Meaning of “feast”

1. Feast — as a mark of hospitality (Gen. 19:3; 2 Sam. 3:20; 2 Kings 6:23); on occasions of domestic joy (Luke 15:23; Gen. 21:8); on birthdays (Gen. 40:20; Job 1:4; Matt. 14:6); and on the occasion of a marriage (Judg. 14:10; Gen. 29:22). Feasting was a part of the observances connected with the offering up of sacrifices (Deut. 12:6, 7; 1 Sam. 9:19; 16:3, 5), and with the annual festivals (Deut. 16:11). "It was one of the designs of the greater solemnities, which required the attendance of the people at the sacred tent, that the oneness of the nation might be maintained and cemented together, by statedly congregating in one place, and with one soul taking part in the same religious services. But that oneness was primarily and chiefly a religious and not merely a political one; the people were not merely to meet as among themselves, but with Jehovah, and to present themselves before him as one body; the meeting was in its own nature a binding of themselves in fellowship with Jehovah; so that it was not politics and commerce that had here to do, but the soul of the Mosaic dispensation, the foundation of the religious and political existence of Israel, the covenant with Jehovah. To keep the people's consciousness alive to this, to revive, strengthen, and perpetuate it, nothing could be so well adapated as these annual feasts." (See FESTIVALS »T0001325.)

2. Dedication, Feast of the — (John 10:22, 42), i.e., the feast of the renewing. It was instituted B.C. 164 to commemorate the purging of the temple after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes (B.C. 167), and the rebuilding of the altar after the Syrian invaders had been driven out by Judas Maccabaeus. It lasted for eight days, beginning on the 25th of the month Chisleu (December), which was often a period of heavy rains (Ezra 10:9, 13). It was an occasion of much rejoicing and festivity. But there were other dedications of the temple. (1) That of Solomon's temple (1 Kings 8:2; 2 Chr. 5:3); (2) the dedication in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chr. 29); and (3) the dedication of the temple after the Captivity (Ezra 6:16).

3. Marriage-feasts — (John 2:1-11) "lasted usually for a whole week; but the cost of such prolonged rejoicing is very small in the East. The guests sit round the great bowl or bowls on the floor, the meal usually consisting of a lamb or kid stewed in rice or barley. The most honoured guests sit nearest, others behind; and all in eating dip their hand into the one smoking mound, pieces of the thin bread, bent together, serving for spoons when necessary. After the first circle have satisfied themselves, those lower in honour sit down to the rest, the whole company being men, for women are never seen at a feast. Water is poured on the hands before eating; and this is repeated when the meal closes, the fingers having first been wiped on pieces of bread, which, after serving the same purpose as table-napkins with us, are thrown on the ground to be eaten by any dog that may have stolen in from the streets through the ever-open door, or picked up by those outside when gathered and tossed out to them (Matt. 15:27; Mark 7:28). Rising from the ground and retiring to the seats round the walls, the guests then sit down cross-legged and gossip, or listen to recitals, or puzzle over riddles, light being scantily supplied by a small lamp or two, or if the night be chilly, by a smouldering fire of weeds kindled in the middle of the room, perhaps in a brazier, often in a hole in the floor. As to the smoke, it escapes as it best may; but indeed there is little of it, though enough to blacken the water or wine or milk skins hung up on pegs on the wall. (Comp. Ps. 119:83.) To some such marriage-feast Jesus and his five disciples were invited at Cana of Galilee." Geikie's Life of Christ. (See CANA »T0000702.)

4. New Moon, Feast of — Special services were appointed for the commencement of a month (Num. 28:11-15; 10:10). (See FESTIVALS »T0001325.)

5. Tabernacles, Feast of — the third of the great annual festivals of the Jews (Lev. 23:33-43). It is also called the "feast of ingathering" (Ex. 23:16; Deut. 16:13). It was celebrated immediately after the harvest, in the month Tisri, and the celebration lasted for eight days (Lev. 23:33-43). During that period the people left their homes and lived in booths formed of the branches of trees. The sacrifices offered at this time are mentioned in Num. 29:13-38. It was at the time of this feast that Solomon's temple was dedicated (1 Kings 8:2). Mention is made of it after the return from the Captivity. This feast was designed (1) to be a memorial of the wilderness wanderings, when the people dwelt in booths (Lev. 23:43), and (2) to be a harvest thanksgiving (Neh. 8:9-18). The Jews, at a later time, introduced two appendages to the original festival, viz., (1) that of drawing water from the Pool of Siloam, and pouring it upon the altar (John 7:2, 37), as a memorial of the water from the rock in Horeb; and (2) of lighting the lamps at night, a memorial of the pillar of fire by night during their wanderings. "The feast of Tabernacles, the harvest festival of the Jewish Church, was the most popular and important festival after the Captivity. At Jerusalem it was a gala day. It was to the autumn pilgrims, who arrived on the 14th (of the month Tisri, the feast beginning on the 15th) day, like entrance into a silvan city. Roofs and courtyards, streets and squares, roads and gardens, were green with boughs of citron and myrtle, palm and willow. The booths recalled the pilgrimage through the wilderness. The ingathering of fruits prophesied of the spiritual harvest.", Valling's Jesus Christ, p. 133.

