:20. It is most
probable that these wave-loaves are enjoined to be made with leaven, (that is, in the
manner of bread commonly used) as they were designed for the food of the priests;
and they might possibly be further intended as eucharistic emblems of the daily
bread of the people, thus piously acknowledged to proceed from the Lord.
75

76. BENSON, "Leviticus 23:17. Two wave loaves of two tenth-deals — There was one
tenth-deal in each loaf. They were called wave-loaves, because they were presented
to God by waving them toward heaven. Baken with leaven — Contrary to the
established law in other bread or flower offerings, Leviticus 2:11-12. The reason
may be, that these first-fruits were a symbol of the leavened bread which the
Israelites commonly used.
ELLICOTT, " (17) Ye shall bring out of your habitations.—During the second
Temple this clause was taken to be elliptical, and to denote ye shall bring out of, or
from, the land of your habitations, that is, from Palestine (Numbers 15:2).
Two wave loaves of two tenth deals.—These two loaves were prepared in the
following manner. Three seahs of new wheat were brought into the court of the
Temple, were beaten and trodden and ground into flour. Two omers of the flour
were respectively obtained from a seah and a half, and after having been sieved in
the twelve different sieves, were kneaded separately with leaven into two loaves
outside the Temple, but were baked inside the sanctuary on the day preceding the
festival. Each loaf was seven hand-breadths long, four hand-breadths broad, and
five fingers high. These were offered to the Lord as firstlings (Exodus 34:17),
whence this festival is also called “the day of first-fruits” (Numbers 28:26).
PETT, "Leviticus 23:17
“You shall bring out of your habitations two wave-loaves of two tenth parts of an
ephah: they shall be of milled grain, they shall be baked with leaven, for first-fruits
to Yahweh.”
In recognition of this gratitude two wave-loaves made of milled grain (about seven
litres), baked with leaven (a rare use of leaven), were brought as first-fruits to
Yahweh. Leaven could be offered as firstfruits, but not as an offering made by fire
(Leviticus 2:11). They were waved before Yahweh as an offering to Him, firstfruits
of the final harvest, although their final destination was the priests.
The deliberate change from unleavened to leavened may indicate the difference
between the firstfruits of the harvest (when there would have been no time for it to
leaven) and the finally gathered in harvest when leavened dough would be plentiful
and rejoiced in.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of
two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; [they
are] the firstfruits unto the LORD.
Ver. 17. Out of your habitations.] That is, Out of the new corn (growing of the same
land which God gave them to inherit) not foreign.
76

77. The firstfruits,] viz., Of their wheat harvest, as the shake sheaf [Leviticus 23:10] was
of their barley harvest. Thus were they to express their thankfulness to God for
those precious fruits of the earth. [James 5:7]
18 Present with this bread seven male lambs, each
a year old and without defect, one young bull and
two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the
Lord, together with their grain offerings and
drink offerings—a food offering, an aroma
pleasing to the Lord.
BARNES, "Lev_23:18
More properly, seven sheep of a year old (to be distinguished from the lamb in Lev_
23:12), and a young bull which might be from one to three years old. Compare Num_
28:26-27.
GILL, "And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish,
of the first year,.... That is, with the two wave loaves, the meat or bread offering: and
besides these:
and one young bullock, and two rams; in Num_28:27 it is two young bullocks, and
one ram; and Aben Ezra suggests, that this was at the will and option of the priest,
whether one bullock and two rams, or two bullocks and one ram; but according to
Maimonides (x), these sacrifices were distinct from them; they are sacrifices of the day,
as being a feast day, and these belonged to the loaves; so that according to him, and so
he expresses it, there were to be offered on this day, besides the daily sacrifices, three
bullocks, three rams, and fourteen lambs, twenty beasts in all, for burnt offerings; and
two goats for sin offerings to be eaten, and two lambs for peace offerings to be eaten; and
with this account agrees Josephus (y), they sacrifice for burnt offerings, he says, three
bullocks, and two rams, (or, as Dr. Bernard thinks, it should be read three rams,) and
fourteen lambs, and two goats for sin offerings:
they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering,
and their drink offering; each of the said beasts were offered, unto the Lord on the
altar of burnt offering, and burnt thereon; and to every beast they offered, there was a
77

78. meat offering and a drink offering: the meat offering consisted of three tenth deals, or
omers, of fine flour, to a bullock, two to a ram, and one to a lamb; and the drink offering
was half an hin of wine to a bullock, the third part of one to a ram, and a fourth part to a
lamb, as Jarchi observes, which appears from Num_28:12,
even an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord; an acceptable
burnt offering to God.
K&D, "In addition to the loaves, they were to offer seven yearling lambs, one young
bullock, and two rams, as burnt-offerings, together with their (the appropriate) meat
and drink-offerings, one he-goat as a sin-offering, and two yearling lambs as peace-
offerings.
COKE, "Leviticus 23:18. And one bullock— In Numbers 28:27 there are two
bullocks, and one ram; and here is one bullock, and two rams; those are an addition
in respect of the feast day, and these are a further addition in respect of the two
loaves; and therefore to be offered with them, as is here said: so that this day there
are offered these here named, with the loaves, more than the daily offerings. In all,
upon this day they offered twenty beasts for burnt-offerings, two goats for sin, and
two lambs for peace-offerings, which last four were eaten. Beaumont.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:18. One bullock and two rams — In Numbers 28:11;
Numbers 28:19, it is two young bullocks and one ram. Either therefore it was left to
their liberty to choose which they would offer, or one of the bullocks there, and one
of the rams here, were the peculiar sacrifices of the feast-day, and the others were
attendants upon the two loaves, which were the proper offering at this time. And the
one may be mentioned there, and the other here, to teach us, that the addition of a
new sacrifice did not destroy the former, but both were to be offered, as the
extraordinary sacrifices of every feast did not hinder the oblation of the daily
sacrifice.
ELLICOTT, "(18) And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs.—The additional
sacrifices for the feast day consisted of two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs,
which were a burnt offering, and of a goat as a sin offering (Numbers 28:26-27;
Numbers 28:30). Besides these, however, the new meat offering of the two loaves
mentioned in the text before us is to be brought, and with it are to be offered one
bullock, two rams, and seven lambs, all for burnt offerings.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:18
“And you shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish a year old, and
one young bull ox, and two rams: they shall be a whole burnt offering to Yahweh,
with their grain offering, and their drink-offerings, even an offering made by fire, of
a pleasing odour to Yahweh.”
With the bread was a multiplied offering. Seven lambs without blemish a year old,
78

79. one young bull ox and two rams were to be offered as whole burnt offerings to
Yahweh, each with its usual grain and drink offerings. These made up an offering
made by fire, a pleasing odour to Yahweh. This multiplied offering was a
demonstration of rededication and tribute, a joyous response to God’s love and
goodness revealed in the harvest.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without
blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be [for] a
burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings,
[even] an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.
Ver. 18. Seven lambs.] Besides which, they had other oblations at the feast of
Pentecost. [Numbers 28:27] The service of God was heretofore very costly.
19 Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin
offering[c] and two lambs, each a year old, for a
fellowship offering.
BARNES, "Lev_23:19
Properly, a shaggy he-goat Lev_4:23 and two sheep of a year old.
GILL, "Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering,.... Which
was for the sin of the whole congregation, typical of Christ, whose soul was made an
offering for sin; in virtue of which all other sacrifices become acceptable to God, and
believers enjoy the fruits and blessings of divine grace:
and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings; which
Gersom says were the most holy things, and were only slain in the north, and only eaten
by males, as the rest of the holy things, and are the only peace offerings of the
congregation that were offered throughout the whole year.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:19. One kid — In Leviticus 4:14, the sin-offering for the sin
of the people is a bullock, but here a kid, &c.; the reason of the difference may be
this: because that was for some particular sin of the people, but this only in general
for all their sins.
ELLICOTT, "(19) Then ye shall sacrifice.—Better, and ye shall sacrifice. They
79

80. were, moreover, to offer a goat for a sin offering, and two lambs for a peace
offering. Hence Josephus, who was an eye-witness to the Temple service, in
summing up the number of animal sacrifices on this festival, says that there were
fourteen lambs, three young bullocks, and three goats, the number two instead of
three goats being manifestly a transcriber’s error (Antiq. III., ). The two statements,
therefore, viz., the one in the passage before us, and the other in Numbers 28:27,
according to the authorities during the second Temple, refer to two distinct
sacrifices. The one before us speaks of the sacrifices which are to accompany the
wave loaves, whilst the order in Numbers refers to the properly appointed sacrifices
for the festival. Those prescribed in Numbers were offered in the wilderness, whilst
those prescribed here were only to be offered when the Israelites entered the
Promised Land.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:19
“And you shall offer one he-goat for a purification for sin offering, and two he-
lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.”
On top of the whole burnt offerings a he-goat was to be offered as a purification for
sin offering. Even on such a joyous occasion there had to be a recognition of the
need for forgiveness, of a need to be made pure before God. And two one year old
he-lambs were offered for a sacrifice of peace offerings, to indicate peace and
wellbeing. These would be for the priests.
20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the
Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread
of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the
Lord for the priest.
BARNES, "Lev_23:20
When living creatures were “waved” Lev_7:30 before Yahweh, it is said that they were
led to and fro before the tabernacle according to an established form.
GILL, "And the priests shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits,....
The two loaves called the two wave loaves, Lev_23:17; with which were waved the two
lambs of the peace offerings; and these alive, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom intimate. The
80

81. Jewish doctors (z) dispute, whether, in waving, the lambs were put above the bread, or
the bread above the lambs; which some reconcile by observing, that the bread was put by
the side of the lambs:
for a wave offering before the Lord; being waved this way and that way, upwards
and downwards, and towards the several quarters of the world, showing that the fruits of
the earth were owing to the providential goodness of God everywhere:
with the two lambs; not that all the above sacrifices were waved, or any part of them,
along with the lambs, but the wave loaves, and they were waved together, as one wave
offering to the Lord:
they shall be holy to the Lord for the priests; both the loaves and the lambs, these
were separated and devoted wholly to the Lord, and to be eaten by his priests; the peace
offerings of a single person were light holy things, as Jarchi says; but the peace offerings
of the congregation, as these were, are the most holy things, and so to be eaten only by
the priests, and by the males only, in the court of the tabernacle.
K&D, "“The priest shall wave them (the two lambs of the peace-offerings), together
with the loaves of the first-fruits, as a wave-offering before Jehovah; with the two
lambs (the two just mentioned), they (the loaves) shall be holy to Jehovah for the
priest.” In the case of the peace-offerings of private individuals, the flesh belonged for
the most part to the offerer; but here, in the case of a thank-offering presented by the
congregation, it was set apart for the priest. The circumstance, that not only was a much
more bountiful burnt-offering prescribed than in the offerings of the dedicatory sheaf at
the commencement of harvest (Lev_23:12), but a sin-offering and peace-offering also, is
to be attributed to the meaning of the festival itself, as a feast of thanksgiving for the rich
blessing of God that had just been gathered in. The sin-offering was to excite the feeling
and consciousness of sin on the part of the congregation of Israel, that whilst eating their
daily leavened bread they might not serve the leaven of their old nature, but seek and
implore from the Lord their God the forgiveness and cleansing away of their sin.
Through the increased burnt-offering they were to give practical expression to their
gratitude for the blessing of harvest, by a strengthened consecration and sanctification of
all the members of the whole man to the service of the Lord; whilst through the peace-
offering they entered into that fellowship of peace with the Lord to which they were
called, and which they were eventually to enjoy through His blessing in their promised
inheritance. In this way the whole of the year's harvest was placed under the gracious
blessing of the Lord by the sanctification of its commencement and its close; and the
enjoyment of their daily food was also sanctified thereby. For the sake of this inward
connection, the laws concerning the wave-sheaf and wave-loaves are bound together into
one whole; and by this connection, which was established by reckoning the time for the
feast of Weeks from the day of the dedication of the sheaf, the two feasts were linked
together into an internal unity. The Jews recognised this unity from the very earliest
times, and called the feast of Pentecost Azqereth (Greek, Ἀσαρθά), because it was the
close of the seven weeks (see at Lev_23:36; Josephus, Ant. iii. 10).
(Note: A connection between the feast of Pentecost and the giving of the law,
which Maimonides (a.d. † 1205) was the first to discover, is not only foreign to the
Mosaic law, but to the whole of the Jewish antiquity; and even Abarbanel expressly
81

82. denies it.)
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:20. Wave them — Some part of them, in the name of the
whole; and so for the two lambs otherwise they had been too large and too heavy to
be waved. For the priests — Who had to themselves not only the breast and
shoulder, as in other sacrifices which belonged to the priest, but also the rest which
belonged to the offerer; because the whole congregation being the offerers here, it
could neither be distributed to them all, nor given to some without offence to the
rest.
ELLICOTT, "(20) And the priest shall wave them . . . with the two lambs.—During
the second Temple this was done in the following manner :—The two lambs were
brought into the Temple, and waved together or separately by the priest while yet
alive. Whereupon they were slain, and the priest took the breast and shoulder of
each one (see Leviticus 7:30-32), laid them down by the side of the two loaves, put
both his hands under them, and waved them all together or separately towards the
east side forwards and backwards, up and down. He then burned the fat of the two
lambs, after which the remainder of the flesh, which became the perquisite of the
officiating priest, was eaten by him and his fellow-priests. Of the two loaves the high
priest took one, and the other was divided between the officiating priests, who had
to eat them up within the same day and half the following night, just as the flesh of
the most holy things. After these prescribed sacrifices had been offered, each
individual brought his free-will offering, which formed the cheerful and hospitable
meal of the family, and to which the Levite, the widow, the orphan, the poor, and
the stranger, were invited.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:20
“And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first-fruits for a wave-offering
before Yahweh, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest.”
The bread of the firstfruits and the two lambs offered as a peace sacrifice were to be
for the priests. They were waved before Yahweh to indicate that they were offerings
to Him, before being passed on to the priests. They were ‘holy to Yahweh for the
priest’.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the
firstfruits [for] a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be
holy to the LORD for the priest.
Ver. 20. Wave them.] See on Exodus 29:24.
Holy to the Lord.] And wholly to the priest.
82

83. 21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred
assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a
lasting ordinance for the generations to come,
wherever you live.
BARNES, "Lev_23:21
The self-same day - The Feast of Weeks was distinguished from the two other great
annual feasts by its consisting, according to the Law, of only a single day. But in later
times it is said that during the following six days the Israelites used to bring their
offerings to the temple, and to give the week something of a festal character in the
suspension of mourning for the dead.
GILL, "And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy
convocation unto you,.... This proclamation was made by the priests with the sound
of a trumpet, that the people might observe that this fiftieth day, or day of Pentecost,
was devoted to sacred service, and that they were called to holy exercises in it:
ye shall do no servile work therein; what was not necessary for food, as Ben
Gersom observes, but what was necessary on that account, as kindling a fire, &c. might
be done, see Lev_23:7; for this was to be kept in like manner as the first and seventh
days of the feast of unleavened bread; the general design of which was to express
thankfulness for the appointed weeks of the harvest, and to honour the Lord with the
firstfruits of the increase of the earth: and the Jews say, as Ben Gersom observes, that
this fiftieth day, being reckoned from the sixteenth of Nisan, fell upon the sixth of Sivan,
on which day, they say, the law was given, which is another reason for the observance of
it: and it is remarkable, that on this same day the Word of the Lord went out of Zion, and
the law or doctrine of the Lord, even the everlasting Gospel, went out of Jerusalem,
published by the apostles of Christ to the people of all nations, Act_2:14; when they were
favoured with the firstfruits of the Spirit, after our Lord's ascension to heaven, and
receiving gifts for men, which he now in an extraordinary manner bestowed on his
disciples, Act_2:1; and which were the firstfruits of all others, after to be given forth in
the course of time, and of the effusion of the Spirit in the latter day; and when there was
a number of souls converted, as the firstfruits of after conversions among Jews and
Gentiles, Act_2:41; and particularly of the conversion of the Jews in the latter day, and
of the harvest of souls in the end of the world, Mat_13:30,
it shall be a statute for ever all your dwellings throughout your generations;
83

84. so long as they dwelt in the land of Canaan, and had their harvest in it, even until the
Messiah came, in whom all those types and figures had their accomplishment.
JAMISON, "ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy
convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein — Though it
extended over a week, the first day only was held as a Sabbath, both for the national
offering of first-fruits and a memorial of the giving of the law.
K&D 21-22, "On this day a holy meeting was to be held, and laborious work to be
suspended, just as on the first and seventh days of Mazzoth. This was to be maintained
as a statute for ever (see Lev_23:14). It was not sufficient, however, to thank the Lord for
the blessing of harvest by a feast of thanksgiving to the Lord, but they were not to forget
the poor and distressed when gathering in their harvest. To indicate this, the law laid
down in Lev_19:9-10 is repeated in Lev_23:22.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:21. A holy convocation — A sabbath, or day of rest, called
pentecost; which was instituted, partly in remembrance of the consummation of
their deliverance out of Egypt, by bringing them thence to the mount of God, or
Sinai, as God had promised; and of that admirable blessing of giving the law to
them on the fiftieth day, and forming them into a commonwealth under his own
immediate government; and partly in gratitude for the further progress of their
harvest, as in the passover they offered a thank-offering to God for the beginning of
their harvest. The perfection of this feast was the pouring out of the Holy Spirit
upon the apostles on this very day in which the law of faith was given, fifty days
after Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. And on that day the apostles, having
themselves received the first-fruits of the Spirit, begat three thousand souls through
the word of truth, as the first-fruits of the Christian Church.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 21
(21).And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day.—This proclamation was made to
the people by the priest with trumpet blasts.
Ye shall do no servile work.—For what constituted servile work, see Leviticus 23:7.
A statute for ever . . . . —See Leviticus 23:14, Leviticus 3:17; Leviticus 7:23-25. In
accordance with this declaration, and with the fact that the Jews during the second
Temple regarded it as the day on which the Decalogue was given, the Israelites to
this day sacredly keep this festival on the 6th and 7th of Sivan, i.e. between the
second half of May and the first half of June. From their circumstances, however,
the harvest character of the festival is now subordinate, and more prominence is
given to its commemorating the giving of the Law on Sinai. Still the synagogues and
the private houses are adorned with flowers and odoriferous herbs. The male
members of the community purify themselves for its celebration by immersion and
84

85. confession of sin, and many of them spend all night in their respective places of
worship.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:21
“And you shall make proclamation on the selfsame day; there shall be a holy
convocation unto you. You shall do no servile work. It is a statute for ever in all
your dwellings throughout your generations.”
And that day was to be a sabbath, a ‘holy gathering-together’ during which no
servile work should be done. It was a statute which was to be permanent into the
distant future in all their dwellings.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, [that] it may
be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work [therein: it shall be] a
statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Ver. 21. A holy convocation.] The feast day of Pentecost, kept in testimony of their
thankfulness for the land’s fruitfulness, their deliverance from Egypt,
[Deuteronomy 16:10; Deuteronomy 16:12] and the receiving of the law at that time
of the year. [Exodus 19:11]
22 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do
not reap to the very edges of your field or gather
the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the
poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I
am the Lord your God.’”
BARNES, "Lev_23:22
The repetition of the Law (see the margin reference) is appropriately connected with
the thanksgiving for the completed grain harvest.
CLARKE, "Neither shalt thou gather any gleaning - See the note on Lev_19:9.
85

86. GILL, "And when ye reap the harvest of your land,.... This law is repeated from
Lev_19:9; and as Aben Ezra observes, the feast of weeks being the feast of the firstfruits
of the wheat harvest, it is repeated, that they might not forget what God had commanded
them to do at that time, namely, to leave somewhat for the poor; and the Jewish writers
(a) observe, that this law, being put among the solemn feasts of the passover, pentecost,
and tabernacles, and the beginning of the year, and the day of atonement, teaches, that
he that observes it, and leaves the corner of the field and the gleanings to the poor, it is
as if he built the sanctuary, and offered his sacrifices in the midst of it; but a much better
reason may be given for it, which was, to teach them that when they expressed their
thankfulness to God, they should exercise charity and liberality to the poor:
thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou
reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: See Gill on Lev_
19:9,
thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your
God; See Gill on Lev_19:10.
HENRY, "To the institution of the feast of pentecost is annexed a repetition of that
law which we had before (Lev_19:9), by which they were required to leave the gleanings
of their fields, and the corn that grew on the ends of the butts, for the poor, Lev_23:22.
Probably it comes in here as a thing which the priests must take occasion to remind the
people of, when they brought their first-fruits, intimating to them that to obey even in
this small matter was better than sacrifice, and that, unless they were obedient, their
offerings should not be accepted. It also taught them that the joy of harvest should
express itself in charity to the poor, who must have their due out of what we have, as well
as God his. Those that are truly sensible of the mercy they receive from God will without
grudging show mercy to the poor.
JAMISON, "thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field
when thou reapest, etc. — (See on Lev_19:9). The repetition of this law here
probably arose from the priests reminding the people, at the presentation of the first-
fruits, to unite piety to God with charity to the poor.
COFFMAN, "Verse 22
"And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners
of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave
them for the poor, and for the sojourner: I am Jehovah your God."
This was discussed under Leviticus 19:9,10; and this passage confirms what we
supposed there, that a consideration for the poor lay behind such instructions as
these. "Thanksgiving to the Lord can frequently be best demonstrated by acts of
86

87. kindness for the underprivileged."[23] Note that the expression, "I am Jehovah
your God," divides the spring festivals from the autumn festivals.
COKE, "Leviticus 23:22. When ye reap the harvest of your land— See what has
been advanced respecting this benevolent injunction, on chap. Leviticus 19:9-10.
The reader cannot but observe with what great propriety it is repeated here, where
the people, called to thankfulness to their God for the blessings of harvest, could
scarcely fail to comply with so just and merciful a precept.
Note; They who will honour God with sacrifice, must also have pity on the needy;
and God will accept with greater delight the feeding his hungry saints, than the
feeding the fire of his altar with the fat of bullocks or rams.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:22. When ye reap, thou — From the plural, ye, he comes to
the singular, thou, because he would press this duty upon every person who had a
harvest to reap, that none might plead exemption from it. And it is observable, that,
though the present business is only concerning the worship of God, yet he makes a
kind of excursion to repeat a former law of providing for the poor, to show that our
devotion to God is little esteemed by him if it be not accompanied with acts of
charity to men.
ELLICOTT, "(22) Thou shalt not make a clean riddance.—Better, thou shalt not
wholly reap, as the Authorised version translates the same phrase in Leviticus 19:9.
In the midst of rejoicing and thankfulness to God for a bountiful harvest, the
Lawgiver again inculcates the duty of remembering the poor, and reminds the
proprietors of the land that the needy have legally a share in the produce, as has
been enacted in Leviticus 19:9.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:22
“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners
of your field, nor shall you gather the gleaning of your harvest, you shall leave them
for the poor, and for the sojourner. I am Yahweh your God.”
And in recognition of all that God had given them they were to ensure that they left
in their fields sufficient food for the poor and needy. They were not to reap the
corners of the fields, nor gather loose grain that had fallen to the ground. These
‘gleanings’ should be left for the poor and the resident alien (who would have no
land). And this on the authority of Yahweh their God.
This feast too is a reminder to us of the gratitude that we should show to God, this
time not only for firstfruits but for the whole harvest. And it reminds us that of
what God has given to us we should be ready and eager to give to others.
It is especially a reminder of the greatest gift of all which came at Pentecost, the
giving of His Holy Spirit (Acts 2), Who came that He might produce a harvest in the
87

