Holy days to be kept.
The solemnities of the Sabbath, 5. of Pasch and first fruites. 15. of Pentecost, 23. of Trumpettes, 26. of Expiations, 33. of Tabernacles; and with what rites the same shal be celebrated.
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:E il Signore parlò a Mosè, e disse:AND our Lord spake to Moyses, saying:Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 2Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call holy.Parla a' figliuoli d'Israele, e di' loro: Queste sono le ferie del Signore, alle quali darete il nome di Sante.Speake to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: These are the festiuities of our Lord, which you shal cal holie.Loquere filiis Israël, et dices ad eos: Hæ sunt feriæ Domini, quas vocabitis sanctas. 3Six days shall ye do work: the seventh day, because it is the rest of the sabbath, shall be called holy. You shall do no work on that day: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your habitations.Per sei giorni lavorerete: il settimo giorno, perché è la requie del sabato, sarà chiamato Santo: in questo dì non farete nissun lavoro: egli è il sabato del Signore in ogni luogo di vostra abitazione.Six daies ye shal doe worke: the seuenth day, because it is the rest of the sabbath, shal be called holie. No worke shal you doe in it: it is the Sabbath of the Lord in al your habitations.Sex diebus facietis opus: dies septimus, quia sabbati requies est, vocabitur sanctus: omne opus non facietis in eo: sabbatum Domini est in cunctis habitationibus vestris. 4These also are the holy days of the Lord, which you must celebrate in their seasons.Queste adunque sono le feste sante del Signore, le quali voi dovete celebrare a' suoi tempi.These therfore are the holie festiuities of the Lord, which you must celebrate in their times.Hæ sunt ergo feriæ Domini sanctæ, quas celebrare debetis temporibus suis. 5The first month, the fourteenth day of the month at evening, is the phase of the Lord.Il primo mese, a' quattordici del mese alla sera viene la Pasqua del Signore:The first moneth, the fourtenth day of the moneth at euen, is the Phase of the Lord:Mense primo, quartadecima die mensis ad vesperum, Phase Domini est: 6And the fifteenth day of the same month is the solemnity of the unleavened bread of the Lord. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread.E a' quindici di detto mese è la solennità degli azzimi del Signore. Mangerete azzimi per sette giorni.and the fiftenth day of this moneth is the solemnitie of the Azymes of the Lord. Seuen daies shal you eate azymes.et quintadecima die mensis hujus, solemnitas azymorum Domini est. Septem diebus azyma comedetis.
7The first day shall be most solemn unto you, and holy: you shall do no servile work therein.Il primo giorno sarà per voi solennissimo, e santo: in esso non farete alcun'opera servile:The first day shal be most solemne vnto you, and holie: no seruile worke shal you doe in it:Dies primus erit vobis celeberrimus, sanctusque: omne opus servile non facietis in eo, 8But you shall offer sacrifice in fire to the Lord seven days. And the seventh day shall be more solemn, and more holy: and you shall do no servile work therein.Ma offerirete ne' sette giorni sacrifizio al Signore sul fuoco; il settimo giorno sarà poi più celebre, e santo: e in esso non farete alcun'opera servile.but you shal offer sacrifice in fire to the Lord seuen daies. but the seuenth day shal be more solemne, and more holie: and you shal doe no seruile worke in it.sed offeretis sacrificium in igne Domino septem diebus. Dies autem septimus erit celebrior et sanctior: nullumque servile opus facietis in eo. 9And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:E il Signore parlò a Mosè, e disse:And our Lord spake to Moyses, saying:Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 10Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, and shall reap your corn, you shall bring sheaves of ears, the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.Parla a' figliuoli d'Israele, e di' loro: Allorché sarete entrati nella terra, di cui darò a voi il dominio, e farete la mietitura delle biade, porterete al sacerdote de' manipoli di spighe, come primizie delle vostre raccolte:Speake to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them. When you shal be entred into the land, which I wil geue you, and shal reape your corne, you shal bring sheaues of eares, the first fruites of your haruest to the priest:Loquere filiis Israël, et dices ad eos: Cum ingressi fueritis terram, quam ego dabo vobis, et messueritis segetem, feretis manipulos spicarum, primitias messis vestræ, ad sacerdotem: 11Who shall lift up the sheaf before the Lord, the next day after the sabbath, that it may be acceptable for you, and shall sanctify it.E quegli il secondo dì della festa terrà alzato quel fascio dinanzi al Signore, affinché sia accettevole in pro vostro, e lo santificherà.who shal eleuate the bundle before the Lord, the next day after the Sabbath, that it may be acceptable for you, and shal sanctifie it.qui elevabit fasciculum coram Domino, ut acceptabile sit pro vobis, altero die sabbati, et sanctificabit illum.
12And on the same day that the sheaf is consecrated, a lamb without blemish of the first year shall be killed for a holocaust of the Lord.E Io stesso dì, in cui si consacra il manipolo, si ucciderà un agnello dell'anno, che sia senza macchia, in olocausto al Signore.And in the self same day that the sheafe is consecrated, shal be killed a lambe without spotte of a yeare old for an holocaust of the Lord.Atque in eodem die quo manipulus consecratur, cædetur agnus immaculatus anniculus in holocaustum Domini. 13And the libations shall be offered with it: two tenths of flour tempered with oil, for a burnt offering of the Lord, and a most sweet odour. Libations also of wine, the fourth part of a hin.E con esso si offeriranno le libagioni, due decimi di fior di farina aspersa d'olio per esser bruciata in soavissimo odore al Signore: e del vino per la quarta parte d'un hin.And the libaments shal be offered with it, two tenthes of floure tempered with oile, for a burnt sacrifice of the Lord, and a most sweete odour: libaments also of wine, the fourth part of an hin.Et libamenta offerentur cum eo, duæ decimæ similæ conspersæ oleo in incensum Domini, odoremque suavissimum: liba quoque vini, quarta pars hin. 14You shall not eat either bread, or parched corn, or frumenty or the harvest, until the day that you shall offer thereof to your God. It is a precept for ever throughout your generations, and all your dwellings.Non mangerete né pane, né polenta, né minestra di grano nuovo fino a quel dì, in cui ne avrete fatta l'offerta al vostro Dio. Questa è la legge sempiterna per tutti i posteri vostri, in qualunque luogo abitiate.Bread, and fried barlie, and frumentie, you shal not eate of the corne, vntil the day that you offer therof to your God. It is a precept for euer in your generations, and al your habitations.Panem, et polentam, et pultes non comedetis ex segete, usque ad diem qua offeretis ex ea Deo vestro. Præceptum est sempiternum in generationibus, cunctisque habitaculis vestris. 15You shall count therefore from the morrow after the sabbath, wherein you offered the sheaf of firstfruits, seven full weeks.Voi adunque dal secondo giorno della festa, nel quale avrete offerto il manipolo delle primizie, conterete sette intere settimane,You shal number therfore from the morow after the Sabbath, wherin you did offer the sheafe of the first fruites, seuen ful weekes,Numerabitis ergo ab altero die sabbati, in quo obtulistis manipulum primitiarum, septem hebdomadas plenas,
16Even unto the morrow after the seventh week be expired, that is to say, fifty days: and so you shall offer a new sacrifice to the Lord.Fino all'altro giorno, in cui si compie la settima settimana, vale a dire (conterete) cinquanta giorni: e allora offerirete nuovo sacrifizio al Signore.vnto the morow after the seuenth weeke be expired, that is to say fiftie daies, and so you shal offer a new sacrifice to the Lord.usque ad alteram diem expletionis hebdomadæ septimæ, id est, quinquaginta dies: et sic offeretis sacrificium novum Domino 17Out of all your dwellings, two loaves of the firstfruits, of two tenths of flour leavened, which you shall bake for the firstfruits of the Lord.Due pani di primizia fatti di due decimi di fior di farina fermentata, i quali voi farete cuocere in primizie del Signore in tutti i luoghi di vostra abitazione.out of al your habitations, two loaues of first fruites, of two tenthes of floure leauened, the which you shal bake for the first fruites of the Lord.ex omnibus habitaculis vestris, panes primitiarum duos de duabus decimis similæ fermentatæ, quos coquetis in primitias Domini. 18And you shall offer with the loaves seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one calf from the herd, and two rams, and they shall be for a holocaust with their libations for a most sweet odour to the Lord.E insieme co' pani offerirete sette agnelli dell'anno senza macchia, e un vitello di branco, e due arieti, che serviranno all'olocausto colle loro libagioni in odor soavissimo al Signore.And you shal offer with the breades seuen lambes without spotte of a yeare old, and one calfe from the heard, and two rammes, and they shal be for an holocaust with their libamentes, for a most sweete odour to the Lord.Offeretisque cum panibus septem agnos immaculatos anniculos, et vitulum de armento unum, et arietes duos, et erunt in holocaustum cum libamentis suis, in odorem suavissimum Domini. 19You shall offer also a buck goat for sin, and two lambs of the first year for sacrifices of peace offerings.Offerirete ancora un capro per il peccato, e due agnelli dell'anno per ostie pacifiche.You shal make a bucke goate also for sinne, and two lambes of a yeare old for hostes of pacifiques.Facietis et hircum pro peccato, duosque agnos anniculos hostias pacificorum. 20And when the priest hath lifted them up with the loaves of the firstfruits before the Lord, they shall fall to his use.E quando il sacerdote gli avrà elevati dinanzi al Signore insieme co' pani di primizia, rimarranno ad uso del sacerdote.And when the priest hath eleuated them with the breades of the first fruites before the Lord, they shal turne to his vse.Cumque elevaverit eos sacerdos cum panibus primitiarum coram Domino, cedent in usum ejus.
21And you shall call this day most solemn, and most holy. You shall do no servile work therein. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in all your dwellings and generations.Voi chiamerete questo dì solennissimo, e santissimo: non farete in esso nissun'opera servile. Questa sarà legge eterna in tutti i luoghi, dove abitiate, e per tutta la vostra posterità.And you shal cal this day most solemne, and most holie: no seruile worke shal you doe in it. It shal be an euerlasting ordinance in al your habitations, and generations.Et vocabitis hunc diem celeberrimum, atque sanctissimum: omne opus servile non facietis in eo. Legitimum sempiternum erit in cunctis habitaculis, et generationibus vestris. 22And when you reap the corn of your land, you shall not cut it to the very ground: neither shall you gather the ears that remain. But you shall leave them for the poor and for the strangers. I am the Lord your God.Quando poi mieterete le biade de' vostri campi, non le taglierete fino a terra; né raccoglierete le spighe, che restano; ma le lascerete pe' poveri, e pe' forestieri. Io sono il Signore Dio vostro.And after you reape the corne of your land, you shal not cut it to the verie ground: neither shal you gather the eares that remaine, but you shal let them alone for the poore and for strangers. I am the Lord your God.Postquam autem messueritis segetem terræ vestræ, nec secabitis eam usque ad solum, nec remanentes spicas colligetis: sed pauperibus et peregrinis dimittetis eas. Ego sum Dominus Deus vester. 23And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:E il Signore parlò a Mosè, e disse:And our Lord spake to Moyses, saying:Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 24Say to the children of Israel: The seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall keep a sabbath, a memorial, with the sound of trumpets, and it shall be called holy.Tu dirai a' figliuoli d'Israele: Il settimo mese, il primo giorno del mese sarà giorno di festa per voi memorabile pel suono delle trombe, e chiamerassi Santo:Speake to the children of Israel: The seuenth moneth, on the first day of the moneth, shal be a Sabbath, a memorial, by sounding of trumpettes, and shal be called holie:Loquere filiis Israël: Mense septimo, prima die mensis, erit vobis sabbatum, memoriale, clangentibus tubis, et vocabitur sanctum: 25You shall do no servile work therein, and you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord.In esso non farete alcun'opera servile, e offerirete olocausto al Signore.no seruile worke shal you doe in it, and you shal offer holocaust to the Lord.omne opus servile non facietis in eo, et offeretis holocaustum Domino.
26And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:E il Signore parlò a Mosè, e disse:And our Lord spake to Moyses, saying:Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 27Upon the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of atonement. It shall be most solemn, and shall be called holy: and you shall afflict your souls on that day, and shall offer a holocaust to the Lord.A' dieci di questo mese settimo sarà il dì celeberrimo della espiazione, e sarà chiamato Santo: e in esso umilierete l'anime vostre, e offerirete olocausto al Signore.vpon the tenth day of this seuenth moneth shal be the day of expiations most solemne, and it shal be called holie: and you shal afflict your soules in it, and shal offer holocaust to the Lord.Decimo die mensis hujus septimi, dies expiationum erit celeberrimus, et vocabitur sanctus: affligetisque animas vestras in eo, et offeretis holocaustum Domino. 28You shall do no servile work in the time of this day: because it is a day of propitiation, that the Lord your God may be merciful unto you.Nissun'opera servile voi farete per tutto quel giorno: perocché egli è giorno di propiziazione, affinché il Signore Dio vostro vi sia propizio.No seruile worke shal you doe the time of this day: because it is a day of propitiation, that the Lord your God may become propitious vnto you.Omne opus servile non facietis in tempore diei hujus: quia dies propitiationis est, ut propitietur vobis Dominus Deus vester. 29Every soul that is not afflicted on this day, shall perish from among his people.Qualunque uomo, che non si umilierà in tal giorno, sarà sterminato dalla società del suo popolo:Euerie soule, that is not afflicted this day, shal perish out of his people:Omnis anima, quæ afflicta non fuerit die hac, peribit de populis suis: 30And every soul that shall do any work, the same will I destroy from among his people.E chi avrà fatto alcun lavoro, lo scancellerò dal registro del suo popolo.and which shal doe anie worke, the same wil I destroy out of his people.et quæ operis quippiam fecerit, delebo eam de populo suo. 31You shall do no work therefore on that day: it shall be an everlasting ordinance unto you in all your generations, and dwellings.Non farete adunque allora nissun lavoro. Questa sarà legge sempiterna per voi, e per la vostra posterità in ogni luogo dove abitiate.No worke therfore shal you doe in it: it shal be an euerlasting odinance vnto you in al your generations, and habitations.Nihil ergo operis facietis in eo: legitimum sempiternum erit vobis in cunctis generationibus, et habitationibus vestris.
32It is a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls beginning on the ninth day of the month. From evening until evening you shall celebrate your sabbaths.Egli è giorno di requie: e voi il nono giorno del mese umilierete le anime vostre. Celebrerete le vostre feste da una sera all'altra.It is a Sabbath of resting, and you shal afflict your soules the ninth day of the moneth: from euen vntil euen you shal celebrate your sabbathes.Sabbatum requietionis est, et affligetis animas vestras die nono mensis: a vespera usque ad vesperam celebrabitis sabbata vestra. 33And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:E il Signore parlò a Mosè, e disse:And our Lord spake to Moyses, saing:Et locutus est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 34Say to the children of Israel: From the fifteenth day of this same seventh month, shall be kept the feast of tabernacles, seven days to the Lord.Tu dirai a' figliuoli d'Israele: Da' quindici di questo mese settimo saranno le ferie de' tabernacoli per sette giorni in onor del Signore.Speake to the children of Israel: From the fiftenth day of this seuenth moneth, shal be the festiuitie of tabernacles seuen daies to the Lord.Loquere filiis Israël: A quintodecimo die mensis hujus septimi, erunt feriæ tabernaculorum septem diebus Domino. 35The first day shall be called most solemn and most holy: you shall do no servile work therein. And seven days you shall offer holocausts to the Lord.Il primo giorno sarà celeberrimo, e santissimo: in esso non farete nissun'opera servile.The first day shal be called most solemne and most holie: no seruile worke shal you doe in it. And seuen daies you shal offer holocaustes to the Lord.Dies primus vocabitur celeberrimus atque sanctissimus: omne opus servile non facietis in eo. 36The eighth day also shall be most solemn and most holy: and you shall offer holocausts to the Lord. For it is the day of assembly and congregation. You shall do no servile work therein.E ne' sette giorni offerirete olocausto al Signore: l'ottavo giorno parimente sarà celeberrimo, e santissimo, e offerirete olocausto al Signore: perocché è giorno di raunanza, e di congrega: in esso non farete opera servile.The eight day also shal be most solemne and most holie, and you shal offer holocaustes to the Lord: for it is of assemblie and collection: no seruile worke shal you doe in it.Et septem diebus offeretis holocausta Domino. Dies quoque octavus erit celeberrimus, atque sanctissimus, et offeretis holocaustum Domino: est enim cœtus atque collectæ: omne opus servile non facietis in eo.
