Exodus 23:17

17 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God .

Exodus 23:17 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 23:17

Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the
Lord thy God.
] In the city of Jerusalem, when they were come into the land of Canaan, and the temple was there built: here they were to show themselves before the Lord as being his, and devoted to his service; concerning which the Misnic doctors have the following canon ^F3,

``all are bound to appear except a man deaf and dumb, a fool, a little one, one of neither sex, or of both sexes, women, servants not free, the lame, the blind, the sick, an old man, and he that cannot go on his feet.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Misn. Chagigah, c. 1. sect. 1.

Exodus 23:17 In-Context

15 Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, because you came out of Egypt in that month. No one is to appear before Me empty-handed.

16 Also [observe] the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of your produce from what you sow in the field, and [observe] the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.

17 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God .

18 "You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened. The fat of My festival offering must not remain until morning.

19 "Bring the best of the firstfruits of your land to the house of the Lord your God. "You must not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.