88. bringing of men and women to Christ. We are that harvest. How full of praise we
should be. And the offerings made on this day remind us of our Lord Jesus Christ
Who was offered up for us as a purification for sin offering, and Who as a
multiplied whole burnt offering was fully satisfactory to God to make atonement for
us and bring us to God as His own.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not
make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou
gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the
stranger: I [am] the LORD your God.
Ver. 22. And when ye reap.] See Leviticus 19:9. In these we entertain Christum
convivam, Christ a guest, saith Jerome.
The Festival of Trumpets
23 The Lord said to Moses,
GILL, "And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time, in a continued
discourse, concerning some other days, which were to be observed in a sacred manner:
HENRY 23-32, "Here is, I. The institution of the feast of trumpets, on the first day of
the seventh month, Lev_23:24, Lev_23:25. That which was now the seventh month had
been reckoned the first month, and the year of jubilee was still to begin with this month
(Lev_25:8), so that this was their new year's day. It was to be as their other yearly
sabbaths, a day of holy rest - You shall do no servile work therein; and a day of holy
work - You shall offer an offering to the Lord; concerning these particular directions
were afterwards given, Num_29:1. That which is here made peculiar to this festival is
that it was a memorial of blowing of trumpets. They blew the trumpet every new moon
(Psa_81:3), but in the new moon of the seventh month it was to be done with more than
ordinary solemnity; for they began to blow at sun-rise and continued till sun-set. Now, 1.
This is here said to be a memorial, perhaps of the sound of the trumpet upon mount
Sinai when the law was given, which must never be forgotten. Some think that it was a
memorial of the creation of the world, which is supposed to have been in autumn; for
which reason this was, till now, the first month. The mighty word by which God made
the world is called the voice of his thunder (Psa_104:7); fitly therefore was it
commemorated by blowing of trumpets, or a memorial of shouting, as the Chaldee
renders it; for, when the foundations of the earth were fastened, all the sons of God
88

89. shouted for joy, Job_38:6, Job_38:7. 2. The Jewish writers suppose it to have a spiritual
signification. Now at the beginning of the year they were called by this sound of trumpet
to shake off their spiritual drowsiness, to search and try their ways, and to amend them:
the day of atonement was the ninth day after this; and thus they were awakened to
prepare for that day, by sincere and serious repentance, that it might be indeed to them a
day of atonement. And they say, “The devout Jews exercised themselves more in good
works between the feast of trumpets and the day of expiation than at any other time of
the year.” 3. It was typical of the preaching of the gospel, by which joyful sound souls
were to be called in to serve God and keep a spiritual feast to him. The conversion of the
nations to the faith of Christ is said to be by the blowing of a great trumpet, Isa_27:13.
II. A repetition of the law of the day of atonement, that is, so much of it as concerned
the people. 1. They must on this day rest from all manner of work, and not only from
servile works as on other annual festivals; it must be as strict a rest as that of the weekly
sabbath, Lev_23:28, Lev_23:30, Lev_23:31. The reason is: For it is a day of atonement.
Note, The humbling of our souls for sin, and the making of our peace with God, is work
that requires the whole man, and the closest application of mind imaginable, and all
little enough. He that would do the work of a day of atonement in its day, as it should be
done, had need lay aside the thoughts of every thing else. On that day God spoke peace
unto his people, and unto his saints; and therefore they must lay aside all their worldly
business, that they might the more clearly and the more reverently hear that voice of joy
and gladness. Fasting days should be days of rest. 2. They must afflict their souls, and
this upon pain of being cut off by the hand of God, Lev_23:27, Lev_23:29, Lev_23:32.
They must mortify the body, and deny the appetites of it, in token of their sorrow for the
sins they had committed, and the mortifying of their indwelling corruptions. Every soul
must be afflicted, because every soul was polluted, and guilty before God; while none
have fulfilled the law of innocency none are exempt from the law of repentance, besides
that every man must sigh and cry for the abominations of the land. 3. The entire day
must be observed: From even to even you shall afflict your souls (Lev_23:32), that is,
“You shall begin your fast, and the expressions of your humiliation, in the ninth day of
the month at even.” They were to leave off all their worldly labour, and compose
themselves to the work of the day approaching, some time before sun-set on the ninth
day, and not to take any food (except children and sick people) till after sun-set on the
tenth day. Note, The eves of solemn days ought to be employed in solemn preparation.
When work for God and our souls is to be done, we should not straiten ourselves in time
for the doing of it; for how can we spend our time better? Of this sabbath the rule here
given is to be understood: From even unto even shall you celebrate your sabbath.
K&D 3-25, "On the first day of the seventh month there was to be shabbathon, rest,
i.e., a day of rest (see Exo_16:23), a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy
convocation, the suspension of laborious work, and the offering of a firing for Jehovah,
which are still more minutely described in the calendar of festal sacrifices in Num_
29:2-6. ‫ה‬ָ‫רוּע‬ ְ‫,תּ‬ a joyful noise, from ַ‫רוּע‬ to make a noise, is used in Lev_23:24 for ‫ר‬ָ‫פ‬ ‫שׁ‬
‫ה‬ָ‫רוּע‬ ְ‫,תּ‬ a blast of trumpets. On this day the shophar was to be blown, a blast of trumpets
to be appointed for a memorial before Jehovah (Num_10:10), i.e., to call the
congregation into remembrance before Jehovah, that He might turn towards it His
favour and grace (see at Exo_28:12, Exo_28:29; Exo_30:16); and from this the feast-day
89

90. is called the day of the trumpet-blast (Num_19:1). Shophar, a trumpet, was a large horn
which produced a dull, far-reaching tone. Buccina pastoralis est et cornu recurvo
efficitur, unde et proprie hebraice sophar, graece κερατίνη appellatur (Jerome on Hos.
Lev_5:8).
(Note: The word ‫ה‬ָ‫רוּע‬ ְ‫תּ‬ is also used in Num_10:5-6 to denote the blowing with the
silver trumpets; but there seems to be no ground for supposing these trumpets to be
intended here, not only because of the analogy between the seventh day of the new
moon as a jubilee day and the jubilee year (Lev_25:9-10), but also because the silver
trumpets are assigned to a different purpose in Num_10:2-10, and their use is restricted
to the blowing at the offering of the burnt-offerings on the feast-days and new moons.
To this we have to add the Jewish tradition, which favours with perfect unanimity the
practice of blowing with horns (the horns of animals).)
The seventh month of the year, like the seventh day of the week, was consecrated as a
Sabbath or sabbatical month, by a holy convocation and the suspension of labour, which
were to distinguish the first day of the seventh month from the beginning of the other
months or the other new moon days throughout the year. For the whole month was
sanctified in the first day, as the beginning or head of the month; and by the sabbatical
observance of the commencement, the whole course of the month was raised to a
Sabbath. This was enjoined, not merely because it was the seventh month, but because
the seventh month was to secure to the congregation the complete atonement for all its
sins, and the wiping away of all the uncleannesses which separated it from its God, viz.,
on the day of atonement, which fell within this month, and to bring it a foretaste of the
blessedness of life in fellowship with the Lord, viz., in the feast of Tabernacles, which
commenced five days afterwards. This significant character of the seventh month was
indicated by the trumpet-blast, by which the congregation presented the memorial of
itself loudly and strongly before Jehovah on the first day of the month, that He might
bestow upon them the promised blessings of His grace, for the realization of His
covenant. The trumpet-blast on this day was a prelude of the trumpet-blast with which
the commencement of the year of jubilee was proclaimed to the whole nation, on the day
of atonement of every seventh sabbatical year, that great year of grace under the old
covenant (Lev_25:9); just as the seventh month in general formed the link between the
weekly Sabbath and the sabbatical and jubilee years, and corresponded as a Sabbath
month to the year of jubilee rather than the sabbatical year, which had its prelude in the
weekly Sabbath-day.
COFFMAN, "Verse 23
"And Jehovah spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying,
In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest unto you,
a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work;
and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah."
Perhaps one of the great reasons for celebrating a feast of trumpets on the first day
of the seventh month was to usher in the Day of Atonement and the Festival of
Tabernacles a short time later. Also, this was the Jewish New Year, the ROSH
HASHANAH still observed by the Jews. To understand this, one must remember
90

91. that the Jews had at least two calendars: (1) that of the religious year; and (2) that
of the year. This month was called Tishri by the Jews, but an older name is given to
it in 1 Kings 8:2, where it is called Ethanim.
Many scholars have pointed out that the long interval between Pentecost and the
feast of Trumpets signaling the arrival of the Harvest Festival (Tabernacles)
corresponds to the age of the Church from Pentecost to the Final Judgment.[24]
This seems reasonable enough. The church's age will surely end with the "sound of
the trumpet" so often mentioned in the N.T. in connection with the Second Advent,
and that the harvest festival immediately afterward suggests the harvesting of God's
people from the earth is logical enough. Christ himself used the harvest metaphor,
and it recurs repeatedly in the Book of Revelation.
There are divided opinions about what kind of trumpet was used. The ram's horn
seems to be the most ancient device used for this, but later trumpets were long
instruments fashioned of metal. We found no Biblical clarification of the question.
The Hebrew word here means simply "loud blasts."[25] Here is "the first mention
of the festival of trumpets" in the Bible.[26] It was upon this occasion (first day of
seventh month) that Ezra read the law publicly (Nehemiah 8:2). The numerology of
the Jews laid stress upon the sacred number seven, and it was appropriate that the
seventh month in which occurred both the Day of Atonement and the Feast of
Tabernacles should be ushered in ceremonially by the Feast of Trumpets.
EBC, "THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS
Leviticus 23:23-25
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying,
In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest unto you,
a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work:
and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord."
By a very natural association of thought, in Leviticus 23:22 the direction to leave the
gleaning of the harvest for the poor and the stranger is repeated verbally from
Leviticus 19:9-10. Thereupon we pass from the feast of the seventh week to the
solemnities of the seventh month, in which the series of annual sabbatic seasons
ended. It was thus, by eminence the sabbatic season of the year. Of the "set times"
of this chapter, three fell in this month, and of these, two-the day of atonement and
tabernacles-were of supreme significance: the former being distinguished by the
most august religious solemnity of the year, the entrance of the high priest into the
Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of the nation; the latter marking the
completion of the ingathering of the products of the year, with the fruit, the oil, and
the wine. Of this sabbatic month, it is directed (Leviticus 23:25) that the first day be
kept as a shabbathon, " a solemn rest," marked by abstinence from all the ordinary
business of life, and a holy convocation. The special ceremony of the day, which
gave it its name, is described as a "memorial of blowing of trumpets." This
91

92. "blowing of trumpets" was a reminder, not from Israel to God, as some have
fancied, but from God to Israel. It was an announcement from the King of Israel to
His people that the glad sabbatic month had begun, and that the great day of
atonement, and the supreme festivity of the feast of tabernacles; was now at hand.
That the first day of this sabbatic month should be thus sanctified was but
according to the Mosaic principle that the consecration of anything signifies the
consecration unto God of the whole. "If the first fruit is holy, so also the lump"; in
like manner, if the first day, so is the month. Trumpets - though not the same
probably as used on this occasion-were also blown on other occasions, and, in
particular, at the time of each new moon; but, according to tradition, these only by
the priests and at the central sanctuary; while in this feast of trumpets everyone
blew who would, and throughout the whole land.
PETT, "Verses 23-25
The Day Of The Blowing Of Rams’ Horns (shophars) (Leviticus 23:23-25).
Leviticus 23:23-24
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, In the
seventh month (moon period), on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to
you, a memorial of blowing of rams’ horns, a holy convocation.”
Rams’ horns as described in Numbers 10:1-10 were blown at the commencement of
every moon period, and on special and solemn days (Numbers 10:10). But the first
day of the seventh month was a special day (compare Numbers 29:1). It was a
solemn rest (shabbaton), a holy convocation. The rams’ horns were blown as a
memorial before Yahweh. They were a call to God to consider them on this special
month of the year. All would be aware that on that day the rams’ horns were being
blown to call them to the Day of Atonement and to the Feast of Tabernacles.
It is no coincidence that the seventh month was so full of feasts. Seven was the
number of divine perfection and completeness, and the seventh month must thus
inevitably be full of awareness of and response to God. It was His month like no
other was, a time for getting right with God, and rejoicing in what He had
abundantly provided and looking to the future for what He would provide. No
wonder it was welcomed with a special feast for the blowing of ram’s horns. It
would then be followed by the Autumn/Winter rains, the hopefully abundant
former rains, which would prepare the ground for sowing, would bring nature back
to life again, and would improve the grazing grounds so that the flocks and herds
could prosper, all no doubt, they would think, the result of their faithful repentance
and worship in the seventh month. And then later still it was followed by the latter
rains in the spring which finalised what the former rains had begun, commencing
the new year of harvests as another round of reaping began. Together their coming
was the basis of their physical happiness and prosperity.
92

93. SIMEON, "THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS
Leviticus 23:23-25. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children
of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, In the first day of the month, shall ye have a
Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no
servile work therein; but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
THE ordinances of the Mosaic law, though dark in themselves, are, for the most
part, rendered luminous by the Gospel: their true meaning is opened to us by
inspired expositors; and little room is left for the exercise of fancy or conjecture.
This however is not universally the case: the ordinance before us is a remarkable
exception to the general rule: Moses himself does not inform us on what occasion, or
for what particular end it was appointed: nor do the New-Testament writers give us
any explanation of the subject. But as it was one of the great annual feasts among
the Jews, it must of necessity be instructive. We shall endeavour therefore to search
out the meaning as well as we can; and to shew,
I. For what end this feast was instituted—
Some have referred it to the blowing of the trumpet on Mount Sinai: and others
have supposed that it referred to all the different occasions whereon the trumpet
was blown. But the former of these does not appear a proper foundation for a joyful
feast; (when it made all Israel, not excepting Moses himself, to “tremble and
quake:”) and the latter opinion refutes itself: for if they were used on a variety of
occasions, as the summoning of the people to the tabernacle, the directing of them in
their journeys, the stirring of them up against their enemies, and the proclaiming of
the year of jubilee, it is reasonable to suppose, that the appointment of a feast, called
the feast of trumpets, was for some special and peculiar purpose. Accordingly,
though the purpose is not specified, we may form a good judgment respecting it,
from the peculiar day on which it was to be observed. That which in our text is
called the seventh mouth, had been always deemed the first month of the year; but
when God brought his people out of Egypt, he ordered them, in remembrance of
that event, to reckon their year differently, and to begin it in the spring, instead of
the autumn [Note: Exodus 12:2.]. Still however, in their civil and political matters,
they retained the original mode of reckoning; and, except in their ecclesiastical
concerns, this continued to be the first month in the year. This day then was the first
day in the new year; and the feast of trumpets was to them “a memorial;” a
memorial of mercies received, and of mercies promised:
1. Of mercies received—
[It is possible that the creation of the world, which was supposed to have been in the
autumn, (when so many of the fruits are ripe,) was then particularly
commemorated. But we apprehend that the mercies of the preceding year were then
reviewed; and grateful acknowledgments were made to God for them. This seems to
93

94. be a fit employment for the commencement of a new year; and every succeeding
year must of necessity bring with it many renewed occasions for praise and
thanksgiving. Even though the nation should have been visited with judgments, still
those judgments are so disproportioned to men’s ill desert, and are always blended
with so many mercies, that there could not fail of being always abundant reason for
joy and gratitude.
The blowing of the trumpets would awaken the attention of the people to the duties
of the day, and bring to their recollection some at least of those mercies, which they
were now called upon to acknowledge.]
2. Of mercies promised—
[In this sense the term “memorial” is often used in Scripture. The stones on Aaron’s
breast-plate were a “memorial,” to remind the people, that God regarded them as
his peculiar care, and bore them upon his heart [Note: Exodus 28:12; Exodus
28:29.]. The atonement-money, which was to be paid on numbering the people, was
also a “memorial” of the security which was assured to them under God’s protecting
hand [Note: Exodus 30:16.]. The frankincense which from week to week was put
upon the shew-bread [Note: Leviticus 24:7.], was of a similar nature; for whilst it
reminded God of his people and their necessities, it was a pledge to them that he
would supply their wants. Moreover, the Psalmist, expressly referring to this feast,
says, “it was ordained for a testimony [Note: Psalms 81:1-5. Comp. also Numbers
10:9-10.].” Now when this “memorial” sounded in their ears, the various temporal
mercies which they would need, would of course occur to their minds. But there
were spiritual blessings, which probably came but little into the contemplation of
the people, which yet were of principal importance in the sight of God, and were
particularly shadowed forth on this occasion; I mean, the prosperity of Zion, and
the enlargement of the Church of Christ.
That this was intended, an inspired Apostle assures us; for speaking of this very
feast amongst others, he says, “Which things are a shadow of good things; but the
body is of Christ [Note: Colossians 2:16-17.].”
The language used in reference to the Gospel, strongly confirms this truth. It is
emphatically called, “the joyful sound;” and they who preach it are said, to “lift up
their voice as a trumpet:” and when the fulness of time shall come for the universal
establishment of Christ’s kingdom in the world, the sound of this trumpet shall be
heard to the remotest corners of the earth, and all, from the least even to the
greatest, shall come up to his temple. Even “Assyria and Egypt,” the most
determined enemies of God’s people, shall be stirred up by it to “come and worship
in the holy mount in Jerusalem [Note: Isaiah 27:13. Mark this passage.].”
Such a prospect was a solid ground of joy. We rejoice in the partial accomplishment
of this event that has already taken place: and we look forward with joy to its full
and final accomplishment.]
94