37These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall call most solemn and most holy, and shall offer on them oblations to the Lord: holocausts and libations according to the rite of every day.Queste sono le ferie del Signore, le quali voi chiamerete solennissime, e santissime, e in esse offerirete al Signore obblazioni, e olocausti, e libagioni secondo il rito proprio di ciascun giorno:These are the festiuities of the Lord, which you shal cal most solemne and most holie, and shal offer in them oblations to the Lord, holocausts and libaments according to the rite of euerie day:Hæ sunt feriæ Domini, quas vocabitis celeberrimas atque sanctissimas, offeretisque in eis oblationes Domino, holocausta et libamenta juxta ritum uniuscujusque diei: 38Besides the sabbaths of the Lord, and your gifts, and those things that you offer by vow, or which you shall give to the Lord voluntarily.Oltre i sacrifizii de' sabati del Signore, e i doni, che farete, e quello che offerirete per ragione di voto, ovver di libera elezione al Signore.beside the sabbathes of the Lord, and your giftes and those that you shal offer by vow, or which you shal giue to the Lord voluntarily.exceptis sabbatis Domini, donisque vestris, et quæ offeretis ex voto, vel quæ sponte tribuetis Domino. 39So from the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you shall have gathered in all the fruits of your land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day and the eighth shall be a sabbath: that is a day of rest.Da' quindici adunque del mese settimo, quando avrete ragunati tutti i frutti della vostra campagna, celebrerete questa festa del Signore per sette giorni. Il dì primo, e l'ottavo, è sabato, cioè requie.Therfore from the fiftenth day of the seuenth moneth, when you shal haue gathered al the fruites of your land, you shal celebrate the festiuitie of the Lord seuen daies, on the first day and the eight shal be a sabbath, that is rest.A quintodecimo ergo die mensis septimi, quando congregaveritis omnes fructus terræ vestræ, celebrabitis ferias Domini septem diebus: die primo et die octavo erit sabbatum, id est, requies. 40And you shall take to you on the first day the fruits of the fairest tree, and branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook: And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.E il primo dì prenderete de' rami de' più begli alberi: e frondi di palma, e rami dell'albero più ombroso, e del salcio de' torrenti, e farete festa dinanzi al Signore Dio vostro:And you shal take to you the first day the fruites of a most fa••e tree, and the branches of palmes, and boughes of the tree with thinke leaues, and willowes of the brooke, and you shal reioice before the Lord your God.Sumetisque vobis die primo fructus arboris pulcherrimæ, spatulasque palmarum, et ramos ligni densarum frondium, et salices de torrente, et lætabimini coram Domino Deo vestro.
41And you shall keep the solemnity thereof seven days in the year. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. In the seventh month shall you celebrate this feast.E celebrerete questa solennità ogni anno per sette giorni. Sarà questa legge eterna per la vostra posterità. Celebrerete tal festa il settimo mese,And you shal celebrate the solemnitie therof seuen daies in the yeare. It shal be an euerlasting ordinance in your generations. The seuenth moneth shal you celebrate the festiuitie,Celebrabitisque solemnitatem ejus septem diebus per annum: legitimum sempiternum erit in generationibus vestris. Mense septimo festa celebrabitis, 42And you shall dwell in bowers seven days. Every one that is of the race of Israel, shall dwell in tabernacles:E abiterete sotto capanne per sette dì: ogni uomo della stirpe d'Israele starà ne' tabernacoli:and shal dwel in bowres seuen daies. euerie one, that is of the stocke of Israel shal abide in tabernacles:et habitabitis in umbraculis septem diebus: omnis, qui de genere est Israël, manebit in tabernaculis, 43That your posterity may know, that I made the children of Israel to dwell in tabernacles, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.Affinché imparino i vostri posteri, com'io ho fatto abitare sotto le tende i figliuoli d'Israele nel trargli fuora dalla terra d'Egitto. Io il Signore Dio vostro.that your postoririe may learne that I made the children of Israel, to dwel in tabernacles, when I brought them out of the Land of Aegypt. I the Lord your God.ut discant posteri vestri quod in tabernaculis habitare fecerim filios Israël, cum educerem eos de terra Ægypti. Ego Dominus Deus vester. 44And Moses spoke concerning the feasts of the Lord to the children of Israel.Mosè adunque dichiarò a' figliuoli d'Israele le feste del Signore.And Moyses spake cōcerning the solemnities of our Lord to the children of Israel.Locutusque est Moyses super solemnitatibus Domini ad filios Israël.
23:1
Year of the World 2514.
23:2
Menochius
Holy. The Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint add, "and meet together; or, these are my feasts of assembly." On these days the people were called together to hear the word of God, etc. (Menochius)
23:3
Haydock
Sabbath. Hebrew, "the rest of rest;" a day in which no unnecessary servile work must be done, no more than on the great holidays, ver. 6, 8. (Haydock)
Called holy, because it shall be really so: in which sense the word is often used, Isaias 9:6, etc.
Day; you must not even dress meat, which was also forbidden on the day of expiation.
Lord, on which he ceased from work, and which you must keep in his honour.
Habitations. In the temple, the priests were intent upon sacrificing, which was indeed a material, but not a formal, violation of the sabbath, Matthew 12:5.
23:6
23:8
In fire. Septuagint, "holocausts," extraordinary ones, besides the daily burnt-offerings, Numbers 28:19.
Calmet
More holy than the five intermediate days, on which servile work was allowed. In this and the former verse, more and most are not specified in the Hebrew and Septuagint. (Calmet)
23:10
Land of Chanaan, at which time these feasts began to be observed. (Menochius) See Leviticus 2:14.
Before the harvest commenced, first-fruits were offered to the Lord. A gomer containing about three pints of barley was given to the priests, by the nation at large, as each individual was not bound to make a particular solemn offering. The judges deputed three men to gather this barley on the evening of the 15th [of] Nisan, where the neighbourhood assembled near Jerusalem. It was gathered by them in three different fields, after having been thrice assured that the sun was set, and that they had leave to reap, in answer to their triple demands on each head. Then they placed the ears in three boxes, which they brought to the court of the sanctuary, and having ground the barley, and poured a log of oil and an handful of incense upon it, presented it to the priest, who heaving it in the form of a cross, threw as much as he could hold in his hand upon the altar, and kept the rest for himself. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 3:10; etc. Private people offered also in kind or in money their first-fruits, or between the 40th and the 60th part of what their land produced. This custom is almost as ancient as the world, (Genesis 4:3,) and we may say that it forms a part of natural religion, which all nations have observed. Porphyrius esteems it an impiety to neglect it. He says that the Thoes, living on the borders of Thrace, were in a moment destroyed, because they offered neither sacrifices nor first-fruits. (De Abstin. 2:7.) The ancient Romans and Greeks were very punctual in this respect. (Pliny, 18:20.) Those officers who collected the first-fruits among the latter were styled Parasites. Many of the festivals among the heathens, occurred at the end of harvest. (Aristotle, ad Nicom. viii.) The Jews might reap their wheat, but they could not taste it, before they had offered the first-fruits, at Pentecost. (Chap. 23:17; Exodus 23:16.)
Of ears. Hebrew homer, or gomer, "a sheaf," denotes also a measure, which was called an assaron, containing almost three pints.
23:11
Calmet
Sabbath. Onkelos has "the good day," from which the 50 days of Pentecost were counted. (Calmet)
23:14
Corn (polentam). Some translate bruised corn, or a sort of cake. See Leviticus 2:4.
Grotius
Dwellings, even out of the holy land, which was peculiar to this law. (Grotius)
23:15
Menochius
Sabbath. Not the ninth day of the week, but the first day of the Passover; from the morrow of which seven weeks or 49 days were reckoned; and the next day was Pentecost. (Menochius)
Calmet
They began, therefore, to count on the 16th of Nisan, and end on the 6th of the third month Sivan. All the intermediate days took their denomination from this second day of the Passover; so that the next Saturday was called the first sabbath after the second day; in Greek Deuteroproton, the second-first; (Luke 6:1,) a term which had puzzled all the interpreters until Jos. Scaliger made this discovery. (Emend. vi.) The Samaritans count from the day after that sabbath which follows the Passover; so that if the festival fall on Monday, they celebrate Pentecost later than the Jews. See their Letter to Huntington. (Calmet)
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Calmet
Sacrifice. Hebrew mincha, which relates to the offerings of corn and liquors. Two loaves of wheaten flour leavened, were presented probably by the nation. This festival was instituted in memory of the law being given from Mount Sinai, which was a figure of the law of grace promulgated by the Holy Ghost and by the apostles, on the day of Pentecost. (Calmet)
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Houbigant
Loaves. The Protestants supply wave loaves, (Haydock) though their Hebrew text has nothing. The Samaritan is more correct. (Houbigant)
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Lambs. More were prescribed, Numbers 28:27. Josephus joins all together. ([Antiquities?] B. 3:10.)
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Calmet
Use. None of the peace-offerings were burnt upon the altar, as the bread was leavened. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Most holy. Hebrew, "a holy convocation." (Haydock)
It is generally supposed that it had an octave, though the Scripture says nothing of it.
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Memorial, or a memorable sabbath. This third great festival sanctified the commencement of the civil year in Tisri, the sabbatical month, according to the ecclesiastical calculation. (Tirinus) See Numbers 29:3.
Calmet
The sound of trumpets, which ushered in the year with great solemnity, reminded the Jews of the approaching fast, ver. 27, (Maimonides) and of those terrible sounds which had been heard at Sinai. (Theodoret, q. 32.) The Rabbins say that a ram's horn was used, because Abraham had sacrificed a ram instead of his son. (Genesis 22:11.; Zacharias 9:14.) The Jews on this day sound the horn 30 times, feast, and wish one another a happy year. (Boxtorf, xyn. xix.) We know not on what account this festival was instituted. But it was probably ordained in order that the people might learn to thank God for the favours received during the past year, and might beg his blessing on that, upon which they were now entering. (Calmet)
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Calmet
Servile is not in the original, or in the other versions, nor in the Vulgate, ver. 30; whence it is inferred, that this day of atonement was to be kept like the sabbath: so that even meat could not be made ready on it lawfully, Leviticus 16:29. (Calmet)
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Menochius
Every. It was difficult for any grown-up person to be entirely guiltless, amid such a variety of precepts, (Menochius) which St. Peter says neither they nor their fathers could bear, Acts 15:10: and St. James (iii.) observes, in many things we all offend. If any proved so happy as to keep without blame, (Luke 1:6.; Haydock) they were bound, at least, to grieve for the injury done to God by their fellow-members. See Daniel 9:5. (Menochius)
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Calmet
Sabbaths. The Church adopts this custom in her divine office. The Jewish day began and ended with sun-set, Exodus 12:6. (Calmet)
Haydock
No part of the ninth of Tisri belonged to this feast, (ver. 27,) which only began at the expiration of it. (Haydock)
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Tirinus
Seven days, during which the people were bound to rejoice, but not to abstain from servile work; except on the first and eighth day. (Tirinus)
Tabernacles: Greek Scenopegia; because, during the octave, the Jews lived in tents, or booths, made of branches, etc., ver. 42.
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Most holy. Hebrew, "an holy assembly." The great day of the festivity, John 7:37.
Calmet
Congregation. Hebrew hatsereth, "retention." All were bound to wait till this day was over. In other festivals, it was sufficient if they were present one day. This was the concluding day of the feast of tabernacles. Septuagint exodion. Plutarch (Sym. 4:5.) observes, that this festival greatly resembles that of Bacchus. Ovid (Fast. iii.) speaking of the feast of Anna Perenna, describes it thus: Sub Jove pars durat, pauci tentoria ponunt, Sub quibus e ramis frondea facta casa est. Casaubon (on Athen. 4:9. and 5:5.) mentions other feasts, on which the pagans dwelt under tents. The devil has caused his slaves to imitate most of the holy ceremonies of the true religion. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Eighth. On the feast of the Passover, the 7th day after the 15th was kept holy, because the 14th, or the Phase, made also a part of the solemnity, ver. 5, 8. (Haydock)
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Tirinus
Fairest tree, branches of the orange or citron tree, laden with blossoms and fruit. (Tirinus)
Josephus ([Antiquities?] 3:10,) says, they took branches of myrtle, willows, and palm trees, on which they fixed oranges. This is the fruit which the Hebrews generally understand to be hereby designated. In the same sense the Arabic and Syriac translate "golden apples."
Thick trees, of any species; though Josephus, etc., restrain it to the myrtle, which was certainly used on this occasion, 2 Esdras 8:12.
Willows. Septuagint adds also, "branches of agnus from the torrent." Perhaps Moses only meant, that these branches should be used in forming the tents; but the Jews hold them in their hands, while they go in solemn procession round the pulpit in their synagogues, during every day of the octave, before breakfast, crying out Ana hosiah na, etc., "Save us we beseech thee, O Lord; we beseech thee, grant us good success." They gave the title of hosannah to those branches; in allusion to which, the children sung in honour of Jesus Christ, Hosanna to the Son of David.
Calmet
Rejoice; dancing and singing before the altar of holocausts, 2 Kings 6:14. The wisdom of God shines forth, in thus attaching to his worship a carnal people, by intermingling with the most solemn ceremonies some relaxation and pleasure. By calling them together so often in the year, they became also better acquainted with one another, and more in love with their religion and country. The ancient lawgivers entertained the like sentiments. (Seneca, Strabo x.) But the pagans generally carried these diversions to excess. (Calmet)
Haydock
In this chapter we find six festivals specified: 1. sabbath; 2. Passover; 3. Pentecost; 4. trumpets; 5. expiation; 6. tabernacles, lasting till the octave day of assembly and collection. These three last were celebrated in the 7th month, the 1st of the civil year. There was also a feast on all the new moons, Numbers 28:11. (Haydock)
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Days. Tostatus affirms they might pass the nights in their houses; but most people suppose, the Jews spent the whole octave in bowers.
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St. Augustine
Feasts. In the institution of these feasts, as in the other regulations of Moses, there was something ceremonial, which might be altered, and something moral, which regards even those times when the Jewish religion was to cease. (St. Augustine, q. 43.)
St. Gregory
Hence we must conclude, that the obligation of keeping certain days holy, must always remain. But those appointed for the Jews, as they foretold the future Messias, must be changed, lest otherwise we might seem to confess that he is still to come. (Romans xiv.; Galatians iv.; Colossians ii.) We are not therefore allowed to Judaize abstaining from work on the Jewish sabbath, (Council of Laodicea,) as Antichrist will require. (St. Gregory, ep. 11:3.)
Worthington
But we must keep Sunday instead, (as even Protestants maintain, though there be no Scripture for it) by authority of tradition, in memory of Christ's resurrection, etc. (St. Jerome, ep. ad Hed. ib.[ibid.?, St. Gregory, ep. 11:3.?]; St. Augustine, de C.[City of God?] 22:30.) So also we observe the Christian festivals, in honour of our Lord and his saints, instead of those which God appointed for the Jews, either by himself or by his ministers: for we find that some were instituted after the time of Moses, (Esther ix., and 1 Machabees iv.) and these were sanctioned by the observance of Christ himself, It was the feast of the dedication, and Jesus walked in the temple, etc., John 10:22-23. (Worthington)
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2. The festiuities] As other lawes written by Moyses concerning Sacrifices, Sacraments, Degrees hindering mariage, punishments of sinnes, and the Festiual daies perteine to the seruice of God. like, are partly moral, pertaining to the law of nature, partly ceremonial, or iudicial, which may be altered: so this law of festiuities is partly moral, for that al men are bound to kepe some festiual dayes in honour of God, partly ceremonial, and so the Sabbath day was kept holie in the old Testament, the seuenth day of the weke, and other feastes, the dayes here prescribed. But these particular feastes and times. are abrogated by Christ. whom they prefigured. In so much that now it is not lawful to kepe them, for it would signifie that Christ were not come, as S. Paul teacheth (Rom. 14. Galat. 4. Colloss. 2. and in other places) and it were plaine Iudaisme, and Heresie It is heresie to kepe the Sabbath holie day. condemned by the Councel of Laodicia cap. 29. accursing them that Iudaize abstayning that day from vvorkes. S. Gregorie also resuteth this heresie, li. 11. Epist. 3 shewing that Antichrist wil embrace it fauouring the Iewes: In place wherof the next day (which we cal sunday) is made a perpetual holie day, by authoritie of the Church, and called dies Dominica our Lords day (Apoc. 1.) In place therof we kepe Sunday. And this change the Protestants confesse to be lawful and necessarie, though we haue no other expresse scripture, when, or by whom it was donne, but only that S. Iohn had his reuelation in our Lords day, but by perpetual tradition al Christians know, that the day after the sabbath is our wekelie holie day, in memorie of Christs Resurrection the same day, and in figure of the general resurrection of al men, and of life euerlasting to the blessed. S. Aug. li. 22. c. 30. ciuit. & Epist. 119. c. 15. and S. Hierome Epist. ad Hedib. The same reason and authoritie do also warrant the change of other feastes, and institution of new, in honour of God, our Sauiour Iesus Christ, his Mother, and Other feastes also changed, and new instituted by the same authoritie. other Sainctes, and in memorie of benefites receiued, as here we see in the old Testament diuers were commanded by God, some also instituted long after Moyses, as by Mardocheus and other Iewes, Ester. 9. and the restauration with new dedication of the altar 1. Machab. 4. obserued by our sauiour Ioan. 10. v. 22.
