Bible Strands
John 7:2
However, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text states that the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near. This temporal marker precedes the narrative moment where Jesus remains in Galilee while His brothers prepare to urge Him toward Judea.
The words — The Greek term ἐγγὺς (engus) literally means "near," coupled with ἑορτὴ (heortē) for "feast," to establish the approaching date of the pilgrimage festival.
The thread — This approaching festival connects to the mandated pilgrimage cycles outlined in Deuteronomy 16:13 and Exodus 23:16, and points forward to the eschatological gathering described in Zechariah 14:16.
Why it lands — The text notes a specific religious deadline before Jesus acts, requiring the reader to recognize how divine timing and human plans intersect in the narrative.
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 Greek words
King James Version
Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.
Cross-references
- Zechariah 14:16 Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
- Deuteronomy 16:13 You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.
- Exodus 23:16 You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.
- 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.
- Numbers 29:12 On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work, and you shall observe a feast to the LORD for seven days.
- 1 Kings 8:2 And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.
- 1 Kings 8:65 So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast before the LORD our God for seven days and seven more days—fourteen days in all.
- 2 Chronicles 7:9 On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar had lasted seven days, and the feast seven days more.
- Ezra 3:4 They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with what is written, and they offered burnt offerings daily based on the number prescribed for each day.
- Nehemiah 8:14 And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,