Exodus 23:16

16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. “Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.

Exodus 23:16 in Other Translations

KJV
16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
ESV
16 You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.
NLT
16 “Second, celebrate the Festival of Harvest, when you bring me the first crops of your harvest. “Finally, celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the harvest season, when you have harvested all the crops from your fields.
MSG
16 "Hold the summer Festival of Harvest when you bring in the firstfruits of all your work in the fields. "Hold the autumn Festival of Ingathering at the end of the season when you bring in the year's crops.
CSB
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.

Exodus 23:16 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 23:16

And the feast of harvest
This is the second feast, the feast of wheat harvest, between which and barley harvest were fifty days; or between the firstfruits of the one and the first fruits of the other were seven weeks, as Aben Ezra observes, and was sometimes called the feast of weeks; at which feast were to be brought,

the first fruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field;
the two wave loaves or cakes, made of the first new wheat, which was the effect of their labour in tilling the field, and sowing it with wheat, and reaping it:

and the feast of ingathering, [which is] in the end of the year, when
thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field;
this is the third feast in the year to be kept, and was kept at the close of the year, at the revolution of it, when a new year began that is, according to the old account, which made Tisri the month in which this feast was kept, the first month of the year; whereas, according to the new count, it was the seventh month from the month Abib, now made the first of the months upon the Israelites coming out of Egypt in that month: this is the same feast with the feast of tabernacles, but here called the feast of ingathering, because at this time of the year all the fruits of the earth were gathered in; the corn, and wine, and oil, and all other fruits, on account of which there was great rejoicing, as there ought to be.

Exodus 23:16 In-Context

14 “Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.
15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt. “No one is to appear before me empty-handed.
16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. “Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.
17 “Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD.
18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. “The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.

Cross References 4

  • 1. Leviticus 23:15-21; Numbers 28:26; Deuteronomy 16:9; 2 Chronicles 8:13
  • 2. S Exodus 22:29; S Exodus 34:22
  • 3. Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 23:34,42; Deuteronomy 16:16; Deuteronomy 31:10; Ezra 3:4; Nehemiah 8:14; Zechariah 14:16
  • 4. Leviticus 23:39; Deuteronomy 16:13; Jeremiah 40:10
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