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There were eight seueral, feastes commāded by this law (besides the dailie sacrifice) mentioned. Num. 28. & 29. of which onlie seuen are here expressed.
The Sabbath in memorie that God created al things in six daies & rested the seuenth.
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Pasch in memorie of their deliuerie from Aegypt.
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Concordance 1.
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Concordance 2.
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Concordance 3.
Pentecost in remembrance of receiuing the law.
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Concordance See chap. 7. v. 14.
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Feast of trumpets, in memorie that a rāme sticking by the hornes was offered by Abraham in stead of Isaac.
Concordance 4.
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Feast of Expiation i• memorie of the ••nne in worshipping the calfe, and for al sinnes forgotten, or vnknowne.
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Concordance 5.
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Feast of Tabernacles, to remēber Gods protection in the wildernes, where they dwelled in tabernacles 40. yeares.
Concordance 6.
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Feast of Assemblie and collection in memorie of peace geuen in the land of promise.
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Concordance 7.
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These feasts were euerlastīg to the Iewes in their generations, that is, neuer to be altered by them, nor during their state. S. Aug. q. 43. in Exod.
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Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.11
… Now of these feasts passover is one, which in the passage before us is said to be that not of the Lord, but of the Jews. In another passage, too,
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Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.40
In like manner does He also know the very time it behoved Him to suffer, since the law prefigures His passion. Accordingly, of all the festal days of the Jews He chose the passover. In this Moses had declared that there was a sacred mystery: “It is the Lord’s passover.”
St Anatolius of Alexandria † AD 283 The Paschal Canon of Anatolius of Alexandria 11
… for on the Lord’s day was it that light was shown to us in the beginning, and now also in the end, the comforts of all present and the tokens of all future blessings. For the Lord ascribes no less praise to the twentieth day than to the fourteenth. For in the book of Leviticus
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 44.9
… What then said those who neither saw nor were anointed? “This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath.” He it was rather who kept it, who was without sin. For this is the spiritual Sabbath, to have no sin. In fact, brethren, it is of this that God admonishes us, when He commends the Sabbath to our notice: “Thou shalt do no servile work.”
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St Ephrem the Syrian † AD 373 Ephraim Syrus: Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh 3
… In the winter which strips the fruit of the branches off from the barren vine, Fruit sprang up unto us; in the cold that bares all the trees, a shoot was green for us of the house of Jesse. In December when the seed is hidden in the earth, there sprouted forth from the Womb the Ear of Life. In March when the seed was sprouting in the air, a Sheaf
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St Ephrem the Syrian † AD 373 Ephraim Syrus: Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh 2
Blessed the Shepherd Who became a Lamb for our reconcilement! Blessed the Branch Who became the Cup of our Redemption! Blessed also be the Cluster, Fount of medicine of life! Blessed also be the Tiller, Who became Wheat, that He might be sown; and a Sheaf,
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus 2.107
… “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a rest unto you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, it shall be called holy unto you. Ye shall not do any servile work, and ye shall kindle a whole burnt-offering unto the Lord.”
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St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 1
… not even if thou shouldest bow down thy neck like a hook, and shouldest strew sackcloth and ashes under thee; neither thus shall ye call the fast acceptable .’ That we may be able to shew what kind of persons we should be when we fast, and of what character the fast should be, listen again to God commanding Moses, and saying, as it is written in Leviticus
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 90
We proclaim the holy Fast of the Seventh Month, dearly-beloved, for the exercise of common devotions, confidently inciting you with fatherly exhortations to make Christian by your observance that which was formerly Jewish
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 53
… and, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called the fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea. Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them.” ( v. 7–9 .) By “the fast” here, I suppose he means that of the Jews.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 130.10
… laid a snare for him, saying, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” Under the law, in the seventh month after the blowing of trumpets and on the tenth day of the month, a fast was proclaimed for the whole Jewish people, and that soul was cut off from among his people which on that day preferred self-indulgence to self-denial.
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St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 1
… a convocation, and a holy day shall it be to you; and ye shall humble your souls, and offer whole burnt-offerings unto the Lord.’ And afterwards, that the law might be defined on this point, He proceeds to say; ‘Every soul that shall not humble itself, shall be cut off from the people
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John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 3.11
But we ought to know this, too, that on Sunday only one office is celebrated before dinner, at which, out of regard for the actual service
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St Methodius † AD 311 The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity 9.1
… It shall be a statute for ever in your generations; ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths; that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
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St Methodius † AD 311 The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity 9.3
“And ye shall take you,” He says, “on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows (and the tree of chastity) of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God.”
St Methodius † AD 311 The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity 9.4
“And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 52.10
… Let bodily leprosy be counted worse than spots upon the soul. Let us be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, but let us slay no lamb and celebrate no mystic passover, for where there is no temple, the law forbids these acts. Let us pitch tents in the seventh month
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2. THESE ARE THE FEASTS OF THE LORD,—these are festivals, from which one must abstain from all servile work, and apply oneself to divine worship. In Hebrew it is, these are appointed feasts, which you shall call mikrae kodesh (Septuagint: kletas hagias), that is, holy convocations; for on these feasts the people were convoked to hear the law, and for sacrifices and prayers. Whence the wise men of the Hebrews said of these: "Whoever despises solemnities, or public assemblies of the Church, shall have no part in the future age." Hence the Church, from the institution of St. Sylvester the Pontiff, calls all days ferias: first, because every day a Christian must abstain from vices and cease from them; second, because as far as ecclesiastical offices and the ministers of the Church are concerned, all days are ferias, that is, feasts; for they must be occupied with nothing other than divine worship. Thus Abulensis. Just as therefore the Gentiles named days from the seven planets, as if one of them ruled over each day, so that they say the day of the Sun, Moon, Mars; the Jews indeed designated these days from the sabbath, so that they say the first, second, third, fourth of the sabbath, for the first, second, third, fourth day of the week: thus Christians call their days ferias, so that they say feria prima, secunda, tertia, quarta. In a similar manner Diogenes, seeing a guest preparing himself with such zeal for a certain feast: "Does not, he said, a good man consider every day a feast? and indeed, if we live soberly it is exceedingly illustrious. For this world is a most holy temple and most divine; into it man is brought when he is born, that he may continually behold, not mute statues, but living and moving images, namely the sun, moon, stars, rivers, plants, animals," etc. Plutarch is witness, in the book On the Tranquility of the Soul. How far therefore do Christians stray from the purpose of feasts, who after the manner of the Gentiles abstain from labor on feasts, and devote themselves to luxury! The wise Epaminondas saw this, though a Gentile, who, while the city was celebrating a feast, and all were devoted to wine and banquets, met someone squalid and thoughtful; when asked why: "That you may be free, he said, for leisure and symposia." Plutarch is witness in his Life. Most excellently St. Gregory of Nazianzus, oration 44: "To keep festival, he says, for us is nothing other than to gather for the soul something of those things which are firm and stable." And St. Jerome, epistle to Eustochium: "We, he says, must provide more carefully that we celebrate the solemn day not so much by abundance of foods, as by exultation of spirit; because it is very absurd to wish to honor the Martyr by excessive satiety, whom you know pleased God by fastings." See St. Bernard, sermon 3 On the Advent. Finally hear Isaiah, chapter LVIII, verse 13: "If you turn away, he says, your foot from the sabbath, to do your own will on my holy day, and call the sabbath delightful," etc. "while you do not walk in your own ways, and your own will is not found, so as to speak a word, then shall you be delighted in the Lord," etc. The Gentiles therefore celebrate feasts with the belly, Christians with the mind, worshipping God in spirit and in truth. Deservedly the Gentile Antisthenes, when asked, "What is a feast?" answered: "It is, he said, an incitement to gluttony, and an occasion for luxury;" Maximus is witness, sermon 27. Note: The ferias or feasts of the Jews were twofold: for some were instituted by God, others by the Jews themselves. Seven feasts were instituted by God: first, the sabbath; second, the Passover; third, Pentecost; fourth, the feast of trumpets; fifth, the feast of propitiation, or expiation; sixth, the feast of tabernacles; seventh, the feast of assembly or gathering. The eighth feast of the New Moon is omitted here, of which Numbers XXVIII, 11. Four feasts were instituted by the Jews: first, the feast of lots, the 13th of Adar, or February, in memory of the deliverance of the Jews through Esther, Esther IX, 17, 26, 28, 29; second, the feast of the dedication, or purification of the temple, which was made under Judas Maccabaeus, I Maccabees IV, 49; third, the feast of the reception from heaven of sacred fire, II Maccabees I, 18; fourth, the feast on account of Nicanor slain, I Maccabees VII, 49, and II Maccabees XV, verse 37: concerning which see Ribera, book V On the Temple, chapter XVII and following, and Genebrard in the Hebrew Calendar. Note: Feasts instituted by God had these three things: first, abstention from labors; second, the offering of sacrifices proper to each feast, and different from others, and prescribed by God, as appears Numbers XXVIII and XXIX; third, ceremonies peculiar to each feast, as in the feast of the Passover or unleavened bread there was the offering of a sheaf of ears: in Pentecost there was the offering of new loaves: in the feast of trumpets, there was the sounding of trumpets: on the day of expiation, affliction and fasting were proclaimed: in the feast of tabernacles, they dwelt in tabernacles, and there they exulted with branches and fruits.
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3. THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH, A REST. — In Hebrew, the seventh day is the sabbath of sabbaths, that is, a rest of rest, as if to say, the greatest rest and cessation from work will be on the seventh day, and from this the day will be called sabbath, that is, rest. Thus Plato used to say that the Gods, taking pity on the labors of men, instituted festivals, so that they might obtain from them some rest and relaxation from their labors. This was the first and greatest festival of the Jews, whose causes and significations I shall set forth in Deuteronomy V, 12. IT SHALL BE CALLED HOLY, — that is, this day of the sabbath shall be holy, so that it may justly be called holy, that is, dedicated to my worship. Thus often to be called is taken for to be, as in Isaiah IX, 6: "It shall be called (that is, shall be) wonderful." Romans IX, 25 and 26: "I will call them my people, which were not my people," as if to say, the Gentiles who before were not my people, shall henceforth be my people, because they shall be Christians: wherefore I shall have them and cherish them as my people. YOU SHALL DO NO WORK THEREIN, — that is, none whatsoever. Whence on the sabbath it was not lawful to kindle fire, nor to cook food, nor to do any other work, just as neither on the day of expiation, as is said in verse 31; but in all other festivals these things were lawful. Whence concerning those it is said here: "You shall do no servile work in them;" but concerning the sabbath and the festival of expiation it is said absolutely and generally: "You shall do no work therein." Yet the Jews could on the sabbath eat, drink, water beasts, as Christ asserts in Luke XIII, 15, perform cures, and in case of necessity gather and prepare food: because these things are necessary. IT IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD. — "Of the Lord," that is, dedicated to the Lord; or secondly, "of the Lord," that is, on which the Lord rested in the first creation of all things; thirdly, "of the Lord," on which namely rest must be observed in honor and for the worship of the Lord God, and this in all your dwellings, because in the tabernacle or temple there was no rest on the day of the sabbath; for then the priests therein offered sacrifices, that is, slew victims, flayed them, cut them up, cooked them, and this is what Christ objects to the Jews in Matthew XII, 5: "Have you not read in the law, that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple break the sabbath (materially), and are without blame?"
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5. In the first month (Nisan, which corresponds partly to our March, partly to April), ON THE FOURTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH AT EVENING, THE PHASE OF THE LORD IS. — For "at evening," in Hebrew it is between the two evenings, that is between the setting of the sun and night, namely in the twilight of evening, before the star rises which is called Vesper or Hesperus; for from the rising of this star night begins, and the 15th day; but the paschal lamb ought to be immolated before the 15th day, at the end of the 14th day: therefore the 14th day was not a feast day, but only its evening, in which the phase was immolated. This is the second feast, namely of Passover and Unleavened Bread, which on account of its solemnity was celebrated for seven days, and that in memory of that great benefit by which God had freed and led the Hebrews out of Egypt. The Phase of the Lord is. — The feast of Passover is dedicated to the Lord. For phase in Hebrew signifies a passing over or rather a passing through: hence secondly, phase signifies the paschal lamb, which was immolated on account of the passing over of the angel striking. Finally thirdly, phase signifies the very feast itself in which this lamb was immolated. See what is said in Exodus XII, 11. This feast of Passover therefore was celebrated among the Jews; it is more celebrated among Christians, who on it are freed not from the servitude of Pharaoh, but of the devil and death through Christ rising again. Hence God illustrated it with great miracles. It is related in the Life of St. Marcellinus, Bishop of Ebreudum, whom Ado mentions in the Martyrology on the 12th kalends of May, that the baptistry which he himself built near Ebreudum, on the holy vigils of Passover, was accustomed to be inundated by sudden waters by the power of God, and this was wont to continue for seven days of the same solemnity. And from this miracle they gathered that Passover ought not to be celebrated on the very 14th moon with the Jews, as the Quartodecimans wished, but on the following Sunday. For then this miracle was wont to happen. In like manner in the year of the Lord 417, when an error had been made in celebrating the day of Passover, this error was declared by God through a miracle; for on the true night of Passover, at the very hour of baptizing, the baptistry of the church was filled with water by a miracle, as Bishop Paschasius of Lilybaeum testifies, in St. Leo after epistle 63, and from him Baronius, in the year of Christ 417, who also teaches from another source that Cassiodorus records the same miracle to be wont to happen in another spring in Lucania. And Gregory of Tours testifies that the same is wont to happen in another spring in Lusitania, in book I of the Glory of Martyrs, chapters XXIV and XXV. That the same happens in a spring in Lycia, and that the water in it persists until Pentecost and then vanishes, Sophronius teaches in the Spiritual Meadow, chapter CCXIV. So also the error of the Britons concerning the day of Passover was refuted through a miracle, by which St. Augustine, Bishop of the English, illuminated a blind man, as the Venerable Bede relates, book II of the History of the English, chapter II. In the Life of St. Maurilius, Bishop of Angers (who was a disciple of St. Martin), on the 5th of September, it is narrated of a certain man named Belgicus: he on the day of Passover had commanded his servants to clean the fields; they reply that it is the day of Passover; he urges them, and compels them against their will; but when they attempted to hoe the fields, immediately Belgicus was struck with blindness of the eyes, and cried out that they should cease. But when he had remained in that blindness for three years, at length touching the garments of St. Maurilius passing by, he was healed. In the Life of St. Maurice it is narrated that on the very night of the resurrection, three servants from his monastery engaged in fishing, and indeed caught a great quantity of fish, but two of them were deprived of the use of hands and feet, their whole body bruised: but the third was made both lame and deaf, who at length on the night of the resurrection visiting the monastery of St. Bertin, and invoking him with tears, was restored to health through his merits. Hence also emperors celebrated the day of Passover with great privileges, and granted freedom to the condemned. In the year of Christ 367, Valentinian, Valens and Gratian, the Emperors, decreed, and thus rescripted to Lampadius, the prefect of the city: "On account of the day of Passover, which we celebrate with intimate heart, to all whom guilt binds, whom prison has enclosed, we dissolve the barriers; as soon as the day of Passover has come, let no prison hold anyone enclosed, let all bonds be loosed." This rescript is found in book VIII of the Theodosian Code on the Remission of Crimes. The same indulgence to the condemned on the same feast Theodosius the Emperor gave in the East, as St. Chrysostom testifies, in the oration On Bishop Flavian.