95. Let us proceed to consider—
II. In what manner it was to be observed—
The three great feasts, the Passover, the feast of Pentecost, and the feast of
tabernacles, were greater than this; because, on them, all the males were required to
assemble at Jerusalem: but next to them was the feast of trumpets. It was more holy
than a common Sabbath; because no servile work at all might be done on this day;
whereas on common Sabbaths an exception was made for preparing their necessary
provision. Moreover on this day they were to be fully occupied in offering sacrifices
to God. Besides the daily sacrifices, and those appointed at the beginning of every
month, there were many peculiar to this occasion: and an express order was made,
that neither the daily nor monthly offerings should be superseded, but that those for
this day should be presented in addition to all the others [Note: Numbers 29:1-6.].
Now from this feast, so peculiarly prefiguring the Gospel, and being observed with
such extraordinary strictness, we may learn,
1. The scope and tendency of the Gospel—
[When it reaches the ears and hearts of men, it calls them from the world to serve
and delight in God, and that without intermission, from the morning to the evening
of their lives. Not that it forbids all servile work; on the contrary, it requires “every
man to abide in the calling wherein he is called,” and to fulfil the duties of his
station with assiduity: but, while it leaves our hands at liberty, it forbids that our
hearts should be enslaved: they must be reserved for God, and fixed on him alone.
The one occupation of our lives must be to offer to him the sacrifices of prayer and
praise [Note: Hebrews 13:15.]: “Rejoice in the Lord always,” says the Apostle, “and
again I say, Rejoice.” Every blast of the trumpet should remind us of the infinite
obligations conferred upon us, and of the assurances which God has given us of final
and everlasting happiness. It is not a deliverance from temporal bondage, or victory
over earthly enemies, that we have to rejoice in, but in deliverance from the wrath of
God, and in victory over sin and Satan, death and hell. All this, too, is given us, not
by a mere exertion of God’s power, but by the death of his Son, and the influences of
his Spirit. Shall not we then rejoice? Again I say, that the Gospel trumpet sounds
these things in our ears continually: and therefore we should keep throughout our
whole lives a feast unto the Lord.]
2. The duty of those who embrace it—
[We have already seen what abstraction from the world. and what devotedness to
God, were required of the Jews on that day. If they then, who had only the shadow
of heavenly things, were to serve God in this manner, how ought we, who enjoy the
substance! Surely we should serve him without grudging, without weariness, and
without distraction. If they grudged their numerous and costly sacrifices, or were
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96. weary of their long and lifeless services, or had their minds diverted from these poor
and “beggarly elements,” we should not wonder at it: their very feasts, though
suited to the ends for which they were appointed, were burthensome in the extreme.
But ours is a spiritual service. True, it may require some sacrifices; but none that
are worthy of a thought, when we consider for whom they are made. As for sin, the
mortifying of that should be deemed no sacrifice at all: it is rather like the removal
of a leprosy, or the healing of a wound. As for time, or interest, there is nothing to be
sacrificed in relation to these, that will not be repaid an hundred-fold even in this
life, and with everlasting life in the world to come. And, if we engage heartily in the
Lord’s service, we shall find, that the more we are employed in it, the more
delightful it will be: it is wearisome only to those who are formal and hypocritical in
their duties. Doubtless “the flesh will often evince its weakness, even when the spirit
is most willing:” but the more we seek to rejoice in God, the more we shall rejoice in
God. Let us be on our guard against those worldly cares or pleasures that are apt to
divert the mind from its proper duties. St. Paul particularly tells us, that “he would
have us without carefulness;” and recommends us so to order our matters, that we
may “attend upon the Lord without distraction [Note: 1 Corinthians 7:35.].” These
things then are our duty: duty, do I say? they are our privilege, our highest
privilege. So David thought, when he said, “Blessed are the people that know the
joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance: in thy name
shall they rejoice all the day; and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted [Note:
Psalms 89:15-16.].”]
PULPIT, "Leviticus 23:23-25
In the seventh month, in the first day of the month. Only one of the monthly
festivals is named in this chapter, because it is the only one on which a holy
convocation was to be held. The first day of the seventh month we should expect to
be holier than the first day of any other month, on account of the peculiar holiness
of the seventh month, and because it was the beginning of the civil year. It is to be a
sabbath; that is, a festival observed by rest, and a memorial of blowing of trumpets.
The latter words should be rather rendered a memorial of a joyful noise. That these
joyful sounds were made by blowing the cornet, we may well believe from the
testimony of tradition, but the text of Holy Scripture does not state the fact, and the
use of the word trumpets in place of "cornets" leads to a confusion. Every new
moon, dud among them that of the seventh month, was observed by the blowing of
trumpets (Numbers 10:10), but the trumpets then blown differed in their use and
shape from the cornet. The trumpet was a long-shaped, metal instrument, at first
used to give the signal for marching, afterwards to serve as the sign of the arrival of
the monthly festival; the cornet was an animal's horn, or, if not a real horn, an
instrument formed in the shape of a horn, and it was used to express joyful
emotions, answering somewhat to our modern bell-ringing in the West, or firing
unloaded guns in the East. Besides the blowing of trumpets, special sacrifices were
appointed for the first of each month, "two young bullocks, and one ram, seven
lambs," with their meat and drink offerings, for a burnt offering, and "one kid of
the goats" for a sin offering (Numbers 28:11-15). On New Year's Day, which, from
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97. its difference from the other new moons, was an annual as well as a monthly feast,
the special offerings were "one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs," with
their meat and drink offerings for a burnt offering, and "one kid of the goats" for a
sin offering; and these were to be in addition to the offerings made on the first day
of each month (Numbers 29:2-6). It became a custom for the Levites to chant at the
morning sacrifice Psalms 81:1-16, and at the evening sacrifice Psalms 29:1-11. The
great joyfulness of the day is shown by the account given of its observance in the
Book of Nehemiah. It was on the first day of the seventh month that Ezra read the
Book of the Law publicly to the people, and when "the people wept, when they
heard the words of the Law," Nehemiah and Ezra and the Levites said, "This day is
holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep … . Go your way, eat the fat,
and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared:
for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is
your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the
day is holy; neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their way to eat, and to
drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood
the words that were declared unto them" (Nehemiah 8:9-12).
24 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the
seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath
rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with
trumpet blasts.
BARNES, "A sabbath - Here and in Lev_23:39 a word which should rather be
rendered a sabbatical rest.
Blowing of trumpets - Here and in Num_29:1, literally “shouting”. There is no
mention of trumpets in the Hebrew text of the Law in connection with the day. However,
there is no reason to doubt the tradition that the day was distinguished by a general
blowing of trumpets throughout the land, and that the kind of trumpet generally used
for the purpose was the curved horn of an animal or a cornet of metal, such as was used
at Sinai Exo_19:16, and on the Day of Jubilee Lev_25:9. It must have differed in this
respect from the ordinary festival of the New moon when the long straight trumpet of
the temple alone was blown (Num_10:2; Exo_25:23; see cut).
Seventh month - Called by the Jews in later times it was called Tisri, but in the Old
Testament Ethanim, 1Ki_8:2. According to the uniform voice of tradition “the first day”
of this month was the first day of the Civil year in use before the Exodus, and was
observed as the festival of the New year. Some have viewed it as a commemoration of the
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98. Creation of the world Job_38:7 : others, as the anniversary of the giving of the Law.
CLARKE, "A memorial of blowing of trumpets - This is generally called the
feast of trumpets; and as it took place on the first day of the seventh month, Tisri, which
answers to September, which month was the commencement of what was called the civil
year, the feast probably had no other design than to celebrate the commencement of that
year, if indeed such a distinction obtained among the ancient Jews. See the note on Exo_
12:2. Some think creation began at this time.
GILL, "Speak unto the children of Israel,.... For all the people of Israel were
concerned in the following precept, and obliged to observe it, even priests, Levites,
Israelites, proselytes, and freed servants; though other servants, and women, and
children, were not obliged to hear the sound of the trumpets (b), and which were blown
not in Jerusalem only, but in all cities and towns where the sanhedrim was (c); and it
was the hearing of them the people were bound unto, and not less than nine distinct
soundings were they obliged to hear (d); to which perhaps respect is had in Psa_89:15,
in the seventh month; the month Tisri, as the Targum of Jonathan, which was the
seventh from the month Nisan or Abib; which was appointed the first month of the year,
on account of the Israelites coming out of Egypt in it; otherwise, before, this month Tisri
was the first, and so it still continued, for the fixing the years, and settling the sabbatical
and jubilee years, and for the planting of trees and herbs (e):
in the first day of the month shall ye have a sabbath; not entirely as the weekly
sabbath, in which no manner of work at all was to be done, but in which no servile work
was to be done; and was observed in like manner as the first and seventh days of
unleavened bread, and the day of pentecost, Lev_23:7,
a memorial of blowing of trumpets; which, according to the Jewish writers, was
continued from sun rising to sun setting (f); but what this blowing of trumpets was a
memorial of is not easy to say; some think it was in memory of the wars the people of
Israel had with their enemies the Amalekites and Canaanites, and the victories they
obtained over them, and particularly in remembrance of the walls of Jericho falling
down at the sound of rams' horns; but then it must be by anticipation: it is more
commonly received with the Jews (g) that it was on the account of the binding of Isaac
on this day, being delivered through a ram being sacrificed in his stead; and on this
account it is said, that the trumpets blown on this day were made of rams horns, and no
other might be used (h); yea, that ram's head was used to be eaten on this day, in
remembrance of the ram of Isaac, and also to intimate that the Jews would be the head
and not the tail (i): the Jews also say, that this day, every year, was a sort of day of
judgment, in which God sat and judged men, and also determined all events of the
following year (k); and this was attended with blowing of trumpets, to strike a terror into
them, and put them in mind of the judgment of God, and to induce them to repent of
their sins (l): and it may be observed, that the resurrection of the dead, in order to the
last general judgment, will be attended with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet
of God, 1Co_15:52; whether this is so represented in reference to this notion, let it be
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99. considered: but as this was New Year's Day, as before observed, this ceremony seems to
have been appointed to express joy for all the mercies and blessings of the last year; and
the rather, at this time of the year all the fruits of the earth were gathered in, not only the
barley and the wheat, but the oil and wine, and under such grateful acknowledgment, to
expect the divine blessing to attend them the following year; and besides, at this time of
the year, it was generally thought by the Jews (m), and by others, that the world was
created, and this blowing of trumpets might be in memory of that, and as an emblem of
the shoutings of the sons of God, the angels, the morning stars, who sang for joy when
the foundations of the earth were laid, Job_38:6; to which it may be added, this seventh
month was very memorable for holy solemnities, as the day of atonement on the tenth,
and the feast of tabernacles, which began on the fifteenth, and therefore was ushered in
with blowing of trumpets to make it the more significant, and particularly to put the
people in mind to prepare for the day of atonement near at hand; and so Gersom
observes, that as the sound of a trumpet strikes men with fear, the design of this precept
was, to fill the mind with fear, and to excite to repentance and brokenness of heart, and
humiliation for sin, and to search their works and actions, and correct what was amiss,
and so be ready for the day of atonement: hence Ainsworth thinks, that this was a figure
of the ministry of John the Baptist preaching the baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins; but rather it seems to be an emblem of the Gospel, and the ministry of
it, in the acceptable year of the Lord, or the Gospel dispensation, which is sometimes
signified by the blowing of the great trumpet, and by the ministers of it lifting up their
voice like a trumpet, Isa_27:13; by which sinners are roused and awakened to a sense of
their sin and danger, and to hear a joyful sound of love, grace, mercy, peace, pardon,
righteousness, and salvation through Christ: the Jews say (n), this blowing of trumpets
was to disturb Satan, when he came to accuse the Israelites; it is certain there is nothing
gives him more disturbance than the pure and powerful preaching of the Gospel, which
he endeavours to obstruct as much as possible, and there is nothing like what that brings
to silence his accusations, see 2Co_4:3,
an holy convocation; on which the people were called together to holy exercises; and
so the Jews observe it to this day; for after they return home from attendance to the
blowing of the trumpets in their synagogues, they sit down to meat, and spend the rest of
the day in hearing sermons, and in other religious exercises (o).
JAMISON, "In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye
have a sabbath — That was the first day of the ancient civil year.
a memorial of blowing of trumpets — Jewish writers say that the trumpets were
sounded thirty successive times, and the reason for the institution was for the double
purpose of announcing the commencement of the new year, which was (Lev_23:25) to
be religiously observed (see Num_29:3), and of preparing the people for the
approaching solemn feast.
CALVIN, "24.In the seventh month, in the first day of the month. I wonder how it
ever entered the mind of the Jews (349) that in the feast of trumpets the deliverance
of Isaac was commemorated, when a goat was substituted to be slain in his stead;
(350) but they have invented this with their wonted audacity. Surely it is as baseless
as it is unreasonable. Others more rightly suppose that it was a preparation for the
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100. approaching feast of atonement, on account of the slight interval of time; for since
this day is distinguished by no peculiar mark, it is probable that it ought not to be
separated from the other which follows soon afterwards, viz., on the tenth day.
Unless, perhaps, it is more probable that they were thus called together once a year
by the sound of trumpets, first of all, that they might learn that all their sacred
assemblies were appointed by the voice of God; and secondly, that this His voice was
thus renewed, that they might always be ready to obey Him. And this seems to
signify by the expression, “a memorial of blowing of trumpets;” as if He had said
that the trumpets sounded in their ears once a year, that they might be attentive to
God’s voice throughout their lives, and ever willing to follow whithersoever He
should command them to go. Others think that the trumpets sounded at the
beginning of the month, that they might prepare themselves for the three festivals,
and also because this month was remarkable both in the Sabbatical year and in the
Jubilee. But what, if when God displaced this month from being the beginning of the
year to stand seventh, He chose to leave it some traces of its original dignity? for by
general consent it is admitted that, until the people came out of Egypt, this was the
first month. Some even think that the world was created in it, which is not without
probable show of reason. And the Jews now also, in political matters and in things
which relate to this earthly life, retain this original computation in accordance with
unbroken custom: it is only in sacred matters that they commence the year in
March. This indeed seems to me the probable reason why, on the day now referred
to, God renewed the memory of His dominion by a solemn proclamation, and
assigned this seventh month both to the Jubilee and the Sabbatical year. (351) The
solemnity was completed in one day, differing very little from an ordinary Sabbath,
except by the trumpet-blowing and the sacrifice, as is described in Numbers 29:0.
For Moses there speaks of more than he does here; he there enumerates a calf, a
ram, seven lambs, a goat for a sin-offering, with its accompaniments, besides the
burnt-offering of the new moon, and commands an offering to be made by fire of
them all. Here he speaks generally in a single word.
COKE, "Leviticus 23:24. In the seventh month— This was the first month of the
civil year, answering to our September, and was the seventh month of the
ecclesiastical year. A memorial of blowing of trumpets, some render a festival for
commemorating, or praising God, with the sound of the trumpet; see Psalms 150:3.
This feast was kept with great solemnity; the trumpets sounded from sun-rising to
sun-setting. The priest, who sounded the trumpet, began with the usual prayer,
"Blessed be the Lord, who hath sanctified us by his precepts, &c." subjoining this
thanksgiving "Blessed be God, who hath preserved us in life, and brought us to this
time." When all was ended, the people repeated aloud, "Blessed is the people that
know the joyful sound."
The Scripture does not acquaint us with the occasion of appointing this feast.
Theodoret believes it to have been in memory of the thunder and lightning, and the
sound of the trumpet, from mount Sinai, when God gave his law from thence.
Maimonides considers the festival as designed, not only to proclaim the new year,
but as a solemn warning to repent and prepare for the coming of the great day of
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101. atonement, which was at hand: and many have justly supposed that this festival was
typical of the blowing of the Gospel trumpet; see Isaiah 58:1. Hosea 8:1. Zechariah
9:14. The Gentiles seem to have borrowed from hence their blowing with trumpets
among the rites and ceremonies in the worship of Cybele.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:24. A sabbath — Solemnized with the blowing of trumpets
by the priests, not in a common way, as they did every first day of every month, but
in an extraordinary manner, not only in Jerusalem, but in all the cities of Israel.
They began to blow at sunrise, and continued blowing till sunset. This seems to have
been instituted, 1st, To solemnize the beginning of the new year, whereof, as to civil
matters, and particularly as to the jubilee, this was the first day; concerning which it
was fit the people should be admonished, both to excite their thankfulness for God’s
blessings in the last year, and to direct them in the management of their civil affairs.
2d, To put a special honour upon this month. For, as the seventh day was the
sabbath, and the seventh year was a sabbatical year, so God would have the seventh
month to be a kind of sabbatical month, on account of the many sabbaths and
solemn feasts which were observed in this, more than in any other month. And by
this sounding of the trumpets in its beginning, God would quicken and prepare
them for the following sabbaths, as well that of atonement, and humiliation for their
sins, as those of thanksgiving for God’s mercies.
ELLICOTT, "(24) A memorial of blowing of trumpets.—Literally, remembrance
blowing, for which see Numbers 29:1, the only place in the Old Testament where
this festival is named as “the day of blessing,” i.e., the trumpets. As the first of
Ethanim, as the month is called in the Bible (1 Kings 8:2), or Tishri, as the Jews call
it, in which this festival occurs, is the commencement of the civil new year, this
festival was called “the Festival of New Year” ever since the time of the second
Temple, and has been regarded as preparatory to the great day of Atonement,
which is ten days later. The blowing of trumpets, therefore, which was the
distinguishing feature of this festival, was designed to summon the Israelites to enter
upon the work of sanctification, which will be accounted to them as a merit in the
sight of God, and for which they are promised to be especially remembered before
the Lord (Numbers 10:9-10). Hence its name, Remembrance blowing—the blowing
of trumpets, which will make them to be remembered before the Lord. The
synagogue, however, takes the name more in the sense of “reminding” God of the
merits of the patriarchs and his covenant with them, and for this reason has
appointed Genesis 21:1-34; Genesis 22:1-24, recording the birth and sacrifice of
Isaac, as the lesson for this festival.
TRAPP, "Verse 24
Leviticus 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in
the first [day] of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of
trumpets, an holy convocation.
101

102. Ver. 24. Of blowing of trumpets.] This feast signified the spiritual joy and gladness
of the saints that are redeemed by Christ, all their life long. [Isaiah 23:10]
25 Do no regular work, but present a food
offering to the Lord.’”
GILL, "Ye shall do no servile work therein,.... Only such as was necessary for
dressing food, but not any manual work, such as servants were employed in on other
days, as agriculture or any mechanic business:
but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord; a burnt offering, and
what that was may be seen in Num_29:1.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 25
(25) Ye shall do no servile work.—With the exception of what was absolutely
necessary, all handicraft and trade were stopped. (See Leviticus 23:7.)
But ye shall offer.—As the festival is also the new moon, a threefold sacrifice was
offered on it, (1) viz. the ordinary daily sacrifice which was offered first; (2) the
appointed new moon sacrifice (Numbers 28:11-15); and (3) the sacrifice for this
festival, which consisted of a young bullock, a ram, and seven lambs of the first year,
with the usual meat offerings, and a kid for a sin offering (Numbers 29:1-6). With
the exception, therefore, of there being one bullock instead of two, this sacrifice was
simply a repetition of the monthly offering by which it was preceded in the service.
During the offering of the drink offering and the burnt offering the Levites engaged
in vocal and instrumental music, singing the eighty-first and other psalms, whilst
the priests at stated intervals broke forth with awful blasts of the trumpets. After
the offering up of the sacrifices, the service was concluded by the priests, who
pronounced the benediction (Numbers 6:23-27), which the people received in a
prostrate position before the Lord. Having prostrated themselves a second time in
the court, the congregation resorted to the adjoining synagogue, where the
appointed lessons from the Law and the Prophets were read, consisting of Genesis
21:1-34; Numbers 29:1-6; 1 Samuel 1:1 to 1 Samuel 2:10; Genesis 22:1-24; Jeremiah
31:2-20. Psalms were recited and the festival prayers were offered, beseeching the
Lord to pardon the sins of the past year, and to grant the people a happy new year.
This concluded the morning service, after which the families resorted to their
respective homes, partook of the social and joyous repast, and in the evening went
again into the Temple to witness the offering of the evening sacrifices, and to see the
102

103. candlestick lighted with which the festival concluded, all wishing each other, “May
you be written down for a happy new year; may the Creator decree for you a happy
new year.” To which was responded, “And you likewise.” With the exception of the
sacrifices, the Jews keep this festival to the present day. The trumpet which they use
on this occasion consists of the curved horn of a ram, in remembrance of the ram
which Abraham sacrificed instead of Isaac. This event, as we have seen, is also
commemorated in the lesson of the day.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:25
“You shall do no servile work, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to
Yahweh.”
It was a day when all servile work should cease, and an offering be made by fire to
Yahweh. This would include as whole burnt offerings a bull ox, a ram, seven lambs
of the first year together with suitable grain offerings in each case, and a young goat
for a purification for sin offering, in order to make atonement This was besides the
whole burnt offering for the month, and the daily whole burnt offerings offered
with grain offerings and drink offerings. (For details see Numbers 29:2-6).
We should see the day of the blowing of the rams’ horns as a wake-up call. Now it is
high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation (our full final deliverance)
nearer than when we first believed (Romans 13:11). Are we alert and ready for that
day, or are we sleeping as do others? (1 Thessalonians 5:6).
The Day of Atonement
26 The Lord said to Moses,
GILL, "And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... This phrase, which is a kind of preface
to each precept, seems to be used to distinguish one from another, as the preceding one
from the feast of Pentecost; and here, the day of atonement from that of the blowing of
the trumpets; and afterwards, the feast of tabernacles from the day of atonement; the
reason why it is not used before the feast of Pentecost seems to be, because, as Aben Ezra
observes, that depended upon the wave sheaf, and was reckoned from it:
JAMISON 26-31, "On the tenth day of the seventh month the day of atonement was
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104. to be observed by a holy meeting, by fasting from the evening of the ninth till the evening
of the tenth, by resting from all work on pain of death, and with sacrifices, of which the
great expiatory sacrifice peculiar to this day had already been appointed in ch. 16, and
the general festal sacrifices are described in Num_29:8-11. (For fuller particulars, see at
ch. 16.) By the restrictive ַ‫,א‬ the observance of the day of atonement is represented a
priori as a peculiar one. The ַ‫א‬ refers less to “the tenth day,” than to the leading
directions respecting this feast: “only on the tenth of this seventh month...there shall be
a holy meeting to you, and ye shall afflict your souls,” etc.
COFFMAN, "Verse 26
"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Howbeit on the tenth day of this seventh
month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye shall
afflict your souls; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. And ye
shall do no manner of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make
atonement for you before Jehovah your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall
not be afflicted in that same day; he shall be cut off from his people. And
whatsoever soul it be that doeth any manner of work in that same day, that soul will
I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it is a statute for
ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a
sabbath of solemn rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month
at even, from even unto even, shall ye keep your sabbath."
The Day of Atonement was a high sabbath of the utmost holiness, as attested by the
recurring admonition, "no manner of work," thus ranking it with the weekly
sabbath in sanctity. For comment on "afflict your souls" see under Leviticus 16:29.
Although fasting is not mentioned here, it was, nevertheless, a day of fasting, being,
in fact, the only fast day that God commanded Israel to keep. Of course, the
abbreviated reference to the Day of Atonement here is due to the fact of its having
already been thoroughly detailed in Leviticus 16. Moses' method through the Five
Books is that of returning again and again to the same subject, but with full
consciousness of the sum total of all that he wrote.
YOM KIPPUR. This Day of Atonement is still honored by the Jews who call it Yom
Kippur.
EBC, "THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
Leviticus 23:26-32
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Howbeit on the tenth day of this seventh
month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye shall
afflict your souls: and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye
shall do no manner of work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make
atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall
104

105. not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from his people. And whatsoever
soul it be that doeth any manner of work in that same day, that soul will I destroy
from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it is a statute forever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of
solemn rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even,
from even unto even shall ye keep your sabbath."
After this festival of annunciation, followed, on the tenth day of the month, the great
annual day of atonement. This has already come before us (chapter 13) in its
relation to the sacrificial system, of which the sin offering of this day was the
culmination. But this chapter brings it before us in another aspect, namely, in its
relation to the annual septenary series of sacred seasons, the final festival of which it
preceded and introduced.
Its significance, as thus coming in this final seventh and sabbatic month of the
ecclesiastical year. lay not merely in the strictness of the rest which was commanded
(Leviticus 23:28-30) from every manner of work, but, still more, in that it expressed
in a far higher degree than any other festival the other sabbatic idea of complete
restoration brought in through expiation for sin. This was indeed the central
thought of the whole ceremonial of the day, -the complete removal of all those sins of
the nation which stood between them and God, and hindered complete restoration
to God’s favour. And while this restoration was symbolised by the sacrifice of the
sin offering, and its presentation and acceptance before Jehovah in the Holy of
Holies; yet, that none might hence argue from the fact of atonement to license to sin,
it was ordained (Leviticus 23:27) that the people should "afflict their souls,"
namely, by fasting, in token of their penitence for the sins for which atonement was
made; and the absolute necessity of this condition of repentance in order to any
benefit from the high priestly sacrifice and intercession was further emphasised by
the solemn threat (Leviticus 23:29): "Whatsoever soul it be that shall not be
afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from his people."
These then were the lessons-lessons of transcendent moment for all people and all
ages-which were set forth in the great atonement of the sabbatic month, -the
complete removal of sin by an expiatory offering, conditioned on the part of the
worshipper by the obedience of faith and sincere repentance for the sin, and issuing
in rest and full establishment in God’s loving favour.
PETT, "Verses 26-32
The Day Of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32).
Here the Day of Atonement (compare Leviticus 16) is looked at from the point of
view of the people. Its solemnity is emphasised by the strict warnings concerning
proper observance (Leviticus 23:29-30). On this important day all the failures and
sins of Israel that had not previously been atoned for would be gathered up and
atoned for.
105

106. Leviticus 23:26-27
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Howbeit on the tenth day of this seventh
month is the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall
afflict (humble) yourselves; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh”
The tenth day of the seventh month is to be the Day of Atonement. It is to be a holy
‘calling-together’, a day on which they ‘afflict themselves’ and a day when an
offering is made by fire to Yahweh. For full details of the latter see chapter 16.
“Afflict (humble) themselves.” That is, deal hardly with themselves (compare
Genesis 16:6; Genesis 31:50), or submit themselves humbly (compare Genesis 16:9;
Exodus 10:3). No indication is given of exactly what this means. It may refer to
fasting, to self-examination and family-group-examination, or to other forms of
consideration of sins and of repentance, or to a general humbling before God. The
main point is presumably a demonstration to God of a genuine desire to put away
sin. Compare Isaiah 58:5 where ‘afflicting themselves’ appears to refer to ‘bowing
down the head as a bulrush’, and ‘spreading sackcloth and ashes’, presumably to
kneel on as a sign of repentance.
PULPIT, "Leviticus 23:26-32
The ceremonies to be observed on the day of atonement have been already described
in Leviticus 16:1-34, where it found its place as the great purification of the people
and of the sanctuary. Here it is reintroduced as one of the holy days. It is the one
Jewish fast; to be observed as a day of holy convocation, a day in which to afflict
your souls and to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, and in which no
manner of work was to be done; inasmuch as, like the weekly sabbath, it was a
sabbath of rest from the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even. The
time of year at which it was appointed shows that one purpose of its institution was
to make solemn preparation for the joyous festival of Tabernacles, which was to
follow in five days' time, when the people ought to be in a state of reconciliation with
God.
27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the
Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and
deny yourselves,[d] and present a food offering to
the Lord.
106

