Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 23:4
These [are] the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
The recurrence of the sabbatical number in the five annual days of holy convocation should be noticed.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
In their appointed and proper times, as the word is used Gen 1:14; Psa 104:19.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. These are the feasts of the Lord,which ye shall proclaim in their seasonsTheir observance tookplace in the parts of the year corresponding to our March, May, andSeptember. Divine wisdom was manifested in fixing them at thoseperiods; in winter, when the days were short and the roads broken up,a long journey was impracticable; while in summer the harvest andvintage gave busy employment in the fields. Besides, another reasonfor the choice of those seasons probably was to counteract theinfluence of Egyptian associations and habits. And God appointed moresacred festivals for the Israelites in the month of September thanthe people of Egypt had in honor of their idols. These institutions,however, were for the most part prospective, the observance being notbinding on the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness,while the regular celebration was not to commence till theirsettlement in Canaan.
Le23:5-8. THE PASSOVER.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 priests with the sound of trumpet, namely, what follow, for they are put together, which had been before for the most part singly delivered.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Lev 23:4 contains the special heading for the yearly feasts. at their appointed time.
Lev 23:5-14 The leading directions for the Passover and feast of Mazzoth are repeated from Exo 12:6, Exo 12:11, Exo 12:15-20. , occupation of a work, signifies labour at some definite occupation, e.g., the building of the tabernacle, Exo 35:24; Exo 36:1, Exo 36:3; hence occupation in connection with trade or one’s social calling, such as agriculture, handicraft, and so forth; whilst is the performance of any kind of work, e.g., kindling fire for cooking food (Exo 35:2-3). On the Sabbath and the day of atonement every kind of civil work was prohibited, even to the kindling of fire for the purpose of cooking (Lev 23:3, Lev 23:30, Lev 23:31, cf. Exo 20:10; Exo 31:14; Exo 35:2-3; Deu 5:14 and Lev 16:29; Num 29:7); on the other feast-days with a holy convocation, only servile work (Lev 23:7, Lev 23:8, Lev 23:21, Lev 23:25, Lev 23:35, Lev 23:36, cf. Exo 12:16, and the explanation on Lev 12:1-8:15ff., and Num 28:18, Num 28:25-26; Num 29:1, Num 29:12, Num 29:35). To this there is appended a fresh regulation in Lev 23:9-14, with the repetition of the introductory clause, “ And the Lord spake, ” etc. When the Israelites had come into the land to be given them by the Lord, and had reaped the harvest, they were to bring a sheaf as first-fruits of their harvest to the priest, that he might wave it before Jehovah on the day after the Sabbath, i.e., after the first day of Mazzoth. According to Josephus and Philo, it was a sheaf of barley; but this is not expressly commanded, because it would be taken for granted in Canaan, where the harvest began with the barley. In the warmer parts of Palestine the barley ripens about the middle of April, and is reaped in April or the beginning of May, whereas the wheat ripens two or three weeks later ( Seetzen; Robinson ‘s Pal. ii. 263, 278). The priest was to wave the sheaf before Jehovah, i.e., to present it symbolically to Jehovah by the ceremony of waving, without burning any of it upon the altar. The rabbinical rule, viz., to dry a portion of the ears by the fire, and then, after rubbing them out, to burn them on the altar, was an ordinance of the later scribes, who knew not the law, and was based upon Lev 2:14. For the law in Lev 2:14 refers to the offerings of first-fruits made by private persons, which are treated of in Num 18:12-13, and Deu 26:2. The sheaf of first-fruits, on the other hand, which was to be offered before Jehovah as a wave-offering in the name of the congregation, corresponded to the two wave-loaves which were leavened and then baked, and were to be presented to the Lord as first-fruits (Lev 23:17). As no portion of these wave-loaves was burned upon the altar, because nothing leavened was to be placed upon it (Lev 2:11), but they were assigned entirely to the priests, we have only to assume that the same application was intended by the law in the case of the sheaf of first-fruits, since the text only prescribes the waving, and does not contain a word about roasting, rubbing, or burning the grains upon the altar. (the morrow after the Sabbath) signifies the next day after the first day of the feast of Mazzoth, i.e., the 16th Abib ( Nisan), not the day of the Sabbath which fell in the seven days’ feast of Mazzoth, as the Baethoseans supposed, still less the 22nd of Nisan, or the day after the conclusion of the seven days’ feast, which always closed with a Sabbath, as Hitzig imagines.
