Three times in the year—at the Feast of Un leavened Bread, in the month Abib ; at the Feast of Harvest, or of Weeks ; and at the Feast of In gathering, or of Tabernacles—all the males were to appear before Jehovah, at the place which he should choose. None were to come empty-handed, but every one was to give according as Jehovah had blessed him; and there before Jehovah was every one to rejoice with his family, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow (Exod. xxiii :14-17 ; xxxis.:22-24; Deut. xvi :16-17).
(4) The Passover. The Hebrew word rg';., fieh'sakh (from 11,;`,,:', fiaw-sakh', to lea', over, figuratively, to spare, show mercy) denotes: (t) overstepping; (2) The paschal sacrifice by virtue of which the passing over was effected (Exod. xii:2r, 27, 48; 2 01.1.00. XXX:15). The first of these three great festivals, that of Un leavened Bread, called als9 the Passover, was kept in the month Abib, in commemoration of the rescue of the Israelites by Jehovah out of Egypt, which took place in that month. (See PASSOVER).
In order to make the season more remarkable, it was ordained that henceforward the month in which it took place should be reckoned the first of the national religious year (Exod. xii :2). From this time, accordingly, the year began in the month Abib, or Nisan (March—April), while the civil year continued to be reckoned from Tishri (September—October) (Exod. xii:3, 14, 27; 43 49 ; Lev. xxiii :5; Num. xxviii:t6; Deut. xvi:1-7)• The Passover lasted one week. including two Sab baths (De \Vette, Archcrol, p. 214). The first day and the last were holy, that is, devoted to the ob servances in the public temple, and to rest from all labor (Exod. xii :16; Lev. xxiii :6 ; Num. xxviii :18; Deut. xvi :8).
On the day after the Sabbath, on the Feast of Passover, a sheaf of the first fruits of the barley harvest was to be brought to the priest to be waved before Jehovah, accompanied by a burnt offering. Till this sheaf was presented, neither bread nor parched corn, nor full ripe ears of the harvest, could be eaten (Exod. xii:15-2o; xiii :6 ro ; Lev. xxiii :6-8 ; Deut. xvi :2-8 ; Num. xxviii :17 25).
(5) Penteeost. (Gr. IlevrnKocrrh, fien-tay-kos tay' , fiftieth, i. e., day). The Feast of Pentecost or of Weeks was kept to Jehovah at the end of seven weeks from the day of the Festival of Un leavened Bread, on which the sheaf was presented.
On the morrow after the seventh complete week, or on the fiftieth day, two wave loaves were pre sented as first fruits of the wheat-harvest. to gether with a burnt-offering, a sin-ofFering, and a peace-offering, etc. The day was a holy convoca tion, in which no servile work was done. The fes tival lasted but one day. It is said to have been designed to commemorate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai (Brown's Antiquities of the Jews, vol. i, p. 494; Dent. xvi :9-16; Num. xxviii:20-3r; xv :17-21).
(6) Tabernacles, Feast of, the third of the grcat annual feasts, the other two being the Pass over and Pentecost. These were: 1. The Festival of Tents (Heb. khag has-sook-kohth' A. V. "Feast of Tabernacles, 2 Chron. viii:r3; 'Ezra iii:4; Zech. Vi1:10, 20, 21; Gr. crKnportryia, skay-nop-ayg-ee'ah, John vii:2, be cause the Israelites were commanded to live in booths during its continuance (comp. Lev. xxiii: 43).
2. The Feast of Ingathering (Heb.
khag haw-aw-seef' ; Exod. xxiii:16; xxxiv :22), be cause it was held after the ingathering of the harvest and fruits.
3. The Festival of Jehovah Web. 7.1'47'.
khag yeh-ho-vaw', Lev. xxiii :39). or simply the festival (I Kings Viii:2; 2 Citron. v :3), be cause it was the most important or well known. This Feast of Ingathering or of Tabernacles began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and continued eight days, the first and last being Sabbaths. During the feast all native Israelites dwelt in booths made of the shoots of beautiful trees, palm-branches, boughs of thick leaved trees, and of the willows of the brook, when they rejoiced with their families, with the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, before Jehovah. Various offerings were made. At the end of seven years. in the year of release. at the Feast of Tabernacles, the law was requirwl to be read by the priests in the hiring of all the Israelites (Dcut. xvi :13-15; xxxi :ro-13 ; Lev. xxiii :39-43; 33-36; Nuin. xxix :12-38, 4o).
The Feast of Tabernacles was appointed partly to be an occasion of annual thanksgiving after the ingathcring of the harvest (Exod. XXX1V:22; Lev. xxiii :39; Deut. xvi :13), and partly to remind the Israelites that their fathers had lived in tents in the wilderness (Lev. xxiii:40-43). This feast took place in the end of the year, September or October.