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6. AND ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THIS MONTH (the first and paschal month, namely Nisan) THE SOLEMNITY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD OF THE LORD IS. — Note: The days of unleavened bread began with the Passover, namely on the 14th day of the first month at the second evening, that is, at the beginning of the 15th day: but they lasted for 7 days, which were therefore called paschal days, on which they ate bread, not fermented, but unleavened. Whence these days ended on the twenty-first day of the first month at the second evening; for each festive day had a double evening, namely a first and a second, or an opening and a closing one, except for the feast of Passover: for this had only one evening, namely the second of the 14th day. Thus on the 14th day at evening the Passover was immolated, or the paschal lamb, which they ate at night with unleavened bread: the next morning, which was the morning of the 15th day, was the solemnity of unleavened bread, because on that day the eating of unleavened bread began; for the night preceding this 15th day belonged not to the 14th but to the 15th. On this same 15th day they immolated other paschal victims, which were therefore also called Passover, John XVIII, 28: therefore this day was solemn. Note: Of these 7 days of unleavened bread there were four observances. First, throughout all these seven days they ate unleavened bread. Second, they ceased from all servile work, but on the first and seventh day only: for on the other five intermediate days they were able to work and labor. Whence it follows from what is said in verse 1, that only the first and last day were properly feasts, not the five middle ones. Third, on each day sacrifices were offered, namely burnt offerings, as the Septuagint translates it, which our Interpreter calls sacrifices in fire: for in Hebrew they are called ignitions, that is, sacrifices which are wholly consumed by fire in honor of God. The daily victims on these days were two bullocks, one ram, seven yearling lambs, and one he-goat for sin, as appears in Numbers XXVIII, 19; to which add another lamb, which on the second day was immolated with the sheaf, as appears in verse 12. Fourth, sheaves of ripening barley were offered, and this was done only on the second day, not on others. Thus Abulensis, Ribera and others.
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7. THE FIRST DAY SHALL BE MOST CELEBRATED FOR YOU. — Of these 7 days of unleavened bread, the first and seventh were more celebrated, and these two were equally celebrated. For what our Interpreter calls the first day most celebrated, the seventh more celebrated, amounts to the same thing: just as what he calls the seventh holier, the first holy. He only wishes to say that the first and seventh days were celebrated and very holy before the others. Whence in Hebrew in both places is the same word, namely mikra kodesh, that is, "a holy convocation." Thus among the Latins the comparative sometimes does not have the force of comparison, but is put for the positive or superlative, as: "Sadder, and with tears her shining eyes suffused."
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10 and 11. When you shall have entered the land which I WILL GIVE YOU (Canaan: hence it is clear that these ceremonial laws, and these feasts did not bind the Jews, nor were they observed by them in the desert), AND SHALL HAVE REAPED YOUR HARVEST, YOU SHALL BRING SHEAVES OF GRAIN, THE FIRSTFRUITS OF YOUR HARVEST, TO THE PRIEST: WHO SHALL LIFT UP THE SHEAF BEFORE THE LORD. — "Of grain," namely barley, which at that time, namely in March or April, ripens under Passover in Palestine. Note: These firstfruits of grain were not universal, so that all were obliged to offer a sheaf of them, but those who wished to offer did so of their own will, and from devotion. From all of these the priest took one, which he offered to God, roasted the offering and dried it, when dried he shook it, and ground the shaken grains, and from the ground flour, with incense and oil placed together, he took a handful, which he burned and offered to the Lord; but the remaining sheaves of grain, and their grains and flour, went to the use and benefit of the priests. Tropologically, the sheaf of grain signifies the resurrection of Christ: hence also on the second day of the Sabbath, namely after the Passover was immolated it is offered, because these were two days of Christ, one of passion, the other of resurrection. Whence also Christ, who is a bundle of myrrh on account of the bitterness of passion, is himself also called a cluster of Cyprus, on account of the sweetness of resurrection, says Rupertus. When therefore we believe that Christ has risen, in our faith and hope we offer as it were fresh grain to the Lord. Thus Hesychius and Radulphus.
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11. ON THE SECOND DAY OF THE SABBATH, — that is to say, on the second, or second day of unleavened bread, this sheaf of ears shall be offered; for sabbath here does not signify the sabbath properly so called, as Hesychius and Rupertus thought: nor again does it signify all the days of unleavened bread and the paschal feasts, as some have opined; but it signifies only the feast itself of the first day of unleavened bread, because on it complete rest was ordained (hence in Hebrew it is called sabbath) on account of the solemnity of the feast; this feast therefore, because it was so solemn, is hence called sabbath: for the sabbath was the first and greatest of feasts. Abulensis thinks this sheaf of ears was offered not on the first, but on the second day, because on the first day, as being solemn, it would not be lawful to reap them, not even for this sacred use of oblation: I would rather say that the first day, by its solemnity and paschal sacrifices, was so occupied that there was neither time nor propriety to parch these ears on that day. And he shall sanctify it, — the sheaf of ears shall be consecrated to the Lord, by that rite which is prescribed and explained in chapter II, at the penultimate verse.
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12 and 13. And on the same day on which the sheaf is consecrated, a lamb shall be slain, and libations (in Hebrew mincha, that is, a meal offering) shall be offered. 13. Libations also of wine a fourth part of a hin, — that is, three sextarii. For a hin contained two congii, or twelve sextarii, as I said in chapter XIV, verse 10. What is here said of wine, understand the same of oil, namely that a fourth part of a hin of oil was added to this meal offering. For oil ought to be added in every meal offering, as is evident from chapter II, verse 1; whence also in Numbers XV the same measure of oil and wine is always joined to every sacrifice. Moreover, libations, namely the wines themselves, were poured out in honor of the Lord, as is here said; but oil mixed with flour was burned for God by fire, which understand of the handful which was burned to God from this oiled flour: for the rest of the flour or meal offering part went to the priest, as was said in chapter XXIII and chapter VI, verse 16. Thus Abulensis.
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14. Bread and parched grain and pottage you shall not eat of the harvest until the day on which you shall offer thereof to the Lord your God — the sheaf of ears already mentioned; for God demands it of you as it were the firstfruits of the crops. Note: "Parched grain," that is, parched spelt or barley. Thus the Septuagint and the Hebrews. For pottage, in Hebrew it is ears; but it is certain that pure and raw ears are not understood here: for those are not wont to be eaten; nor yet parched ears, or parched or pounded spelt made into bread, because bread is here mentioned before. Our Interpreter therefore aptly understood ears here as pounded, namely flour made into pottage and cooked: for the matter here concerns flour not raw, but cooked; for this alone is wont to be eaten, and flour is cooked either into bread, or into parched grain, or into pottage.
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15 and 16. You shall therefore number from the second day of the sabbath, in which you offered the sheaf of the firstfruits (of ears of grain), seven full weeks, until the second day of the completion of the seventh week, that is fifty days, and thus you shall offer a new sacrifice to the Lord. — Here is described the third feast, namely Pentecost, which was celebrated on the fiftieth day from Passover. Therefore from the second sabbath, not properly so called, but the sabbath, that is Passover, and the solemnity of unleavened bread, that is, from the second day of unleavened bread (as I said a little before), on which they had offered the sheaf of grain, the Hebrews numbered seven weeks, that is 49 days, so that the following day, namely the fiftieth, would be Pentecost. That this is so is evident first from Josephus, who teaches it clearly, in book III of the Antiquities, chapter X; second, the same is evident from the practice of the Jews, and from the first Pentecost, which the Hebrews celebrated on the sixth day of the third month, as I showed in Exodus XIX, 11. For from the second day of unleavened bread, which was the second day from the departure from Egypt, and was the sixteenth day of the first month, until the sixth day of the third month, which was the day of Pentecost, fifty days are numbered. Whence also in the Calendars of the Jews even today Pentecost is recorded on the sixth day of the third month. Thus Abulensis, Cajetan, Oleaster, Ribera, in book V On the Temple, chapter VII, and Genebrardus in the Calendar of the Hebrews, which he prefixed to the Psalms. Note here that the Jews have a fixed Passover and Pentecost: for since they use lunar months, and celebrate Passover on the 15th day of the first lunar month, namely at the full moon, hence by numbering 50 days, they necessarily celebrate Pentecost on the sixth day of the third month. Christians, however, because they have not lunar but solar months, hence just as they have a movable Passover, so also Pentecost, so that they celebrate it now on the tenth of May, now on the twentieth, now on the thirtieth, now on the tenth of June, now on the twelfth. From what has been said it is clear that these 50 days of Pentecost are to be numbered from the second day of unleavened bread, not exclusively, as Radulphus and Ribera wish, in book V On the Temple, chapter VII: for thus there would be not 50, but 49 days, but inclusively. For if from the 16th day of the first month inclusively, you count the remaining 15 days of the same month, and the days of the second month you count as 29 (for the months of the Hebrews, being lunar, were alternately 29 and 30 days), and finally you add six days of the third month (for Pentecost was on the sixth day), you will find precisely 50 days. Note: We Christians, just as we do not celebrate Passover on the day on which the Jews do, namely the 14th day of the month Nisan, but on the Sunday following it, and that in memory of the resurrection of Christ, which took place on Sunday: thus consequently we do not celebrate Pentecost on the day on which the Jews do, but on the fiftieth day from the Sunday of Passover, or of the resurrection of Christ, which necessarily likewise falls on a Sunday: for on the Sunday, which was Pentecost, or the fiftieth day from Passover, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, and the new law was promulgated in Sion, Acts II, just as the old law was once promulgated on Sinai, on the same fiftieth day from Passover. Hence St. Augustine, sermon 154 On the Seasons; Clement of Rome, book V of the Constitutions, final chapter; Isidore, Albinus and others who write on the offices of the Church, and St. Leo, sermon 1 On Pentecost, number the 50 days of Pentecost, not from the Passover of the Jews, nor from the day of the passion of Christ (for thus there would be not 50, but 52 days); but from the very Sunday of the resurrection of Christ. Furthermore, lest the Pentecost of Christians should coincide with the Pentecost of the Jews, lest namely we Christians should appear to be observing the ancient Pentecost of the Jews, for this reason the first Christian Pentecost, on which the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, does not appear to have coincided with the Pentecost of the Jews. Which is proved: for in that year in which Christ suffered and rose, the Passover of the Jews fell on Thursday, and the first day of unleavened bread on Friday, on which Christ suffered; and consequently the second day of unleavened bread fell on Saturday: now count from this Saturday 50 days, and you will find the 50th day, or the Pentecost of the Jews, to have likewise fallen on Saturday, which immediately preceded the Sunday of Christian Pentecost, on which the Holy Spirit descended. Then therefore the Jews celebrated Pentecost on Saturday, the Apostles and Christians on Sunday. Thus Hugo, Lyra, Abulensis, Cajetan either here or in Acts II, Josephus, book III of the Antiquities, chapter XIII, and Francis Suarez, III part., Question LIII, disputation 46, section 1; the Rabbis teach the same. You will say: In Acts II, 4, it is said: "When they were all filled," or as it is in Greek, "when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, there came suddenly from heaven a sound, as of a mighty wind coming." But St. Luke there seems altogether to speak of the Pentecost then common, namely of the Jews; for the Christian Pentecost had not yet been instituted or celebrated up to that point: therefore the Holy Spirit descended on the Pentecost of the Jews, and consequently the first Pentecost of both Jews and Christians was the same, namely the Lord's Day. On account of this argument, some indeed think that it was truly the same Pentecost of both at that time. Whence they think that in the year in which Christ suffered, the first day of unleavened bread fell indeed on Friday, but was transferred from the fifteenth day of the month to the sixteenth, namely to Saturday, and that lest two feasts, namely the first of unleavened bread and the Sabbath, on which it was not permitted to work, should concur together, and consequently they think the second of unleavened bread in that year fell on the Lord's Day of Easter, from which up to the Lord's Day of Pentecost there are precisely fifty days. But this transfer of feasts cannot be solidly proved from Scripture or the Fathers; indeed it is repugnant to the Evangelists, who assert that Christ celebrated the Passover with the Jews according to the law, namely on the fourteenth day of the moon in the evening, so that on the fifteenth, which was the first of unleavened bread, namely on Friday, Christ suffered, and consequently the second of unleavened bread, from which the fifty days of Pentecost were to be numbered, fell on Saturday. Others think that in the year in which Christ suffered, this offering of sheaves, from which the fifty days of Pentecost were to be numbered, was transferred from the second day of unleavened bread to the third, and for this reason, that the second of unleavened bread would fall on Saturday, on which it was not permitted to reap these sheaves: the reaping therefore and the offering of them took place on the third day, namely the Lord's Day of Easter, from which up to the Lord's Day of Pentecost there are precisely fifty days. But the same objection can be made to this opinion as to the former. Add that its foundation, namely that on Saturday it was not permitted to reap these sheaves, does not appear to be true; for on Saturday it was permitted to slay, flay, cut, and burn the lamb in the morning and evening, and other victims: therefore much more was it permitted to reap some sheaves for the offering and sacrifice. Second, if it was not permitted to reap them on Saturday, they could and should have reaped them on one or another day before, rather than transfer this feast and sacrifice from the day prescribed by law, namely from Saturday, to another, namely the Lord's Day. Third, it is an obstacle that the Jews celebrated their Pentecost, in the manner of that first one in which they received the law on Sinai, Exodus XIX, 11; for that first one was the norm and exemplar of all the following ones, which were instituted and conformed to the memory and form of this first one. But that first one was celebrated on the fiftieth day from the second of unleavened bread, which then fell on Saturday; for the first of unleavened bread, on which they went out from Egypt, fell on Friday, as I showed in Exodus XII, 41: therefore the second of unleavened bread then fell on Saturday. For if from this second of unleavened bread, or from the sixteenth day of the first month, which then fell on Saturday, you number fifty days, you will arrive at the sixth day of the third month, on which they celebrated Pentecost. Now if then they were able to number fifty days from Saturday for the first Pentecost, therefore also afterwards in other years they were able to do the same. I answer therefore and say that St. Luke speaks of the Christian Pentecost, not the Jewish. For the Christian Pentecost was celebrated by Christians, and flourished, not only when St. Luke wrote these things, but also from its beginning, namely immediately after the first Pentecost, which was the fiftieth day from the resurrection of Christ. That this is so is proved: First, because St. Luke, a Christian, writes to Christians, not to Jews (whence he writes in Greek, not in Hebrew), concerning the origin of Christianity and its sacraments and feasts: therefore he treats of the Christian Pentecost, not the Jewish. Second, because in chapter 1, he plainly shows that he is treating of the mysteries and deeds of Christ, which Christians commemorate and celebrate at Easter, Pentecost and other feasts. Let chapter 1 be read carefully, and it will be found to be so: therefore just as chapter 1 counts 40 days from the resurrection of Christ up to his ascension, so immediately in chapter II, from the same resurrection, not however from the Passover of the Jews, he counts 50 days of Pentecost. Third, because Christians celebrate their Pentecost in imitation of the first, which Luke describes in Acts II; therefore that was Christian. Fourth, that St. Luke describes here the origin of the Christian Pentecost, the Church feels, which reads and commemorates this narrative of his concerning Pentecost every year on the feast of Pentecost. His meaning therefore is: When the days of Pentecost were fulfilled, that is, when the fiftieth day was fulfilled, which was to be instituted and sanctioned by Christ to Christians as the Christian Pentecost, through the sending of the Holy Spirit, whom he himself had promised, Acts I, and through the promulgation of the new law. For St. Luke alludes to the figure, namely to the institution of the Mosaic Pentecost, Exodus XIX, 16, where it is said of it: "And now the third day had come (which was the fiftieth from the Passover, namely Pentecost), and behold there began to be heard thunders, and lightning flashed, and a very thick cloud covered the mountain, and the sound of the trumpet sounded very loudly." For in like manner concerning the antitype, namely the Christian Pentecost, St. Luke says: "When (the days should come, or) the days of Pentecost were fulfilled, etc., suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind coming, etc. