Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the
Lord
thy God
This has been observed before, ( Exodus 23:17
) ( 34:23
) , and is repeated here for the sake of mentioning the place
where they were to appear, which before now was not observed, and
indeed it is chiefly for that the other festivals are here
recited:
in the place which he shall choose;
which though not expressed is now easily understood; and the
three times at which they were to appear there were, in the feast
of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast
of tabernacles; or passover, Pentecost, and tabernacles; and of
numbers of people going up from the country to each of these
feasts, we have instances in the New Testament; to the passover,
( Luke 2:42
Luke 2:44 ) (
John 11:55 ) ,
to Pentecost, ( Acts
2:5-11 ) , to tabernacles, ( John 7:2 John 7:10 ) ,
and they shall not appear before the Lord
empty;
Aben Ezra observes, the meaning is, not empty of the tribute of
the freewill offering of their hand, and which Jarchi more fully
explains of the burnt offerings of appearance, and of the peace
offerings of the Chagigah, or money answerable to them; which,
according to the Misnah F17 was a meah of silver for a burnt
offering, and two pieces of silver for the Chagigah, which
weighed thirty two barley corns F18