Bible Strands
Exodus 23:14
Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Israel through Moses, embedding this command within a broader covenant law code. It follows warnings against foreign gods and precedes detailed regulations for the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The words — The Hebrew רְגָלִים (re.ga.Lim) literally means "feet," paired with תָּחֹג (ta.Chog) for "you will celebrate a festival." Combined with שָלֹ֣שׁ (sha.Losh, "three") and בַּשָּנָה (ba.sha.Nah, "in the year"), the phrase establishes a fixed annual pilgrimage cycle.
The thread — This triannual requirement reappears in Deuteronomy 16:16 and Exodus 23:17, which mandate that all males appear before the LORD. Exodus 34:22 specifies two of these gatherings as the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Ingathering.
Why it lands — The text commands Israel to observe three designated festivals each year, requiring physical presence at the chosen sanctuary. It establishes a structured rhythm of communal worship tied to agricultural harvests and the historical exodus from Egypt.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.
- Exodus 23:17 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.
- Exodus 34:22 And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.
- Leviticus 23:5 The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
- Leviticus 23:16 You shall count off fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.
- Leviticus 23:34 “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days.