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them." Just as therefore Moses, Exodus XIX, speaks of the Jewish Pentecost and its institution, so St. Luke speaks here of the Christian and its institution. Fifth, because immediately after this institution of his it began to be celebrated by Christians as the Christian Pentecost, as I shall presently show: therefore Luke treats of it, not of the Jewish. The foundation of all these things is, that Christ through the new law wished to abolish the old law with its sacred rites and feasts, and to substitute new and Christian ones in their place. Whence also he wished that the first Christian Pentecost should succeed the Jewish on the next day, so that it might be signified that, that being excluded and abolished, from then on he himself would institute and sanction the new. For on the first Pentecost, namely the fiftieth day from the resurrection of Christ, he sent the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, and through them on the same day promulgated his evangelical law, which indeed, the law of Moses being now abolished, the evangelical law was to be accepted and observed by all from that time forth. Wherefore then likewise the Passover, Pentecost and other feasts of the Jews being abolished, he tacitly instituted his own Passover, Pentecost and feasts, and immediately through the Apostles particularly and expressly, he wished the same to be sanctioned and instituted everywhere throughout the earth. Moreover, that Christians from the very beginning, namely from this first Christian Pentecost, began to celebrate it yearly, not the Jewish one, and to name it, as Luke names it here, saying: "When the days of Pentecost were completed," is proved first, because in this first Pentecost there was made the abrogation of the old law, and of all its sacraments and feasts, and there was made a public promulgation of the new law and of its sacraments, and consequently also of its feasts: therefore the Apostles and Christians, obeying this promulgation, thereafter celebrated the Christian Passover and Pentecost, not the Jewish one; otherwise indeed they would have sinned against the Gospel law. In a similar manner, in the same year in which on the fiftieth day from the first Passover the law was given to the Hebrews by God on Sinai, by the precept of God issued in this place in Leviticus, it was sanctioned and thereafter celebrated by the Jews as Pentecost. For this precept of this chapter was issued in the same year in which the law was given, as is evident from what is said in Exodus XIX, at the beginning of the chapter and in the preface to Leviticus. Second, because the Apostles going forth to preach to the Gentiles, soon after they were converted, instituted and handed down to them the sacraments and feasts of Christ (for indeed the Christian religion, like any other, cannot exist without feasts and sacraments); for they could not hand down to them the Jewish Passover and Pentecost. For thus they would have compelled the Gentiles to judaize, and instead of Christianity would have handed down to them Judaism; which would have been a great sin, conflicting directly with their office, to which they were sent and commissioned by Christ. Again, who would doubt that the Apostles and first Christians, fervent with love of Christ, yearly recalled in anniversary remembrance the day of His resurrection, ascension, and the sending of the Holy Spirit, and such great merits and benefits of His toward the Church? They celebrated therefore the Christian Passover and Pentecost, not the Jewish one. Third, because the Apostles soon after Christ's ascension changed the Sabbath into the Lord's Day, and began to celebrate it in honor of Christ's resurrection (for Christ rose on Sunday): therefore much more did they transfer the Passover of Moses immediately into the Passover of Christ, that is into the Lord's Day; for the Christian Passover properly is the day of Christ's resurrection, more so than Sunday: if they transferred the Passover, therefore also the Pentecost; for this follows from that, and is to be reckoned from it. The antecedent is proved first, from the Apocalypse I, 10, where John says: "I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day;" therefore then the Lord's Day was celebrated by Christians, not the Sabbath. Second, the Apostle, I Corinthians XVI, 2, commands collections of alms to be made "on the first day of the week," that is the first day of the week, namely the Lord's Day: therefore then ecclesiastical assemblies were held on Sunday. Moreover the Apostle speaks of this day, not as if it were new, or recently instituted by him, but as if of a customary and celebrated day among Christians: therefore the Lord's Day had long before begun to be celebrated by Christians in place of the Sabbath; but the epistle I to the Corinthians was written in the year of Christ 57, namely 23 years after the death of Christ. Therefore soon after Christ Christians celebrated Sunday in place of the Sabbath. Thus also in Acts XX, 7, it is said that on the first day of the week, that is on Sunday, Paul held a great assembly of Christians, in which, prolonging his discourse, he recalled to life a young man who had fallen asleep and fallen down and was lifeless. Finally, St. Paul attacks the new moon, the Sabbath and other Jewish feasts, Galatians IV, 9, saying: "Do you turn back again to the weak and needy elements, to which you wish to serve anew? You observe days (Jewish ones), and months, and times, and years." And Colossians II, 16: "Let no one judge you in food and drink (from which the Jews abstain by law), or in part of a festival day, or of a new moon or of Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ." Therefore not Jewish, but Christian feasts did he wish to be celebrated by Christians from the very beginning of Christianity. Finally, that Passover was transferred from the beginning by the Apostles to the Lord's Day, and consequently Pentecost as well, is evident from the heresy of the Quartodecimans, who wished Passover to be observed with the Jews on the fourteenth day of the moon, or on the day of the first month, but not on the Lord's Day. For the Church condemned these, and Pope Victor, defining from apostolic tradition that Passover should be celebrated by Christians not on the fourteenth of the moon, but on the Sunday following it, as Christians and the Apostles originally celebrated it, as Eusebius testifies, lib. V Hist. cap. XXII. Thus St. Peter taught at Rome that Passover should be celebrated on the Lord's Day, and St. Mark, receiving the same from him, handed it down to the Egyptians, as Protherius testifies in Bede, lib. De Ratione temporis, cap. XLII; and St. Ignatius, who lived in the time of the Apostles, in his epistle to the Magnesians, says, "the Lord's Day is to be observed as the chief of days, and consecrated to the resurrection of the Lord." And in his epistle to the Philippians: "If anyone," he says, "celebrates Passover with the Jews, he is a partaker with those who killed the Lord and his Apostles." Since therefore it is established that from the beginning Christians observed Christian Pentecost, who would doubt that St. Luke speaks of it, not of the Jewish one? And so St. Luke, naming Pentecost, does not only regard the time when he himself was writing these things (for there is no doubt that Christian Pentecost, not Jewish, was then observed and named), but also properly regards the very time itself when those things which he writes and narrates occurred, as if to say: "When the days of Pentecost were fulfilled," that is, the fiftieth day from the resurrection of Christ and the first Christian Passover, for which the new was to be instituted and sanctioned by Christ in place of the old, and equally to be named Pentecost, whose origin and institution I here narrate, which would be the beginning, exemplar and cause of the following ones, and would give them its name, so that it would equally be called Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth day from the day of Christ's resurrection. Finally, if anyone absolutely wishes St. Luke to have also regarded the Pentecost of the Jews, which then prevailed and was in common use, I answer that this itself can be admitted in this sense, as if St. Luke says: "When it was fulfilled," that is, when on the previous day the Jewish Pentecost had been completed and passed, so that it was being fulfilled, that is, the Christian Pentecost succeeding it was beginning to be fulfilled. For the word "was fulfilled," insofar as it regards the Jewish Pentecost, is to be taken in the perfect tense; but insofar as it regards, terminates and ends in the Christian Pentecost, is to be taken in the inchoate tense. For he hints at both and touches upon them in passing, and therefore St. Luke embraces and wraps them up in one word; and this sense seems fuller, as if to say: "When the days of Pentecost were being fulfilled," both old and new, so that with the old completed and passed on the previous day, the new would begin to be fulfilled on the following day. For the old and new were as it were one and the same Pentecost; for that one ended and passed into this one, just as the type ends and passes into the antitype, so that it is not therefore considered to be one and the same with it. This is my opinion concerning Pentecost, saving a better one; for I do not see what could be said more probably and solidly. For what Gabriel Vasquez, III part. tom. III, disput. 172, cap. XII, with Radulphus and Ribera, takes τὸ from the other day of the Sabbath exclusively, not inclusively, plainly contradicts the computation of Moses and all the Hebrews, as I showed a little before; and the τὸ from the other day itself sufficiently hints at this. For when we wish to describe time exclusively, we are not accustomed to say: From the other day (for this itself is the exclusion of the preceding day), but, from such a day, for example the first, second, third, etc. The matter itself therefore teaches that not from the first day of Passover exclusively, but from the second day inclusively, the fifty days of Pentecost were to be begun.
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16 and 17. And thus shall you offer (at Pentecost) a new sacrifice to the Lord, from all your dwellings, two loaves of the firstfruits. — For sacrifice, in Hebrew it is mincha, that is, an oblation, from the root nacha, that is, he brought, he offered; for indeed this oblation of bread was not properly a sacrifice. For these loaves were made from fine flour leavened, which could not be sacrificed, as is evident from chapter II, verse 11, whence neither were any libations offered with these loaves. These loaves were therefore only the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, which were given to the priests, and went to their eating and use. Note: Each family had to offer these firstfruits of bread at Pentecost, as is said here: it was otherwise with the sheaf of ears at Passover, and although the Abulensian understands it thus, not that individuals from their own field or house would bring these loaves to Jerusalem, but that individuals in Jerusalem would buy two such loaves, and offer them in the temple, just as they also offered doves and other victims (whence there were sellers of all these things in Jerusalem, whom Christ cast out of the temple), nevertheless the Hebrew Scripture teaches the contrary here; for it has thus: From all your dwellings you shall bring two loaves of elevation; which words sufficiently signify that each one ought to have brought his own loaves from his own house to the temple, so that namely each one would offer to God the firstfruits of his own fruits, in thanksgiving. For this was the one reason why the feast of Pentecost was instituted, namely that in it they would offer the firstfruits of bread to God. Thus Josephus, book III of the Antiquities, chapter X. The other reason was, that the Hebrews would remember the law given at Pentecost, and give thanks to God for it, and recall that law, so that they would observe it more exactly. Thus St. Jerome to Fabiola, on the 42 mansions, in 12: "The dedication, he says, of the law is Pentecost." The same teaches St. Augustine, Question XCV in Questions from the New Testament. For the law is indeed an immense benefit of God, and to be celebrated by a feast: for it is itself a ray of the eternal law flowing from the eternal reasons and ideas, which live in the mind of God, by which he himself rules and moderates all things. "There are two things, says Nazianzenus, by which we are governed, nature and law;" and St. Augustine, book IX of the City of God: "All laws, he says, are empty of authority, unless they bear the image of divine law." Plato said, "it is necessary to establish laws for men, that they may live according to them, otherwise they would differ in nothing from beasts. The reason is, that no man's mind is so constituted by nature, that he sufficiently knows what things conduce to the public good of human life; and if he has known it, that he is able and willing always to do what is best that he knows." Thus he himself, book IV of the Laws. Demosthenes said, "the laws are the soul of the city." Heraclitus said, "citizens ought no less to fight for laws than for walls, because without laws a city cannot in any way be safe, without walls it can." Thus Laertius, book IX, chapter 1. Archidamus, when asked "who were the prefects of the city of Sparta: The laws, he said, and the lawful magistrates." He gravely judged that in a well-instituted republic the supreme authority ought to be deferred to the laws; nor is it permitted to any magistrate to attempt anything against the public laws. Thus Plutarch in the Laconian. Agesilaus, when asked "what the laws of Lycurgus had brought to Sparta: The contempt of pleasures, he said." Plutarch in the same place. Cyrus, when asked "whom he thought to be unjust: Those, he said, who do not use the law." Thus Maximus, sermon 50. The barbarians of Brazil lack three letters in their language, namely F, L, R, and that appropriately; for they lack faith, law, king. Witness is Osorius and Maffei in the History of India. Philo, in the book On Joseph: "What the physician is to the sick, he says, the law is to the city." A crown was to the ancients a hieroglyphic of law, because it is bound together with certain bonds, by which our life is as it were bound and restrained. Thus Pierius, hieroglyphics 41. Finally, "the law is the light of life." "Thy word, says the Psalmist, is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths," Psalm CXVIII; which psalm is nothing other than a eulogy of the law. Again: "The words of the Lord are pure words, silver tried in the fire, proved upon the earth, purified sevenfold," Psalm XI, verse 7. Moreover, "the law is nothing other than right reason, and a reason from the divine will of the gods, commanding what is honest and prohibiting the contrary," says Cicero, Philippics I; and in the Pro Cluentio: "The foundation, he says, of liberty, the source of equity, the mind, and soul, and counsel, and judgment of the state, are placed in the laws." But it was a peculiar benefit of God toward the Hebrews, that He Himself gave them the law, and that first, and before the laws of other nations. For Moses was the first legislator in the world, that is, God through Moses. Following him, the Gymnosophists gave laws to the Indians, the priests to the Egyptians, the Chaldeans to the Babylonians, the Magi to the Persians, the Druids to the Gauls, Zaleucus to the Locrians, Solon to the Athenians, Lycurgus to the Lacedaemonians, Minos to the Cretans, Philo to the Corinthians, Zamolxis to the Getae, Androdamus to the Rhegians, Hippodamus to the Milesians, Charondas to the Thurians, Philolaus to the Thebans, Phaleas to the Carthaginians. Among the Romans, P. Papirius first collected the royal laws into one. Then Appius Claudius the decemvir wrote the laws of the Twelve Tables. Following him were Appius Claudius Caecus, Sempronius Sophus, Scipio Nasica, Q. Fabius, M. Cato and others.
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— From what has been said in chapter XIV, verse 10, and from what will be said in the following chapter, verse 5, it will be clear that two tenths of fine flour, and two loaves made from it, were as it were thirteen and a half pounds.
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— namely for a holocaust, because this, as it were the principal, is always understood when a sacrifice is named, unless another species of it is expressed. Thus Abulensis. Note: In Numbers XXVIII, 27, other victims are added, which were accustomed to be offered at this feast of Pentecost, on account of the solemnity of the feast: namely two bullocks, one ram, seven lambs, one goat for sin. For that those victims are different from these which he prescribes here is clear both from elsewhere and from the fact that there two bullocks are prescribed, here only one: because those victims were prescribed on account of the feast itself precisely, but these here are prescribed only on account of adorning the oblation of firstfruits, so that together with the oblation of firstfruits these victims might be given to God in sacrifice. The victims of Pentecost itself, as well as of the other feasts, are not enumerated in this chapter, but in Numbers chapters XXVIII and XXIX (as is clear to one who looks), as Abulensis says. Whence Josephus, book III, chapter X, enumerating all the victims of Pentecost, thus says: "They make holocausts from three bullocks, two rams (Holy Scripture numbers three rams: it seems therefore that an error has crept into Josephus's number, so that three should be substituted for two), fourteen lambs, and two goats for sin." Josephus omits two lambs offered as peace offerings. Radulphus, however, thinks that the same victims are those which are here and which are prescribed in Numbers XXVIII: but he attempts to solve the antilogism already brought forward through mystery. "It matters not," he says, "whether two bullocks with one ram, or one bullock with two rams are said to be in holocausts, since both shepherds and teachers (who mystically are rams and bullocks) are one on account of the concord of faith and peace, and are understood as two if we regard the distinction of the two peoples to whom they are set over." But truly this does not satisfy the letter, nor the literal sense, which Radulphus often seems, as it were judaically, to remove and impugn like Origen and others who are wholly given to tropologies. Moreover these sacrifices and victims were not of any private person, as the loaves of firstfruits: but they were common to the whole people, and were offered for the whole people from the treasury and common expense. And they shall be for a holocaust with their libations. — In Hebrew, with its mincha and libation; therefore our author calls libations here whatever was offered with the victim, such as oil, wine, flour, frankincense, salt.
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19. And you shall make a goat for sin. — "You shall make," that is, you shall sacrifice. For goat, in Hebrew it is a goat of the goats, that is a young goat, or a kid. See what has been said in chapter IV, verse 23.
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20. When the priest shall have elevated them with the loaves, etc., they shall fall to his use, — that is to say, when the peace offerings (for of these alone is he speaking here, not of holocausts; for these were wholly burned to God) have been immolated and consecrated to the Lord, they shall fall to the priest; for although these offerings otherwise fell in great part to those who offered them, because the whole people offered them here, and they could not be distributed entirely to the whole people, hence they are given here to the priests. Note, that what is said here, that the loaves of firstfruits offered at Pentecost fall to the priest, is not to be understood as if the priest ministering at the tabernacle at Pentecost alone by himself received all these loaves; for these, since they were offered by individuals, were innumerable; but only that he himself received those which he had elevated and offered to the Lord, say three or four: the rest fell to the right of all, and were equally divided among all the priests, as also the other firstfruits.
