The Jewish Feasts: Part 1, Chapter Introduction

Leviticus 23 provides a convenient outline for a discussion of the eight principal Feasts of Israel, including the weekly Sabbath observance.

The first two verses of the chapter set the theme for the rest, and perhaps require some explanation for non-Jewish readers:

In most English translations of the Bible, we see “lord”, in lower or mixed case, used to indicate a functional title for a ruler, and “LORD”, spelled in all-caps, as a reverent substitution for the “Covenant Name”, or “Divine Name” יהוה, yud-heh-vav-heh, YHVH, Yahweh, Jehovah, etc. “Adonai” and “ADONAI” are equivalent Hebrew substitutions for “the lord” and “the LORD”, respectively.

“Moshe” is an English transliteration of the Hebrew name that has come to our standard English versions in its Anglo-Saxon rendering as “Moses”. In this and future slides, transliterations are indicated by a following asterisk.

One other term on this slide requires explanation: A “convocation” (Heb., miqra) is “a sacred assembly, calling, or reading.” Though translations of the term in Lev. 23:1 appear at first glance to refer to the feasts themselves, the context of the remaining verses in the chapter clearly indicate that the “convocations” are here the associated Sabbaths, or days when ordinary work is not permitted.

Table of Contents: The Jewish Feasts
Next in Series: The Jewish Feasts: Part 2, On Sabbaths and Days