Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

WEEKS, FEAST OF

A spring agricultural festival (ḥag šāḇuʿôṯ; Deut. 16:10) that required a pilgrimage to a sacred site; also termed “the feast of harvest” (ḥag haqqāṣîr; Exod. 23:16) and “the day of the first fruits” (yôm habbikkûrîm; Num. 28:26). After the Babylonian Exile, the festival became associated with the making of the Sinai covenant. In Greek, the feast was termed Pentecost because it was observed 50 days after Passover and Unleavened Bread.

Originally, the pilgrimage was made to a local shrine where the farmer presented the firstfruits of the barley harvest in the early spring (generally, the month of May). Neither Exod. 23:14-17 nor 34:18-24 attempts to fix the date of this observance. Both associate it with the presentation of the firstfruits of the harvest.

Deuteronomy seeks to establish a more precise date for the observance. The pilgrimage was to be observed seven weeks (hence, the Feast of Weeks) after the sickle was first put to the grain (Deut. 16:9). Deuteronomy’s emphasis on cult centralization (ch. 12) required that the pilgrimage be made to the central sanctuary. Such a lengthy absence from the field at the beginning of the harvest, however, would have been impractical. Thus, it appears that Deuteronomy turned what was initially an individual offering of “firstfruits” into a national pilgrimage that concluded the spring harvest season.

Lev. 23:15-16 also seeks to provide a more precise date for this observance. It was to be observed seven weeks from the day after the sabbath on which the sheaf of the elevation offering was presented. It is not termed a “pilgrimage” in this text. The “sheaf of elevation” is discussed in Lev. 23:9-14 and, as the chapter now stands, is associated with the seven-day observance of Unleavened Bread. The precise meaning of the phrase “on the day after the sabbath,” however, is unclear, and controversy concerning its meaning continued into 1st-century Judaism. Three basic positions developed: the day immediately following Passover; the day following the sabbath that fell during the Festival of Unleavened Bread; the day following the sabbath that came after the conclusion of Unleavened Bread. The text clearly seeks to relate the Festival of Unleavened Bread and the Festival of Weeks in terms of festal observance and harvest practice. Lev. 23:15-21 lists in detail the sacrifices and offerings that are to be presented in conjunction with the observance of Weeks (cf. Num. 28:26-31).

After the Babylonian Exile, the festival became associated with the making of the Sinai covenant. This connection is in all probability based on the combination of two texts from the OT. Exod. 19:1 reports that the Israelites entered into the wilderness of Sinai in the third month. 2 Chr. 15:8-15 describes a national ritual that was observed by Asa in the third month in which the people entered into a covenant with Yahweh. Thus, the third month, the month in which the Festival of Weeks was observed, became the occasion for making covenants and oaths. The book of Jubilees (ca. 150 b.c.e.) locates a number of important covenants and oaths in the third month, e.g., Sinai (Jub. 1:1), Noah (6:10), and Abraham (14:1-20). It is probable that Jubilees understands the festival to fall on the 15th day of the third month. This also appears to be the position of the Qumran community.

Bibliography. J. van Goudoever, Biblical Calendars, 2nd ed. (Leiden, 1961); H. J. Kraus, Worship in Israel (Richmond, 1966).

Frank H. Gorman, Jr.

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

WEEKS, FEAST OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)