(Note: The view advocated by the Baethoseans, which has been lately supported by W. Schultz, is refuted not only by Jos 5:11, but by the definite article used, , which points back to one of the feast-days already mentioned, and still more decisively by the circumstance, that according to Lev 23:15 the seven weeks, at the close of which the feast of Pentecost was to be kept, were to be reckoned from this Sabbath; and if the Sabbath was not fixed, but might fall upon any day of the seven days’ feast of Mazzoth, and therefore as much as give or six days after the Passover, the feast of Passover itself would be forced out of the fundamental position which it occupied in the series of annual festivals (cf. Ranke, Pentateuch ii. 108). Hitzig’s hypothesis has been revived by Hupfeld and Knobel, without any notice of the conclusive refutation given to it by Bhr and Wieseler; only Knobel makes “the Sabbath” not the concluding but the opening Sabbath of the feast of Passover, on the ground that “otherwise the festal sheaf would not have been offered till the 22nd of the month, and therefore would have come post festum .” But this hypothesis, which renders it necessary that the commencement of the ecclesiastical year should always be assigned to a Saturday (Sabbath), in order to gain weekly Sabbaths for the 14th and 21st of the month, as the opening and close of the feast of Passover, gives such a form to the Jewish year as would involve its invariably closing with a broken week; a hypothesis which is not only incapable of demonstration, but, from the holiness attached to the Jewish division of weeks, is a priori improbable, and in fact inconceivable. The Mosaic law, which gave such sanctity to the division of time into weeks, as founded upon the history of creation, by the institution of the observance of the Sabbath, that it raised the Sabbath into the groundwork of a magnificent festal cycle, could not possibly have made such an arrangement with regard to the time for the observance of the Passover, as would involve almost invariably the mutilation of the last week of the year, and an interruption of the old and sacred weekly cycle with the Sabbath festival at its close. The arguments by which so forced a hypothesis is defended, must be very conclusive indeed, to meet with any acceptance. But neither Hitzig nor his followers have been able to adduce any such arguments as these. Besides the word “Sabbath” and Jos 5:11, which prove nothing at all, the only other argument adduced by Knobel is, that “it is impossible to see why precisely the second day of the azyma, when the people went about their ordinary duties, and there was no meeting at the sanctuary, should have been distinguished by the sacrificial gift which was the peculiar characteristic of the feast,” – an argument based upon the fallacious principle, that anything for which I can see no reason, cannot possibly have occurred.)
The “Sabbath” does not mean the seventh day of the week, but the day of rest, although the weekly Sabbath was always the seventh or last day of the week; hence not only the seventh day of the week (Exo 31:15, etc.), but the day of atonement (the tenth of the seventh month), is called “ Sabbath,” and “ Shabbath shabbathon ” (Lev 23:32; Lev 16:31). As a day of rest, on which no laborious work was to be performed (Lev 23:8), the first day of the feast of Mazzoth is called “ Sabbath,” irrespectively of the day of the week upon which it fell; and “ the morrow after the Sabbath ” is equivalent to “the morrow after the Passover” mentioned in Jos 5:11, where “Passover” signifies the day at the beginning of which the paschal meal was held, i.e., the first day of unleavened bread, which commenced on the evening of the 14th, in other words, the 15th Abib. By offering the sheaf of first-fruits of the harvest, the Israelites were to consecrate their daily bread to the Lord their God, and practically to acknowledge that they owed the blessing of the harvest to the grace of God. They were not to eat any bread or roasted grains of the new corn till they had presented the offering of their God (Lev 23:14). This offering was fixed for the second day of the feast of the Passover, that the connection between the harvest and the Passover might be kept in subordination to the leading idea of the Passover itself (see at Exo 12:15.). But as the sheaf was not burned upon the altar, but only presented symbolically to the Lord by waving, and then handed over to the priests, an altar-gift had to be connected with it, – namely, a yearling sheep as a burnt-offering, a meat-offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and a drink-offering of a quarter of a hin of wine, – to give expression to the obligation and willingness of the congregation not only to enjoy their earthly food, but to strengthen all the members of their body for growth in holiness and diligence in good works. The burnt-offering, for which a yearling lamb was prescribed, as in fact for all the regular festal sacrifices, was of course in addition to the burnt-offerings prescribed in Num 28:19-20, for every feast-day. The meat-offering, however, was not to consist of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour, as on other occasions (Exo 29:40; Num 28:9, Num 28:13, etc.), but of two-tenths, that the offering of corn at the harvest-feast might be a more plentiful one than usual.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. 5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD‘s passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 10 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 a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: 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. 12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. 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. 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.
