Leviticus 23 is known to describe the feast days but it is a curious chapter. It describes other things than the feast days. It also has been structured in very specific ways to give additional meaning.
In this study we will dig all of that out.
Study
For this study we will be using the NASB translation because it is more direct than most others and that may be important to this study. We will go one step further, however, and restore all references of 'Yahweh' back to the original tetragrammaton, rendered in English as Yahweh. There are 37 cases on that in this chapter.
Yahweh Spoke
This chapter is structured in two ways. One is a hierarchical structure where there is a level within a level. The other, the one that begins here, separates the observances into groups by using the words "Yahweh spoke" as a separator between the groups. This groups the Sabbaths in meaningful ways. This is detailed in the section Structure Diagram below.
Level 1 - Outermost Structure1 Yahweh spoke again to Moses, saying,
The outermost structure is a textual bracketing of the appointed times. It begins with "My appointed times are these" and ends with "the appointed times of Yahweh". We see these as bracketing rather than separating because the first clearly refers to the verses to come and the second refers to the verses just past. These are the bracketing verses:
2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'Yahweh's appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations - My appointed times are these:
It's interesting that the weekly Sabbath is included in this chapter about the feast days. This can only indicate that there is a relationship between the weekly Sabbath and the annual Sabbaths - that they cannot be separated.44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of Yahweh.
This relationship appears to be that the annual Sabbaths are instances of the weekly Sabbath or, at least, they are all instances of the same thing. The former seems more likely because of the structure that follows.
The weekly Sabbath is not listed with the annual Sabbaths - it is listed with them as a group. The inference is that the weekly Sabbath has a relationship with the group of annual Sabbaths, not with each individually.
They are certainly all days of rest but, as we shall see, they have different levels of rest.
Observance - Weekly Sabbath
Observance - Sukkot 2 / Feast of Ingathering3 'For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings.
For a few reasons, this feast, which appears to be a second description of Sukkot, may actually be a description of a different aspect of the feast or it could be a separate feast on the same days. For contrast, the first Sukkot is described as the Feast of Booths; this one is called the Feast of Yahweh. The first Sukkot talks about sacrifices, but not about living in booths; this one talks about in-gathering of the crops and about building and living in booths.39 'On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of Yahweh for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. 40 Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God for seven days. 41 You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, 43 so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.'"
See the section Why The Levels
Level 2
The next level of structure is also a textual bracketing of the appointed times. It begins with "the appointed times of Yahweh" and ends with "the appointed times of Yahweh". These are the bracketing verses:
4 'These are the appointed times of Yahweh, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.
Notice here that the closing "bracket" text refers again to the weekly Sabbaths as being something separate but related to the annual Sabbaths. The specific message here is that both the annual and weekly Sabbaths continue on simultaneously. Most other translations use the words "in addition to" where NASB uses "besides".37 'These are the appointed times of Yahweh which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present offerings by fire to Yahweh - burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each day's matter on its own day - 38 besides those of the sabbaths of Yahweh, and besides your gifts and besides all your votive and freewill offerings, which you give to Yahweh.
Implicitly this recognizes that the annual Sabbaths, or even the New Moon Sabbaths, may land on the same day as the weekly Sabbaths. The principle set in place here is that the requirements of each are to be met.
What isn't mentioned here is what happens when they have conflicting requirements. We learn elsewhere that the annual Sabbaths overrule. An example is feasting versus fasting. All Sabbaths are feasting days except Yom Kippor, which is a fast day. If they land of the same day, Yom Kippor wins - it's a fast day. This clears up the matter of precedence between annual and weekly Sabbaths.
Observance - Passover
Yahweh Spoke5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is Yahweh's Passover. 6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to Yahweh; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. 8 But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to Yahweh. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.'"
See section Structure Diagram9 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Observance - First Fruits
Observance - Harvest Rest10 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to Yahweh. 13 Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to Yahweh for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine.
This is the first of the texts that seem not to belong in this chapter. It is a regulation that relates to the feast of First Fruits, but it isn't about the day or it's observances.
The effect of this regulation is that the new crop that may be in various stages from growing to having been harvested cannot be eaten until the day of First Fruits.14 Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
Observance - Shavu'ot
Observance - Harvest for the Needy15 'You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to Yahweh. 17 You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to Yahweh. 18 Along with the bread you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahweh. 19 You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before Yahweh; they are to be holy to Yahweh for the priest. 21 On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.
This is the second of the texts that seem not to belong in this chapter. This one is especially odd because it is not connected in anyway to a feast day. It is a regulation about the attitude toward harvesting. The idea presented is that the farmer should not seek to grab every kernel that grows but should leave some for the needy. The point seems to be to allow rest for the needy as well.