107. BARNES, "Also - Surely. On the special rites of the day, the tenth of Tisri, that is
from the evening of the ninth day of the month to that of the tenth Lev_23:32, see Lev.
16.
GILL, "Also on the tenth day of this seventh month,.... Tisri, the same as before,
answering to part of our September, and part of October:
there shall be a day of atonement; for all the sins of the year past; see Lev_16:29,
it shall be an holy convocation unto you: when they should be called together for
the exercise of holy duties:
and ye shall afflict your souls; their souls, by repentance, contrition, and
humiliation for sin, and their bodies by fasting; and, as the Targum of Jonathan
paraphrases it,"by abstaining from eating and drinking, and the advantage of bathing
and wiping, and the use of the bed and sandals;''hence called the fast, Act_27:9; See Gill
on Lev_16:29,
and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord; a burnt offering, of which see
Num_29:8.
JAMISON 27-32, "
there shall be a day of atonement ... and ye shall afflict your souls — an
unusual festival, at which the sins of the whole year were expiated. (See Lev_16:29-34).
It is here only stated that the severest penalty was incurred by the violation of this day.
CALVIN, "27.Also on the tenth day of this seventh month. The word ‫,כפר‬ caphar,
whence the noun ‫,כפרים‬ cephurim, signifies both to propitiate and to blot out guilt
and accusation by means of expiation; ‫,כפרים‬ therefore, are atonements (libationes)
for appeasing God; and the word is used in the plural number, because they were
not under the imputation of a single kind of guilt, but had need of manifold
reconciliations on account of their many and various transgressions. This was
indeed done both publicly and privately throughout the rest of the year, for all the
victims they offered were so many satisfactions in order to obtain pardon and to
reconcile God. Still to these daily exercises was added also a yearly feast-day as a
special memorial, and as a sharper spur to repentance: for it was fit that they should
be stirred up to pious grief by solemn fasting and sacrifices, inasmuch as they had
provoked God’s wrath against themselves through the whole year. Therefore on this
feast-day they were cited before His tribunal, in order that, placing themselves
there, they should acknowledge that they deserved this judgment, and yet prayed
that they might escape punishment; and this was the object of the fast. Meanwhile
they learnt from the sacrifices that they were restored to His favor, since simple
107

108. confession would have been only a ground for despair. Thus, therefore, God
required of them sorrow and other indications of penitence, that on His part He
might testify that He was duly appeased so as to be propitious to them. The
expression, “ye shall afflict your souls,” here refers to the fast, which was required
as an outward profession of repentance. And assuredly there was no weight in the
fast of itself, since God plainly shews through Isaiah that He makes no account of
hypocrites, who trust that they appease him by fasting, (Isaiah 58:3;) but being
withdrawn from mere luxurious food and all delicacies, they were reminded of their
misery, so that being cast down by grief and humbled, they might more ardently
and zealously seek for the remedy. For remission of sins is promised to none but
those who, affected with serious sorrow, feel themselves to be lost and miserable,
and acknowledge and confess what they have deserved. In this way a door is opened
for imploring God’s mercy. Still it is not to be supposed that those who are thus
dissatisfied with themselves deserve pardon by their preparation for it. (352) But
since it would be contrary to God’s nature to embrace men with His favor who are
plunged in their iniquities and obstinate in sin; and again, since it would be most
unreasonable that by His clemency license to sin should be given under the pretext
of impunity, it is needful that penitence should precede our reconciliation to God.
Whence also it appears that He so pardons sinners as still to hate their sins, since He
only absolves those who voluntarily condemn themselves, nor admits any into His
favor except those who forsake their sins; not that any one perfectly renounces
himself or his sins, but through indulgence that penitence is acceptable to God, (353)
which might justly be rejected on the ground of its deficiencies. Whereby also what I
have just said is confirmed, that it is not on account of the merit of our penitence
that God acquits us of our sins; as if we redeemed ourselves from guilt and
punishment by weeping, sorrowing, and confession, whereas in the best of us all
penitence will always be found to be weak and imperfect. Wherefore the cause and
the honor of our pardon must only be ascribed to the gratuitous goodness of God.
Hence I have said that in their fast the Israelites professed their guilt and
condemnation, whilst they were expiated by the sacrifice, since there is no other
means of satisfaction.
COKE, "Verse 27
Leviticus 23:27. Also on the tenth day— See the notes on ch. 16:
REFLECTIONS.—The day of atonement was to be observed as a day of sacred rest,
to be spent wholly in reflection upon and humiliation for the sins of the preceding
year. A day of fasting: the body, as well as soul, must be afflicted, as both share in
guilt; and the whole day, from even unto even, must be spent in those exercises of
deep abasement, which answered the institution. Note; (1.) They who feel the
burden of sin, will be careful to beat down the body, as well as to humble the soul.
(2.) Solemn seasons for the review of past transgressions, cannot but have a blessed
effect upon the heart. (3.) When we would afflict our bodies with fasting, there
should be real abstinence in respect to all kinds of meat. To keep a fast on rich fish,
and high sauces, is ridiculous mockery, instead of a holy fast.
108

109. BENSON, "Leviticus 23:27. Afflict your souls — With fasting and bitter repentance
for all, and especially their national sins, among which, no doubt, God would have
them remember their sin of the golden calf. For as God had threatened to remember
it in after-times to punish them for it, so there was great reason why they should
remember it to humble themselves for it.
ELLICOTT, " (27) Also on the tenth.—See Leviticus 16:29.
And ye shall afflict your souls.—That is, fast. (See Leviticus 16:29.)
And offer an offering.—See Numbers 29:8-11.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:27 Also on the tenth [day] of this seventh month [there shall
be] a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict
your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Ver. 27. Also on the tenth day.] {See Trapp on "Leviticus 16:31"} Thus they were
kept in sorrow five days, before they might keep their feast of joy. [Leviticus 23:34]
28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is
the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made
for you before the Lord your God.
CLARKE, "A day of atonement - See the note on Lev_16:2, etc., where this
subject is largely explained.
GILL, "Ye shall do no work in that same day,.... No more than on the weekly
sabbath:
for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your
God: See Gill on Lev_16:30; Aben Ezra's note is,"for you only,''that is, for the Israelites,
and not the Gentiles; but the atonement of Christ, the antitype of this, was not for the
sins of the Jews only, but for the sins of the whole world, of all his people in it, 1Jo_2:2.
109

110. ELLICOTT, " (28) And ye shall do no work.—Better, And ye shall do no manner of
work, as the Authorised version has it in Leviticus 23:31 of this very chapter. (See
Leviticus 16:29.) This is the only day which had to be kept like the sabbath, and on
which no manner of work was allowed. (See Leviticus 23:3.)
To make an atonement for you.—See Leviticus 16:30.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:28
“And you shall do no manner of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement,
to make atonement for you before Yahweh your God.”
No manner of work may be done on that day (thus going further than banning
‘servile work’). It was a day when all concentration must be on atonement.
29 Those who do not deny themselves on that day
must be cut off from their people.
GILL, "For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same
day,.... That is, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem explain it, which can fast and
does not fast; for a sick person, and a child under nine years of age, were not obliged to
fast on this day (p):
he shall be cut off from among his people; by an untimely death, by the hand of
God; the Targum of Jonathan says, by the pestilence.
K&D, "And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day,....
Any sort of work whatever; for, as before observed, it was to be kept as strictly as the
weekly sabbath:
the same soul will I destroy from among his people; with the pestilence, as the
above Targum; it seems to be but another phrase for cutting them off, and to signify the
same thing.
CALVIN, "29.For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted. Hence let us learn
how greatly the sacrifice of an afflicted and humbled heart pleases God; since He
commands so severe a punishment to be inflicted for the contempt of this ceremony.
And surely this would have been a proof of most gross indifference, if, when God
was inspiring men with the dread of His wrath, and inviting them to tears, they
110

111. should rest in security and ease, and give themselves up to luxuries. On this account
He declares with a terrible oath in Isaiah, that will never pardon the Jews, to whom
the hour of repentance never came, but, when he reprovingly called upon them by
His prophets to make haste “to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to
girding with sackcloth,” merrily feasted and drank together, and said, “Let us eat
and drink, for to-morrow we die.” (Isaiah 22:12.) And no wonder, since this is the
extreme height of impiety, to stupify our consciences in brutal contumacy, and to
rob God of His judicial power. As long as the sinner is so far affected, and pricked
by a sense of sins, as anxiously to sigh for a remedy, there is some hope of his
recovery; whilst he who shakes off fear as well as shame, is in altogether a desperate
state. Now, since it was not without reason that God exercised His ancient people
under the Law with external rudiments, it was an act of profane and intolerable
carelessness to omit what was so necessary; and of still greater hardness of heart
purposely, as it were, to despise it, so that no one need wonder at the severity of the
punishment. In Numbers 29:0 the number of the victims is stated; but I pass over
this point, as not requiring to be expounded.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:29. Whatsoever soul — Either of the Jewish nation or
religion. Hereby God would signify the absolute necessity which every man had of
repentance and forgiveness of sins, and the desperate condition of all impenitent
persons. Reader! hast thou considered this?
ELLICOTT, "(29) For whatsoever soul . . . he shall be cut off from among his
people.—Better, For whatsoever soul . . . that shall be cut off from his people. (See
Note on Leviticus 19:8.) Any member of the community who does not fast on this
day God himself will punish with excision, except those who through old age or
sickness are unable to endure it.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:29
“For whatever person it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be
cut off from his people.”
And whoever fails to take the day seriously and to make a genuine effort to deal
with their sinfulness must be cut off from his people.
30 I will destroy from among their people anyone
who does any work on that day.
111

112. GILL, "Ye shall do no manner of work,.... Which is repeated, that it might be
observed, and to show how strictly God required this day should be kept, and how
careful men should be of breaking the command in this respect, and how much he
should resent it if they did:
it shall be a statute for ever, throughout your generations, in all your
dwellings; unto the coming of the Messiah, who, by the atoning sacrifice of himself,
would answer to this law, and put an end to it.
ELLICOTT, " (30) That doeth any work.—That is, engages in any kind of work
whatsoever, since this is the only festival which is to be kept like the sabbath.
Will I destroy.—Whilst in all other instances where God threatens the offender with
the penalty of excision the expression “cut off” is used, in the passage before us the
word is “destroy.” This stronger term may be owing to the fact that the day of
Atonement is the most solemn day in the whole year, and that violating its sanctity
will be visited more severely. Hence the severer expression used on this occasion. It
is, however, to be remarked that whilst working on the sabbath was punished with
death by stoning, he who transgressed the law of labour on the day of Atonement
was punished with excision.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:30
“And whatever person it be who does any manner of work in that same day, that
person will I destroy from among his people.”
And whoever does any manner of work, God Himself will destroy from among his
people. For it will be evidence that he has no time for getting himself right with God.
31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a
lasting ordinance for the generations to come,
wherever you live.
GILL, "It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest,.... See Gill on Lev_16:31; and this is
thought by some (q) to be the sabbath spoken of in Isa_58:13,
112

113. and ye shall afflict your souls; in the ninth day of the month at even; the fast
was to begin at the close of the ninth day, and to continue to the end of the tenth; so
Maimonides (r): he begins to fast and afflict himself at the evening of the ninth next to
the tenth; and so at the going out of it he continues in his affliction a little while of the
night of the eleventh, next to the tenth, which is confirmed by what follows:
from even unto even shall ye celebrate your sabbath; which some understand of
the sabbath in general; but it seems to have a particular respect to the sabbath of the day
of atonement, which was to last from the evening of the ninth to the evening of the tenth
day.
K&D, "“Ye shall rest your rest,” i.e., observe the rest that is binding upon you from all
laborious work.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:31. Of tabernacles — Of tents, or booths, or arbours. 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 completely brought in.
ELLICOTT, " (31) Ye shall do no manner of work.—Owing to the great sanctity of
the day, the command to abstain from all work is repeated after the enactment of
the penalty, in order to impress it more effectually upon the people.
A statute for ever. . . —See Leviticus 3:17; Leviticus 7:23-25.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:31-32
“You shall do no manner of work. It is a statute for ever throughout your
generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you
shall afflict yourselves. In the ninth day of the month in the evening, from evening to
evening, shall you keep your sabbath.”
What has been said is now repeated as a permanent statute into the distant future.
No manner of work is to be done. It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest, a day for self-
humbling and self-chastisement, and it shall commence at the twilight of the ninth
day, and continue until the twilight of the tenth day, by which time the High Priest
will have satisfactorily made atonement for the sin of Israel.
This feast reminds us of our deep need continually for repentance from current sins.
Jesus Christ made atonement for us once for all, and we rejoice in that, but we are
to constantly walk in God’s light, allowing Him to reveal to us our sins so that we
might admit to them and have them removed (1 John 1:7-10).
113

114. 32 It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you
must deny yourselves. From the evening of the
ninth day of the month until the following evening
you are to observe your sabbath.”
GILL, "It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest,.... See Gill on Lev_16:31; and this is
thought by some (q) to be the sabbath spoken of in Isa_58:13,
and ye shall afflict your souls; in the ninth day of the month at even; the fast
was to begin at the close of the ninth day, and to continue to the end of the tenth; so
Maimonides (r): he begins to fast and afflict himself at the evening of the ninth next to
the tenth; and so at the going out of it he continues in his affliction a little while of the
night of the eleventh, next to the tenth, which is confirmed by what follows:
from even unto even shall ye celebrate your sabbath; which some understand of
the sabbath in general; but it seems to have a particular respect to the sabbath of the day
of atonement, which was to last from the evening of the ninth to the evening of the tenth
day.
K&D, "“Ye shall rest your rest,” i.e., observe the rest that is binding upon you from all
laborious work.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:32. From even to even — The day of atonement began at
the evening of the ninth day and continued till the evening of the tenth day. Ye shall
celebrate your sabbath — This particular sabbath is called your sabbath, possibly
to denote the difference between this and other sabbaths; for the weekly sabbath is
oft called the sabbath of the Lord. The Jews are supposed to begin every day, and
consequently their sabbaths, at the evening, in remembrance of the creation, as
Christians generally begin their days and sabbaths with the morning, in memory of
Christ’s resurrection.
ELLICOTT, " (32) It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest.—Rather, It shall be a
sabbath of rest unto you, as the Authorised version renders it in Leviticus 16:31. It
is most unaccountable why the translators varied this important formula, when it is
114

115. exactly the same in the original in both passages. For the import of this phrase see
Leviticus 16:31.
And ye shall afflict your souls.—Having set forth in Leviticus 23:30-31, and in the
first clause of this verse, the duty of abstaining from all work, and of celebrating
this day as a day of solemn rest, the law giver repeats the second feature of the day,
which is of equal importance, viz., the fasting, lest some should think that doing the
one and leaving the other undone would pass as having kept this law.
In the ninth day of the month at even.—In accordance with the ancient mode of
counting the day, the tenth of the month began with the evening of the ninth. (See
Leviticus 16:29.)
Celebrate your sabbath.—In Leviticus 25:2, where this phrase occurs again, the
Authorised version inconsistently renders it keep . . . sabbath. In both instances,
however, the margin has, “Heb., rest.” This alternative rendering of part of the
phrase has no meaning. To convey to the English reader an idea of the Hebrew
idiom here used, which was the intention of the translators, the whole phrase should
have been translated, which is, rest the day of rest, that is, to “keep rest,” to “keep
the day of rest.” Just as to “fast a fast” (2 Samuel 12:16; Zechariah 7:5) denotes “to
keep a fast.” In 2 Samuel 12:16 the margin has consistently reproduced the
Hebraism by remarking “Heb., fasted a fast.”
The Festival of Tabernacles
33 The Lord said to Moses,
GILL, "And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Concerning the feast of tabernacles
here repeated and enlarged upon:
HENRY 33-40, "We have here, I. The institution of the feast of tabernacles, which
was one of the three great feasts at which all the males were bound to attend, and
celebrated with more expressions of joy than any of them.
1. As to the directions for regulating this feast, observe, (1.) It was to be observed on
the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Lev_23:34), but five days after the day of
atonement. We may suppose, though they were not all bound to attend on the day of
atonement, as on the three great festivals, yet that many of the devout Jews came up so
115

116. many days before the feast of tabernacles as to enjoy the opportunity of attending on the
day of atonement. 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. (2.) It was to continue eight days, the first and last of which were to be
observed as sabbaths, days of holy rest and holy convocations, Lev_23:35, Lev_23:36,
Lev_23:39. The sacrifices to be offered on these eight days we have a very large
appointment of, Num_29:12, etc. (3.) During the first seven days of this feast all the
people were to leave their houses, and the women and children in them, and to dwell in
booths made of the boughs of thick trees, particularly palm trees, Lev_23:40, Lev_
23:42. The Jews make the taking of the branches to be a distinct ceremony from the
making of the booths. It is said, indeed (Neh_8:15), that they made their booths of the
branches of trees, which they might do, and yet use that further expression of joy, the
carrying of palm-branches in their hands, which appears to have been a token of
triumph upon other occasions (Joh_12:13), and is alluded to, Rev_7:9. The eighth day
some make a distinct feast of itself, but it is called (Joh_7:37) that great day of the feast;
it was the day on which they returned from their booths, to settle again in their own
houses. (4.) They were to rejoice before the Lord God during all the time of this feast,
Lev_23:40. The tradition of the Jews is that they were to express their joy by dancing,
and singing hymns of praise to God, with musical instruments: and not the common
people only, but the wise men of Israel, and their elders, were to do it in the court of the
sanctuary: for (say they) the joy with which a man rejoices in doing a commandment is
really a great service.
K&D 33-37, "On the fifteenth of the same month the feast of Tabernacles was to be
kept to the Lord for seven days: on the first day with a holy meeting and rest from all
laborious work, and for seven days with sacrifices, as appointed for every day in Num
29:13-33. Moreover, on the eighth day, i.e., the 22nd of the month, the closing feast was
to be observed in the same manner as on the first day (Lev_23:34-36). The name, “feast
of Tabernacles” (booths), is to be explained from the fact, that the Israelites were to
dwell in booths made of boughs for the seven days that this festival lasted (Lev_23:42).
‫ת‬ ֶ‫ר‬ֶ‫ֲצ‬‫ע‬, which is used in Lev_23:36 and Num_29:35 for the eighth day, which terminated
the feast of Tabernacles, and in Deu_16:8 for the seventh day of the feast of Mazzoth,
signifies the solemn close of a feast of several days, clausula festi, from ‫ר‬ַ‫צ‬ָ‫ע‬ to shut in, or
close (Gen_16:2; Deu_11:17, etc.), not a coagendo, congregando populo ad festum, nor
a cohibitione laboris, ab interdicto opere, because the word is only applied to the last
day of the feasts of Mazzoth and Tabernacles, and not to the first, although this was also
kept with a national assembly and suspension of work. But as these clausaulae festi were
holidays with a holy convocation and suspension of work, it was very natural that the
word should be transferred at a later period to feasts generally, on which the people
suspended work and met for worship and edification (Joe_1:14; Isa_1:13; 2Ki_10:20).
The azareth, as the eighth day, did not strictly belong to the feast of Tabernacles, which
was only to last seven days; and it was distinguished, moreover, from these seven days
by a smaller number of offerings (Num_29:35.). The eighth day was rather the solemn
close of the whole circle of yearly feasts, and therefore was appended to the close of the
last of these feasts as the eighth day of the feast itself (see at Num 28 seq.). - With Lev_
23:36 the enumeration of all the yearly feasts on which holy meetings were to be
116

117. convened is brought to an end. This is stated in the concluding formula (Lev_23:37,
Lev_23:38), which answers to the heading in Lev_23:4, in which the Sabbaths are
excepted, as they simply belonged to the moadim in the more general sense of the word.
In this concluding formula, therefore, there is no indication that Lev_23:2 and Lev_23:3
and Lev_23:39-43 are later additions to the original list of feasts which were to be kept
with a meeting for worship. ‫וגו‬ ‫יב‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫ק‬ ַ‫ה‬ ְ‫ל‬ (to offer, etc.) is not dependent upon “holy
convocations,” but upon the main idea, “feasts of Jehovah.” Jehovah had appointed
moadim, fixed periods in the year, for His congregation to offer sacrifices; not as if no
sacrifices could be or were to be offered except at these feasts, but to remind His people,
through these fixed days, of their duty to approach the Lord with sacrifices. ‫ה‬ֶ‫אשּׁ‬ is
defined by the enumeration of four principal kinds of sacrifice-burnt-offerings, meat-
offerings, slain (i.e., peace-) offerings, and drink-offerings. ‫בּ‬ ‫ם‬ ‫י‬ ‫ר‬ ַ‫ב‬ ְ‫:דּ‬ “every day those
appointed for it,” as in Exo_5:13.
COFFMAN, "Verse 33
"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 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. On the first day shall be a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile
work. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah: on the eighth
day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire
unto Jehovah: it is a solemn assembly; ye shall do no servile work."
SUCCOTH (booths). This feast is the one called Succoth by the Jews, due to the
requirement that people should live in booths, thus remembering the times when
they were in slavery and in the times of their journeys in the wilderness. It came at
the conclusion of the annual harvest and was also called the Harvest Festival. The
booths were constructed much after the manner of the brush arbors that were
widely used for the church in the early part of this century as outdoor gathering
places where the gospel was preached.
ELLICOTT, "
(33) And the Lord spake unto Moses.—Like the festivals of new year and the day of
Atonement (see Leviticus 23:23; Leviticus 23:26), the feast of Tabernacles, which is
discussed in Leviticus 23:34-43, is introduced by this special formula, thus
indicating that it was a separate communication.
EBC, "
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
Leviticus 23:33-43
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118. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying,
On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tabernacles for seven days
unto the Lord. On the first day shall be a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile
work. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the
eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made
by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; ye shall do no servile work. These are
the set feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer
an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meal offering, a
sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day: beside the sabbaths of the Lord,
and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill
offerings, which ye give unto the Lord. Howbeit on the fifteenth day of the seventh
month, when ye have gathered in the fruits of the land, ye shall keep the feast of the
Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall
be a solemn rest. And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees,
branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye
shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto
the Lord seven days in the year: it is a statute forever in your generations: ye shall
keep it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are
homeborn in Israel shall dwell in booths: that your generations may know that I
made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land
of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."
The sin of Israel having been thus removed, the last and the greatest of all the feasts
followed the feast of tabernacles or ingathering. It occupied a full week (Leviticus
23:34), from the fifteenth to the twenty-second of the month, the first day being
signalised by a holy convocation and abstinence from all servile work (Leviticus
23:35). Two reasons are indicated, here and elsewhere, for the observance: the one,
natural (Leviticus 23:39), the completed ingathering of the products of the year; the
other, historical (Leviticus 23:42-43), -it was to be a memorial of the days when
Israel dwelt in booths in the wilderness. Both ideas were represented in the direction
(Leviticus 23:40) that they should take on the first day "the fruit of goodly trees,
branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook," fitly
symbolising the product of the vine and the fruit trees which were harvested in this
month; and, making booths of these, all were to dwell in these tabernacles, and
"rejoice before the Lord their God seven days." And to this the historical reason is
added, "that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell
in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt."
No one need feel any difficulty in seeing in this a connection with similar harvest
and vintage customs among other peoples of that time. That other nations had
festivities of this kind at that time, was surely no reason why God should not order
these to be taken up into the Mosaic law, elevated in their significance, and
sanctified to higher ends. Nothing could be more fitting than that the completion of
the ingathering of the products of the year should be celebrated as a time of
rejoicing and a thanksgiving day before Jehovah. Indeed, so natural is such a
festivity to religious minds, that-as is well known-in the first instance, New England,
118