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 (1 Kings xii. 33), was an affront to God, and a reproach upon the people. These feasts were to be proclaimed in their seasons (v. 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, v. 5. It was to continue seven days, during all which time they were to eat sad bread, that was unleavened (v. 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 (v. 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, v. 11. A lamb for a burnt-offering was to be offered with it, v. 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 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 (Josh. v. 11), and then on this day they offered the first-fruits, by which they became entitled to the new corn too (v. 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, 1 Cor. xv. 20. That branch of the Lord (Isa. iv. 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, Prov. iii. 9. They were not to eat of their new corn till God’s part was offered to him out of it (v. 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.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 4-8:
Nisan became the first month of the religious year, because this was the month of the first Passover in Egypt, Ex 12:2-15. Originally, the head of each household was responsible for the Passover rites. But with the establishment of the Aaronic priesthood, the priestly rights for the nation were vested in Aaron’s sons, and sacrifices apart from the Temple were forbidden, see De 16:5, 6.
The head of each household must bring his Passover lamb to the tabernacle, where the priest would offer the blood on the altar. The lamb was then taken away, to be cooked in preparation for the Paschal meal.
“Feast”(verse 4) is moed, the term used in verse 2. But in verse 6 it is chaq, meaning “festival,” or festive occasion.
The Passover itself was one day only, the fourteenth of Nisan. The Feast of Unleavened Bread lasted seven days, from Nisan 15 through 21. During this week, only unleavened bread was allowed to be eaten, Ex 12:34. The two festivals were not the same, but they were observed together, and were called indiscriminately the “Feast of the Passover” or the “Feast of Unleavened Bread.”
According to traditional ritual, three men entered the barley field, with basket and sickle, immediately following sunset on Nisan 14. They harvested ears of the grain equal to about three pecks and three pints, and brought them to the altar at the tabernacle (Temple). The priest offered these ears of grain as a wave offering, in token of the consecration of the entire barley harvest to Jehovah.
Along with the wave offering of grain, a Burnt Offering of a Iamb, and a Meat (food) Offering of double the usual quantity was offered, and a drink offering of wine (Le 1:10-13; 2:1-16).
This was to be a perpetual ordinance for all Israel, no matter where they might live.
Prior to the waving of the sheaf of barley, no bread made from the new flour, no parched grain, nor fresh grain was to be eaten. The lesson from this is that the first and the best belongs to God, as a token of His ownership and man’s stewardship, see Pr 3:9, 10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
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 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.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
b. PASSOVER AND THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD 23:414
TEXT 23:414
4
These are the set feasts of Jehovah, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their appointed season.
5
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, is Jehovahs passover.
6
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto Jehovah: seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread.
7
In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work.
8
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.
9
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
10
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:
11
and he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12
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.
13
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.
14
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 for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 23:414
523.
What is involved in the word proclaim in Lev. 23:4? (Cf. Num. 10:1-10.)
524.
There seems to be a civil and religious calendar for the Jewish nation, or two methods of counting the months. Research this question in a good Bible Dictionary.
525.
Does the feast of unleavened bread have a direct relationship to the Passover, or is it a separate feast? Cf. Exo. 13:4; Exo. 23:15; Deu. 16:1; Neh. 2:1; Est. 3:7; Joh. 19:14.
526.
Why eat unleavened bread? What did it symbolize?
527.
Once again: what is a holy convocation?
528.
Some work could be done. What was it?
529.
What type of offering is suggested in the expression, an offering made by fire?
530.
Why give regulations for activities that would only happen years later?
531.
Is the feast of the first-fruits separate from the passover and the feast of unleavened bread? If not, what possible connection is there?
532.
What was meant by the feast of the first-fruits?
533.
Waving the sheaf carried what symbolism?
534.
What is involved in the drink offering?
535.
Why not eat until the feast day?
