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 feast of tabernacles on the fifteenth day of Tisri or September. read more
Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread ,.... Which began on the fourteenth of the month Abib or Nisan, and lasted seven days, during which time no leavened bread was to be eaten by the Israelites, or to be in their houses, of which see the notes on:See Gill on Exodus 12:15 , Exodus 12:18 , Exodus 12:19 , Exodus 12:10 , Exodus 13:6 , Exodus 13:7 . thou shall eat unleavened bread, seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib ; from the... read more
And the feast of harvest ,.... This is the second feast, the feast of wheat harvest, between which and barley harvest were fifty days; or between the firstfruits of the one and the first fruits of the other were seven weeks, as Aben Ezra observes, and was sometimes called the feast of weeks; at which feast were to be brought: the first fruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field ; the two wave loaves or cakes, made of the first new wheat, which was the effect of their labour... read more
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord thy God. In the city of Jerusalem, when they were come into the land of Canaan, and the temple was there built: here they were to show themselves before the Lord as being his, and devoted to his service; concerning which the Misnic doctors have the following canon F3 Misn. Chagigah, c. 1. sect. 1. ,"all are bound to appear except a man deaf and dumb, a fool, a little one, one of neither sex, or of both sexes, women,... read more
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year - The three feasts here referred to were, The feast of the Passover; The feast of Pentecost; The feast of Tabernacles. The feast of the Passover was celebrated to keep in remembrance the wonderful deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt. 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... read more
All thy males - Old men, sick men, male idiots, and male children under thirteen years of age, excepted; for so the Jewish doctors understand this command. read more
Verse 14 Exodus 23:14.Three times shalt thou keep a feast. It is strange that Moses, who elsewhere enumerates several feast-days, should here only command them to appear in God’s presence thrice a year. Where then is the feast of trumpets and the day of atonement? for undoubtedly all were to be celebrated at Jerusalem. In the first place, it is to be observed that the principal ones, to which the greater honor appertained, are here mentioned. Secondly, because the three holidays in the seventh... read more
THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT .— Continued . MISCELLANEOUS LAWS — continued . The same want of logical arrangement appears in this chapter as in the preceding one. The first nine verses contain some twelve laws, of which not more than two that are consecutive can be said to be on the same subject. There is perhaps in the section a predominant idea of warning against sins and errors connected with the trial of causes before a court, but Exodus 23:4 and Exodus 23:5 , at... read more
1 . That he will send an angel before them to be their guide, director, and helper ( Exodus 23:20 - 23). 2 . That he will be the enemy of their enemies ( Exodus 23:22 ), striking terror into them miraculously ( Exodus 23:27 ), and subjecting them to other scourges also ( Exodus 23:28 ). 3 . That he will drive out their enemies "by little and little" ( Exodus 23:30 ), not ceasing until he has destroyed them ( Exodus 23:23 ). 4 . That he will give them the entire... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 23:10-19
Here is, I. The institution of the sabbatical year, Exod. 23:10, 11. Every seventh year the land was to rest; they must not plough nor sow it at the beginning of the year, and then they could not expect any great harvest at the end of the year: but what the earth did produce of itself should be eaten from hand to mouth, and not laid up. Now this was designed, 1. To show what a plentiful land that was into which God was bringing them?that so numerous a people could have rich maintenance out of... read more