119. and then, afterward, the whole United States, and also the Dominion of Canada,
have established the observance of an annual "Thanksgiving Day" in the latter part
of the autumn, which is observed by public religious services, by suspension of
public business, and as a glad day of reunion of kindred and friends. It is interesting
to observe how this last feature of the day is also mentioned in the case of this
Hebrew feast, in the later form of the law: {Deuteronomy 16:13-15} "After that thou
hast gathered in from thy threshing floor and from thy winepress thou shalt rejoice
in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy
maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow,
that are within thy gates, and thou shalt be altogether joyful."
The chief sentiment of the feast was thus joy and thanksgiving to God as the Giver
of all good. Yet the joy was not to be merely natural and earthly, but spiritual; they
were to rejoice (Leviticus 23:40) "before the Lord." And the thanksgiving was not to
be expressed merely in words, but in deeds. The week, we are elsewhere told, was
signalised by the largest burnt offerings of any of the feasts, consisting of a total of
seventy bullocks, beginning with thirteen on the first day, and diminishing by one
each day; while these again were accompanied daily by burnt offerings of fourteen
lambs and two rams, the double of what was enjoined even for the week of
unleavened bread, with meal offerings and drink offerrings in proportion. Nor was
this outward ritual expression of thanksgiving enough; for their gratitude was to be
further attested by taking into their glad festivities the Levite who had no portion,
the fatherless and the widow, and even. the stranger.
It is not hard to see the connection of all this with the historical reference to the days
of their wilderness journeyings. Lest they might forget God in nature, they were to
recall to mind, by their dwelling in booths, the days when they had no houses, and
no fields nor crops, when, notwithstanding, none the less easily the Almighty God of
Israel fed them with manna which they knew not, that He might make them to
"know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceedeth out
of the mouth of the Deuteronomy 8:3." There is, indeed, no better illustration of the
intention of this part of the feast than those words with their context as they occur
in Deuteronomy.
The ceremonies of the feast of tabernacles having been completed with the
appointed seven days, there followed an eighth day, -an holy convocation, a festival
of solemn rest (Leviticus 23:36, Leviticus 23:39). This last day of holy solemnity and
joy, to which a special name is given, is properly to be regarded, not as a part of the
feast of tabernacles merely, but as celebrating the termination of the whole series of
sabbatic times from the first to the seventh month. No ceremonial is here enjoined
except the holy convocation, and the offering of "an offering made by fire unto the
Lord," with abstinence from all servile work.
TYPICAL MEANING OF THE FEASTS OF THE SEVENTH MONTH
We have already seen that the earlier feasts of the year were also prophetic; that
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120. Passover and Unleavened Bread pointed forward to Christ, our Passover, slain for
us; Pentecost, to the spiritual ingathering of the first fruits of the world’s harvest,
fifty days after the presentation of our Lord in resurrection, as the wave sheaf of the
first fruits. We may therefore safely infer that these remaining feasts of the seventh
month must be typical also. But, if so, typical of what? Two things may be safely
said in this matter. The significance of the three festivals of this seventh month must
be interpreted in harmony with what has already passed into fulfilment; and, in the
second place, inasmuch as the feast of trumpets, the day of atonement, and the feast
of tabernacles all belong to the seventh and last month of the ecclesiastical year, they
must find their fulfilment in connection with what Scripture calls "the last times."
Keeping the first point in view, we may then safely say that if Pentecost typified the
first fruits of the world’s harvest in the ingathering of an election from all nations,
the feast of tabernacles must then typify the completion of that harvest in a spiritual
ingathering, final and universal. Not only so, but, inasmuch as in the antitypical
fulfilment of the wave sheaf in the resurrection of our Lord, we were reminded that
the consummation of the new creation is in resurrection from the dead, and that in
regeneration is therefore involved resurrection, hence the feast of tabernacles, as
celebrating the absolute completion of the year’s harvest, must typify also the
resurrection season, when all that are Christ’s shall rise from the dead at His
coming. And, finally, whereas this means for the now burdened earth permanent
deliverance from the curse, and the beginning of a new age thus signalised by
glorious life in resurrection, in which are enjoyed the blessed fruits of life’s labours
and pains for Christ, this was shadowed forth by the ordinance that immediately
upon the seven days of tabernacles should follow a feast of the eighth day, the first
day of a new week, in celebration of the beginning season of rest from all the
labours of the field.
Most beautifully, thus regarded, does all else connected with the feast of tabernacles
correspond, as type to antitype, to the revelation of the last things, and therein
reveal its truest and deepest spiritual significance: the joy, the reunion, the rejoicing
with son and with daughter, the fulness of gladness also for the widow and the
fatherless; and this, not only for those in Israel, but also for the stranger, not of
Israel, -for Gentile as well as Israelite was to have part in the festivity of that day;
and, again, the full attainment of the most complete consecration, signified in the
tenfold burnt offering-all finds its place here. And so now we can see why it was that
our Saviour declared {Matthew 13:39} that the end of this present age should be the
time of harvest; and how Paul, looking at the future spiritual ingathering, places the
ingathering of the Gentiles {Romans 11:25} as one of the last things. In full accord
with this interpretation of the typical significance of this feast it is that in Zechariah
14:1-21 we find it written that in the predicted day of the Lord, when (Zechariah
14:5) the Lord "shall come, and all the holy ones" with Him, and (Zechariah 14:9)
"the Lord shall be King over all the earth; the Lord one, and His name one," then
(Zechariah 14:16) "everyone that is left of all the nations shall go up from year to
year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles";
and, moreover, that so completely shall consecration be realised in that day that
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121. (Zechariah 14:20) even upon the bells of the horses shall the words be inscribed,
"HOLY UNTO THE LORD!" But before the joyful feast of tabernacles could be
celebrated, the great, sorrowful day of atonement must be kept, -a season marked,
on the one hand, by affliction of soul throughout all Israel; on the other, by the
complete putting away of the sin of the nation for the whole year, through the
presentation of the blood of the sin offering by the high priest, within the veil before
the mercy seat. Now, if the feast of tabernacles has been correctly interpreted, as
presignifying in symbol the completion of the great world harvest in the end of the
age, does the prophetic word reveal anything in connection with the last things as
preceding that great harvest, and, in some sense, preparing for and ushering in that
day, which should be the antitype of the great day of atonement?
One can hardly miss of the answer. For precisely that which the prophets and
apostles both represent as the event which shall usher in that great day of final
ingathering and of blessed resurrection rest and joy in consummated redemption, is
the national repentance of Israel, and the final cleansing of their age-long sin. In the
type, two things are conspicuous: the great sorrowing of the nation and the great
atonement putting away all Israel’s sin. And two things, in like manner, are
conspicuous in the prophetic pictures of the antitype, namely, Israel’s heartbroken
repentance, and the removal thereupon of Israel’s sin; their cleansing in the
"fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness." As Zechariah puts it, {Zechariah
12:10; Zechariah 13:1} "I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look
unto me whom they have pierced: and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth
for his only son"; and "in that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of
David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." And the
relation of this cleansing of Israel to the days of blessing which follow is most
explicitly set forth by the Apostle Paul, in these words concerning Israel, {Romans
11:12; Romans 11:15} "If their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the
riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? If the casting away of them is
the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the
dead?"
So far, then, all seems clear. But the feast of trumpets yet remains to be explained.
Has Holy Scripture predicted anything falling in the period between Pentecost and
the repentance of Israel, but specially belonging to the last things, which might with
reason be regarded as the antitype of this joyful feast of trumpets? Here, again, it is
not easy to go far astray: For the essential idea of the trumpet call is announcement,
proclamation. From time to time all through the year the trumpet call was heard in
Israel; but on this occasion it became the feature of the day, and was universal
throughout their land. And as we have seen, its special significance for that time was
to announce that the day of atonement and the feast of ingathering, which typified
the full consummation of the kingdom of God, were now at hand. One can thus
hardly fail to think at once of that other event which, according to our Lord’s
express word, {Matthew 24:14} is immediately to precede "the end," namely, the
universal proclamation of the Gospel: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be
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122. preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the
end come." As throughout the year, from time to time, the trumpet call was heard in
Israel, but only in connection with the central sanctuary; but now in all the land, as
the chief thing in the celebration of the day which ushered in the final sabbatic
month, precisely so in the antitype. All through the ages has the Gospel been
sounded forth, but in a partial and limited way; but at "the time of the end" the
proclamation shall become universal. And thus and then shall the feast of trumpets
also, like Passover and Pentecost, pass into complete fulfilment, and be swiftly
followed by Israel’s repentance and restoration, and the consequent reappearing, as
Peter predicts, {Acts 3:19-21 R.V} of Israel’s High Priest from within the veil, and
thereupon the harvest of the world, the resurrection of the just, and the
consummation upon earth of the glorified kingdom of God.
Of many thoughts of a practical kind which this chapter suggests, we may perhaps
well dwell especially on one. The ideal of religious life, which these set times of the
Lord kept before Israel, was a religion of joy. Again and again is this spoken of in
the accounts of these feasts. This is true even of Passover, with which we oftener,
though mistakenly, connect thoughts of sadness and gloom. Yet Passover was a feast
of joy; it celebrated the birthday of the nation, and a deliverance unparalleled in
history. The only exception to this joyful character in all these sacred times is found
in the day of atonement; but it is itself instructive on the same point, teaching most
clearly that in the Divine order, as in the necessity of the case, the joy in the Lord, of
which the feast of ingathering was the supreme expression, must be preceded by and
grounded in an accepted expiation and true penitence for sin.
So it is still with the religion of the Bible: it is a religion of joy. God does not wish us
to be gloomy and sad. He desires that we should ever be joyful before Him, and thus
find by blessed experience that "the joy of the Lord is our strength." Also, in
particular, we do well to observe further that, inasmuch as all these set times were
sabbatic seasons, joyfulness is inseparably connected with the Biblical conception of
the Sabbath. This has been too often forgotten; and the weekly day of sabbatic rest
has sometimes been made a day of stern repression and forbidding gloom. How
utterly astray are such conceptions from the Divine ideal, we shall perhaps the more
clearly see when we call to mind the thought which appears more or less distinctly in
all these sabbatic seasons, that every Sabbath points forward to the eternal joy of
the consummated kingdom, the sabbath rest which remaineth for the people of God.
{Hebrews 4:9}
PETT, "Verses 33-36
The Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33-36).
Leviticus 23:33-34
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, On
the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tabernacles for seven days to
122

123. Yahweh.”
In the seventh month, when the moon was at its full, there would in fact be a few
days of bright moonlight, the Feast of Tabernacles was to begin. If the Day of
Atonement was a day of gloom, the feast of Tabernacles was the opposite. It was a
time of joy and feasting, of making merry and enjoying the vintage harvest. It was a
time for giving thanks for the harvests that had been, and for praying for the
coming of the rains for the new series of harvests for the following year, the rain
that would soften and prepare the ground, and which if it failed to appear would
mean heartbreak for the days to come. It paralleled the other seven day feast of
Passover and Unleavened Bread, which came six months before, as a seven day
period of worship and praise for both past and future blessings.
PULPIT, "Leviticus 23:33-36
The third of the great festivals, the Feast of Tabernacles—beginning on the 15th of
Tisri, as the Feast of Unleavened Bread began on the 15th of Nisan—lasted seven
days, and was followed by an octave; on two days, the first day and its octave, there
is to be an holy convocation, and on these no servile work is to be done. The eighth
day is also a solemn assembly. The meaning of the word atzereth, translated a
solemn assembly, is doubtful. It occurs ten times in the Hebrew Scriptures, and
appears to signify
The Jews gave the name to the Feast of Pentecost, as being the close of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread. On each of the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles was to be
offered an offering made by fire unto the Lord. The sacrifices to be offered are
enumerated in Numbers 29:12-38. There were to be sacrificed two rams, and
fourteen iambs, and bullocks diminishing by one a day from thirteen on the first day
to seven on the last. These formed the burnt sacrifices. The sin offering on each day
was one kid of the goats. On the eighth day the burnt offering consisted of one
bullock, one ram, seven lambs, and the sin offering, as before, of one kid of the
goats. Thus there were offered in all, in the eight days, seventy-one bullocks, fifteen
rams, one hundred and five lambs, and eight kids, beside meat and drink offerings.
34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of
the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of
Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days.
BARNES, "Seven days - Like the Passover, the feast of tabernacles commenced at
123

124. 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.
CLARKE, "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. Plutarch speaks particularly of feasts of this kind in honor of
Bacchus, and thinks from the custom of the Jews in celebrating the feast of tabernacles,
that they worshipped the god Bacchus, “because he had a feast exactly of the same kind
called the feast of tabernacles, Σκηνη, which they celebrated in the time of vintage,
bringing tables out into the open air furnished with all kinds of fruit, and sitting under
tents made of vine branches and ivy.” - Plut. Symp., lib. iv., Q. 6. According to Ovid the
feast of Anna Perenna was celebrated much in the same way. Some remained in the open
air, others formed to themselves tents and booths made of branches of trees, over which
they spread garments, and kept the festival with great rejoicings.
“Sub Jove pars durat; pauci tentoria ponunt;
Sunt, quibus e ramis frondea facta easa est.
Pars sibi pro rigidis calamos statuere columnis;
Desuper extentas imposuere togas.”
Ovid, Fast., lib. ill.
Concerning this feast of tabernacles, see the note on Joh_7:37, Joh_7:38; and for the
various feasts among the Jews, See the note on Exo_23:14.
GILL, "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying,.... Giving them directions about
keeping a feast, in which the whole body of them had a very special and particular
concern:
the fifteenth day of this seventh month; the month Tisri or September:
shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord; the design of
which was, partly to give thanks for the fruits of the earth, now all gathered in, Lev_
23:39; but chiefly to commemorate the dwelling of the children of Israel in tents and
booths, during their forty years' abode in the wilderness, Lev_23:43; whereby their
posterity in later times would be led to observe the difference between them and their
forefathers, who lived in tents or booths, pitched sometimes in one place, and sometimes
124

125. in another, in the open fields, in wastes, and deserts; whereas they dwelt in spacious
cities, fortified towns, and magnificent houses; and were possessed of various kingdoms
and nations, as was the land of Canaan: the reason, the Jews say (s), why this feast was
kept at this time of the year and not at the season when they went out of Egypt and first
dwelt in booths, as at Succoth which had its name from thence, Exo_12:37, was this;
because then the summer season began when men commonly used to build tabernacles
to shelter them from the heat of the sun, wherefore, if the feast had been kept at that
time, it would not have been known that it was kept at the command of God, and in
remembrance of the above circumstance; but the month Tisri or September being
usually a cold and rainy season in those parts, men were wont to leave their tabernacles
and go into their houses; and so it was a plain case that the feast was observed not for
convenience or through custom, but that it was at the command of God they went out of
their houses into tabernacles at this season of the year, in commemoration of the
miraculous benefit of dwelling in tents under the clouds of glory: and they also say, that
for this reason it was ordered to begin on the fifteenth day, because it was on the
fifteenth day of the month (though of another month) they went out of Egypt, and the
clouds began to protect and accompany them; and this was enjoined them seven days, to
teach them that the miraculous benefits of God are always and every day to be
remembered: the Jews have a whole treatise in their Misnah, called "Succah", the
"booth" or "tabernacle"; in which they give an account of the form and fabric and
measure of their tabernacles, and of their dwelling and dining in them; and of the
branches they carry in their hands, and of the manner of carrying and shaking them; and
of the pouring out of water at this time, and of their piping and singing and other rites
and ceremonies attending this feast; See Gill on Joh_7:2; besides, the uses of this feast
before mentioned, it was typical of spiritual and evangelical things, and especially of the
incarnation of Christ, whose human nature is the true tabernacle, in distinction from
those typical ones, and in which he is expressly said to "tabernacle" among us, Joh_1:14;
and it is highly probable that his incarnation or birth was at the time of this feast; at
which time the temple of Solomon, a type of Christ's body, was also dedicated; and this
season of the year suits better than that in which it is usually placed; and his baptism
and the time of his death show it; see Luk_1:1; and as Christ, our passover, was
sacrificed for us at the exact time of the passover, and the firstfruits of the Spirit were
given on the very day of Pentecost, or feast of firstfruits; so it is most likely, that Christ
was born, or first began to tabernacle in human nature at the feast of tabernacles, which
we, in Gospel times, are to keep, by believing in the incarnate Saviour, and by attending
to the Gospel ordinances he has appointed, to commemorate the benefits of his
incarnation, sufferings, and death, Zec_14:16; moreover, the dwelling of the children of
Israel in booths in the wilderness, and so at this feast in commemoration of it, may be an
emblem of the tabernacles of the saints in their present wilderness state: this world,
through which they are passing, is like a wilderness to them; their bodies are called
tabernacles, which are pitched for a while; and their state and condition here is that of
sojourners, pilgrims, and travellers; yea, these tents and tabernacles may be figures of
the several particular churches of Christ, in the present state of things, which are set up
for a while for the convenience, comfort, refreshment, and joy of the spiritual Israel of
God; see Psa_46:4.
JAMISON 34-44, "the feast of tabernacles, for seven days unto the Lord —
This festival, which was instituted in grateful commemoration of the Israelites having
securely dwelt in booths or tabernacles in the wilderness, was the third of the three great
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126. annual festivals, and, like the other two, it lasted a week. It began on the fifteenth day of
the month, corresponding to the end of our September and beginning of October, which
was observed as a Sabbath; and it could be celebrated only at the place of the sanctuary,
offerings being made on the altar every day of its continuance. The Jews were
commanded during the whole period of the festival to dwell in booths, which were
erected on the flat roofs of houses, in the streets or fields; and the trees made use of are
by some stated to be the citron, the palm, the myrtle, and the willow, while others
maintain the people were allowed to take any trees they could obtain that were
distinguished for verdure and fragrance. 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!” (Psa_118:15, Psa_118:25, Psa_118:26). It was a season of great rejoicing.
But the ceremony of drawing water from the pool, which was done on the last day, seems
to have been the introduction of a later period (Joh_7:37). That last day was the eighth,
and, on account of the scene at Siloam, was called “the great day of the feast.” The feast
of ingathering, when the vintage was over, was celebrated also on that day [Exo_23:16;
Exo_34:22], and, as the conclusion of one of the great festivals, it was kept as a sabbath.
CALVIN, "34.The fifteenth day of this seventh month. It is shewn in the end of the
chapter why God instituted the Feast of Tabernacles, viz, that the children of Israel
might remember that they dwelt in tents in the desert, when they had no certain
dwelling-place,but, as it were, passed a wandering life. The Passover shewed how
they were marvellously rescued from immediate death by the hand of God; but by
this other day God magnified the continuous and daily flow of His grace; for it
would not have been enough to acknowledge His power in their actual departure,
and to give Him thanks for their momentary deliverance, unless they reflected
altogether on the progress of their perfect deliverance, which they had experienced
during forty years. In allusion to this the Prophet Zechariah, when he is speaking of
the second redemption, enjoins upon all the nations which should be converted to
God’s worship, that they should go up every year to celebrate this day. (Zechariah
14:16.) And why this rather than the other festivals? because their return from
Babylon by a long and difficult journey, endangered by the violent assaults of
enemies, would be equally memorable with the passage of the people from Egypt
into the Promised Land. Hence we gather that, though the ceremony is now
abolished, yet its use still exists in spirit and in truth, in order that the incomparable
power and mercy of God should be constantly kept before our eyes, when He has
delivered us from darkness and from the deep abyss of death, and has translated us
into the heavenly life. But it behooved that the ancient people in their ignorance
should be thus exercised, that all from youth to old age, going forth from their
homes, should be brought, as it were, into the actual circumstances, and in that
spectacle should perceive what would have else never sufficiently penetrated their
minds; whilst at the same time they were instructed for the time to come, that even
in the land of Canaan they were to be sojourners, since this is the condition
prescribed to all the pious, and children of God, that they should be strangers on
earth, if they desire to be inheritors of heaven. Especially, however, God would stir
them up to gratitude, that they might more highly estimate their quiet occupation of
126

127. the Promised Land, and the comfort of their houses, when they recollected that they
were brought hither by His hand out of the desert, and from the most wretched
destitution of all things.
COKE, "Leviticus 23:34. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth
day, &c.— The next solemn meeting was called the feast of tabernacles, upon which
they dwelt for seven days in booths or tabernacles, to commemorate their having
dwelt for forty years in tabernacles in the wilderness, Leviticus 23:42-43. This was
one reason of the institution: another is given in the 39th verse; and the typical view
respects his birth and dwelling in the tabernacle of human flesh, who, in the fulness
of time, was born, as it is commonly supposed, at the time of this festival; see John
1:14.
ELLICOTT, " (34) The fifteenth day of this seventh month.—That is, the month
Tishri, corresponding to the end of September and the beginning of October, and
only four days after the day of Atonement.
Shall be the feast of tabernacles.—How and where these tabernacles are to be
erected the law here gives no directions. The details, as in many other enactments,
are left to the administrators of the Law. From the account of the first celebration of
this festival after the return from Babylon, the Jews, according to the command of
Ezra, made themselves booths upon the roofs of houses, in the courts of their
dwellings, and of their sanctuary, in the streets of the Water-gate and the gate of
Ephraim. These tabernacles they made of olive branches, pine branches, myrtle
branches, palm branches, and branches of thick trees (Nehemiah 8:15-18). The
construction of these temporary abodes, however, was more minutely defined by
Ezra’s successors. It was ordained during the second Temple that the interior of
each tabernacle must not be higher than twenty cubits, and not lower than ten
palms, it must at least have three walls, with a thatched roof partially open so as to
admit a view of the sky and the stars. It must not be under a tree, nor must it be
covered with a cloth, or with any material which contracts defilement. Only
branches or shrubs which grow out of the ground are to be used for the covering.
These booths the Israelites began to erect on the morrow after the Day of
Atonement. On the fourteenth, which was the day of preparation, the pilgrims came
up to Jerusalem, and on the eve of this day the priests proclaimed the approach of
the holy convocation by the blasts of trumpets. As on the feasts of Passover and
Pentecost, the altar of burnt-offering was cleansed in the first night watch, and the
gates of the Temple, as well as those of the inner court, were opened immediately
after midnight, for the convenience of the priests who resided in the city, and for the
people, who filled the court before the cock crew, to have their sacrifices duly
examined by the priests.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:34 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.
127