PARAPHRASE 23:414
These are the holy festivals which are to be observed each year: The Passover of the Lord: This is to be celebrated at the end of March. The Festival of Unleavened Bread: This is to be celebrated beginning the day following the Passover. On the first day of this festival, you shall gather the people for worship, and all ordinary work shall cease. You shall do the same on the seventh day of the festival. On each of the intervening days you shall make an offering by fire to the Lord. The Festival of First Fruits: When you arrive in the land I will give you and reap your first harvest, bring the first sheaf of the harvest to the priest on the day after the Sabbath. He shall wave it before the Lord in a gesture of offering, and it will be accepted by the Lord as your gift. That same day you shall sacrifice to the Lord a male yearling lamb without defect as a burnt offering. A grain offering shall accompany it, consisting of a fifth of a bushel of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil, to be offered by fire to the Lord; this will be very pleasant to Him. Also offer a drink offering consisting of three pints of wine. Until this is done you must not eat any of the harvest for yourselvesneither fresh kernels nor bread nor parched grain. This is a permanent law throughout your nation.
COMMENT 23:414
Lev. 23:4 The heading is here repeated because the feasts or festivals which follow are separate from the sabbath. The gathering of the people was done by blowing the silver trumpets. Cf. Num. 10:10.
Lev. 23:5 A copy of the chart showing the Hebrew calendar is given here because it is important to our understanding just here. We need to add that the two names for the same months come from the two calendarsthe civil and the religious. The second set of names were not given until after the exilic captivity. The civil calendar began numbering with the seventh month of the religious calendar.
HEBREW CALENDAR
Each month (new moon) began with the blowing of trumpets and offering of sacrifices. Num. 28:11; Num. 10:10; Psa. 81:3.
We also reproduce our comments on The Passover as they appear in OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY, pages 15354:
The primary purpose of this festival was to commemorate Jehovahs passing over the houses of the Israelites when he passed through the land of Egypt to slay the first-born in every house. (Exo. 12:11-12). But just as the history of Israel was typical of the whole pilgrimage of man, and as their rescue from Egypt answers to that crisis in the life of Gods redeemed people, at which they are ransomed by the blood of the atonement from the penalty of sin, to which they also are subject, so we trace this wider and higher meaning in every feature of the institution.
The day, reckoned from sunset to sunset, in the night of which the first-born of Egypt were slain and the Israelites departed, was the fourteenth of the Jewish month Nisan or Abib (March to April), which began about the time of the vernal equinox, and which was now made the first month of the ecclesiastical year. (The civil year began, like that of the Egyptians, about the autumnal equinox, with the month Tishri.) This was the great day of the feast, when the paschal supper was eaten. But the preparations had already been made by the command of God. (Exo. 12:1-27). On the tenth day of the month, each household had chosen a yearling lamb (or kid, for either might be used) (Exo. 12:5), without blemish. This Paschal Lamb was set apart till the evening which began the fourteenth day, and was killed as a sacrifice (Exo. 12:27) at that moment in every family of Israel. But before it was eaten, its blood was sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop on the lintel and door-posts of the house: the divinely-appointed sign, that Jehovah might pass over that house, when He passed through the land to destroy the Egyptians. (Exo. 12:7; Exo. 12:12-13; Exo. 12:22-23). Thus guarded, and forbidden to go out of doors till the morning, the families of Israel ate the lamb, roasted and not boiled, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The bones were not suffered to be broken, but they must be consumed by fire in the morning, with any of the flesh that was left uneaten; The people were to eat in haste, and equipped for their coming journey. For seven days after the feast, from the fourteenth to the twenty-first, they were to eat only unleavened bread, and to have no leaven in their houses, under penalty of death. The fourteenth and twenty-first were to be kept with a holy convocation and Sabbatic rest. The Passover was to be kept to Jehovah throughout their generations, a feast by an ordinance forever. (Exo. 12:14). No stranger might share the feast, unless he were first circumcised; but strangers were bound to observe the days of unleavened. (Exo. 12:18-20; Exo. 12:43-49). To mark more solemnly the perpetual nature and vast importance of the feast, fathers were especially enjoined to instruct their children in its meaning through all future time. (Exo. 12:25-27).
