Exodus 23:14

_THREE TIMES THOU SHALT KEEP A FEAST UNTO ME IN THE YEAR._ Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year, х_ SHAALOSH_ (H7969) _ RªGAALIYM_ (H7272)] - three beats, or times, which were counted by the beating of the foot. Rabbinical writers say that the Jews were accustomed, in allusion to this special use of the term, to call the sacred seasons familiarly by the name Regalim. This passage does not contain the first, the original institution of all the national festivals, nor does it detail all the legal provisions for their observance. They are merely mentioned here as the most prominent and important of the rights or privileges conferred upon the Israelite people from their special relation to Yahweh-namely, that of celebrating the proper national worship, by the assembling together on stated occasions of the people in their collective capacity, to e

Exodus 23:14._Three times shalt thou keep a feast. _It is strange that Moses, who elsewhere enumerates several feast-days, should here only command them to appear in God’s presence thrice a year. Where then is the feast of trumpets and the day of atonement? for undoubtedly all were to be celebrated at Jerusalem. In the first place, it is to be observed that the principal ones, to which the greater honor appertained, are here mentioned. Secondly, because the three holidays in the seventh month were almost continuous, (it is probable (358)) that some indulgence was given them, lest they should be absent from their homes the whole month; for at the beginning of the month the trumpets sounded, on the tenth day was the solemn fast, and on the fifteenth they began to dwell in the booths. If the necessity of remaining in Jerusalem had been imposed on all,

10-19 Every seventh year the land was to rest. They must not plough or sow it; what the earth produced of itself, should be eaten, and not laid up. This law seems to have been intended to teach dependence on Providence, and God's faithfulness in sending the larger increase while they kept his appointments. It was also typical of the heavenly rest, when all earthly labours, cares, and interests shall cease for ever. All respect to the gods of the heathen is strictly forbidden. Since idolatry was a sin to which the Israelites leaned, they must blot out the remembrance of the gods of the heathen. Solemn religious attendance on God, in the place which he should choose, is strictly required. They must come together before the Lord. What a good Master do we serve, who has made it our duty to rejoice before him! Let us devote with pleasure to the service of God that portion of our time which h...

Verse Exodus 23:14. _THREE TIMES THOU SHALT KEEP A FEAST UNTO ME IN THE_ _YEAR._] The three feasts here referred to were, 1. The feast of the PASSOVER; 2. The feast of PENTECOST; 3. The feast of TABERNACLES. 1. The feast of the _Passover_ was celebrated to keep in remembrance the wonderful deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt. 2. The feast of _Pentecost_, called also the _feast of harvest_ and the _feast of weeks_, Exodus 34:22, was celebrated _fifty_ days after the Passover to commemorate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, which took place fifty days after, and hence called by the Greeks _Pentecost_. 3. The feast of _Tabernacles_, called also _the feast of the ingathering_, was

This is the first mention of the three great Yearly Festivals. The feast of Unleavened bread, in its connection with the Paschal Lamb, is spoken of in Exodus 12; Exodus 13: but the two others are here first named. The whole three are spoken of as if they were familiarly known to the people. The points that are especially enjoined are that every male Israelite should attend them at the sanctuary (compare Exodus 34:23), and that he should take with him an offering for Yahweh, presenting himself before his King with his tribute in his hand. That this condition belonged to all the feasts, though it is here stated only in regard to the Passover, cannot be doubted. See...

THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT.—_Continued_. EXPOSITION EXODUS 23:1 MISCELLANEOUS LAWS—_continued_. The same want of logical arrangement appears in this chapter as in the preceding one. The first nine verses contain some twelve laws, of which not more than two that are consecutive can be said to be on the same subject. There is perhaps in the section a predominant idea of warning against sins and errors connected with the trial of causes before a court, but Exodus 23:4 and Exodus 23:5, at any rate, lie quite outside this idea. From...

THREE TIMES THOU SHALL KEEP A FEAST UNTO ME IN THE YEAR. The feast of the passover, on the fourteenth of the month Nisan or March; and the feast of weeks or pentecost fifty days after that; and the feast of tabernacles on the fifteenth day of Tisri or September....

THREE TIMES Compare (Leviticus 23:4). Exodus for the wilderness; Leviticus for the land....

CHAPTER 23 FURTHER JUDGMENTS AND DIRECTIONS _ 1. Concerning unrighteous dealings of various kinds (Exodus 23:1)_ 2. Concerning the seventh year (Exodus 23:10) 3. Concerning the three feasts (Exodus 23:14) 4. Promises concerning the possession of the land (Exodus 23:20) We call attention to the words concerning the seventh year. The seventh day was the day of rest. The seventh year was to give the land rest; it was to rest and lie still. Besides this there was the jubilee year, which occurred every seven times seven years, that is, the fiftieth year was the year of jubilee, in which liberty was pro

EXODUS 23:10 E. CALENDAR AND RULES FOR WORSHIP. This passage may originally have followed Exodus 23-26 in the Covenant Book. It has been expanded, Exodus 23:13 being a conclusion (perhaps displaced from after Exodus 23:19), and Exodus 23:15 b, Exodus 23:17, and Exodus 23:19 copied by a harmonist from Exodus 34:18;...