Yahweh Spoke22 'When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am Yahweh your God.'"
See section Structure Diagram23 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Observance - Yom Teru'ah
Yahweh Spoke24 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to Yahweh.'"
See section Structure Diagram26 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Observance - Yom Kippor / The Day of Atonement
Yahweh Spoke27 "On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to Yahweh. 28 You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before Yahweh your God. 29 If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. 30 As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath."
See section Structure Diagram33 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Observance - Sukkot 1 / Feast of Booths
Why The Levels34 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to Yahweh. 35 On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work of any kind. 36 For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to Yahweh; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work.
The question that must be asked here is why the weekly Sabbath and the second Sukkot are separated out. All (or almost all) of the standard fall feasts are included within the level 2 section. Therefore, it's easy to understand why the weekly Sabbath would be left out.
Sukkot is a problem generally, beginning with why Leviticus has two descriptions of it. The reason has to be so that part of it can be separated out. Being separated from the other Sukkot and the other feast days must mean it is not a feast day. The significance of that is far from clear.
The second Sukkot does have a very unusual characteristic to it. It only applies to those who are native born to Israel. The meaning isn't exactly clear but it probably means those who are genetically Israel. This seems clear because the verses talk about the sons of Israel and future generations of those who lived in huts in the wilderness. Some of the foliage referred to in the verses isn't indigenous to much of the world so there may also be an element of including only those born in the land of Israel.
The verse needs to be correctly understood though. It says who must live in huts, not who must not live in huts. There would be nothing wrong with non-native born persons living in huts.
The first Sukkot does not describe this foliage or living in huts or being for the native born.
From this it seems likely that the first Sukkot is the core Sukkot and one of the feasts. The Second Sukkot is an extension of that for the native born of Israel only. This fits well with the weekly Sabbath being at the same level as the second Sukkot. Both are not annual feasts but are related to them.
By referring to native-born Israel, this verse creates another group, those who are not native-born Israel but are expected to keep the feasts. We know the Jews of Jesus' time had outreach programs that brought people who were not native into Judaism. The Ethiopian mentioned in the New Testament would be one of them.
We also have to wonder if Christians fall under the definition of native born. Remember what Paul says about us being the spiritual children of Abraham. Could we be spiritually native born? The answer is not clear but I think probably not.
So, why the levels? It seems sensible that they should be viewed this way. The weekly Sabbath and the second Sukkot are the Sabbaths that remain when there is no temple. When there is a temple, all of the Sabbaths are in effect. But the second Sabbath is only for the native born of Israel.
Notice that neither the weekly Sabbath nor the second Sukkot require the involvement of priests and temples. but all of the other feasts do.
That just raises another question. Why not explain that in words? There are many other cases in the Bible where information is encoded like this. The purpose seems to be to give a justifiable reason for failing to do what should be done due to lack of understanding. That is an application of the principle of mercy - we are not responsible for what we do not understand.
Chiastic Structure?
Some people have suggested there is a Chiastic structure within Leviticus 23 that leads to a central point of:
That is dubious for various reasons:As for any person who does any work on this same day (Leviticus 23:30)
- the central point isn't a point or even a complete thought
- it makes questionable A - A matches, for example matching 9th day with 10th day
Structure Diagram
The "Yahweh Spoke" statements serve to group the observances together. In some cases it's obvious why; in other's it's much less so.
Grouping the weekly Sabbath with Passover seems odd at first but a possible connection is that these are the only observances that we can observe today. All the others require sacrifices, which require a temple and priests. The only reason Passover can be observed is because Jesus gave us a simplified version of it.
Grouping First Fruits with Shavu'ot makes sense because they are tied together by 50 days even though they shift in relation to the other feasts.
Grouping the Sukkots together makes obvious sense. In fact, we would be confused if they were not together.
Levels of Work on the Sabbaths
| Sabbath | Day | Work | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | you shall not do any work | complete rest | |
| Passover | 1st | you shall not do any laborious work | |
| 7th | you shall not do any laborious work | ||
| Shavu'ot | you shall not do any laborious work | ||
| Yom Teru'ah | you shall not do any laborious work | ||
| Yom Kippor | you shall do no work at all (fasting) | complete rest | |
| Sukkot | 1st | you shall do no laborious work of any kind | |
| 7th | you shall do no laborious work | ||
The table makes it clear which days are the feast Sabbaths but the results are unexpected. The seventh day of Passover and the seventh day of Sukkot, which have no names in Leviticus 23, are two of those days. The day named First Fruits, though not named in Leviticus, is not one of those days.
It does make sense that First Fruits would not be a feast day. It can fall anywhere within the feast of Unleavened Bread.