Lev. 23:6-8 As we have observed, the feast of unleavened bread became a vital part of the passover; indeed it is even called the feast of unleavened breadthe terms are linked in Lev. 23:5-6. Cf. Exo. 12:15; Exo. 12:18-20. The time of the day for the observance of the passover became quite an issue between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The controversy hinged on the meaning of the phrase, at even in Lev. 23:5. It literally means between the two evenings. Ginsburg observes on this point: 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 oclock, 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 could be offered up in the longer period of time.
The seven days of unleavened bread were intended to be a week-long reminder of the conditions which prevailed in Egypt at the time of deliverance. No work of a gainful purpose was permitted on the first or the seventh days. No building or pulling down edifices, weaving, threshing, winnowing, grinding, etc.while needful work could be done such as killing beasts, kneading dough, baking bread, boiling, roasting, etc. The violators were not stoned but received forty stripes.
The offerings on each of these days in addition to the daily sacrifices were: two young bulls, a ram, seven lambs of the first year, along with a meat or meal offering to accompany these burnt offerings, and a goat for a sin offering. Cf. Num. 28:19-23. During this festive occasion each worshipper was also expected to bring offerings of his own. Cf. Exo. 23:15; Deu. 16:16; Deu. 27:7. These offerings were to be given as peace offerings. Cf. Lev. 3:1-5; Lev. 7:16-18; Lev. 7:29-34.
Lev. 23:9-14 Some commentators wish to separate the offering of the sheaf of the first-fruits from the Passover and the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread. They wish to consider it as an independent action. Others like Charles F. Pfeiffer unite it with the feast of unleavened bread. He says: During the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the morrow after the sabbath a sheaf of first-fruits of barley was offered as a wave-offering before the Lord. Oil and frankincense were mixed with flour and the whole offered as a meal offering. In waving the sacrifice, i.e. holding it out toward the altar, and bringing it back again, God was recognized as the author of the entire harvest. The harvest was ceremonially dedicated to Him. It was then received back, symbolizing the fact that the blessing of the harvest had come from Him. A portion was burned on the altar, and the rest was eaten by the worshipper. It was on this day the counting began to complete forty-nine days in establishing the day of Pentecost. Forty-nine days were counted (which included the day on which the first-fruit was offered). The day following the forty-ninth day (seven times seven days) was the Day of Pentecost. The Passover was always on the 14th of Nisan. The first day of the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread, which was called a sabbath (Cf. Lev. 23:24; Lev. 23:32; Lev. 23:34 for such a term) was the 15th of Nisan. On the day following, or on the 16th of Nisan, the sheaf of first-fruits was offered and the counting for Pentecost began. (i.e. according to one point of view.) By a simple reasoning process it becomes apparent that if this interpretation is right we cannot conclude that the day of Pentecost was always on the first day of the week, since the counting did not always begin on the same day of the week. The whole issue is decided on how the term sabbath is used in Lev. 23:11; Lev. 23:15.
The provisions here required anticipate occupying the land of Canaan. The eating of the unleavened bread must not begin until after the sheaf of the first fruit has been offered. The grain for the unleavened bread of the first two days was from the harvest of the previous year. The meal used in the bread in the remaining five days came from the new or current harvest. At this time of the year only barley was ripe.
FACT QUESTIONS 23:414
533.
Was the Passover held on the fourteenth day of the first month or the fourteenth day of the seventh month?
534.
In what month according to our calendar?
535.
How many days involved in the observance of the Passover?
536.
There are two opinions as to the time for the observance of the Passover. Give them and discuss.
537.
What was the purpose of the seven days of unleavened bread?
538.
What work was unlawful? On what days?
539.
List the offerings on the seven days. What was the grand total of the seven days?
540.
When was the sheaf of the first fruit offered? Why?
541.
Discuss one method of counting the 49 days between the day of the sheaf offering and Pentecost.
542.
Did the counting begin on the seventeenth of Nisan or on the Saturday following the Passover? Discuss.
543.
When did the Israelities begin eating the unleavened bread?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(4) These are the feasts of the Lord.Because the following are the festivals proper as distinguished from the sabbath (see Lev. 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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
The Set Feasts.
Lev 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.
