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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Leviticus 23:33 - 23:44
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The Feast of Tabernacles
v. 33. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 34. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month, of the month Tishri, corresponding to the latter part of our September and the first part of our October, shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord, named the Feast of Booths on account of the temporary structures in which the children of Israel lived during that week, as described below.
v. 35. On the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work therein, as on the other great festivals.
v. 36. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, in addition to the daily burnt offerings, as described Num_29:13-38. On the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord; it is a solemn assembly, concluding the festivities of the week in a manner befitting their importance; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
v. 37. These are the feasts of the Lord, as enumerated in this Chapter, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, this being the feature which is stressed here, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat-offering, a sacrifice, and drink-offerings, the libations of wine, every thing upon his day;
v. 38. beside the Sabbaths of the Lord, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your free-will offerings which ye give unto the Lord.
v. 39. 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, for the Feast of Tabernacles was the festival of the completed harvest, not only of grain, but also of fruit. On the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath, as stated above.
v. 40. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, literally, "fruit of ornamental trees. " whose long composite leaves would serve well for purposes of decoration, branches of palm-trees, and the boughs of thick trees, such with heavy foliage, and willows of the brook, all these being used in the construction of booths; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord, your God, seven days. Cf Neh_8:15 ff.
v. 41. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations; ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
v. 42. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths, the strangers being excluded in the ordinance, since the second purpose of the festival was to remind the Israelites of their dwelling in tents in the wilderness,
v. 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. The keynote of the festival, therefore, was joy to the point of exultation, since the contrast between the fullness of the blessings enjoyed in Palestine, as it appeared in every harvest, and the desolation of the wilderness was so marked. Cf Deuteronomy 8.
v. 44. And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord. The Feast of Tabernacles is probably symbolic of the everlasting festival of joy which we shall celebrate with all the elect in heaven, where our hosannas will rise to the throne of the Lamb in endless refrain.