TABERNACLES, FEAST OF.— The names ot this feast and the references to it in the Bible are given in the art. Feasts and Fasts.
As the present article is a supplement to the above-nanied general one, the reader is recommended to refer to the latter (vol. i.), especially pp. 860, 861, and the synopsis on p. 863. (In the reff. to Tabernacles outside the Pentateuch insert ' Neh ' between ' Ezr 3**' and '8l*-i7'). In what follows, a number by itself will be a reference to a page in that article.
Of the six passages containing injunctions con- cerning the observance of this feast, two are from Ex. and two from Deut. (863). The two in Ex. call it the Feast of Ingathering, refer to it as one of the three Pilgrimage I'"easts (^60* and note), place it at the end of the year, and enjoin the attendance of all males at the sanctuary with offerings.
The injunctions in Deut. contain noteworthy additions to those in Exodus. The Feast of In- gathering is called the Feast of Booths (s^ukkuth, without explanation as if the term were familiar), its duration is fixed for seven days, and it is to be kept at Jerusalem, 'the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.' Also in the year of release in the Feast of Tabernacles the law shall be read before all Israel in their hearing (Dt 31""-). The name of the festival points to the custom of erect- ing booths in the vineyards during the time of the vintage (cf. Is I* 'a booth in a vineyard,' RV), a custom which is continued to the present day in parts of Palestine ; it served also (Lv 23"'^' [U]) to remind the Israelites that their fathers dwelt in booths or tents during their passage from the house of bondage to the Promised Land. Of the two ceremonies enjoined in Dt 26, the second (yy 12-15) .^^.as probably performed at this festival. Both in Ex. and Deut. the connexion of this and all three Pilgrimage Feasts with agriculture is clearly indicated (cf. 860'').
Before considering the two remaining passages, let us trace the observance of the feast before the ExUe. It appears to have been a custom of the Canaanites to keep a vintage festival, for accord- ing to Jg 9^, after gathering the vineyards and treading the grapes, the men of Shechera held a feast in the house of their god, and at this gather- ing dissatisfaction with Abimelech's rule was openly expressed. (For a discussion of this in- cident see art. Abimelech, and cf. Moore on Jg 9").
In Jg 21'° mention is made of a similar festival observed at Sliiloh, when the maidens went out to dance in the vineyards; but note the contrast between the Canaanites i>i tlie house of their qud and the/cffcs< of the LORD held by the Israelites. Althougli this festival was held at Shiloh, where the ark was, it appears to have been an observance by a tribe or part of Israel only.
The yearly sacrifice which Elkanah ofTered to the Lord of Hosts in Shiloli (ISP) was probably in the autumn. The dedication of Solomon's temple took place 'at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month' (1 K 8'),* i.e. at the Feast of Tabernacles. It was in imita- tion of this feast that Jeroboam instituted a feast at Bethel in the eighth mouth (1 K \-2^-).
From these references to the feast in pre-exilic times it may be inferred that, (1) at least in the times before the establishment of the kingdom, the pilgrimage to the sanctuary was made but once a year (most probably in the autumn) ; (2) festivals at other times of the year were also observed [cf. 1 K 9=», 2 Ch 8", Is 9» ('the joy in harvest' ; the same word as in Ex 23" is applied to the feast elsewhere called the Feast of Weeks)
* A difficulty arises in comparing this passage with 1 K 6** where it is stated that the house of the I.ORD was net finished till ' the month Bui, which is the eighth month.'
TALKRNACLKS, FEAST OF
TABLE
663
29' (' let the feasU come round,' RV) 30=», Hos 2" Am 5»'].
Let us now consider tlie two remaining passiii,'es, which cont.un injunctions concerninf; this least (Lv 23 and N u 2'J), and here we notice that, instead of prescriptions relating to the tliree Pilgrinia^'e Feasts as in Ex. and Deut., we have a sacred calendar in whicli the position of each festival is fixed by the month and day. A special name {a-.p (Cijj? 'a holy convocation') is given to the festivals, or rather to certain days of the festal periods, and servile work is prohibited on those days. The Feast of Tabernacles lasts for seven days as in Deut., but an eighth day is observed at its close as an n'jv;; 'a solemn assembly' (see Driver's note on Dt 16*).
The post-exilic references to this feast are con- tained in Ezra and Xehemiah. In Ezr 3* it is stated that the Feast of Tabernacles was observed by the returned exiles as soon as the altar was set up, and before the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid. The terms used in vv.'"' show acquaintance with the prescriptions of P with reference to burnt-ofl'erings. *