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21. And you shall call this day (Pentecost) most celebrated and most holy. — "Most celebrated," that is, very celebrated and festive, so that you cease from all servile work on it; "most holy," because it is dedicated to me, to my sacrifices and worship. In Hebrew it is, you shall call the substance (os, that is, the substance) of this day, that is, this day, a composition of holiness, that is, festive and solemn; for, as Josephus teaches, book III, chapter X, no feast was celebrated among the Jews without a holocaust and cessation of labors: and with respect to this our Interpreter calls this feast most celebrated and most holy, as I have already explained. Allegorically, the Pentecost of the Hebrews signified the Pentecost of the Apostles, in which the Holy Spirit descended upon them through fiery tongues, and promulgated the new law in Sion, which being received, they immediately began to reap the regions white for harvest, as St. Chrysostom says, homily 2 on Acts, and to offer to the Lord two loaves of the firstfruits, from the two peoples of Jews and Gentiles, and then many Martyrs were sacrificed to God, partly lambs, that is, the innocent; partly rams, that is, Doctors and princes of the Church; partly calves, namely those who had formerly been proud in the world; partly kids, namely those who had previously lived in the filth and stench of sins. Tropologically, the number fifty of Pentecost is an index and symbol of perfect penance and remission of sins, as St. Jerome teaches at length at the beginning of book II on Isaiah. Whence also Psalm 50 is especially penitential. The same appears in the year 50 or jubilee, which is the year of full remission: then therefore we offer two loaves, that is, the love of God and neighbor. Now therefore we celebrate Passover, Pentecost and other feasts, not Judaically, but Christianly, that is, not only according to the letter, but also according to the spirit. Hear the Nazianzen, oration 4 against Julian: "Let us celebrate feasts, he says, not with the splendor of the body, not with change of garments and magnificence, not with feasting and drunkenness, whose fruit you have learned to be bedchambers and impudicity, etc., but with purity of soul and cheerfulness of mind, and with lamps illuminating the whole body of the Church, that is, with divine contemplations, which are raised up above the holy candlestick, and pour light over the whole circle of the earth." And St. Gregory, homily 33 on the Gospel: "What does it profit, he says, to attend the feasts of men, if it should happen that you are absent from the feasts of angels?" The same in the Register: "On the Lord's day, he says, one must cease from earthly labor, and apply oneself entirely to prayers, so that, if any negligence is committed during six days, it may be expiated through prayers on the day of the Lord's resurrection." And Origen, homily 69 on Exodus: "If you cease, he says, from all worldly works, and do nothing mundane, but apply yourself to spiritual works, come to the Church, lend your ear to divine readings, think of heavenly things, be concerned about future hope, keep the coming judgment before your eyes, do not look to present and visible things, but to invisible and future things: this is the observance of the Christian sabbath." Blessed Thomas More celebrated feasts with such devotion that even when he dwelt alone in prison, he would put on better garments when they were brought to him; and when those wondering why he did this when alone asked him, he replied: "I do not celebrate feasts for the sight of the people, but for the honor of God, and I dress honorably." The same, having received the sentence of death, when its execution was deferred longer than he wished, finally as the feast of the Translation of St. Thomas of Canterbury drew near: "Tomorrow, he said on the vigil of the feast, I greatly desire to depart to God; for that day would be very fitting for me;" and God granted him the day he desired, fittingly for his Martyr, on which both his patron, whose name he bore, was crowned with martyrdom for a similar reason; and the holy Apostles (for that feast fell on the octave of Sts. Peter and Paul), for whose primacy he shed his blood, have a celebrated memorial in the Church. Thus Stapleton in his Life. Anagogically, Pentecost, or the week and sabbath (that is, feast) of weeks, signified the universal rest of all the saints in heaven, so that just as on the second day of unleavened bread preceded the offering of the sheaf of ears, that is, the resurrection of Christ, so on the seventh week thence, and on the fiftieth day, all who through faith and love adhered to Christ, gather to him as to their head, about to have eternal rest with him, and then they will offer two loaves of the firstfruits, namely the glory of soul and body, and will consecrate them to God and to his eternal praises. Thus Radulphus.
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22. NOR SHALL YOU REAP IT (the land) TO THE GROUND, — you shall not reap it entirely, so that you leave something for the poor to gather. See the remarks on chapter XIX, verse 9.
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24. IN THE SEVENTH MONTH, ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH, THERE SHALL BE TO YOU A SABBATH (that is, a solemn feast) A MEMORIAL, WITH THE SOUNDING OF TRUMPETS. — This is the fourth feast, namely of Trumpets, on the first day of the month Tishri, that is, September. Note: The number seven was sacred among the Hebrews. For first, the seventh day was festive, and it was the Sabbath; second, the seventh week of days was Pentecost; third, the seventh month was for the most part sacred, and, as Origen says, hom. 23 in Numbers, it was as it were a Sabbath of months, just as the seventh day was a Sabbath of days: for in the seventh month four, indeed five feasts were celebrated, namely the New Moons, of Trumpets, of Expiation, of Tabernacles, and this for seven days; and the Assembly or Gathering. Fourth, the seventh year was a sacred year of liberty and remission, and rest of the land. Fifth, the seventh week of years, namely the fiftieth year, was entirely festive, and it was the jubilee. ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH, — therefore on that day there was a twofold feast, first, of the new moon or new month, from which they themselves began the month: for the first day of the month was the new moon; second, of trumpets. Whence also they offered double sacrifices on that day, namely both of the new moon and of trumpets, as is evident from Numbers XXIX, 1 and seq. A MEMORIAL WITH THE SOUNDING OF TRUMPETS. — In Hebrew, a memorial of the sound, or, as the Septuagint has it, of trumpets. The Hebrews and Latins relate that the feast of trumpets was instituted in memory of Isaac the patriarch, freed from immolation and the sword of his father Abraham, and a ram substituted in his place, Genesis XXII, 11, and therefore on that day they were accustomed to sound with rams' horns, although moreover they also sounded with silver trumpets on the same day on account of the new moon and sacrifices, as is prescribed in Numbers X, 10. Indeed the Hebrews relate that Isaac on the same day, namely the first of the seventh month, was freed from this immolation. This sound therefore was a memorial of the liberation of Isaac, and at the same time it was a silent prayer, that God would also remember them, and just as He had freed Isaac, so also He would free his descendants from the dangers of death. Mystically, the seventh month is the time of grace, namely of the new law, in which the seven spirits of God were sent into all the earth, Apocalypse V, and we also receive the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit and spirit: its first festivity is the joy of the sound and of trumpets, that is, of the preaching of the Apostles (for these as it were certain heavenly trumpets sounded throughout the whole world) and of the conversion of the Gentiles. Thus Origen, Ralph and Hesychius. For Christ, about to depart from this world to the Father, sent these forth to sound forth throughout the whole world, saying: "Go into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved," Matthew, last chapter. Mindful of this precept, St. Peter and John, when commanded to be silent, answered: "If it be just in the sight of God to hear you rather than God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard," Acts IV. Benjamin the deacon, detained in prison for two years, when he was released under the law that he should no longer preach the Gospel of God, mindful of his vocation, said: "Neither can I, nor ought I to hide the talent of faith committed to me in the earth;" Theodoret is witness, lib. V, cap. XXVIII. St. Francis asked his followers: "What seems to you more advisable, that we give ourselves to prayer, or truly to preaching?" When the advantages of each had been enumerated, he concluded at length: "Nevertheless our Redeemer wished to commend the office of preaching especially, when He himself conversed with sinners; whose footsteps since we must follow, it will be more useful and more pleasing to God, if, leaving off quiet, we go forth to labor;" which he also did. Thus Bonaventure in his Life, lib. I, cap. XII. Hence St. Thomas, III part., Question LXVII, art. 1: "To preach, he says, is the most principal act, and proper to a Bishop, and more worthy than to baptize." The same in I Corinthians, cap. IX: "The preacher, he says, has eight names in Scripture, namely Soldier, Vinedresser, Shepherd, Ox, Ploughman, Thresher, Sower and Architect of the temple." Hence also Isaiah, cap. LII, says: "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, that preach good tidings!" St. Augustine calls the preacher an Angel. St. Gregory, hom. 3 in Ezekiel: "The life, he says, of those who preach both sounds and burns. It burns with desire, it sounds with the word. Therefore glowing bronze is preaching inflamed; but from glowing bronze sparks proceed, because from their exhortations flaming words proceed to the ears of those hearing. Rightly therefore the words of preachers are called sparks, because those whom they touch in the heart, they set on fire." The same, book XXX of the Morals, explaining that passage from Job XXXIX, 1: "Knowest thou the time when the wild goats bring forth?" "It is necessary," he says, "that preachers be strong in precepts, compassionate toward the infirm, terrible in threats, mild in exhortations, humble in displaying their teaching, dominant in contempt of temporal things, rigid in enduring adversities." St. Clement, book VIII of the Recognitions, compares preachers to rays of the sun, which illuminate the world and cause all things to be seen. Moreover, what sort this trumpet and preaching ought to be is taught by Ecclesiastes itself, cap. XII, 11: "The words," he says, "of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened in high places;" where Olympiodorus: "As goads," he says, "prick oxen and urge them to plow the furrow: so also the words of theologians stir us up, who plow with good hope, to plow the spiritual furrow, so that, when the field of our heart shall have been cleansed, we may plant therein fair shoots of virtue. They are also like nails that are hot and glowing, which are driven into wood more deeply and easily: for thus also the words of the wise are driven more deeply into the innermost recesses of our understanding." And St. Jerome: "The words," he says, "of the wise are said to prick, not to caress, nor to draw tears with a soft hand; but to inflict upon the erring and slow the pains of penance and a wound. If therefore anyone's discourse does not prick, but produces pleasure in the hearers, that discourse is not wise." The same to Nepotian: "When thou teachest," he says, "in the Church, let not the clamor of the people be raised, but groaning: let the tears of the hearers be thy praise." And elsewhere: "He is the ecclesiastical teacher who moves tears, not laughter; who corrects sinners, who says that no one is blessed, no one is happy." Whoever therefore thou art, preacher, whoever thou art, trumpet, nay rather the mouth of God, "cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their wicked doings, and the house of Jacob their sins," Isa. LVIII, vers. 1.
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27. ON THE TENTH DAY OF THIS SEVENTH MONTH SHALL BE THE DAY OF EXPIATIONS. — This is the fifth feast, kippurim, that is, of expiation or propitiation, on which expiation was made for the sins of the people committed throughout the whole year, through fasting and sacrifices, and therefore the high priest not only expiated the people, but also the Holy Place itself and the Holy of Holies, by those ceremonies which were prescribed in cap. XVI. See the things said there. This day was most holy: hence neither food could be cooked on it, as neither on the Sabbath, as is gathered from vers. 30. YE SHALL AFFLICT YOUR SOULS, — through fastings and other things mentioned in cap. XVI, 29.
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32. It is a Sabbath of rest, — that is to say, a feast and complete rest, on which one must cease entirely from all work, even non-servile work, such as cooking food. YE SHALL AFFLICT YOUR SOULS ON THE NINTH DAY OF THE MONTH. — Namely from evening, or from the setting of the sun of the ninth day, until the evening of the tenth day; for, as follows: Vers. 33. FROM EVENING UNTIL EVENING SHALL YOU CELEBRATE YOUR SABBATHS (feasts), — namely from one setting of the sun until another, when namely the star of Venus begins to appear (as the Hebrews hand down), which is called vesper, vesperugo and hesperus. Whence also evening received its name from this star, says Isidore, lib. V of the Etymologies, cap. III, that is to say, lest this affliction on the day of expiation, as if ungrateful and troublesome, be thought to be deferred to the tenth day itself, hence I decree and command that you begin it, as also other feasts, from the evening of the preceding ninth day. This is more clearly signified in the Hebrew, Chaldean and Septuagint texts, in which there is a clearer distinction, as also in the Roman and other Latin corrections. Whence also the Christian Church, as regards the ecclesiastical office, celebrates feasts from evening to evening; for this is what is sanctioned in cap. I On the Feria, in the Decretals: "All Sundays we decree to be observed from evening to evening with all veneration;" to the people, however, feasts have been appointed to be celebrated from midnight to midnight.
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34. ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THIS SEVENTH MONTH THERE SHALL BE THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES FOR SEVEN DAYS TO THE LORD. — This is the sixth feast, namely that of Tabernacles for seven days, which in Greek is called scenopegia, from the pitching of tabernacles; for σκηνὴ is a tabernacle, and πηγὴ is a fixing or joining together. For it is ridiculous what Abulensis and Radulphus think, that scenopegia is so called from φαγία, that is eating, and κοινὴ, that is common, because on this feast the Jews would eat in public or in a common place. This feast was instituted in memory of divine protection, which so protected the Hebrews in the desert that without houses they lived in tabernacles for forty years in winter and summer. Wherefore this feast was never celebrated in the desert, because there the very reality of the matter was being enacted, and it was as it were a continuous feast of tabernacles; but afterwards in memory of it it was celebrated yearly in Chanaan, so that partly in the city, namely in courtyards, outside, streets, gardens, and even on the roofs of houses, as is evident from Nehemiah VIII, 16, partly outside the city, when it was safe, they would construct tabernacles from wood or stakes, which some would cover with branches, others with skins and linen, as is done in military tents, and in these they would dwell for seven days. For since Hebrews from all Judaea would gather at Jerusalem for this feast, and each family would construct a single tabernacle, as Josephus says, book III of the Antiquities, chapter X, by no means could so many be constructed in the city as would suffice for all. And it is likely that the tabernacles were thus arranged so that a kind of city would be formed, and each family separately, and all through streets and squares distinct and ordered would dwell; thus they did when they journeyed through the desert, the memory of which they then recalled. Secondly, this feast was instituted at the end of the year, namely in September, after all the fruits had been gathered, so that they might give thanks to the Lord for them, and therefore all males ought to go to the temple at this feast and offer their gifts, as is prescribed in Exodus XXIII, 14 and following. Concerning the holocausts and victims which were sacrificed on each of these seven days, see Numbers XXIX, 12. Finally, the Hebrews on the seventh day of this feast circle the altar seven times, carrying branches, in memory of Jericho conquered by Joshua with a sevenfold circuit, Joshua VI, 16.
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36. THE EIGHTH DAY ALSO SHALL BE MOST SOLEMN: FOR IT IS AN ASSEMBLY AND A COLLECTION. — This is the seventh feast, that of Assembly and Collection, which was as it were the octave of the feast of Tabernacles. This was a solemn feast, whence by St. John, chapter VII, 37, it is called "the great day of the festival." Note that this feast is called assembly and collection, not so much of money or alms, as Abulensis, Lyranus, Cajetan, Oleaster wish, but of men and people, who were gathered on the eighth day in the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple, so that being assembled together they might give thanks to God with solemn sacrifices, because after that long pilgrimage in the desert, all the tribes had come safe into the promised land, as it were to their end and seat, and possessed it in peace. In a similar manner the seventh day of unleavened bread is called the day of assembly and collection, because all on that day would come together to give thanks to God, because He had gathered them together who were scattered in Egyptian servitude, and had led them out together. But that assembly here concerns not money but people, and from this the feast received the name of assembly or collection, is evident first, because in Hebrew this feast is called atseret, which signifies an assembly or congregation, not of money but of people; secondly, because the Chaldean most clearly translates this word as kenisin tehon, that is you shall be gathered; thirdly, because the Septuagint always translates this word as exodion: but exodium, according to Theodoret, Questions XXXII, indicates the end of festivals; and exodium among Livy, book VII, Juvenal, satire 6, Pollux, book IV, Suidas and others, was a song which was sung at the exit of something, especially of a comedy or scene. "The youth," says Livy, "having left the acting of fables to the actors, began among themselves in the ancient manner to toss about ridiculous things interwoven with verses, which from that were called exodia, and joined to fables, especially Atellan ones." Whence alluding to this the Septuagint called this feast exodion, because it closed the solemnity of the feast of Tabernacles with public and common thanksgiving and applause, which being completed, going out from the tabernacles, each returned to his own seats and cities. Fourthly, because King Solomon made a similar assembly, not of money, for he himself was most rich and most generous, but of people on the eighth day of the dedication of the temple, II Paralipomenon VII, 9. I do not deny, however, that a collection of money could have been made at this feast for the temple and the ministers of God before the departure of the people; but that could be made at other feasts as well, and especially on the seventh day of unleavened bread. But the feast is not called Assembly or Collection on account of that, nor was that the principal purpose of this feast.
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37 and 38. And you shall offer in them oblations to the Lord HOLOCAUSTS, EXCEPT THE SABBATHS OF THE LORD, AND YOUR GIFTS, — that is to say, These sacrifices which I have described you shall offer on each feast, except the sacrifices which are offered on the Sabbath, namely four lambs, of which two in the morning and two in the evening are offered as a holocaust on the day of the Sabbath, as is evident from Numbers XXVIII, 9; likewise except your gifts and vows, that is, except the victims which you offer willingly or from a vow.