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 (Gen 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 (Exo 23:14; Deu 16:16 with 1-17). And every seven years at Tabernacles there would be a reading of the whole covenant (Deu 31:10-13).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Passover and the offering which Followed It
v. 4. These are the feasts of the Lord, v. 5. In the fourteenth day of the first month, v. 6. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto the Lord; seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. v. 7. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation, v. 8. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days, v. 9. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, v. 10. Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When ye come in to the land which I give unto you, v. 11. and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, v. 12. and ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he-lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord. v. 13. And the meat-offering thereof, v. 14. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
This is the second feast noticed in this chapter. Reader! search for JESUS as your passover, and remember what the apostle hath said on this subject, 1Co 5:7-8 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 23:4 These [are] the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
Ver. 4. In their seasons, ] i.e., Once a year.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
These are the feasts: thus marking the sabbath offering as distinct.
feasts = Hebrew appointed seasons.
feasts of the LORD. This was their true character. But in our Lord’s day they had degenerated into “feasts of the Jews” (Joh 2:13; Joh 5:1; Joh 6:4; Joh 11:55).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Lev 23:2, Lev 23:37, Exo 23:14
Reciprocal: Exo 12:14 – by an ordinance Exo 32:5 – made proclamation Lev 23:21 – proclaim Jdg 21:19 – a feast 2Ch 30:5 – to make proclamation Neh 8:15 – And that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 23:4. These are the feasts of the Lord The solemnities, as the same word is rendered, Isa 33:20, where Zion is called the city of our solemnities.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 23:4-8 (P). The Passover (pp. 102f.), which was regularly followed by a week when no leaven was to be eaten (cf. Deu 16:1-8, Exo 12:1-14). The first month (see on Leviticus 16) is Nisan (March-April). The Passover commences, like all Jewish feasts, at evening, or, in the Heb. phrase, between the two evenings, i.e. between sunset and dark: for the sacrifice, see Num 28:17-25.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
23:4 These [are] the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their {a} seasons.
(a) For the sabbath was kept every week, and these others were kept only once every year.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread 23:4-8
Lev 23:4 introduces the seven annual festivals. Whereas the Sabbath could be observed anywhere, the other feasts required attendance at the central sanctuary for participation.
In one sense the Passover (Heb. Pesah, Lev 23:5) was the most important feast (cf. Exo 12:1-28). It commemorated God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery by a powerful supernatural act and His preparation of the nation for adoption as His special treasure.
Jesus died as the Paschal Lamb on Passover in the year He died for our sins (Joh 19:14; Mat 26:17-29; cf. 1Co 5:7; 1Pe 1:18-19). [Note: For the prophetic significance of all of these feasts, see Terry Hulbert, "The Eschatological Significance of Israel’s Feasts" (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1965).]
The Passover was primarily a time when Israel commemorated the Lord’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt. Likewise our worship should include a commemoration of our past salvation from the bondage of sin (cf. Mat 26:26-29).
"It is noteworthy that the object of faith was not the typology of the sacrifices . . . or a consciousness of the coming Redeemer, but God Himself." [Note: Lindsey, p. 165.]
The day after the Passover marked the beginning of the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread (or Festival of Thin Bread, CET, Lev 23:6-14; cf. Num 28:16-25). This was one of the three feasts that all the adult males in Israel had to attend along with the feasts of Firstfruits and Tabernacles (Exo 23:17; Deu 16:16). It was a holy convocation or gathering together of the nation around the sanctuary.
This feast reminded the believing Israelite that he needed to live a clean life since God had redeemed him by the blood of the Passover lamb (cf. 1Co 5:6-8; Gal 5:9).
"God requires his people to preserve their spiritual heritage through the commemoration of their redemption and the life of purity to follow." [Note: Ross, p. 413.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
THE FEAST OF PASSOVER AND UNLEAVENED BREAD
Lev 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 Lords 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 generations in all your dwellings.”
Lev 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 ones 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 (Lev 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” (Lev 23:15) of this sacred week, it was ordered (Lev 23:10) that “the sheaf of the first fruits of the (barley) harvest” should be brought “unto the priest”; and (Lev 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 (Lev 23:2-13) by a burnt offering, a meal offering, and a drink offering of wine. Until all this was done (Lev 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, 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 {Exo 4:22} to be Gods 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 Israels 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 worlds 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: {1Co 7:1-40; 1Co 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, {1Co 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 {Joh 12:24} as “a grain of wheat; which should “fall into the earth and die, and then, living again, bear much fruit.”