Exodus 23:14

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

Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year , [ shaalosh (H7969) rªgaaliym (H7272)] - three beats, or times, which were counted by the beating of the foot.

Exodus 23:14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.Ver. 14. Three times.] See Deuteronomy 16:16. The Hebrew hath it three feet, because the most went up to those three feasts every year afoot, saith Aben Ezra.

XXIII.(1-19) The “miscellaneous laws” are here continued. From Exodus 23:1 to Exodus 23:9 no kind of sequence in the laws can be traced; from Exodus 23:10 to the first clause of Exo 23:19 there is, on the contrary, a certain connection, since the laws enunciated are concerned with ceremonial observance. The closing law, however, is not ceremonial, but the prohibition of a practice considered to be cruel. On the whole, it may be said that The Book of the Covenant maintains its unsystematic character to the close. (See Note on Exodus 20:22-26.)

Verse 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 celebrated about the 15th of the month Tisri to commemorate the Israelites' dwelling in tents for forty years, during their stay in the wilderness. See Clarke on Leviticus 23:34. "God, out of his great wisdom," says Calmet, "appointed several festivals among the Jews for many reasons: 1. To perpetuate the memory of those great events, and the wonders he had wrought for the people; for example, the Sabbath brought to remembrance the creation of the world; the Passover, the departure out of Egypt; the Pentecost, the giving of the law; the feast of Tabernacles, the sojourning of their fathers in the wilderness, c. 2. To keep them faithful to their religion by appropriate ceremonies, and the splendour of Divine service. 3. To procure them lawful pleasures, and necessary rest. 4. To give them instruction for in their religious assemblies the law of God was always read and explained. 5. To consolidate their social union, by renewing the acquaintance of their tribes and families; for on these occasions they come together from different parts of the land to the holy city." Besides the feasts mentioned above, the Jews had, 1. The feast of the Sabbath, which was a weekly feast. 2. The feast of the Sabbatical Year, which was a septennial feast. 3. The feast of Trumpets, which was celebrated on the first day of what was called their civil year, which was ushered in by the blowing of a trumpet; Leviticus 23:24, &c. 4. The feast of the New Moon, which was celebrated on the first day the moon appeared after her change. 5. The feast of Expiation, which was celebrated annually on the tenth day of Tisri or September, on which a general atonement was made for all the sins, negligences, and ignorances, throughout the year. 6. The feast of Lots or Purim, to commemorate the preservation of the Jews from the general massacre projected by Haman. See the book of Esther. 7. The feast of the Dedication, or rather the Restoration of the temple, which had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes. This was also called the feast of Lights. Besides these, the Jews have had several other feasts, such as the feast of Branches, to commemorate the taking of Jericho.

14–19. Further ceremonial regulations (cf. Exodus 20:24-26, Exodus 22:29-31).

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 Exo. 12; 13: but the two others are here first named.

14-16. Three times… a feast unto me in the year — These three great annual festivals, ordained for Israel, are here called the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of harvest, and the feast of ingathering.