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From: Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
Celebration of the Sabbath
Celebration of the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread
Celebration of the First Fruits
Celebration of the Feast of Weeks
Celebration of the Day of Atonement
Celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles
[37] “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as
times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire, burnt offe-
rings and cereal offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day.”
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Commentary:
23:1-4. Some of the feats mentioned in this calendar are also to be found in o-
ther books (cf. Ex 23:14-19; 34:18-26; Deut 16:1). It deals first with the sabbath,
which becomes the paradigm for all the other feasts, especially as far as rest is
concerned. Such importance was given to what could or could not be done on
the sabbath that all sorts of absurd and formalistic exaggerations developed.
More than once Jesus criticized the severe interpretations devised by the
scribes—a complicated and intolerable casuistry (cf. Mt 15:1-9; 23:41 Acts
15:10).
23:5-8. The Passover is also dealt with in Exodus 12:1-14:21-28 and 13:3-10.
The first month was called Nisan; earlier on it was called Abib, “spring” or “ears
(of grain)”. The feast began at sundown. Here it is depicted as a preparation for
the feast of the unleavened bread, which began the following day, 15 Nisan, and
lasted seven days, during which bread was eaten unleavened. The religious as-
sembly took place on the first day and the last. During these assemblies various
sacrifices were offered and a sacred meal took place. We recall that it was du-
ring this feast that Jesus instituted the Eucharist, doing so in the context of the
passover supper. And it was during the Passover that Jesus was sacrificed on
he altar of the cross. St John tells us that the sacrifice of Christ began at the
sixth hour on the day of Preparation, the exact time that the passover lambs
were sacrificed. This makes the beginning of a new Passover, in which a new
victim is sacrificed, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (cf.
Jn 1:29, 36; 19:14).
23:9-14. The feast of the first fruits, although the date is not a fixed one, is con-
nected with the Passover. In the Jordan valley grain was already ripe for harvest
by this time (cf. Num 28:26-31). The offering of first fruits is based on the convic-
tion that everything comes from God. In recognition of that divine sovereignty the
first sheaf to ripen was offered in sacrifice—a tradition which developed to the
point that no one could eat the crop without first making this offering to God. The
“morrow” after the sabbath was thought by some to have been the first sabbath
after 14 Nisan. Other scholars think that the sabbath was 15 Nisan and then the
offering of the first fruits took place on 16 Nisan. The “morrow” was the base day
for reckoning the start of feast of Pentecost, seven weeks later. The offering of
the first sheaves was accompanied by the sacrifice of a year-old lamb and two
tenths of an ephah of flour (cf. the note on Ex 29:38-46) that is, approximately
4.2 liters, and a quarter of a hin of wine (approximately one litre or two pints).
23:15-22. This feast, too, has elements connected with the grain harvest. Later
on it became linked with the giving the Law at Sinai. It was called Pentecost be-
cause it came fifty days after Passover. In Hebrew it was called Aseret, the
“great convocation” or assembly. Another name for it is the feast of Weeks (a
reference to the seven weeks which had passed since the Passover). The offe-
ring of the loaves of bread made from the first sheaf expressed thanksgiving and
joy for the harvest recently completed. The various sacrifices were offered as a
sign of repentance for and as an act of adoration for the greatness of God who
had blessed the work of his people.
From a Christian point of view, it is interesting that it was on the feast of Pente-
cost that the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles. For one thing, that Pente-
cost marked the start of a new stage with another Law, a much more perfect
one, written not on stones but in the depths of men’s hearts (cf. 2 Cor 3:3). For
another, because it also seems significant that it was at the moment when the
fruits of the earth were being harvested that the Church should receive the most
precious fruit of Christ’s death on the cross, the strength of the Spirit who puri-
fies and sanctities men with his divine grace.
23:23-44. In the Bible the number seven had a sacred character; symbolizing in
some way the perfection of God. Therefore the seventh month, as also the se-
venth year, had special significance in Israel. Thus, in the seventh month (in He-
brew, Tishre) three feasts were held. The first was the feast of Trumpets, which
took place on the seventh day. It began with the sounding of trumpets; hence
its name. Trumpets were also used to greet the appearance of the new moon.
These details probably reflect traces of astral cults; however, by becoming in-
corporated into the liturgy, they became purified and raised to a new plane, to
express at different times and different ways a deep feeling of attachment to the
Creator of heaven and earth.
On the tenth of the same month the day of atonement was celebrated—Yom Kip-
pur. It was a day of penance and expiation. It began at sundown, with the start
of the sabbath rest. The grave penalties imposed for transgressions show the
importance this day had, and still has today, in Jewish liturgy.
The other great feast is that of Tabernacles, celebrated over seven days, begin-
ning on 15 Tisre. In the Code of the Covenant it is called the feast of ingathering
(cf. Ex 23:16). The last of the harvest was saved around this time, particularly
the grape harvest. The feast marked the close of the agricultural year; it was a
most joyful feast. It was also regarded as preparation for the new period which
would start immediately with the new sowing. Prayers were offered for early rains,
which were so crucial to starting the work. This was why the rite of water was so
much to the fore. Water was borne in procession from the pool of Siloe and then
poured round the altar of the temple. In Jesus’ time a bunch of myrtle and acacia
branches (from trees growing on the river bank) was shaken during the proces-
sion, thereby invoking the divine blessing of rain. In the times of Ezra and Nehe-
miah, in the middle of the 5th century BC, huts made from branches of trees
were set up on the terraces of houses or in the countryside, and the people
camped in them over the days of the feast, in memory of the pilgrimage of the
people of Israel in the desert, when they lived in tents. This custom still survives
in the Jewish religion.
The Gospel of St John has much to say about this feast and about Jesus’ acti-
vity in connection with it (cf. Jn 7:2ff), including the important revelations our
Lord made apropos of its rites: it was on this feast that Jesus proclaimed that
from his heart rivers of living water would flow, a reference to “the Spirit, which
those who believed in him were to receive” (Jn 7:39).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.