Exo 23:14-19 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Exod 23:14-17: 23:14-17 God’s command was that every man in Israel must appear before ... the Lord (23:17 ), that is, at the Tabernacle, three times each year . While all the people were camped around the Tabernacle in the wilderness, this requirement did not create any problems. Later, when the people were dispersed throughout the land at a distance from the Tabernacle (later the Temple), it was more difficult. The stipulation seems to have been intended to keep the people from building local worship centers, which would splinter them as a people and allow for pagan influences on the worship of Yahweh. Sadly, these stipulations were not carefully carried out (see, e.g., 2 Kgs 23:21-23 ).

a23:14-17►

b23:17►

c2 Kgs 23:21-23►

d23:15►

e13:4-5►

fLev 23:5-8►

gDeut 16:1-8►

h23:16►

iLev 23:15-21►

jDeut 16:9-12►

k23:18►

lLev 17:11-14►

mDeut 12:23►

nLev 3:3-5►

o23:19►

‏ Exodus 23:14-19

Summary for Exod 23:14-17: 23:14-17 ^a God’s command was that every man in Israel must appear before ... the Lord (23:17 ^b), that is, at the Tabernacle, three times each year. While all the people were camped around the Tabernacle in the wilderness, this requirement did not create any problems. Later, when the people were dispersed throughout the land at a distance from the Tabernacle (later the Temple), it was more difficult. The stipulation seems to have been intended to keep the people from building local worship centers, which would splinter them as a people and allow for pagan influences on the worship of Yahweh. Sadly, these stipulations were not carefully carried out (see, e.g., 2 Kgs 23:21-23 ^c).
23:15 ^d appointed time in early spring, in the month of Abib: See 13:4-5 ^e; Lev 23:5-8 ^f; Deut 16:1-8 ^g.
23:16 ^h The Festival of Harvest was celebrated seven weeks after Passover, around the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest (mid-May to mid-June). In postbiblical Judaism, this festival commemorated the giving of the Sinai covenant, which was calculated to have occurred fifty days after the first Passover in Egypt (see Lev 23:15-21 ⁱ; Deut 16:9-12 ^j).

• The Festival of the Final Harvest was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar (mid-September to mid-October), after the final harvest of grapes was complete. This festival commemorated the wilderness wanderings when God provided for his people.
23:18 ^k Blood symbolized life (Lev 17:11-14 ^l; Deut 12:23 ^m), so blood must not be mixed with yeast, which was not normally included in offerings (see study note on Lev 2:11).

• The fat, considered the best part of the offering, was to be burned at once (see Lev 3:3-5 ⁿ).
23:19 ^o The significance of the command not to cook a young goat in its mother’s milk is unknown. Its inclusion at this point suggests that it may have been a pagan religious practice.