128. Ver. 34. The feast of tabernacles.] It signified, the prophet Zechariah being
interpreter, [Leviticus 14:16-19] that the remembrance of our redemption by Christ
should be perpetuated with all spiritual gladness.
35 The first day is a sacred assembly; do no
regular work.
GILL, "On the first day shall be an holy convocation,.... When they should be
called together to holy exercises, to prayer, praising, and reading the law; and at this
present time they observe this day, by rising early in the morning and going to the
synagogue, where they sing and pray much; and everyone takes a bundle of branches of
palm tree, olive, &c. in the right hand, and a pome citron in the left, and says, blessed be
thou, O Lord our God, the Lord of the world, who has sanctified us by thy precepts, and
hath commanded us to carry the palm tree bundle; then they shake it, and give a great
shout, according to Psa_96:12; all which they frequently repeat on this day, as well as
bring out the book of the law, attended with various ceremonies, and read some passages
in it (t):
ye shall do no servile work therein; as on the first and seventh days of unleavened
bread, the day of Pentecost, and of the blowing of trumpets; but what was necessary for
preparing and dressing food might be done.
ELLICOTT, " (35) on the first day shall be an holy convocation.—At daybreak of
this day one of the priests, accompanied by a jubilant procession and a band of
music, went with a golden pitcher to the pool of Siloam, and having filled it with
water, returned with it to the Temple in time to join his brother-priests in the
morning sacrifices. He entered from the south through the water-gate, when he was
welcomed by three blasts of the trumpets. He then ascended the steps of the altar
with another priest, who carried a pitcher of wine for the drink offering. The two
priests turned to the left of the altar, where two silver basins were fixed with holes at
the bottom, and simultaneously poured into their respective basins the water and
the wine in such a manner that both were emptied at the same time upon the base of
the altar. This ceremony of drawing the water was repeated every morning during
the seven days of the festival. Another jubilant multitude, who went outside
Jerusalem at the same time to gather willows, now returned. With great rejoicings
and amidst blasts of trumpets they carried the willows into the Temple, and placed
them at the altar in such a manner that their tops overhung and formed a kind of
canopy.
128

129. Ye shall do no servile work therein.—For the difference between servile and
necessary work see Leviticus 23:7.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:35
“On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work.”
The first day of the feast was a holy ‘gathering-together’. It was a sabbath. During it
no servile work (work not associated with the feast) was to be done. All
concentration was to be on God and His call to worship and thanksgiving. None was
to be prevented from its full enjoyment.
36 For seven days present food offerings to the
Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred
assembly and present a food offering to the Lord.
It is the closing special assembly; do no regular
work.
BARNES, "An offering made by fire - See Lev_23:8. The succession of sacrifices
prescribed in Num. 29:12-38, which forms such a marked feature in the Feast of
Tabernacles, tends to show the distinctness of the “solemn assembly” from the festal
week.
GILL, "Seven days ye shall offer an offering made, by fire unto the Lord,.... A
burnt offering; what this was, and how many were offered on each day, see at large in
Num_29:13,
on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; as on the first day; See
Gill on Lev_23:35,
and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord; which was different
from that on all the other days, being one bullock only, &c. Num_29:35,
it is a solemn assembly; of all the people, when they were gathered together before
the Lord. Some render the word used a "restraint" or "detention", and interpret it of
restraining or detaining them from servile work, as in the next clause; so Aben Ezra and
129

130. Gersom; but this sense seems to make that clause unnecessary and is never used
elsewhere where that is:
ye shall do no servile work therein; as on the first day; See Gill on Lev_23:35.
CALVIN, "36.Seven days ye shall offer. They only kept holiday on the first and
eighth day, yet they dwelt in huts, and for seven successive days offered sacrifices, of
which a fuller account was elsewhere given. What, therefore, Moses distinctly treats
of in the book of Numbers, I have preferred to introduce in another place, where I
have spoken of the sacrifices in general. All are not agreed about the word I have
translated “solemnity.” (354) ‫עצרת‬ , gnatsereth, is derived from ‫עצר‬ , gnatsar, which
means both to restrain and to gather together. Some interpreters, therefore,
preserve the first etymology, translating it, “it is the retaining or prohibition of
God;” but since this meaning is somewhat obscure, I have not hesitated to take it, as
in other passages, for a solemnity; for, without controversy, it sometimes means
feast days, sometimes assemblies or conventions. Let my readers, however, make
choice of whichever sense they prefer. After Moses has prescribed concerning the
rest and the offerings, he adds a caution, that there should be no diminution of the
ordinary service; for else they might, have transferred fraudulently the sacrifices,
which they were already obliged to offer, to the feast days, and thus, as the saying is,
have endeavored to whitewash two walls out of the same pot. Wherefore, at the
beginning of verse 39, the particle ‫,אך‬ ac, seems to be taken adversatively; (355) for
there is an antithesis between the peculiar service of this solemnity and the common
rites which were to be observed at other times; as if he had said, that when they had
done all which the Law required every day, still they were not to fail in this
observance; and hence, that they must comply severally with both the general and
special command, if they would properly do their duty. Moreover, by reference to
the time, he shews that they ought to be cheerful in its performance, because they
would then incur but little loss, as the fruits would all be harvested; and this is what
he refers to when he says, “when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land;” as if he
had said, that he had regard to their convenience, since otherwise they would have
been at leisure at home; and thus he takes away all excuse (for neglect.)
COKE, "Verse 36
Leviticus 23:36. Seven days ye shall offer— See Numbers 29:13; Numbers 29:40 for
an account of the sacrifices offered upon this festival. The word rendered solemn
assembly, at the close of this verse, signifies properly, as in the margin of our
English Bibles, a day of restraint, or detention; i.e. from labour; and thence, a
solemn feast-day. It is used here, as in Numbers 29:35 and Nehemiah 8:18 to denote
the peculiar solemnity with which the last day of this feast was celebrated: and
accordingly St. John thus speaks of it, In the last day, that great day of the feast,
John 7:37.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:36. Ye shall offer — A several offering each day. The
eighth day — Which, though it was not one of the days of this feast, strictly taken,
130

131. yet, in a larger sense, it belonged to this feast, and is called the great day of the feast,
John 7:37. And so indeed it was, as for other reasons, so because, by their removal
from the tabernacles into fixed habitations, it represented that happy time wherein
their forty years’ tedious march in the wilderness was ended with their settlement in
the land of Canaan, which it was most fit they should acknowledge with such a
solemn day of thanksgiving as this was.
ELLICOTT, " (36) Seven days ye shall offer.—The special sacrifices for this day
consisted of a burnt offering of thirteen bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs,
with an appropriate meat and drink offering, and a goat for a sin offering (Numbers
29:12-38). Whereupon were offered the peace offerings, the vows and the free-will
offerings which constituted the repasts of the people. Whilst these sacrifices were
being offered up the Levites chanted the festive Hallel, as on the feasts of Passover
and Pentecost. This was repeated every day during the seven days of the festival,
only that the number of animals offered as sacrifices diminished daily during the
middle days of the festival, according to the prescription in Numbers 29:12-38. On
the eve of the second day, or what is called the lesser festival, and on each of the five
succeeding nights, was celebrated the “Rejoicing of the water-drawing” in the court
of the Temple. Four huge golden candelabra were lighted in the centre of the court,
and the light emanating from them was visible to the whole city. Around these lights
pious men danced before the people with lighted flambeaux in their hands, singing
hymns and songs of praise, whilst the Levites, who were stationed on the fifteen
steps which led into the women’s court, and which corresponded to the fifteen
psalms of degrees, i.e., steps (Psalms 120-134), accompanied the songs with
instrumental music. It is supposed that on the last evening of the festival, when the
splendid light of this grand illumination was to cease, Christ called attention to
himself, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), which is to shine for ever, and
illuminate not only the Temple and the holy city, but all the world.
On the eighth day shall be an holy convocation.—That is, like the first day, since no
servile work is to be done on it. As it is not only the finishing of the feast of
Tabernacles, but the conclusion of the whole cycle of festivals, the dwelling in
tabernacles is to cease on it.
Ye shall offer.—For this reason the sacrifices offered on this day are to be distinct,
and unlike the sacrifices of the preceding days. The burnt sacrifice is to consist of
one bullock, one ram, and seven lambs, with the appropriate meat and drink
offerings, and one goat for a sin offering. (Numbers 29:36-38.) Being, however,
attached to the feast of Tabernacles, the two festivals are often joined together, and
spoken of as one festival of eight days.
PETT, "Leviticus 23:36
“Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, On the eighth day
shall be a holy convocation to you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to
Yahweh. It is a solemn assembly. You shall do no servile work.”
131

132. And then for seven days the joyous feast would continue, with offerings being made
every day by fire to Yahweh. The full count of these munificent offerings can be
found in Numbers 29:13-34, including the whole burnt offerings over the week of
seventy bull oxen, fourteen rams and ninety eight lambs of the first year (all
multiples of seven) together with their accompanying grain offerings. And each day
the necessary he-goat for a purification for sin offering. And this would be followed
by another sabbath on the eighth day, with special offerings (one bull ox, one ram
and seven lambs, and the compulsory he-goat), no servile work performed, and all
attention on Yahweh.
This feast is the climax of all the others. It is a reminder to us of all that God has
given through the year in which we can rejoice and be glad, it reminds us that we
are but strangers and pilgrims in the earth who should abstain from all worldly
desires which war against our souls (1 Peter 2:11), living in tents and in temporary
booths because here we have no continuing city but seek one to come (Hebrews
13:14; Hebrews 11:8-10), and it points us forward to seek the ‘rain’ of the Spirit
from the new season that will produce a further harvest of men and women to the
glory of God (John 4:35-36).
37 (“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals,
which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies
for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt
offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink
offerings required for each day.
BARNES, "The meaning appears to be; “these are the yearly appointed times on which
ye shall hold holy convocations and offer to Yahweh sacrifices, in addition to the Sabbath
offerings Num_28:9-10 and to all your voluntary offerings.” Compare Num_29:39.
GILL, "These are the feasts of the Lord,.... Besides the sabbath, as Gersom
observes; even the passover, the seven days of unleavened bread the day of Pentecost,
the day of blowing the trumpets, the day of atonement, and the seven days of the feast of
tabernacles:
which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations: as they had been directed, Lev_
23:2,
132

133. to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord; which is explained by
HENRY 37-38, " It was a typical feast. It is supposed by many that our blessed
Saviour was born much about the time of this feast; then he left his mansions of light
above to tabernacle among us (Joh_1:14), and he dwelt in booths. And the worship of
God under the New Testament is prophesied of under the notion of keeping the feast of
tabernacles, Zec_14:16. For, [1.] The gospel of Christ teaches us to dwell in tabernacles,
to sit loose to this world, as those that have here no continuing city, but by faith, and
hope and holy contempt of present things, to go out to Christ without the camp, Heb_
13:13, Heb_13:14. [2.] It teaches us to rejoice before the Lord our God. Those are the
circumcision, Israelites indeed, that always rejoice in Christ Jesus, Phi_3:3. And the
more we are taken off from this world the less liable we are to the interruption of our
joys.
II. The summary and conclusion of these institutions.
1. God appointed these feasts (Lev_23:37, Lev_23:38), besides the sabbaths and your
free-will offerings. This teaches us, (1.) That calls to extraordinary services will not
excuse us from our constant stated performances. Within the days of the feast of
tabernacles there must fall at least one sabbath, which must be as strictly observed as
any other. (2.) That God's institutions leave room for free-will offerings. Not that we may
invent what he never instituted, but we may repeat what he has instituted, ordinarily,
the oftener the better. God is well pleased with a willing people.
COFFMAN, "Verse 37
"These are the set feasts of Jehovah, which ye shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah, a burnt-offering, and
a meal-offering, a sacrifice, and drink-offerings, each on its own day; besides the
sabbaths of Jehovah, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides
all your freewill-offerings, which ye give unto Jehovah."
This passage mentions a number of offerings without giving specific instructions for
the manner of their offering, except for the order that they should be offered on the
appropriate days. Since these instructions were for the people generally, it was not
necessary to detail all of the rules which the priests would follow in carrying out
these instructions. Moses would cover these in Numbers 28ff.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 37
(37) These are the feasts of the Lord.—That is, the above-named six festivals, viz.—
(1) the Passover (Leviticus 23:4-14), (2) Pentecost Leviticus 23:15-22), (3) New Year
(Leviticus 23:23-25), (4) Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32), (5) Tabernacles
(Leviticus 23:33-36 a), and (6) the concluding festival (Leviticus 23:36 b). Thus the
list of these festivals concludes with the formula by which they were introduced in
Leviticus 23:4.
133

134. To offer an offering.—On these festivals sacrifices are to be offered as prescribed in
Numbers 28, 29.
PETT, "Verse 37-38
A Summary (Leviticus 23:37-38).
Leviticus 23:37
“These are the set feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, a whole burnt offering,
and a grain offering, a sacrifice, and drink-offerings, each on its own day;
These then were the set feasts of Yahweh which were to be proclaimed as holy
‘getting-togethers’ for the offering of offerings made by fire to Yahweh, including
whole burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices and drink-offerings each on its own
day. The ‘sacrifices’ were presumably the purification for sin offerings of the he-
goats.
Leviticus 23:38
“Besides the sabbaths of Yahweh, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows,
and besides all your freewill-offerings, which you give to Yahweh.”
And this time and these offerings were offered to Yahweh on top of the regular
Sabbaths, and their own freewill gifts, and all their vows, and all their freewill
offerings which would provide the basis of the feasting. All these too would be given
to Yahweh.
PULPIT, "Leviticus 23:37, Leviticus 23:38
These verses form the conclusion of the immediate subject. The feasts have been
enumerated in which holy convocations are to be held and public sacrifices offered;
these sacrifices, it is explained, not including those of the sabbath or of individual
offerers.
38 These offerings are in addition to those for the
Lord’s Sabbaths and[e] in addition to your gifts
and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill
134

135. offerings you give to the Lord.)
GILL, "Beside the sabbaths of the Lord,.... The seventh day sabbaths, which were
of his appointing, and sacred to his service and worship; on which, when any of the
feasts fell, it did not hinder the observance of them, or the offering of the several
sacrifices on them; nor were those of the sabbath to be omitted on the account of them:
and beside your gifts; either of the whole congregation, or of a private person, which
they thought well to give of their own good will on these festivals, over and above the
sacrifices enjoined:
and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye
give unto the Lord; which seem to explain what is meant before by gifts.
K&D 38-43, "“Beside the Sabbaths:” i.e., the Sabbath sacrifices (see Num_28:9-10),
and the gifts and offerings, which formed no integral part of the keeping of the feasts and
Sabbaths, but might be offered on those days. ‫ת‬ ‫נ‬ ָ‫תּ‬ ַ‫,מ‬ gifts, include all the dedicatory
offerings, which were presented to the Lord without being intended to be burned upon
the altar; such, for example, as the dedicatory gifts of the tribe-princes (Num 7), the
firstlings and tithes, and other so-called heave-offerings (Num_18:11, Num_18:29). By
the “vows” and ‫ת‬ ‫ב‬ ָ‫ד‬ְ‫,נ‬ “freewill-offerings,” we are to understand not only the votive and
freewill slain or peace-offerings, but burnt-offerings also, and meat-offerings, which
were offered in consequence of a vow, or from spontaneous impulse (see Jdg_11:31,
where Jephthah vows a burnt-offering). - In Lev_23:39. there follows a fuller
description of the observance of the last feast of the year, for which the title, “feast of
Tabernacles” (Lev_23:34), had prepared the way, as the feast had already been
mentioned briefly in Exo_23:16 and Exo_34:22 as “feast of Ingathering,” though
hitherto no rule had been laid down concerning the peculiar manner in which it was to
be observed. In connection with this epithet in Exodus, it is described again in Lev_
23:39, as in Lev_23:35, Lev_23:36, as a seven days' feast, with sabbatical rest on the
first and eighth day; and in Lev_23:40. the following rule is given for its observance:
“Take to you fruit of ornamental trees, palm-branches, and boughs of trees with thick
foliage, and willows of the brook, and rejoice before the Lord your God seven days, every
native in Israel.” If we observe that there are only three kinds of boughs that are
connected together by the copula (vav) in Lev_23:40, and that it is wanting before ‫תם‬
‫ת‬ֹ‫פּ‬ ַ‫,כּ‬ there can hardly be any doubt that ‫ר‬ ָ‫ד‬ ָ‫ה‬ ‫ץ‬ֵ‫ע‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫פּ‬ is the generic term, and that the
three names which follow specify the particular kinds of boughs. By “the fruits,”
therefore, we understand the shoots and branches of the trees, as well as the blossom
and fruit that grew out of them. ‫ר‬ ָ‫ד‬ ָ‫ה‬ ‫ץ‬ֵ‫,ע‬ “trees of ornament:” we are not to understand
by these only such trees as the orange and citron, which were placed in gardens for
ornament rather than use, as the Chald. and Syr. indicate, although these trees grow in
the gardens of Palestine (Rob., Pal. i. 327, iii. 420). The expression is a more general
135

136. one, and includes myrtles, which were great favourites with the ancients, on account of
their beauty and the fragrant odour which they diffused, olive-trees, palms, and other
trees, which were used as booths in Ezra's time (Neh_8:15). In the words, “Take fruit of
ornamental trees,” it is not expressly stated, it is true, that this fruit was to be used, like
the palm-branches, for constructing booths; but this is certainly implied in the context:
“Take...and rejoice...and keep a feast...in the booths shall he dwell.” ‫ת‬ֹ‫כּ‬ ֻ‫סּ‬ ַ‫בּ‬ with the
article is equivalent to “in the booths which ye have constructed from the branches
mentioned” (cf. Ges. §109, 3). It was in this sense that the law was understood and
carried out in the time of Ezra (Neh_8:15.).
(Note: Even in the time of the Maccabees, on the other hand (cf. 2 Macc. 10:6, 7),
the feast of the Purification of the Temple was celebrated by the Jews after the
manner of the Tabernacles (κατὰ σκηνωμάτων τρόπον); so that they offered songs of
praise, holding (ἔχοντες, carrying?) leafy poles (θύρσους, not branches of ivy, cf.
Grimm. ad l.c.) and beautiful branches, also palms; in the time of Christ it was the
custom to have sticks or poles (staves) of palm-trees and citron-trees (θύρσους ἐκ
φοινίκων καὶ κιτρέων: Josephus, Ant. xiii. 13, 5), or to carry in the hand a branch of
myrtle and willow bound round with wool, with palms at the top and an apple of the
περσέα (peach or pomegranate?) upon it (εἰρεσιώνην μυρσίνης καὶ ἰτέας σὺν κράδῃ
φοίνικος πεποιημένην τοῦ μήλου τοῦ τῆς Περσέας προσόντος). This custom, which
was still further developed in the Talmud, where a bunch made of palm, myrtle, and
willow boughs is ordered to be carried in the right hand, and a citron or orange in the
left, has no foundation in the law: it sprang rather out of an imitation of the Greek
harvest-feast of the Pyanepsia and Bacchus festivals, from which the words θύρσοι and
εἰρεσιώνη were borrowed by Josephus, and had been tacked on by the scribes to the
text of the Bible (v. 40) in the best way they could. See Bδhr, Symbol. ii. p. 625, and
the innumerable trivial laws in Mishna Succa and Succa Codex talm. babyl. sive de
tabernaculorum festo ed. Dachs. Utr. 1726, 4.)
The leading character of the feast of Tabernacles, which is indicated at the outset by
the emphatic ַ‫א‬ (Lev_23:39, see at Lev_23:27), was to consist in “joy before the Lord.”
As a “feast,” i.e., a feast of joy (‫ג‬ ַ‫,ח‬ from ‫ַג‬‫ג‬ ָ‫ח‬ = ‫,חוּג‬ denoting the circular motion of the
dance, 1Sa_30:16), it was to be kept for seven days; so that Israel “should be only
rejoicing,” and give itself up entirely to joy (Deu_16:15). Now, although the motive
assigned in Deut. is this: “for God will bless thee (Israel) in all thine increase, and in all
the work of thine hands;” and although the feast, as a “feast of ingathering,” was a feast
of thanksgiving for the gathering in of the produce of the land, “the produce of the floor
and wine-press;” and the blessing they had received in the harvested fruits, the oil and
wine, which contributed even more to the enjoyment of life than the bread that was
needed for daily food, furnished in a very high degree the occasion and stimulus to the
utterance of grateful joy: the origin and true signification of the feast of Tabernacles are
not to be sought for in this natural allusion to the blessing of the harvest, but the
dwelling in booths was the principal point in the feast; and this was instituted as a law
for all future time (Lev_23:41), that succeeding generations might know that Jehovah
had caused the children of Israel to dwell in booths when He led them out of Egypt
(Lev_23:43). ‫ה‬ָ‫כּ‬ ֻ‫,ס‬ a booth or hut, is not to be confounded with ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ח‬ֹ‫א‬ a tent, but comes
from ַ‫כ‬ ָ‫ס‬ texuit, and signifies casa, umbraculum ex frondibus ramisque consertum
(Ges. thes. s. v.), serving as a defence both against the heat of the sun, and also against
wind and rain (Psa_31:21; Isa_4:6; Jon_4:5). Their dwelling in booths was by no means
136

137. intended, as Bähr supposes, to bring before the minds of the people the unsettled
wandering life of the desert, and remind them of the trouble endured there, for the
recollection of privation and want can never be an occasion of joy; but it was to place
vividly before the eyes of the future generations of Israel a memorial of the grace, care,
and protection which God afforded to His people in the great and terrible wilderness
(Deu_8:15). Whether the Israelites, in their journey through the wilderness, not only
used the tents which they had taken with them (cf. Lev_14:8; Exo_16:1; Exo_18:7; Exo_
33:8.; Num_16:26., Lev_24:5, etc.), but erected booths of branches and bushes in those
places of encampment where they remained for a considerable time, as the Bedouins still
do sometimes in the peninsula of Sinai (Burckhardt, Syrien, p. 858), or not; at all
events, the shielding and protecting presence of the Lord in the pillar of cloud and fire
was, in the words of the prophet, “a booth (tabernacle) for a shadow in the day-time
from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain” (Isa_
4:6) in the barren wilderness, to those who had just been redeemed out of Egypt.
Moreover, the booths used at this feast were not made of miserable shrubs of the desert,
but of branches of fruit-trees, palms and thickly covered trees, the produce of the good
and glorious land into which God had brought them (Deu_8:7.); and in this respect they
presented a living picture of the plenteous fulness of blessing with which the Lord had
enriched His people. This fulness of blessing was to be called to mind by their dwelling
in booths; in order that, in the land “wherein they ate bread without scarceness and
lacked nothing, where they built goodly houses and dwelt therein; where their herds and
flocks, their silver and their gold, and all that they had, multiplied” (Deu_8:9, Deu_
8:12-13), they might not say in their hearts, “My power, and the might of mine hand,
hath gotten me this wealth,” but might remember that Jehovah was their God, who gave
them power to get wealth (Lev_23:17, Lev_23:18), that so their heart might not “be
lifted up and forget Jehovah their God, who had led them out of the land of Egypt, the
house of bondage.” If, therefore, the foliage of the booths pointed to the glorious
possessions of the inheritance, which the Lord had prepared for His redeemed people in
Canaan, yet the natural allusion of the feast, which was superadded to the historical, and
subordinate to it, - viz., to the plentiful harvest of rich and beautiful fruits, which they
had gathered in from this inheritance, and could now enjoy in peace after the toil of
cultivating the land was over, - would necessarily raise their hearts to still higher joy
through their gratitude to the Lord and Giver of all, and make this feats a striking figure
of the blessedness of the people of God when resting from their labours.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:38. Besides the sabbaths — The offerings of the weekly
sabbaths. God will not have any sabbath-sacrifice diminished because of the
addition of others, proper to any other feast. And it is here to be noted, that though
other festival days are sometimes called sabbaths, yet these are here called the
sabbaths of the Lord, in the way of contradistinction, to show that these were more
eminently such than other feast-days. Your gifts — Which, being here distinguished
from the free-will-offerings made to the Lord, may denote what they freely gave to
the priests over and above their first-fruits and tithes or other things which they
were enjoined to give.
ELLICOTT, " (38) Beside the sabbaths.—By a figure of speech called metonymy,
which is frequently used both in the Old and New Testaments, the expression
137