6. Trumpets, Feast of — was celebrated at the beginning of the month Tisri, the first month of the civil year. It received its name from the circumstances that the trumpets usually blown at the commencement of each month were on that occasion blown with unusual solemnity (Lev. 23:23-25; Num. 10:10; 29:1-6). It was one of the seven days of holy convocation. The special design of this feast, which is described in these verses, is not known.

7. Weeks, Feast of — See PENTECOST »T0002893.

7 results from Easton's Bible Dictionary

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Fast Feast

Bible Search for “feast”

1. Genesis Chapter 19 Verse 3 — And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

2. Genesis Chapter 21 Verse 8 — And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.

3. Genesis Chapter 26 Verse 30 — And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

4. Genesis Chapter 29 Verse 22 — And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

5. Genesis Chapter 40 Verse 20 — And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.

6. Exodus Chapter 5 Verse 1 — And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

7. Exodus Chapter 10 Verse 9 — And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.

8. Exodus Chapter 12 Verse 17 — And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.

9. Exodus Chapter 12 Verse 14 — And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

10. Exodus Chapter 13 Verse 6 — Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.

11. Exodus Chapter 23 Verse 16 — And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labors, 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 labors out of the field.

12. Exodus Chapter 23 Verse 15 — Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:

13. Exodus Chapter 23 Verse 14 — Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

14. Exodus Chapter 32 Verse 5 — And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

15. Exodus Chapter 34 Verse 25 — Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.

16. Exodus Chapter 34 Verse 22 — And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.

17. Exodus Chapter 34 Verse 18 — The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

18. Leviticus Chapter 23 Verse 44 — And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.

19. Leviticus Chapter 23 Verse 41 — And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

20. Leviticus Chapter 23 Verse 39 — Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.

21. Leviticus Chapter 23 Verse 37 — These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:

22. Leviticus Chapter 23 Verse 34 — Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.

23. Leviticus Chapter 23 Verse 6 — And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

24. Leviticus Chapter 23 Verse 4 — These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

25. Leviticus Chapter 23 Verse 2 — Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.

26. Numbers Chapter 15 Verse 3 — And will make an offering by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savor unto the LORD, of the herd or of the flock:

27. Numbers Chapter 28 Verse 17 — And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.

28. Numbers Chapter 29 Verse 39 — These things ye shall do unto the LORD in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meat offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.

29. Numbers Chapter 29 Verse 12 — And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days:

30. Deuteronomy Chapter 16 Verse 16 — Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

31. Deuteronomy Chapter 16 Verse 15 — Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.

32. Deuteronomy Chapter 16 Verse 14 — And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.

33. Deuteronomy Chapter 16 Verse 13 — Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:

34. Deuteronomy Chapter 16 Verse 10 — And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:

35. Deuteronomy Chapter 31 Verse 10 — And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

36. Judges Chapter 14 Verse 17 — And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

37. Judges Chapter 14 Verse 12 — And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:

38. Judges Chapter 14 Verse 10 — So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.

39. Judges Chapter 21 Verse 19 — Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.

40. 1 Samuel Chapter 25 Verse 36 — And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

41. 2 Samuel Chapter 3 Verse 20 — So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast.

42. 1 Kings Chapter 3 Verse 15 — And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

43. 1 Kings Chapter 8 Verse 65 — And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.

44. 1 Kings Chapter 8 Verse 2 — And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

45. 1 Kings Chapter 12 Verse 33 — So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

46. 1 Kings Chapter 12 Verse 32 — And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

47. 1 Chronicles Chapter 23 Verse 31 — And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the LORD in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the LORD:

48. 2 Chronicles Chapter 2 Verse 4 — Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.

49. 2 Chronicles Chapter 5 Verse 3 — Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.

50. 2 Chronicles Chapter 7 Verse 9 — And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

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