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40. YOU SHALL TAKE TO YOURSELVES ON THE FIRST DAY (of the feast of Tabernacles, as has been said above) THE FRUIT OF THE FAIREST TREE, AND THE BRANCHES OF PALM TREES, AND THE BOUGHS OF THICK TREES, AND WILLOWS OF THE BROOK, AND YOU SHALL REJOICE BEFORE THE LORD. — Note: On the feast of Tabernacles the Jews are commanded to carry in their hands the branches or fruit of four trees: first, "the fairest tree," that is the citron. Thus the Chaldean. Whence also Josephus calls the fruit of this tree Persian apples; for citron apples, according to Dioscorides, are called Persian and Median, because they were brought from Persia and Media into Italy, as Pliny testifies. That this was the citron tree is also taught by R. Moses the Egyptian, book III of the Moral, chapter XLIV. You will say: St. Jerome in chapter XIV of Zechariah says it was a cedar. I answer: By cedar, he understands the citron; for citron apples are also called cedromela, as it were apples of cedar, according to Dioscorides above. Second, "the branches," that is the branches of palms. Thus the Septuagint. Third, "the boughs of thick trees," that is myrtle. Thus Josephus, the Chaldean, and R. Moses above. Fourth, "the branches of willow." The Hebrews therefore had to carry on the feast of tabernacles the branches of these four fair trees, which remain green for a long time and are fragrant (for the citron and myrtle are of good odor), so that they might remember that they had been transferred from the wilderness into a fertile land and one abounding in the best trees; to carry them, I say, not only on the first day of the feast, as Abulensis thought, but throughout the seven continuous days of the feast; for this is what is said here: "You shall celebrate the solemnity seven days." And thus R. Moses, Burgensis, Ribera and others understood it; and this so that through seven days it might be signified that the Hebrews had dwelt many years in the desert, and thence complete joy had come to them in the land promised to them; for this is what follows: AND YOU SHALL REJOICE BEFORE THE LORD, — that is to say, Carrying these branches and fruits, you shall leap in the sanctuary before the Lord. For the ancients were accustomed to celebrate their feasts with leaping, as is evident from II Kings VI, 14, Exodus XXXII, 19, Exodus XIX, 20. Thus Abulensis, who also adds: "Some say that when the Jews held these branches in their hand, they had the fruits bound together with them, and thus they leaped, raising and lowering these fruits in every different position; by which they signified that this was to the praise of God, who was the Lord of all the positions of the world." Something similar was done in the therumahs, or offering of the priests, as I said at Exodus XXIX, 24, Leviticus VII, 30.
Mystical Interpretation of the Feasts Mystically, the seventh month is the time of grace; its first feast is of Trumpets, that is, the preaching of the Apostles; the second is of Expiation, that is of penance and contempt of alluring pleasures, which all those truly converted to God ought to pursue; the third is of Tabernacles, because the third degree of Christian life is to live here as in a tabernacle for seven days, that is the whole life, in such a way that we use the things of this world only as much as necessary, no more, and with our whole mind hasten through the desert of this world to the heavenly dwellings, so that we may say with the Psalmist: "I am a sojourner and a stranger, as all my fathers were;" "for in tents Abraham dwelt, with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise." See what is said in Hebrews XI, 9 and 10. It is celebrated on the 15th day, when the moon begins to wane, because he who knows that the good things of the world are fleeting and perishable (of which the moon is the symbol), hastens to the eternal things. On its seven days we continually offer holocausts, because we consecrate ourselves and all that is ours to God. We carry first the citron, which is golden in colour, that is, burning charity, by which we are wholly devoted to God's glory and the utility of the brethren; second, the branches of palms, because as conquerors we trample all earthly things underfoot, while our conversation is in heaven; third, the wood of thick branches, namely myrtle, that is, the fragrant density of all virtues and their continuous exercise; fourth, branches of the green willow, because we ought to persevere with stable firmness in our state of virtues and in their vigour; these are taken from the torrent, because unless we frequently meditate on God's law and implore God's grace, that vigour of soul will wither in us. See Psalm I, 3. He who does this will rejoice before the Lord, and will always live a joyful life in Him. Again, St. Jerome in chapter XIV of Zechariah, by the most beautiful wood understands wisdom, by palms victory, by myrtle mortification, by willows chastity. For "physicians and natural philosophers," he says, "hand down that if anyone drinks the flower of willow mixed with water, all heat in him grows cold, and the vein of lust dries up, so that he can no longer beget children." Adorned with these in the tabernacles of this life, and likewise armed, we tend toward our home prepared in the heavens. Willows therefore, equally as lettuce, chaste tree, etc., diminish the venereal humour and foster and kindle chastity. The fourth feast following and ending the feast of Tabernacles, namely its octave, is the feast of Assembly and Gathering; this signifies the octave of the resurrection, when going forth from these tabernacles we are gathered to the council and congregation of the Saints in the heavens, of which the Psalmist sings: "Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord, they shall praise thee world without end." Then we shall do no servile work, because then all sin shall cease, and all labour and pain as well; we shall offer a holocaust to the Lord, because with all our strength and with our whole mental effort we shall contemplate and love God: for there we shall fulfil that: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with all thy strength;" and that: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within me bless his holy name." Thus Radulphus, and in part Hesychius and from them Ribera, book V On the Temple, chapter X and following.
Allegorical Application to the Nativity of Christ Allegorically also Rupertus aptly and elegantly accommodates these to the birthday feasts of Christ the Lord. For just as the passover and pentecost of the Jews, he says, signified the passover and pentecost of Christians: so the feast of Tabernacles, which was celebrated at the end of the year, signified the feast of the Nativity of the Lord, which is celebrated at the end of the year. Then indeed rejoicing we gather the fruit of our virgin earth, namely of the Blessed Mary, that is Christ in Bethlehem, and the fruit of the most beautiful tree, that is the Son of the undefiled Virgin, in the Eucharist, we offer and receive three times. For Christ was born in a stable and inn, so that He might dwell here with us as in a tabernacle, and lead us from it to the heavenly homeland; and palms are present: for this feast of Christ is accompanied and followed by the martyrdom and victory of St. Stephen; and the wood of thick branches is present, namely St. John pouring forth dense and most lofty mysteries; and the innocent little ones are present, who as willows from the torrent having no fruit of works, suddenly by God's grace alone leapt to the verdure of the eternal homeland and the heavenly paradise.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 4 « Locutusque est Dominus ad. Moysen dicens » :
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v. 9 « Loquere filiis Israel et dices ad eos : Hae sunt feriae Domini, quas vocabitis sanctas ». Hebr. : quas vocabitis convocationes sanctas seu, cum eadem radix bis eodem contextu adhibita eodem interprefanda sit sensu : quas convocabitis conciones sacras (cf. loel 1,14; 2,15; Is. 13,3; Ier. 36,7).
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v. 3 « Sez diebus facietis opus : dies septimus , quia sabbati requies est, |vocabitur| sanctus », concio sacra erit. Sed eiusmodi nunquam praeceptae fuere.sabbatis. « Omne opus non facietis in eo : sabbatum Domini est in. cunctis. habitationibus vesiris ». CE. v. 1^. 21; alias additur « lex perpetua in generationibus v. h « Hae sunt [ergo] feriae Domtnt sanctae », conciones, quas convocare debetis seu « quas celebrare debetis temporibus suis ».
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v. 5 « Mense primo , quartadecima die mensis ad vesperum » (cf. quae diximus ad Ex. 19,6), « Phase Domin est ».
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v. 6 « Et quintadecima die mensis huius, solemnitas azymorum Domni est. Septem diebus azyma comedetis ». v. Y « Dies primus erit vobis celeberrimus sanctusque »; Hebr. : die primo concio sacra erit. vobis; « omne opus servile non facietis in eo »,
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v. 8 « sed offeretis sacrificium inigne Domino septem diebus. Dies autem septimus erit celebrior et sanctior », — ignorat comparativos Hebr. : die septimo concio sacra — « nullumque servile opus facietis in. eo ». / HUMMELAUER. — IN EX. ET LEV. — 33 . Notabat iam Cai., sabbatis prohiberi omnem n2N9m,in festis vero solam n2N92 n173y, monetque Sa, certe licitum fuisse cibos parare (Ex. 12,16). Cum 73Y imprimis de agricultura praedicetur, eius opera inhiberi censet Dillm.; cum vero idem verbum etiam sacra facere significet, hine erronee LXX £pyov Axvpeoxóv. — Sequentibus ambigitur, utrum 3y vertendum sit manipulus (Vulg. LXX) an mensura gomor (Syr. NE2; Cai.), quae est vocis significatio consueta. Priorem significationem non efficit textus obscurus Iob 24,10, utique vero textus Deut. 24,19; et cf, chald. NYOYY et N'"2Y utramque significationem habentia. Bonfr. suggerit fortasse unam ab altera significationem esse profectam. Ios. (Ant. III. 10. 5) non manipulum, sed gomor ad altare esse allatum sentire videtur : « Siccato spicarum manipulo et contuso atque a furfuribus horreis purgatis, ad altare assaronem Deo offerunt, ac pugillum unum ex eo in aram iniicientes reliquum ad usum sacerdotum relinquunt ». Habes hic ritum quoque descriptum, qualis Iosephi certe tempore observabatur.
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v. 9 « Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen dicens » :
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v. 10 « Loquere filiis Israel et dices ad eos : Cum ingressi fueritis terram, quam ego dabo vobis », — lex haec traditur non in deserto Sinai sed in terra promissa observanda; non hine sequitur fuisse omnino nova, cum antea iam Hebraei (cf. Gen. 26,12), probabilius etiam in Aegypto agros severint, populique antiquitus plerique occasione messis festa celebraverint, ritu sine dubio a maioribus tradito. Quia porro pentecostes tempus a paschate computatur, pascha messis initium habet uti pentecostes finem , messisque pentecoste complenda inchoatur primorum manipulorum in paschate oblatione, ideo h. 1l. ad pascha redit oratio — « et messueritis segetem, feretis manipulos » — scribe singularem : manipulum, seu gomor — « [spicarum] primitias messis vestrae ad sacerdotem ». Hordeum (1os.) erat, quod tritico citius maturescebat : cf. 9 Reg. 91,9; Ruth 1,92 et 2,23.
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v. 11 « Qu elevabit fasciculum coram Domino, ut acceptabile sit pro vobis, altero die sabbati, et sanctificabit illum ». Idem verbum habetur, quod initio versus, ergo : elevabit, elevando huc illuc movebit. azymorum atque inde primitiarum et pentecostes festa. Unde perspicies, eorum de festis placita impune h. 1l. negligi. Feruntur ii (cf. Dillm.) Lev. 23,11 sabbatum intellexisse ab initio messis primum. Quodsi ita praeter omnem cum v. 5 sqq. contextum sententiam interpreteris, habebis legem prorsus indeterminatam ideoque inutilem. Textus loquitur de sabbato, non de sabbato primo; messis in Palaestina fere singulis mensibus haberi potest, sicut etiam sementis. Etiam ubi sementis eodem fere tempore faeta est, non uno in omnibus agris die fruges maturescunt. — Caraitae, Iudaeorum secta, intelligunt sabbatum hebdomadae azymorum. Quae sententia ipsi certe textui prae ceteris respondet. Modo sc. videbamus v. 10 sqq., si independenter à praecedentibus explicentur, indeterminata esse et inefficacia. Si illis iungantur, nan vox articulum habens denotat sabbatum saerosanetae illius hebdomadae, de qua v. 8 : ergo primitiarum oblatio fiebat uno die septidui a 16 ad 22 Nisan.
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v. 19. « Atque in eodem die, quo manipulus consecratur, caedetur agnus immaculatus in holocaustum Domini »;
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v. 13 « et libamenta offerentur cum eo », — Hebr. mincha — « duae decimae similae conspersae oleo » (cf. Gen. 18,6; Ex. 29,2) « in incensum » i. e. com- - bustionem « Domini odoremque suavissimum; liba quoque » (Gen. 85,15) « vin, quarta pars hin » (Ex. 29,40).
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v. 1& « Panem et polentam » — frumentum tostum 1 Reg. 17,17 ; 25,18; 9 Reg. 17,28; Ruth 2,14 — « et pultes » — probabilius frumentum comminutum seu alicam : cf. quae diximus ad 2,1& — « non comedetis [ex segete] » recenti — vocem sapienter adscripsit Vulg. uti LXX vé£x — « usque ad diem, qua offeretis [ex ea] Deo vestro. Praeceptum est sempiternum in generationibus cunctisque habitaculis vestris ».
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v. 15 « Numerabitis ergo ab altero die sabbati » , a die post sabbatum, « 2n quo obtulistis manipulum primitiarum , septem hebdomadas plenas » (Deut. 16,9), — Hebr. septem sabbata, et dicuntur plena, quo perspiciatur septimum sabbatum ad illum numerum pertinere inclusive, non exclusive (Ca?.) —
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v. 16 « usque ad alteram diem ezpletionis hebdomadae septimae », Hebr. : usque ad diem consequentem sabbatum septimum, « 1. e. quinquaginta dies ». « Et sic offeretis sacrificium novum Domino » v. 1*1 « ex [omnibus] habitaculis vestris, panes primitiarum » séu, oblationis (ns3n), « duos de duabus decimis similae fermentatae, quos coquetis in primitias. Domini ». Non de binis decimis, sed de duabus (Bonfr.).
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v. 48 « Of-- feretisque cum panibus septem agnos immaculatos, anniculos, et vitulum de armento unum et artetes duos, et erunt in holocaustum cum libamentis suis », cum mncha sua, « in odorem suavissimum Domino ». Panes offerebantur, sed nihil eorum comburebatur 2,11 (Tost.). Holocaustum intelligitur idem, quod Num. 28,27, ubi tamen pro bove uno et arietibus duobus leguntur boves duo et aries unus. Mendum in nostrum h. l. textum irrepsisse tanto facilius concedam , quod item v. 20 irrepserit mendum. Sc. z'v25 ^zv 5y merito a Vulg. ignoratur : ortum videtur esse corruptione praecedentis 23225 mn» 5v; articulum ante 2'v22 habent etiam Sam. LXX. Praeter holocaustum
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v. 19 « facietis et hircum pro peccato, duosque agnos anniculos hostias pacificorum ».
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v. 90 « Cumque elevaverit eos sacerdos » , sc. duos agnos, « cum panibus primitiarum coram. Domino », sancta erunt Domino, « cedent in usum etus » , sacerdotis. : Sequitur huius legis clausula (cf. v. 3. Y sq. 1&4)
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v. 21 : « Et vocabitis hunc diem celeberrimum atque sanctissimum ». Hebr. : Et proclamabitis eo 1pso die : concio sacra erit vobis. « Omne opus servile non facietis in eo. Legitimum sempiternum erit in cunctis habitaculis el generationibus vestris ». Clausulae appenditur lex iam 19,9 sq. in favorem pauperum lata, verbis vix non iisdem : conferas, quae ibi dicebamus.
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v. 22 « Postquam autem messueritis segetem terrae vestrae, non secabitis eam usque ad solum, nec remanentes spicas colligetis, sed pauperibus et peregrinis dimittetis eas. Ego sum Dominus Deus vester ». celebrata esse memoria divinorum beneficiorum, ad quae utique etiam praecepta anni civilis, et ante exodum fuerat initium anni tam civilis quam sacri, suamque solemnitatem habebat ab antiquis statutam, quam Deus noluit abrogare. Sancivit ergo, eo die « ut tubis clangentibus homines quasi e somno excitarentur » (Ians.) ad divinorum beneficiorum recordationem. Qui mos, cum esset a maioribus acceptus, h. l. accuratius non explicatur.
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v. 93 « Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen dicens » :
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v. 9& « Loquere filiis Israel : Mense septimo, prima die mensis erit vobis sabbatum », — non nav sed vnzv, requies, solemnitas — « memoriale clangentibus tubis », — Xa iungunt LXX Syr.; vel cum Vu/g. iunge solemnitas memorialis clangentibus tubis, et sic melius perspicitur ratio adscriptae vocis y'n2v, quae secus vix aliud dicit quam v. 25 requiem ab opere servili — « e£ vocabitur sanctum ». Hebr. absolute : concio sacra, sc. erit.
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v. 25 « Omne opus servile non facietis in. eo, et offeretis holocaustum Domino ». De die expiationis cf. quae dicebamus ad 16,29 sqq. (cf. item Num. 29,7 sqq.). v. 27, uti etiam v. 39, orditur ab adverbio T. quod reticet Vulg. Illud vertendum est, uti Gen. 44,28 ete. : profecto, denotatque rem a Deo specialius inculcari. Cur Specialius? Proniores fortasse erant Hebraei ad hanc expiationem omittendam, quos v. 32 prodit ieiunium decurtasse, ut die naturali a mane ad vesperam, non vero civili et religioso à vespera ad vesperam affligerentur. Similiter v. 39 incipit appendix aliqua ad v. 34-36, quae ut exprimeretur aequalis cum praecedentibus esse momenti, potuit idem illud adverbium praefigi.