138. sabbaths stands here for the sacrifices of the sabbaths, just as in Leviticus 25:6
“sabbath of the land” denotes the produce of the sabbath of the land, or of the
sabbatic year, and as the phrase “it is written in the prophets” (Mark 1:2) is used
for “it is written in the writings of the prophets.” (Comp. also Matthew 5:17;
Matthew 7:12; Matthew 22:40, &c.) The meaning, therefore, of the passage before
us is that the sacrifices ordered for each of these festivals are to be in addition to the
sacrifices appointed to each weekly sabbath in the year; so that when one of these
festivals falls on a sabbath, the sacrifices due to the latter are not set aside by the
former. Both must be offered in their proper order.
Beside your gifts.—Nor are they to interfere with the voluntary offerings which each
individual brought privately (Deuteronomy 16:10; Deuteronomy 16:17; 2
Chronicles 25:7-8), or with the performance of vows (Deuteronomy 12:6-12).
39 “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the
seventh month, after you have gathered the crops
of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for
seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest,
and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest.
BARNES, "Also - Surely. The mode in which the Feast of Tabernacles is here
reintroduced, after the mention of it in Lev_23:34-36, may suggest that this passage
originally formed a distinct document.
The fruit of the land - i. e. the produce, including the grain, the olives, the vintage
and the fruits of all kinds. The time of year so indicated would answer in the holy land to
the beginning of October. See Exo_23:16 note.
GILL, "Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month,.... The month Tisri or
September, the same month, and the same day of the month before observed; only
another end and use of this feast is remarked, which was to give thanks for the fruits of
the earth gathered in, as follows:
when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land; the barley, wheat, oil and wine,
and all others, this being now autumn, when the several fruits were ripe and gathered: ye
138

139. shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days; not different from that before mentioned,
but the same, one design of which is here suggested, to give thanks for the fruits of the
earth: hence this feast is sometimes called the feast of ingathering, Exo_23:16; as
another use of it is after mentioned, to commemorate the children of Israel dwelling in
booths in the wilderness:
on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath;
because on both there was a cessation from servile work, Lev_23:35.
COFFMAN, "Verse 39
"Howbeit, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the
fruits of the land, ye shall keep the feast of Jehovah seven days: on the first day shall
be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. And ye shall take you
on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick
trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before Jehovah your God seven
days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto Jehovah seven days in the year: it is a statute
forever throughout your generations; ye shall keep it in the seventh month. Ye shall
dwell in booths seven days; all that are home-born in Israel shall dwell in booths;
that your generation may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths,
when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God. And Moses
declared unto the children of Israel the set feasts of Jehovah."
These instructions pertain to the Feast of Tabernacles (booths). The mention of the
"fruit of goodly trees" (Leviticus 23:40) does not have the usual meaning of "fruit,"
but is a reference to the appropriate branches to be used for constructing the
booths. The mention of the willow tree, for example, proves this, because it was not
a FRUIT tree at all. The palm, the willow, and other types of trees would have
provided what was needed.
"When ye have gathered in the fruits of the land ..." This specific mention of the
harvest is significant.
If Pentecost typified the first-fruits of the world's harvest in the ingathering of an
election from all nations (Jews and Gentiles), the completion of that Harvest in the
great spiritual ingathering final and universal must be typified by the Feast of
Tabernacles.[27]
The harvest metaphor so often utilized by Jesus Christ justifies such an analogy. We
shall conclude this chapter with a prophetic picture of the Final Judgment of
mankind set forth in the terminology of the harvest metaphor:
"And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him
that sat on the cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come;
for the harvest of the earth is ripe." (Revelation 14:15,16)
139

140. BENSON, "Leviticus 23:39. This is no addition of a new, but only a repetition of the
former injunction, with a more particular explication both of the manner and
reason of the feast. The fruit — Not the corn, which was gathered long before, but
that of the trees, as vines, olives, and other fruit-trees; which completed the harvest,
whence this is called the feast of ingathering.
ELLICOTT, " (39) Also in the fifteenth day.—After the list of festivals discussed in
this chapter has been summed up in Leviticus 23:37-38, the next five verses recur to
the feast of Tabernacles. The regulations are supplementary to those given before,
and embody a separate enactment.
When ye have gathered in the fruit of the land.—That is, those productions which
ripen in the autumnal season, as wheat, barley, oil, wine, &c.
Ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord.—The Israelites are then to keep a festival in
which they are to acknowledge the bounties of the Lord and express their gratitude
to the Giver of all good things. For this reason this festival is also called “the Feast of
Ingathering” (Exodus 23:16; Exodus 34:22).
On the first day shall be a sabbath.—Both on the first and last days of this festival
there is to be abstention from all servile work. (See Leviticus 23:35-36.)
PETT, "Verses 39-44
Further Instruction On The Feast Of Tabernacles Re Dwelling In Booths (Leviticus
23:39-44).
Leviticus 23:39
“Howbeit on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the
fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahweh seven days: on the first day
shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.”
But most important of all was the feast of Tabernacles, when the final fruits of the
land have been gathered in and for seven days they can keep a feast to Yahweh,
with a shabbathon on the first day, and a shabbathon on the eighth day as days of
solemn rest.
SIMEON, "THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
Leviticus 23:39-43. Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have
gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on
the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath. And ye
shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees,
and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before
140

141. the Lord your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days
in the year: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations; ye shall celebrate it in
the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born
shall dwell in booths; that your generations may know, that I made the children of
Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the
Lord your God.
CHRISTIANS in general are deterred from the study of the ceremonial law, by the
consideration that there is not sufficient light thrown upon some parts to determine
their spiritual import, whilst in other parts we are distracted through the diversity
of senses which the New Testament appears to affix to them. Certainly these are
difficulties in our way; nor can we expect entirely to overcome them: but still there
is much that is clear; and even that which is in some respects dubious, will be found
in other respects highly edifying.
The feast of tabernacles was one of the three great feasts, at which all the males
throughout the nation were to assemble at Jerusalem. Its importance therefore
cannot be doubted. But, in our inquiries after the truths which it shadowed forth,
we must be guided in some measure by conjecture; and consequently, cannot speak
with that full confidence that we maintain where the inspired writers have led the
way. Taking care however to distinguish what is doubtful from what is clear and
certain, we shall proceed to consider this feast, and to open to you,
I. Its peculiar rites—
Whilst it had some rites common to other occasions, it had some peculiar to itself:
1. The sacrifices offered—
[These were very peculiar, and such as were offered on no other occasion. The feast
lasted eight days: on the first of which, thirteen bullocks, with two rams, fourteen
lambs, and one kid, and certain meat-offerings, were presented; and, on the six
following days, there were the same sacrifices, except that the number of the
bullocks, and of their appropriate meat-offerings, was one less every day: this went
on to the eighth day, when there was only one bullock, one ram, seven lambs, and a
goat, offered [Note: Numbers 29:12-39.]. The precise reason of this gradual
diminution is not known, unless that it was to shew, that the Mosaic dispensation
would gradually decay, and at last vanish away, being terminated by that one great
Sacrifice which should in due time be offered.]
2. The services enjoined—
[All were to leave their houses for seven days, and to live in booths constructed of
the branches of trees, which they had previously cut down for that purpose. This
would doubtless be attended with much inconvenience to them: but they were to rise
superior to such consideration, and to spend the time in holy joy. Part of the
141

142. command was, that they should “rejoice before the Lord their God.” After the time
of Joshua, when the piety of the nation had begun to decline, the observance of this
ordinance was discontinued; or if it was now and then repeated for a single year, the
institution was regarded only in a partial and formal way; till Nehemiah, after the
return of the people from Babylon, revived and enforced the practice of former days
[Note: Nehemiah 8:13-17.].]
The next thing to be noticed in reference to this feast, is,
II. Its primary end—
This was two-fold:
1. Commemorative—
[All the time that the people sojourned in the wilderness, even forty years, they
dwelt in booths or tents; in remembrance of which this feast was instituted [Note:
3.]. We are apt to forget the mercies which God has vouchsafed to us, and especially
those vouchsafed to our forefathers at a remote period. But we ourselves inherit the
benefits conferred on them: the descendants of those who were delivered from
Egypt, owed all their liberty to God’s miraculous interposition, no less than their
fathers; and therefore were equally bound to keep God’s goodness to them in
remembrance: and by leaving their houses for a week, and living in booths, they
would know precisely the situation of their ancestors, and learn to be thankful for
their own more comfortable habitations.]
2. Eucharistic—
[This feast was after the harvest and vintage were finished; and it was intended to
be a season of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth. Hence it was called “the feast
of in-gathering [Note: Exodus 23:16; Deuteronomy 16:13-15.] ;” which shews, that
the time of keeping the feast was illustrative of one thing, and the manner, of
another. Not but that there was a close connexion between the two; for in the
wilderness they had nothing but manna; but, in the land of Canaan, they enjoyed all
the fruits of the earth in the richest abundance: and, consequently, whilst they
glorified God for miraculously supplying the daily wants of their ancestors by food
from heaven, they were called upon to bless and adore his name for the continued
blessings imparted to themselves.]
Thus far the intention of the feast is manifest. Our ground is not so clear in what
remains: yet we utterly disclaim all idea of giving loose to our imagination on sacred
subjects: we propose to you what, though we cannot prove, we think highly
probable; and leave you to judge for yourselves, whilst we point out,
III. Its mystical design—
142

143. That this was a shadow, we have no doubt: and that Christ is the substance, is
equally clear and certain: this point is determined by God himself in reference to the
feasts and Sabbaths in general [Note: Colossians 2:16-17.], and therefore much more
in relation to this, which was as sacred a feast as any, perhaps the most so of any, in
the whole year. We apprehend then that this feast was intended to shadow forth,
1. The incarnation of Christ—
[The three great feasts were, the Passover, or feast of unleavened bread, the feast of
Pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles. In the first, the death of Christ was typified:
in the second, the out-pouring of the Spirit: and in this last, the incarnation of
Christ. It was highly probable that this great event would be shadowed forth by
some feast, as well as the other two: and there is good reason to think it was referred
to in the feast before us. The very term used by the Evangelist in declaring the
incarnation of our Lord, seems to mark this reference [Note: John 1:14 ἐσκήνωσεν.
And though custom has led us to regard December as the time of his birth, the
arguments to prove that he was born in the autumn are far more probable. Could
this point be perfectly ascertained, it would strongly confirm the supposed reference
of this feast to that event.]: and the conduct of the people, when they were
persuaded that he was the Christ, corresponds very much with the rights prescribed
at this feast: “They cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way,
and cried, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord; Hosannah in the highest [Note: Matthew 21:8-9.] !” It is true, this was at
another feast: but still it marks the connexion in their minds between the feast of
tabernacles, and the advent of the Messiah. There was a remarkable circumstance
which took place at the feast of tabernacles, which throws some additional light on
this subject. The eighth day was “the great day of the feast.” And though the
dwelling in booths was discontinued, the people observed the season as a feast unto
the Lord. They had indeed substituted a rite or ceremony on that day, bringing
water from the pool of Siloam, and pouring it out as a libation to the Lord. The idea
was perhaps adopted from that expression of the prophet, “With joy shall ye draw
water out of the wells of salvation [Note: Isaiah 12:3.].” On this day, in the place of
public concourse, our Lord stood and cried with a loud voice, “If any man thirst, let
him come unto ME and drink [Note: John 7:2; John 7:37-38.].” This was in fact, as
if he had said, You expect at this time the advent of your Messiah, from whom you
will derive all spiritual blessings: behold, I am he: and, if you will come unto me,
you shall receive more than tongue can utter, or imagination conceive.
We say not that these things amount to a proof of the point in question: but we
suggest them for your consideration, and leave you to form your own judgment
upon them.]
2. The duty of his people—
[Here we can speak with more decision. No one who knows the figurative nature of
the Jewish ritual can doubt, but that this feast was designed to teach us, that “we
143

144. are strangers here, and sojourners, as all our fathers were [Note: Psalms 39:12.].”
When fixed in our habitations and enjoying every comfort of life, we are apt to
think that this is our home: the language of our hearts is, “Soul, take thine ease; eat,
drink, and be merry.” But “this is not our rest.” We are here only in a wilderness;
and we must in the spirit of our minds resemble the patriarchs of old, “who, though
in the land of promise, dwelt in tabernacles, declaring that here they had no
continuing city, but that they sought another country, that is, an heavenly [Note:
Hebrews 11:9; Hebrews 11:13-14; Hebrews 11:16.].” This is to be the character of
all the Lord’s people [Note: 1 Peter 2:11.], who, “though in the world, are not of the
world,” and who “are looking for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God”— — —]
Application—
[It may be asked, What is all this to us? I answer, Read what the prophet says, and
you will have more satisfactory information than you are aware of [Note: Zechariah
14:16-19.]. Beyond all doubt he is speaking of those who live under the Gospel: and
the repeated injunctions which he gives relative to our observance of this feast, are a
strong confirmation, that there was in it a mysterious and most important meaning.
I call upon you then to keep this feast, to keep it with holy joy unto the Lord. Think
of the incarnation of our blessed Lord! What a stupendous mystery! God, even the
most high God, leaving his blest abodes, and sojourning here in a tabernacle of clay!
Is not this worthy to be commemorated? Does it not demand our most ardent
praise? — — — Think of the harvest of blessings which we obtain through him!
Our corn and wine and oil are but shadows of that heavenly food which is prepared
for us, and on which, if it be not our own fault, we are feeding from day to day. Let
earthly things then not engross your affections, but lead you to seek those which are
spiritual and eternal [Note: Colossians 3:2.] — — — And whether your temporal
comforts be increased or diminished, ever remember where your home is; and that
when your week is finished, “you have an house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens [Note: 2 Corinthians 5:1.] ” — — —] [Note: If this subject were taken on a
Christmas-day, or for a Harrest Sermon, the more appropriate idea must be most
expanded.]
PULPIT, "Leviticus 23:39-44
A further instruction respecting the Feast of Tabernacles is appended. When ye
have gathered in the fruit of the land, not necessarily at the completion of the
ingathering, but at the time at which the festival is held, ye shall take you on the first
day the boughs of goodly trees. The word in the Hebrew, in its literal acceptation,
means fruits of goodly trees, and hence in later times a misunderstanding arose (see
2 Macc. 10:6, 7), which led to the graceful practice of carrying in the left hand
citrons (the fruit of goodly trees), and in the right hand myrtles, palms, and willows.
It appears, however, that the word signifies in this place rather products than fruits,
namely, leaves and branches. The command, therefore, would be, ye shall take you
… products of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees,
144

145. and willows of the brooks. Originally, the purpose of these boughs was to make
booths, as is shown by Nehemiah 8:15, Nehemiah 8:16, "Go forth unto the mount,
and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm
branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written. So the people
went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths." And ye shall rejoice
before the Lord your God seven days. Accordingly we find when the feast was
observed by Ezra, after the long interval from the days of Joshua, "there was very
great gladness" (Nehemiah 8:17). The reason of the injunction to dwell in booths is
that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in
booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; that is, on the first night after
they had been delivered from Egypt, and encamped at Succoth (Exodus 12:37).
40 On the first day you are to take branches from
luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other
leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God
for seven days.
BARNES, "The boughs of goodly trees - Or, the fruit (see the margin) of the
citron trees. It is said that every Israelite at the Feast of tabernacles carried in one hand a
bundle of branches and in the other a citron. The branches seem to have comprised the
boughs of palm-trees, “thick trees” and willows here named. See the note to Lev_23:42;
Neh_8:15-16.
CLARKE, "Boughs of goodly trees - The Jews and many critics imagine the
citron-tree to be intended, and by boughs of thick tree the myrtle.
GILL, "And ye shall take you the boughs of goodly trees,.... Which the three
Targums interpret, of citrons; and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra; and the Jews are so
tenacious of observing this, that in those countries where this fruit grows not, they will
send for it from Spain, where there is plenty of it: the Targum of Jonathan, paraphrases
it, "ye shall take of yours"; suggesting these boughs must be their own, or the bundle of
them, with others they call the "lulab", must be their own property, and not another's;
though it is said (u), if it is a gift it will do, even though it is given on condition to be
145

146. returned again:
branches of palm trees: which were very common in the land of Judea, and
especially about Jericho; see Joh_12:13; the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call
them "lulabs", which is the name the Jews give to the whole bundle they carried in their
hands on this day:
and the boughs of thick trees; which the Targums and Jewish writers in general
understand of myrtles, being full of branches and leaves:
and willows of the brook; a sort of trees which delight to grow by brooks and rills of
water: these, according to the Jewish writers, were not taken to make their booths of,
though that seems to be the use of them, from Neh_8:15; but to tie up in bundles, and
carry in hands; the citron in their left hand, and a bundle made of the other three sorts of
boughs of trees in the right hand, which they called the "lulab":
and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days; because of the
blessings of his goodness bestowed upon them in the plentiful harvest and vintage they
had been favoured with, and in remembrance of past mercies, showed to their fathers in
the wilderness, giving them food and drink, and guiding and protecting them with the
pillar of cloud and fire; and at the same time, also, thankful for the different
circumstances they were in, having cities, towns, and houses to dwell its, and fields and
vineyards to possess, when their fathers lived in a wilderness for forty years together;
and especially such of them expressed their joy before the Lord, who had any knowledge
of this being a type of the Messiah tabernacling in human nature, they had the promise
of, to be their spiritual Redeemer and Saviour: these seven days are kept by the Jews
now, chiefly in carnal mirth, and so for ages past, as by carrying the above boughs in
their hands, and going round about the altar with them, and, shaking them, and crying
Hosanna, and by making use of all sorts of music, vocal and instrumental, piping,
dancing, leaping, skipping, and various gestures, even by persons of the highest rank,
and of the greatest character for sobriety (w); and particularly by fetching water from
Siloah, when in their own land, and pouring it with wine upon the altar, which was
attended with such expressions of joy, that it is said, that he who never saw the rejoicing
of drawing of water, never saw any rejoicing in his life (x): the Jews give this reason of
the ceremony, because at this feast was the time of the rains, see Targum of Jonathan on
Lev_23:36; and therefore the holy blessed God said, pour water before me, that the rains
of the year may be blessed unto you (y); but others have thought there was something
more mysterious in it, and that it had respect to the pouring out of the Holy Ghost; for,
they say (z), the place of drawing water was so called, because they drew the Holy Ghost,
as it is said, "ye shall draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation", Isa_12:3; to this
our Lord is thought to allude; see Gill on Joh_7:37, Joh_7:38, some of the ceremonies
used at this feast have been imitated by the Heathens: Strabo (a) says, the carrying
branches of trees, dances, and sacrifices, were common to the gods, and particularly to
Bacchus; and there was such a likeness between these and the rites of Bacchus, that
Plutarch (b) thought the Jews at this time kept two feasts to the honour of him; whereas,
as Bishop Patrick observes, the profane Bacchanalia of the Gentiles were only a
corruption of this festival.
CALVIN, "40.And ye shall take you on the first day. By this symbol the Jews were
146

147. instructed that this day was to be celebrated with joy and gladness; for it was not
only a memorial of the favor which He had graciously bestowed on their fathers in
the desert, when they were exposed to all the vicissitudes of heaven, (356) and He
cherished them under His wings as an eagle does her brood; but it was also an act of
thanksgiving, because He had provided them so commodious a reception in the
Promised Land; thus, by carrying the boughs, they proclaimed their joy and
triumph as it were. Nor would it have been reasonable that they should go into the
booths in sorrow and sadness, since they represented visibly to them both the
former and present goodness of God, and at the same time gave them a foretaste of
the life of heaven, inasmuch as they were but sojourners on earth. Some suppose
‫,הדר‬ hadar, (357) to be a proper name, but since it everywhere means “comeliness,” I
have been unwilling to depart from its ordinary sense; nor do I curiously insist on
the words, except so far as it is necessary to ascertain the actual substance. OKE,
"Verse 40
Leviticus 23:40. Ye shall take you on the first day the boughs, &c.— What we
render boughs of goodly trees, is, in the Hebrew, the fruit of the beautiful tree;
which the Targum explains of the citron-tree; the fruit of which the Jews still make
use of at the feast of tabernacles; see Univ. Hist. book. 1 Chronicles 7. Palm-trees
abounded so much in Judea, that they became emblematical of the country. What
particular trees are meant by the thick trees, is unknown: some suppose myrtles to
have been meant. The original expresses such trees as were thick and complicated,
and so fitted to make a booth, which the willows of the brook were well adapted to
twine about, and compact together.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:40. Of goodly trees — Namely, olive, myrtle, and pine,
mentioned Nehemiah 8:15-16, which were most plentiful there, and which would
best preserve their greenness. Thick trees — Fit for shade and shelter. And
willows — To mix with the other, and in some sort bind them together. And as they
made their booths of these materials, so they carried some of these boughs in their
hands, as is affirmed by Jewish and other ancient writers.
ELLICOTT, " (40) And ye shall take you on the first day.—The four species of
vegetable production here ordered are a distinctive feature of this festival. They
have been most minutely defined during the second Temple.
Boughs of goodly trees.—Better, the fruit of goodly trees, as the margin rightly
renders it. As this phrase is too indefinite, and may simply denote the fruit of any
choice fruit-tree, there can hardly be any doubt that in this instance, as in many
other cases, the lawgiver left it to the administrators of the Law to define its precise
kind. Basing it therefore upon one of the significations of the term here translated
“goodly,” which is to dwell, to rest, the authorities during the second Temple
decreed that it means the fruit winch permanently rests upon the tree—i.e., the
citron, the paradise-apple. If it came from an uncircumcised tree (see Leviticus
19:23), from an unclean heave-offering (comp. Numbers 18:11-12), or exhibited the
slightest defect, it was ritually illegal.
147

