Feast of Tabernacles

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

Third of the three great Hebrew feasts, celebrated from the 15th to 22d of Tisri
It commemorated the long tent life of the Israelites, and during its celebration the people dwelt in booths. Called also “feast of ingathering” (Ex. 23:16), because it came at end of harvest. It was closed with a holy convocation (Lev. 23:36); and on Sabbatical years was similarly opened and closed, when the law was read anew (Deut. 31:11-13). For law as to solemnization (see Lev. 23:34-43; Num. 29:12-40). Its observance is referred to (Neh. 8:13-18; Hos. 12:9; Zech. 14:16-19; John 7:2,37-38).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

This fell on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and continued seven days, with a holy convocation on the eighth day. Israel dwelt in booths during the feast, in remembrance of their having lived in tents when brought out of Egypt (Lev. 23:34; Num. 29:12; Deut. 16:13; 2 Chron. 8:13; Ezra 3:4; John 7:2). It was at the end of their harvest and vintage, when they enjoyed the fruits of God’s goodness. The feast prefigures the millennium, when the people will enter into full blessing, and the eighth day, the great day, the communion of the heavenly and the earthly (Zech. 14:16). See FEASTS and SEASONS.

“131. Feast of Harvest - Feast of Tabernacles;” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Exodus 23:16. The feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
1. The Feast of Harvest is sometimes called the Feast of Weeks, because of the “seven weeks” by which its time was determined (Deut. 16:9-10). It is also called the Day of Firstfruits (Num. 28:26), because on that day the first loaves made from the wheat harvest were offered to the Lord. Its later name was Pentecost, because it occurred fifty days after Passover. These fifty days began with the offering of the first sheaf of the barley harvest during Passover week (Lev. 23:10), and ended with the Feast of Harvest. This feast took place after the corn harvest, and before the vintage.
Its design was primarily to give an expression of gratitude to God for the harvest which had been gathered; but the Jews assert, that in addition to this, it was intended to celebrate the giving of the law on Siniai, which took place fifty days after the Passover. Maimonides says that the reason why the feast occupied but one day was because that was all the time occupied in giving the law.
On this day the people rested from all labor. Two loaves, made of the new wheat, were offered before the Lord. These were leavened, in distinction to the Passover bread, which was unleavened (Lev. 23:17). The Jews say that this was because the Passover was a memorial of the haste in which they departed from Egypt, when they had not time to get their bread leavened; while the Feast of Harvest was a token of thankfulness to God for their ordinary food. In addition to this offering of the loaves, every person was required to bring in a basket a portion of the firstfruits of the earth, and offer it unto the Lord (Deut. 16: 1-10). At the same time there was a burnt offering of seven young lambs, one young bullock, and two rams. A kid was given as a sin offering, and two young lambs for a peace offering (Lev. 23:18-19).
2. The Feast of Ingathering, more generally known as the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:34) was instituted to remind the people that their fathers dwelt in tents in the wilderness (Lev. 23:43) and also to be an annual thanksgiving after all the products of the earth—corn, fruit, wine, and oil—were gathered for the year (Lev. 23:39). It was held in the seventh month, Tizri, or Ethanim, corresponding to our October, and lasted for eight days; during which time the people dwelt in booths made of the branches of palm, willow, and other trees (Lev. 23:39-43). On each day there were offered in sacrifice two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid for a burnt offering. During the continuance of the feast seventy bullocks were offered, thirteen on the first day, twelve on the second, eleven on the third, and so on, the number being diminished by one on each day until the seventh day, when only seven were offered. The eighth day was a day of peculiar solemnity, and had for its special offerings a bullock, a ram, and seven lambs for a burnt offering, and a goat for a sin offering (Num. 29:12-38). On the Sabbatical year, the Feast of Tabernacles was still further celebrated by a public reading of the law (Deut. 31:10-13). Whether this was intended to include the whole law, or only certain portions, and if so, what portions, is matter of dispute.
Other ceremonies than these, originally instituted, were afterward added. See note on John 7:37 (#798).
These festivals at the gathering of harvests were not peculiar to the Hebrews, but were in use among many Gentile nations. “The ancient sacrifices, assemblies, and conventions for sacrifices, were made at the gathering in of the fruits and productions of the earth, as the season of greatest leisure and rest” (Aristotle, cited by Maimonides, Reasons ... , p. 257).

“798. Ceremonies at the Feast of Tabernacles” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

John 7:37. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
In addition to the ceremonies originally prescribed at the institution of the Feast of Tabernacles (see note on Exodus 28:16, #136) were several others of a later date. Among these was the daily drawing of water from the pool of Siloam. Every morning of the seven days of the feast proper, at daybreak, a priest went to the pool of Siloam and filled with water a golden pitcher, containing about two pints and a half. He was accompanied by a procession of the people and a band of music. On returning to the temple he was welcomed with three blasts from a trumpet, and going to the west side of the great altar he poured the water from the golden pitcher into a silver basin, which had holes in the bottom through which the water was carried off. This ceremony was accompanied with songs and shouts from the people and with the sound of trumpets. It is supposed to have been designed to represent three distinct things: 1. A memorial of the water provided for their fathers in the desert. 2. A symbol of the forthcoming “latter rain.” 3. A representation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the coming of the Messiah. To the last reference is made in verses 38-39, and to the pouring out of the water Jesus no doubt refers in the text.
Nearly all the authorities agree in saying that on the eighth day this ceremony was dispensed with. There is great diversity of opinion, however, as to the meaning of “the last day, that great day of the feast”; some supposing it to be the seventh, and others the eighth. It is urged that the eighth day was not properly a part of the feast, but a special day of “holy convocation,” the peculiar ceremonies of the feast having ceased at the close of the day previous, although the ritual provided special offerings for the eighth day. On the other hand, it is affirmed that the Jews held the eighth day in higher esteem than any of the seven others because they thought the solemnities of the day were designed especially for them, whereas on the other days all the nations of the world were included in the supplications that were offered. It is sufficient for our present purpose to say that, if the seventh day be intended by “the last,” the Saviour probably uttered the words of the text at the time when the water was poured out by the officiating priest. If the eighth day be meant, then it is probable, as Alford suggests, that the words were used after the singing of the Hallel, just at the time when, on previous days, the water had been poured out.
It is thought by some that this custom of drawing water from Siloam and pouring it out by the side of the great altar was introduced before the Babylonish captivity, and that Isaiah refers to it when he says, “With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation” (Isa. 12:3).

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