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v. 96 « Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen dicens » :
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91 « Decimo die mensis huius septimi dies ezpiationum erit celeberrimus , et vocabitur sanctus » ; — Hebr. : concio sacra ipse erit vobis — « affligetisque anamas vestras in eo, et offeretis holocaustum Domino ».
23:28
v. 28 « Omne opus [servile] non facietis in tempore diei huius », — Hebr. : in 1pso hoc die. Et nota, post n2N»» non haberi n727 (ef. v. 7 sq. 91. 25), ergo pro hoc festo iniungi requiem stricte sabbatinam , ut hoc festum v. 32. merito dicatur yn2v nzv — « quia dies propitiationis est, ut propitietur vobis Dominus Deus vester ».
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v. 99 « Omnis anima, quae afflicta non fuerit die hac, peribit de populis suis »,
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v. 30 « et quae operis quippiam fecerit, delebo eam de populo suo ».
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v. 34 « Nihil ergo operis facietis in eo : legitimum sempiternum erit vobis ?n cunctis generationibus et habitationibus vestris ».
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v. 39 « Sabbatum requietionis est, et affligetis animas vestras die nono mensis » vespere (vocem omittant Vulg. LXX); « a vespera usque ad vesperam celebrabitis sabbata vestra. Tlla dies stricte ut sabbatum servabatur, adiecto ieiunio. Prudenter vero monetur esse servanda a vespera ad vesperam. Quodsi enim ieiunium observabatur die naturali a mane ad vesperam, et utraque nox epulum habebat, aequo facilior erat expiatio. ^NY vertebat Vulg. duabus vocibus coetus et collecta, i. e. collectio, quae tam ex etymo quam ex usu nominis significatio est propria. In Pentateucho adhibetur de octavo die festi tabernaculorum (h.1. et Num. 29,35; cf. 2 Par. 7,9; 2 Esdr. 8,18) et septimo azymorum (Deut. 16,8), unde non inepte LXX omnibus his locis vertunt 2£ó- 9tov, non quasi radix *Xy sonet concludere , sed quia revera agitur de exitu seu conclusione solemnitatum. Cum n^sY non solos exprimat coetus sacros (cf. Ier. 9,1 [2], sed hi potius exprimantur vocibus Vp Nóp2, cum octavus dies Num. 29,36 (ct. v. 13. 17. 20. 23. 26. 29. 32) reapse pauciores prioribus habeat victimas, fortasse expressio erit intelligenda de festivitate non tam sacra quam populari. Cf. Chald. Syr. : eritis adunati, ubi Ps. Iom. pie sed inconsultius addit « ad orandum coram Domino ». Cf.
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v. 2. ^. v. 31 « Hae sunt feriae Domini, quas vocabatis celeberrimas atque sanctissimas, offeretisque in eis oblationes Domino, holocausta et libamenta » seu minchas , mactationes et libationes, « tuxta ritum unuscutusque diei ». n2, uti Ex. 10,25; Lev. 17,8; Num. 15,5, designat victimas eas omnes, quae holocausta non sunt. Affirmat porro v. 38 non fuisse in animo tractare hoc capite de iis, quae festa non sint : « exceptis sabbatis Domini », de quibus vide quae diximus p.
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212, « donisque vestris, et quae offeretis ex voto, vel quae sponte tribuetis Domino ». Cum extrema duo nomina adscriptam habeant vocem omnia, accipi possunt ut duae species ad genus donorum pertinentes. v. 40 quatuor habet expressiones ad designandas arbores. Cum secunda et quarta nomina sint specierum, palmae et salicis, probabile videtur etiam prima et tertia species designari. Fructus arboris pulchrae vel pulchri fructus arborei est expressio nimis indeterminata neque ferenda in textu legis. Chald. vertit pm, citrus aurantiwm (orange). này repetitur 2 Esdr. 8,15 et habetur etiam Ez. 6,13; 20,28. Vi etymi utique edicit arborem frondosam, Chald. Syr. vertunt myrtwm. Tamen 2 Esdr. 8,15 praeter n3Y enumeratur D* ^, quae etiam censetur esse myrtus. Cf. Bonfr. — Ios. (Ant. III. 10. 4) ait, co festo Hebraeos « gestasse manibus fasciculum e myrto et salice cum spadice palmae compositum, addito Perseae pomo »; pro quo idem (XIII. 13. 5) scribit xtzpfov. — Quoad *N initio v. 39, cf. quae diximus ante v. 26.
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v. 39 « [A] quintodecimo ergo die mensis septimi, quando congregaveritis |omnes| fructus terrae vestrae », tamquam festum absolutae messis, « celebrabitis ferias Domini », solemnitatem Domino messis largitor, « septem diebus; die primo et die octavo erit [sabbatum 1. e.] requies ». v. hO « Sumetisque vobis die primo fructus arboris pulcherrimae » (v. s.) « spatulasque palmarum et ramos ligni densarum frondium et salices de torrente, et. laetabimini coram Domino Deo vestro », ramos illos et fructus gestantes (2 Mach. 10,7). Ex eiusdem ut plurimum generis ramis.(2 Esdr. 8,15) etiam umbracula conficiebantur, at certe non e pomis aurantis. v. À1 « Celebrabitisque solemnitatem eius », 1. e. Domino, « septem diebus per annum. Legilimum sempiternum | erit in. generationibus. vestris. Mense septimo festa » — Hebr. illud — « celebrabitis ». Quaedam iterato inculcantur : festum non erit profanum, sed Domino celebrabitur, et quidem quotannis, etiam annis famis, toto septiduo, et quidem initio anni civilis. v. 42 explicat nomen festo
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v. 34 attributum : « Et habitabitis in umbraculis septem diebus. Omnis, qui de genere est Israel, manebit in tabernaculis », i. e. umbraculis. Tandem festi ratio explicatur v. h3 : « ut discant posteri vestri, quod tn tabernaculis habitare fecerim filios Israel, cum educerem eos de terra Aegyptz ». n20 non est necessario umbraculum e ramis confectum (cf. Gen. 33,17). Est habitaculum mobile, v. g. tentorium. Exeunte messe, quando Hebraei omnem terrae promissae benedictionem collegissent, iubebantur gratis animis meminisse temporis in deserto transacti, ubi vaga habitacula et vix ullae messes. « Ego Dominus Deus vester ». v. Ak « Locutusque est Moyses super solemnitatibus Domini ad. filios Israel ». Cap. 24 duabus partibus constat : primum duabus legibus v. 9-& et 5-9, nulla inter se vel ad calcem clausula, ne formula quidem « Ego lahve », distinctis; dein facto historico v. 10-23, quod v. 13-92 continet A uUd divinum eloquium formula « Ego Iahve Deus vester » v. 99 obsignatum. Dubium movent duae leges v. 2-9, ubi v. 2 sq. verbotenus idem . sunt cum Ex. 27,20 sq. ; suspicetur quis has leges, quae novi vix quidquam edicant, ntunde hue esse delapsas. Tamen aliquid novi habent. Quod Ex. 27,20 Moysi Deus mandaverat, ut edoceret Israelitas de oleo pro eandelabro providendo, id nullibi legebamus Zmpletum : porro h. l. iteratur mandatum illudque e v. 33 intelligitur esse impletum. Panum autem propositionis antehac (Ex. 25,30; 35,13; 39,35 [36]; 40,21 [23]) numerus, moles ritusque offerendi haud describebantur. Tandem e v. 23 colligimus, mandatum providendi olei et panum eodem, quo factum v. 10 sqq. evenit, tempore populo esse promulgatum. Id quippe edicunt verba : « Feceruntque filii Israel, sicut praeceperat Dominus Moysi ». Quae si de solo blasphemi supplicio exponantur, habetur tautologia cum praecedente v. 23 sententia; si vero ad leges etiam v. 2-9 extendantur, illud novum edieunt, populum abhinc suppeditasse oleum et panes, quae eousque fortasse Moyses non e certis acceptis providerat. Ergo censemus v. 2-9 et 10-23 individue connecli inter se. Hic iam oritur quaestio, annon forte Ex. 27,20 sq. sit adiectitium atque e nostro loco illuc translatum. Quod quis inferat etiam exinde, quod Ex. 27,21 Aaron:s officium demonstretur, cum is nonnisi sequente capite ad. sacerdotium electus esse demonstretur. Potuitque recentiori etiam aliquid de candelabri oleo et panibus propositionis diei oportuisse. Quae tamen ratio efficax non est, cum secus aeque de panibus propositionis Ex. 27 fuisset agendum. Aaronis vero 27,21 mentio tanto facilius explicatur, quod eius ad sacerdotium electio versu immediate sequenti referatur. Quaestionem , totumne Lev. 24 suo loco iur, an » aliunde sit huc delapsum, de Lev. 24,10-23 tractantes attingemus. Cap. XXIV
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… But at bottom the religious concept always predominates, that of a kind of offering which the people made to God (cf. Ex. 16:23; 20:10; Lev. 23:3; Deut. 5:14).
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… the 15th of nísán: "Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; from the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses, for whoever from the first to the seventh day eats anything leavened shall be cut off from Israel" (Ex. 12:15; 16-20; Lev. 23:4-8). They began to eat unleavened bread at the banquet of the lamb (ibid. 8). On the first and the seventh day holy assemblies were held and work was forbidden (ibid. 16; Lev. 23:7-8). …
23:5
… The sacrificial character also emerges from the expression pésah lê-Jahweh "passover sacred to J." (Ex. 12, 11, 48; Lev. 23, 5; Num. 9, 10, 14; Deut. 16, 1 ff.; II Par. 30, 1, 5; etc.), and from the rite of the blood poured by the priest at the foot of the altar of holocausts (Lev. 17, 3-6; II Par. …
23:7
… anything leavened shall be cut off from Israel" (Ex. 12:15; 16-20; Lev. 23:4-8). They began to eat unleavened bread at the banquet of the lamb (ibid. 8). On the first and the seventh day holy assemblies were held and work was forbidden (ibid. 16; Lev. 23:7-8). Each day victims were offered, specified in Num. 28:19-22.
23:10
The people as such had to offer the first ears of grain at Passover (Lev. 23:10-14), and at Pentecost two loaves made from leavened dough of the new ears, to be burned on the altar together with two lambs (ibid. 23:15-20). As for the offerings of first fruits by …
23:11
Regarding the offering of the first sheaf, which was to be made in the Temple after P., "on the second day of the sabbath" or "on the day after the sabbath" (Lev. 23:11), there was a difference of opinion between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. …
… Jud., XIII, 10, 6). In the liturgy the S. diverged from the Pharisees on many points, among them the day on which the first sheaf was to be offered to the Temple, which according to Lev. 23, 11 and the S. had to be the first day (Sunday) following the sabbath of the paschal octave, whereas the Pharisees understood that sabbath to be the feast of the Jewish Passover itself …
23:15
The people as such had to offer the first ears of grain at Passover (Lev. 23:10-14), and at Pentecost two loaves made from leavened dough of the new ears, to be burned on the altar together with two lambs (ibid. 23:15-20). As for the offerings of first fruits by individual Israelites, there was no determination as to quantity or time. …
According to Lev. 23:15-16: "From the day after the sabbath, that is, from the day when you bring the sheaf to be waved, you shall count seven full weeks. …
23:17
weeks" (hagh ṣābhu'ōth: Ex. 34, 22; Deut. 16, 10; II Par. 8, 13) or "feast of firstfruits" (Ex. 23, 16) because loaves made from the flour of the newly harvested wheat were offered (Lev. 23, 17). The "free" offering of which Deuteronomy speaks (16, 10-11) does not exclude the prescribed offerings, and it was to be an occasional one of a joyful banquet, in which the pious …
Unleavened (Greek: ἀζημός, from privative α and ζῆν, «without leaven»; Hebrew: maṣṣāḥ, pl. maṣṣōth)
… 25), only cakes without leaven were offered in the sacrifices, which sometimes constituted a special unbloody sacrifice (Lev. 2, 4, 11; 6, 16 ff.) (minhāh), except for the "firstfruits," which were not placed on the altar (Lev. 2, 7; 7, 13 ff.; 23, 17). The preparation of the unleavened bread was the duty of the Levites (I Par. 23, 29: the "sacerdotes" of the Vulgate is interpolated). …
23:18
… Other holocausts of "perfect" lambs were prescribed: 7 at the new moons, 7 besides the tāmīd on each day of the paschal week (Num. 28, 11. 19-24); 7 at the new year (Num. 29, 2-4), 9 in all at Pentecost (Lev. 23, 18 ff.; Num. 28, 27), 7 besides the tāmīd on the Day of Atonement (Num. 29, 8-11); at Tabernacles the daily number rose to 14, but only 7 on the eighth day (Num.
… offered, that which served for ordinary sustenance, because it was what was owed to God's liberality, and for this they wished to thank Him. There was added the holocaust of "seven lambs of one year, without blemish, and one young bullock and two rams" (ibid. 23, 18; according to Num. 28, 27, two young bulls, one ram and seven lambs); of "one he-goat for a sin offering and two lambs of one year as a peace sacrifice": Lev. 23, 19. There were therefore …
23:19
… of "seven lambs of one year, without blemish, and one young bullock and two rams" (ibid. 23, 18; according to Num. 28, 27, two young bulls, one ram and seven lambs); of "one he-goat for a sin offering and two lambs of one year as a peace sacrifice": Lev. 23, 19. There were therefore three kinds of sacrifices: the holocaust, the sacrifice for sin and the peace sacrifice of the two lambs. …
23:22
… 12:9; Sir. 3:33; 7:36; Dan. 4:24); it is preferable to fasts and even to sacrifices themselves (cf., for example, Is. 1:11-17; 58:5-7). Indeed the Old Testament also establishes certain concrete forms of aid to the poor (cf., for example, Lev. 19:9 ff.; 23:22; Deut. 14:28; 24:20).
… It prescribes the recitation of the blessings: Šēma (v.), the eighteen blessings, blessings over food, after meals, at the close of the Sabbath, on the occasion of natural phenomena, of extraordinary events. b) Pē'āh ("edge" of the field): deals (with reference to Lev. 19:9; 23:22; Deut. 24:19 and following) with the owner's obligation to leave the edges of the field free at harvest time for the poor and the stranger, so that they may glean there, and the forgotten sheaves. …
23:23
The first day of T. (whose name does not occur in the Bible) marks the beginning of the year, in accordance with Lev. 23:23 and Num. 29:1; whereas according to Lev. 25:9 the first day of the year is the 10th of T. This fluctuation is held by some to be due to the foreign origin of the custom of beginning …
23:27
In the Old Testament, besides numerous prescriptions concerning abstinence from certain meats and parts of animals, ablutions and purifications (v. PURITÀ RITUALE), public fasts are imposed (Lev. 23:27-33; Num. 29:7-12) and fasts of private initiative are practiced, especially in public calamities (Judith, Esther). …
Ember Days (Ieiunium Quattuor Temporum)
… solemnities and declare the T. a purely Christian institution for sanctifying the seasons by fasting: after Pentecost the weekly fast is resumed after the period of paschal joy; in that of autumn an influence of the Jewish fast of atonement is seen (Lev. 23, 27-32; cf. the reading of the Saturday of the T.); that of December to prepare for the traditional Roman ordinations. …
23:34
The "feast of booths" (Heb. ḥagh has-sukkōth; Lev. 23:34) was also called simply "the feast" (Ex. 45:25), because of its popularity and gaiety, and was considered the most "holy" (Philo, De septenario, 10). It was celebrated exactly six …
23:35
closing of the cycle of annual festivals: on the 15th and the 22nd abstinence from servile work was imposed, as on the Sabbath (Lev. 23:35-36). The report of the transfer of this festival in the Northern Kingdom to the following month, found in I Kings 12:32-33, is perhaps due to a gloss.
23:40
… abundance of the offerings made there, especially the rich sacrifices of animals (Num. 29:12-38), amid the rejoicing of the people, who took part in the rites with branches in hand, to be waved according to fixed rules at the salient moments of the ceremony (Lev. 23:40: from an interpretation of this text derived the custom of holding in the left hand a citron branch with its fruit [postbiblical Hebrew 'ethrōgh], and in the right a small bundle of …
… altar, the confession and 'Āzā', the reading of the passage from the Tōrah and the atonement. f) Sukkāh "booth": deals in 5 chapters with the feast of tabernacles (v.), that is, the construction of and dwelling in the sukkāh, the festive bundle (Lev. 23:40), the festive ceremonies, the pouring of the water, the sound of the flutes, the
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.