148. Branches of palm trees.—During the second Temple this was defined as the shoot of
the palm-tree when budding, before the leaves are spread abroad, and whilst it is
yet like a rod. It is technically called lulab, which is the expression whereby it is
rendered in the ancient Chaldee version. The lulab must at least be three hands tall,
and must be tied together with its own kind.
The boughs of thick trees.—This, according to the same authorities, denotes the
myrtle branch, whose leaves thickly cover the wood. To make it ritually legal it must
have three or more shoots round the stem, and on the same level with it. If it is in
any way damaged it is illegal. This accounts for the ancient Chaldee version
rendering it by “myrtle branch.”
Willows of the brook.—That species, the distinguishing marks of which are dark
wood and long leaves with smooth margin. The palm, the myrtle, and the willow,
when tied together into one bundle, constitute the Lulab. Whilst the psalms are
chanted by the Levites during the sacrifices, the pilgrims, who held the Lulabs or
palms, shook them thrice, viz., at the singing of Psalms 118:1, then again at Leviticus
23:25, and at Leviticus 23:29. When the chant was finished, the priests in procession
went round the altar once, exclaiming, “Hosanna, O Lord, give us help, O Lord!
give prosperity !” (Psalms 118:25). Whereupon the solemn benediction was
pronounced by the priests, and the people dispersed amidst the repeated
exclamations, “How beautiful art thou, O altar !” It is this part of the ritual which
explains the welcome that the multitude gave Christ when they went to meet Him
with palm-branches and shouts of hosanna (Matthew 21:8-9; Matthew 21:15; John
12:12-13).
PETT, "Leviticus 23:40
“And you shall take you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-
trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice
before Yahweh your God seven days.”
And these days were to be days of great joy and excitement. They were all to live in
booths constructed from natural materials such as branches of palm trees, boughs
from thick trees and willows which flourished by the waters, to partake of the fruit
of goodly trees and of the vintage, and to eat of the freewill offerings, and a good
time was had by all. But also during this period, when the regular whole burnt
offerings were made, the Law would no doubt be read, and necessary admonition
given. Every seventh year the Law had to be read out in full.
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149. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for
seven days each year. This is to be a lasting
ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it
in the seventh month.
GILL, "And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year,....
Every year it was to be kept for the space of seven days, beginning on the fifteenth and
ending on the twenty second of the month Tisri or September:
it shall be a statute for ever in your generations; until the Messiah should come
and tabernacle among men, the substance of this shadow, on whose coming it was to flee
away:
ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month; which is repeated for the confirmation
of it, and that no mistake might be made.
COKE, "Leviticus 23:41. Ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the
year— These days were spent in great festivity and joy; the highest part of which
consisted in the drawing and pouring out of water: the Talmudists say of this, that
he who never saw the rejoicing of drawing of water, knows not what rejoicing is.
This custom is thought to have been in memory of the miraculous water which
flowed from the rock in the wilderness; and undoubtedly was figurative of the
gospel-grace; see Zechariah 14:16. The words of Isaiah 12:3 were sung during this
ceremony; With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation: to which it is
believed our Saviour alluded, when he cried out in the temple, on the last day of this
solemnity; If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink: he that believeth on
me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, John
7:37-38. It is probable, that the Pagans derived their festivals in honour of Bacchus
from this feast of the Jews.
REFLECTIONS.—The sorrows of repentance are the certain forerunners of peace
and joy in believing. The humiliation of the day of atonement prepared for the feast
of tabernacles, one of the three great festivals, celebrated for eight days, with every
expression of gladness, with many sacrifices, and two days of solemn convocation.
During seven days, they lived in booths, made of the branches of trees; the eighth
was a holy day of rest and joy. They thus remembered their long abode in tents in
the wilderness, and God's care of them there: and as the fruits of the whole year
were now gathered in, this added to their thankfulness. Note; (1.) When we come to
our true land of rest, it will ever warm our hearts with peculiar gratitude, to
remember the hardships we have endured in the wilderness, and from which the
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150. Lord delivered us. (2.) If the joy of harvest was so great, how much greater will be
our joy, when we shall reap the harvest of eternal glory! (3.) We, in this world, dwell
in booths, but in a few days we shall return to our house, which is from heaven, and
then everlasting joy will be upon our heads.
These solemnities were annually observed, besides their sabbaths and free-will
offerings; for nothing must interrupt our ordinary duties, and we are never
restrained from adding any farther portion of our time and substance to the
immediate service of God, if we find our hearts inclined, and our circumstances
enable us.
ELLICOTT, " (41) Seven days in the year.—These seven days denote the feast of
Tabernacles proper, whilst the eight days in Leviticus 23:39 include the concluding
festival of the last day. (See Leviticus 23:36.)
In your generations.—Better, throughout your generations, as the Authorised
version renders it in Leviticus 23:14; Leviticus 23:21; Leviticus 23:31 of this very
chapter. (See Leviticus 3:17.)
PETT, "Leviticus 23:41-43
“And you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh seven days in the year: it is a statute for
ever throughout your generations. You shall keep it in the seventh month. You shall
dwell in booths seven days; all that are home-born in Israel shall dwell in booths;
that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in
booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.”
And they were to keep this feast for seven days each year, in the seventh month.
Both sevens symbolic of divine blessing. It was a statute to be observed into the
distant future. And they would dwell in booths as a reminder of how they had dwelt
in booths and tents when they were delivered from Egypt and brought to the land of
His inheritance. All home-born Israelites would dwell in booths over the whole
period for this purpose. And they will remember that He is Yahweh their God, their
great Deliverer, their covenant Lord, the One to Whom they owe everything. And
they will rejoice, and they will worship, and they will remember. And they will
renew the covenant.
42 Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All
native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters
150

151. BARNES, "Booths - According to Jewish tradition, what were used at the Feast of
Tabernacles were strictly “tabernacula,” structures of boards, with a covering of boughs.
The “booth” in which the Israelite kept the Feast, and the “tent” which was his
ordinary abode in the wilderness, had this in common - they were temporary places of
sojourn, they belonged to camp-life. The seven days of abode in the booths of the festival
was thus a fair symbol of the forty years of abode in tents in the wilderness. The Feast
might well become the appointed memorial of this period of their history for the ages to
come.
All that are Israelites born - The omission of the foreigners in this command is
remarkable. Perhaps the intention was that on this joyous occasion they were to be
hospitably entertained as guests. Compare Deu_16:14.
GILL, "Ye shall dwell in booths seven days,.... So that it seems they were not
obliged to dwell in them on the eighth day, which was an holy convocation, a sabbath in
which no servile work was to be done as the first, Lev_23:36. The eighth day was a day
by itself, a sort of an appendage to the feast of tabernacles, when they went into their
houses again, and kept it as an holy day; and perhaps principally in giving thanks for the
ingathering of the fruits of the earth, to which this seems to be appropriated from Lev_
23:39. According to the Jewish writers, they did not go out of their booths until they had
dined in them on this day; and as they went out used to say,"may it be the will of God
that we may be worthy the next year to dwell in the booth of Leviathan (c);''that is, to
feast with the Messiah in the world to come. And to those days the Jews have added a
ninth, which they call "the joy of the law", and which they keep for joy of having finished
the reading of the law; which being divided into as many sections or lessons as weeks in
the year, were so ordered to be read as to be finished at this time (d):
all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths; the Targum of Jonathan is,"all
the males in Israel, and even the little ones, that do not need their mothers, sit in the
shades blessing their Creator, when they enter there.''And, according to the Misnah (e),
women, servants, and little ones, are free from the booths (i.e. are not obliged to dwelt in
one), but a little one, who hath no need of its mother, is obliged to dwell in the booths:
and elsewhere it is said, that sick persons, and such as wait upon them, are not obliged,
nor messengers upon any business, nor travellers and watchmen in cities, and keepers of
gardens and orchards; if such travel, or keep watch in the day, they are obliged to be in
them at night, and if in the night, then they are to dwell in them in the day (f). Jarchi
says, that everyone born in Israel comprehends proselytes, who were bound by this law.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:42. In booths — Which were erected in their cities or
towns, either in their streets, or gardens, or the tops of their houses. These were
made flat, and therefore were fit for this use.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 42
(42) Dwell in booths seven days.—Because the eighth day was a separate festival,
when the booths were no more used. (See Leviticus 23:36.)
151

152. TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites
born shall dwell in booths:
Ver. 42. Ye shall dwell in booths.] The siege of Jerusalem by the Romans lasted six
months. It began at the passover, and ended at this feast of tabernacles. Ita festum
illud fuit finis istius politiae.
43 so your descendants will know that I had the
Israelites live in temporary shelters when I
brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your
God.’”
CLARKE, "That your generations may know, etc. - By the institution of this
feast God had two great objects in view:
1. To perpetuate the wonderful display of his providence and grace in bringing them
out of Egypt, and in preserving them in the wilderness.
2. To excite and maintain in them a spirit of gratitude and obedience, by leading
them to consider deeply the greatness of the favors which they had received from
his most merciful hands.
Signal displays of the mercy, kindness, and providential care of God should be
particularly remembered. When we recollect that we deserve nothing at his hands, and
that the debt of gratitude is all the debt we can pay, in it we should be cheerful, fervent,
and frequent. An ungrateful heart is an unfeeling, unloving, unbelieving, and disobedient
heart. Reader, pray to God that he may deliver thee from its influence and its curse.
GILL, "That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel
to dwell in booths,.... Which by the providence of God the Israelites were obliged to
make for themselves to dwell in:
when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; for the very first place they came
to, when they departed from thence, was called Succoth, from the booths they there
built:
I am the Lord your God; who brought them out of Egypt, made them to dwell in
booths in the wilderness, and enjoined them the observance of the feast of tabernacles in
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153. memory of it, in which he expected to be obeyed.
HENRY, "As to the design of this feast,
(1.) It was to be kept in remembrance of their dwelling in tents in the wilderness. Thus
it is expounded here (Lev_23:43): That your generations may know, not only by the
written history, but by this ocular tradition, that I made the children of Israel to dwell in
booths. Thus it kept in perpetual remembrance, [1.] The meanness of their beginning,
and the low and desolate state out of which God advanced that people. Note, Those that
are comfortably fixed ought often to call to mind their former unsettled state, when they
were but little in their own eyes. [2.] The mercy of God to them, that, when they dwelt in
tabernacles, God not only set up a tabernacle for himself among them, but, with the
utmost care and tenderness imaginable, hung a canopy over them, even the cloud that
sheltered them from the heat of the sun. God's former mercies to us and our fathers
ought to be kept in everlasting remembrance. The eighth day was the great day of this
feast, because then they returned to their own houses again, and remembered how, after
they had long dwelt in tents in the wilderness, at length they came to a happy settlement
in the land of promise, where they dwelt in goodly houses. And they would the more
sensibly value and be thankful for the comforts and conveniences of their houses when
they had been seven days dwelling in booths. It is good for those that have ease and
plenty sometimes to learn what it is to endure hardness.
(2.) It was a feast of in-gathering, so it is called, Exo_23:16. When they had gathered
in the fruit of their land (Lev_23:39), the vintage as well as the harvest, then they were
to keep this feast in thankfulness to God for all the increase of the year; and some think
that the eighth day of the feast had special reference to this ground of the institution.
Note, The joy of harvest ought to be improved for the furtherance of our joy in God. The
earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, and therefore whatever we have the comfort
of he must have the glory of, especially when any mercy is perfected.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 43
(43) That your generations may know.—When their posterity are securely
occupying the land of Canaan, the temporary dwelling in booths once a year may
remind them of the goodness of God vouchsafed to their fathers in delivering them
from the land of bondage, and sheltering them in booths in the wilderness.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 23:43 That your generations may know that I made the children
of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I [am] the
LORD your God.
Ver. 43. That your generations may know.] For which purpose also they had at this
feast the law read unto them. [Nehemiah 8:18 Deuteronomy 31:10; Deuteronomy
31:13]
153

154. 44 So Moses announced to the Israelites the
appointed festivals of the Lord.
GILL, "And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the
Lord. The several feasts before recited, the order of them, the manner of observing
them, and the time.
HENRY, " Moses declared them to the children of Israel, Lev_23:44. He let them
know what God appointed, and neither more nor less. Thus Paul delivered to the
churches what he had received from the Lord. We have reason to be thankful that the
feasts of the Lord, declared unto us, are not so numerous, nor the observance of them so
burdensome and costly, as theirs then were, but more spiritual and significant, and surer
sweeter earnests of the everlasting feast, at the last in-gathering, which we hope to be
celebrating to eternity.
K&D, "Communication of these laws to the people.
BENSON, "Leviticus 23:44. The feasts of the Lord — We have reason to be
thankful that the feasts of the Lord now are not so numerous, nor the observance of
them so burdensome and costly; but more spiritual and significant, and surer and
sweeter earnests of the everlasting feast, at the last ingathering, which we hope to be
celebrating to eternity!
ELLICOTT, "(44) And Moses declared.—In accordance with the command which
Moses received (see Leviticus 23:2), he explained to the children of Israel the
number and motive of these festivals. This verse therefore forms an appropriate
conclusion to the whole chapter.
PARKER, " Pleasant Ministries
Leviticus 23:44
The principal Jewish festivals were, the Feast of Passover or unleavened bread; the
Feast of Pentecost; the Feast of Weeks or of the harvest, or of the day on which were
offered the loaves made of the new wheat; the Feast of Trumpets, called by the Jews
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155. New Year; and the Day of Atonement, or the Great Sabbath; the Feast of
Tabernacles or the Ingathering of the Harvest. Owing to the difficulty of travelling
no festival was appointed for winter; there was one in the spring, one in the
summer, and four were appointed for the autumn. The feasts of Passover, Pentecost,
and Tabernacles were called pilgrimage festivals, and were of a doubly joyful
character, commemorative of national events and relating to the blessings of the
seasons and the land. Besides the great annual feasts there were more occasional
festivals, as, e.g, the weekly Sabbath, the feast of the new moon, the Sabbath year,
and the year of Jubilee. With these festivals in their local setting we have nothing to
do; our business is with the perpetual truth which glows in the terms, "And Moses
declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord." What a change in his
great ministry! Never was man charged with the delivering of so many disciplinary
and legal words. It is time that he had something to say with easier music in it,
conveying a pleasanter appeal to the imagination and the whole attention of Israel.
It was a new mission. The lips of Moses must have grown hard in the delivery of
hard speeches. It was his business always to deliver law, to recall to duty, to
suppress revolution, to command and overawe the people whose fortunes he
humanly led. What wonder if the people dreaded his appearance? That appearance
might have been equal to a new Sinai, a new Decalogue,—a harder speech of law
and duty and servitude. It was a pleasant thing for Moses, too, this change in the
tone of his ministry; he is now speaking of feasts, of festivals,—times of solemn
rejoicing,—yea, some of the very feasts which were instituted were designated by
names the roots of which signified to dance and be glad with great joy. An awful
fate for any man to be merely the legal prophet of his age! A most burdensome
mission always to be called upon to rebuke and chastise, to suppress, and to put men
down to their proper level, and call them up to their proper obedience! Thus the
Lord varies the ministry of his servants. He says, There will be no utterance of new
law to-day, but this very day shall be a day of feasting and music and dancing; he
will have a home in the wilderness—a glad, warm, happy home all troublesome
memories shall be dismissed and one overmastering joy shall rule this festal day.
That is the speech he has been longing to make; but we would not let him. He never
wanted to make any other speech; we ourselves forced the hard terms from his
reluctant lips. A complete ministry is terrible and gracious. It is terrible by the
necessities of the case. Consider the nature with which the ministry of heaven has to
deal: "there is none righteous, no not one"; we have turned aside from the right way
and are far from the centres of light and rest and peace; sometimes nothing will
reach us but fear, terror, awful denunciation of anger, and judgment. Our mother
tongue would be deficient of one instrument which alone can touch some men, were
we to remove from that sweetest tongue the word "perdition," or the word "hell."
We do not want it: we avoid it when we can; we would not set it in our eloquence, or
weave it into our music, or use it upon any occasion if we could possibly do without
it; it is a word which is used in reply to infinite provocation; he who has pleasure in
the use of it knows not its meaning; he who declines its use altogether knows not the
mystery of the nature which he has undertaken to reclaim and educate. Paul said,
"Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." The apostle used
terror as an instrument of persuasion: not to keep men away from God, but to draw
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156. them near to the Father. That is the right use of all solemn terms and fearful
judgments, all burning fires, all unutterable and infinite threatenings,—namely, to
bring men to consideration, to penitence, to newness of mind. But the ministry is
also gentle: there is no gentleness like it. The true ministry of Christ is marked by
surpassing and ineffable grace: its eyes are full of tears; its great trumpet-tones are
broken down by greater sobs; it pities the weak; it speaks a word of hope to the
fallen; it tells the farthest off that there is time for him to get home before the
nightfall, or if he be overtaken with the darkness the light will be in the house he has
abandoned; it pleads with men; it beseeches men to be reconciled to God; it writes
its promises in syllables of stars; it punctuates its speech with fragrant flowers; it
breaks down into the omnipotence of weakness by clinging to the sinner when all
men have abandoned him in despair. We must establish a whole ministry. The
mountain must have two sides: the side where the darkness lingers; the side where
the light plays and dances in many a symbolism. This is human life. The two sides
must go together. When the ministry thunders its law, it must be upheld; when it
breaks down in tears over the Jerusalem that has rejected it, it must be regarded as
the very heart of God.
Notice the time when the feasts were spoken of. Let us regard the very position of
the text as instructive. We have now read up to it; beginning with the bondage in
Egypt, dwelling tearfully and sympathetically upon that pagan servitude,—
watching the children of Israel led forth by a mighty hand, we have noted the
discipline which afflicted them educationally; by this time we have become familiar
with their hardships,—now it is a welcome relief to the reader to come upon festival,
dancing, joy, delight,—one touch of heaven in a very wilderness of desolation. This
is the day we have longed for. There was a hope hidden in our hearts that, by-and-
by, golden gates would swing back upon happy places and offer us the liberty of
heaven. We have come to that Sabbatic time; now we are in times of jubilee and
Sabbath, release, pardon, rapture,—praising God all the time, having found a
temple without a roof, a sanctuary without a wall,—an infinite liberty vast as the
Being which it adores. This is a picture of life wisely ordered. It is a pity when any
life begins with the feast. It is sad to see pampered children. What can make the wise
man"s heart sorer than to see children whose every want is anticipated, who have
no burdens to carry, no darkness to fear, no enemy to grapple with? It makes the
spirit sad! The student of history knows what a fate awaits those fair children—
those sweet little ones. Every life must have its battlefield. The devil never allowed
any soul to pass through without having to fight every inch of the way. Blessed are
they who had their bondage first—their hard toil in the first years of life, when they
went home to a fireless grate, and sat down in the very midst of desolation; when
every wind was a ghostly threat; when the morning brought but a variety of
darkness; when the night came with new terrors and alarms. Blessed are they who
fought early and got the battle over soon; they had a hard struggle: they were struck
on one side of the head and on the other, and thrown down by invisible hands, but
they dashed the tears away, or burned them in the fire of new courage, and stood up
again like men. "It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth." A terrible
indictment is being written against people who imagine they can invert the purpose
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157. of Providence and rule life by new tricks in confectionery and pampering. Who are
the strong men in the city, in the marketplace, in any department and sphere of life?
The men who carry scars and wound-marks—signatures of early battle, medals
which testify that they met the foe and flung him in mortal wrestling. Who are the
weak and the frail and the useless—those who are but shells painted in colours that
will not stand the wear and tear of life? To that inquiry no answer in words need be
given. God"s plan is to train us for the feast Who enjoys the feast? Not the sated
appetite, not the cloyed palate; but the labourer from the field; the soldier who
unbuckles his military robe and throws down his weapons with a soldier"s
heartiness; the man who has been out in the long wet night; the traveller who has
just come to the summit of the hill; the pilgrim who brings with him all the fresh
wind, the keen air of night, and the toil of a long ascent. Set down these men, and
their very look is a benediction, their very way of eating is itself a religious expres?
ion. This feast has been in the divine view from the very beginning: God has always
meant hope, feasting, dancing, joy, liberty. Let us repeat, for our soul"s profit, that
all things contrary to these have been of our own invention, or have been
necessitated by our evil behaviour. "God... made man upright; but" men "have
sought out many inventions." Let us leave ourselves in the divine hands; at the last,
gathered around the table of God, spread by his hands, every guest shall say, "Thou
hast kept the good wine until now."
Notice whose feasts they were, and how joy is ennobled by solemnity. "And Moses
declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord." They were not fools"
revels; they were not inventions even of Moses and Aaron; they were as certainly
divine creations as were the stars that glittered above. The highest joy is always
touched with melancholy. It has been said that laughter and tears lie close together;
singular is that, but most true to our own consciousness and experience. We sigh at
the wedding. There is so much joy and gracious hilarity, that he is supposed to be
criminal to the genius of the occasion who utters one word of gloom; but the hearing
ear has detected, in father or mother or friend, the sigh that meant it all. At the
funeral we quote words that should make the face one broad and gracious smile; we
feast at the grave side: the promises never eat so well, with so keen a relish on the
part of the eater, as when the soul really feels its need of divine sustenance and
inspiration. Did the Lord make feasts? He may have done so. Is "feasts" not a word
too frivolous to associate with the name of the Lord? No. If we are to judge by
analogy,—No. The God of flowers may be the God of feasts. We know the flowers
are his; we know that no Solomon has ever arrayed himself in equal beauty; he who
made those flowers must have made a feast somewhere, a feast of reason, a feast for
the soul, a luxury for the inner taste, an appeal to the larger appetency. He who
made the birds may surely be the God of the soul"s music. The birds sing so
blithely, without one touch of vanity; so purely, so independently, without pedantry,
without sign or hint of human education; the God who set their little throats in tune
may surely be the God of all pure music,—the mother"s broad laugh over her little
one, the father"s tender voice in the presence of distress and need; and he who made
the birds" throat may have put it into the mind of man to make the trumpet, and
the cornet, and the flute, and the harp, and the sackbut, and the psaltery; they may
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158. be his judging by the happy analogies of nature. He who made summer, may have
made heaven! There is but a step between them. When Summer is at her best, what
wonder if she should think herself sister of the blue heavens? She is certainly lovely,
nothing wanting in the completeness of her beauty: here so lofty and stately, there so
pendent and graceful, yonder so fragrant and odorous as if with messages from
paradise, and otherwhere so blithe and warm and gentle, climbing up in woodbine
to the sick child"s little chamber, and uttering messages of hope to the mother"s
heart, bidding all invalids come out and enjoy the feast Whoever made that summer
must have made a heaven; standing in the summer meads, walking through the
summer gardens, loitering by summer streams, watching summer heavens, it is easy
to sing—
The gospel is a feast. Jesus Christ makes his kings spread feasts and issue large
invitations, and when the mighty and the proud and the grand will not come, he
sends men out into the highways and the hedges to bring in the traveller, the beggar,
the homeless one. To Christ"s feast all are invited; no exception can be made. Yet
there are exceptions: the Pharisee, the self-righteous Prayer of Manasseh , the critic
of other people, is forbidden; Christ will have no cold souls at his banqueting-
board—none there who imagines he is conferring patronage upon God. Man cannot
patronise the Church. The Church may have so debased herself as to accept
patronage; but therein she has been disloyal to the divine call. Hosea , every one that
thirsteth,—whosoever will, let him come; the Spirit and the Bride say, Come; let him
that heareth say, Come. The great invitation is issued from end to end of the Gospel
message, and if we turn to it a deaf ear, the result is hunger, pining, wasting,—
death! This feast never cloys. All other feasts bring their own ending; even the
glutton says, with a porcine voice, "No more"; the voluptuary and the sensualist
withdraw themselves from the feast by which they have been sated; but in the feast
of Wisdom of Solomon , in the banquet of grace, there is no satiety. "Doth not
wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high
places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of
the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the
sons of man. O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an
understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of
my lips shall be right things." "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out
her seven pillars: she hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath
also furnished her table. She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the
highest places of the city, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that
wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the
wine which I have mingled."
A gracious voice! a glad, grand gospel! If hitherto ye have been living amid the
sounding of law, the utterance of decree,—if, up to this moment, ye have been
trembling under the sight of the rod and in the presence of gleaming judgment,
know ye that now the feast of the Lord is declared, and whoso is shut out is self-
excluded!
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