Leviticus 23
BSASBThe LORD gives Israel a calendar of His own appointed feasts, beginning with the weekly Sabbath. Spring brings Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and the Feast of Weeks. Autumn brings Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and Tabernacles. Through rest, sacrifice, gratitude and joy, Israel is taught to remember what God has done and to live as His people.
Leviticus 23:1-2
The LORD speaks these feasts to Moses to pass on to the people. They are not human inventions but His own appointed times. Israel is to call the nation together for worship. The calendar belongs to God, who sets aside time for meeting with His people.
BSA: feasts (“set times, sacred seasons”): These are fixed appointments on God’s calendar, when He meets His people.
Hebrew: מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, H4150) — “appointed time, meeting.” The word means a set time and also a meeting. These feasts are appointments, and God Himself is waiting to meet His people at each one.
Leviticus 23:3
Before any yearly feast, the weekly Sabbath is named. Six days are for work, and the seventh is a full stop for all Israel, wherever they live. It is not tied to the sanctuary. It is a rhythm of rest that belongs to the LORD and is kept in every home.
BSA: Sabbath (“a day of complete rest, a holy convocation”): The day is both rest from labor and a holy gathering before God.
See also: Exodus 20:8-10.
Leviticus 23:4
The verse repeats the opening so that the list of feasts that follows is clearly marked. These gatherings are called out publicly and kept at their proper times. God’s people live by His schedule and not their own convenience.
BSA: appointed (“set, fixed”): The times are fixed by God, not left to personal preference.
Leviticus 23:5
Passover opens the year. It falls at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. It recalls the night God spared Israel’s households and brought them out of slavery in Egypt. Everything else in the calendar grows out of that rescue.
BSA: twilight (“between the evenings, at sunset”): The Hebrew picture is the dusky time between two evenings, when the Passover lamb was slain.
Hebrew: בֵּין הָעַרְבָּיִם (bein ha-arbayim, H996) — “between the evenings.” This old phrase marks the dusk period when the day is ending. The Passover lamb was killed then, as the night of rescue began.
See also: Exodus 12:6-14; 1 Corinthians 5:7.
Leviticus 23:6-8
The next day begins a seven-day feast in which only bread without yeast is eaten. The first and last days are holy gatherings with no ordinary work, and offerings are made each day. It recalls Israel’s hurried departure from Egypt and calls for a clean break from the old life.
BSA: Unleavened Bread (“without yeast”): Bread with no yeast recalls the haste of the exodus and a life made clean.
See also: Exodus 12:15-17.
Leviticus 23:9-10
The next feast looks ahead to the land God is giving. When Israel reaps its first harvest there, the first sheaf goes to the priest. The people acknowledge that the land and the crop are God’s gift before they take any for themselves.
BSA: firstfruits (“the initial, the best”): The first and best of the crop is given to God, trusting Him for the rest.
Hebrew: רֵאשִׁית (re’shit, H7225) — “first, beginning.” The word means both the first in time and the choicest. The first handful honors God and promises the whole harvest to come.
Leviticus 23:11
The priest lifts the sheaf and waves it before the LORD on the day after the Sabbath. This presents it to God and asks that it be accepted for the people. The harvest is offered up first, and then the whole crop may be enjoyed.
BSA: accepted (“delight, pleasure”): The offering is meant to bring God’s pleasure and favor upon the people.
Hebrew: תְּנוּפָה (tenufah, H8573) — “wave offering, a lifting and moving to and fro.” The priest moves the gift back and forth before the LORD. It is a gesture of presenting it to God.
See also: 1 Corinthians 15:20.
Leviticus 23:12-13
With the sheaf, a spotless year-old lamb is burned whole. Fine flour mixed with oil and a little wine accompany it. Gratitude for the harvest is joined with dedication to God, and the whole offering is called a pleasing aroma to Him.
BSA: pleasing aroma (“a sweet fragrance, a soothing smell”): The picture is of an offering that rises to God and is received with favor.
Leviticus 23:14
No one may eat from the new crop, whether bread, roasted grain or fresh heads, until God has been given His share. He comes first. The rule is lasting and holds wherever Israel lives, so this teaching on gratitude reaches every home.
BSA: permanent (“lasting, age-during”): The command is meant to run on through every generation.
Leviticus 23:15-16
From the day of the wave offering, Israel counts seven full weeks, and then a fiftieth day. The count links the barley harvest to the wheat harvest. It builds expectation, and the last day brings an offering of new grain. The fiftieth day is later known as Pentecost.
BSA: count off (“recount, number”): The days are numbered one by one, so the whole season is lived in expectation.
See also: Acts 2:1; Deuteronomy 16:9-10.
Leviticus 23:17
Two loaves are brought from the people’s own homes. This time they are baked with leaven, unlike the earlier bread. They are the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. The offering is ordinary daily bread given back to God.
BSA: two (“a pair, a dual offering”): A matched pair of loaves is presented together before the LORD.
Hebrew: חָמֵץ (chametz, H2557) — “leavened, risen with yeast.” The loaves are chametz, the very thing banned during Unleavened Bread. These are everyday loaves from the table, offered as they are.
Leviticus 23:18-19
Many animals are offered with the bread: lambs, a bull and rams as burnt offerings, and a goat as a sin offering. Two lambs are given as a peace offering. Thanksgiving is joined to the need for forgiveness, and the feast includes fellowship with God.
BSA: sin offering (“for atonement, to make amends”): Even at a harvest celebration, the offering for sin keeps the people’s standing with God right.
Leviticus 23:20
The priest waves the two lambs with the loaves before the LORD. Then they are set apart as holy and given to the priest as his portion. God receives the gift, and those who serve Him are provided for.
BSA: holy (“set apart, consecrated”): These items now belong to God and are kept for His service.
Leviticus 23:21
The feast day is a holy gathering with no regular work. It is a lasting rule for all future generations and all places. Even harvest time stops so that God’s people can worship.
BSA: permanent (“everlasting, eternal”): The command reaches on through all the generations of Israel.
Leviticus 23:22
This law comes in the middle of the feasts. Farmers must leave the corners of their fields and the dropped stalks for the poor and the foreigner. Thanking God for the harvest includes mercy toward those who have no land. The reminder is that the LORD is Israel’s God.
BSA: poor (“the afflicted, the humble”): The poor are those who are pressed down, and God provides for them through His people’s generosity.
See also: Deuteronomy 24:19-21; Ruth 2:2-3.
Leviticus 23:23-25
The seventh month opens with a day of rest, a holy gathering and trumpet blasts. The people stop their work and give an offering. The sound calls the nation to attention and prepares them for the solemn days that follow in this month.
BSA: trumpet blasts (“shouting, joyful noise”): The sound is a shout or alarm that summons the people before God.
Hebrew: תְּרוּעָה (teru’ah, H8643) — “shout, blast, alarm.” The word is used for a loud shout or trumpet blast, whether joyful or urgent. Here it calls the people to attention.
See also: Numbers 29:1.
Leviticus 23:26-28
On the tenth day comes the Day of Atonement, the most solemn day of the year. The people are to humble themselves, rest completely and give an offering. Atonement is made for them before the LORD. Sin is serious, and God has provided a way for it to be covered.
BSA: humble (“afflict”): The people lower themselves and show real sorrow for sin, often understood to include fasting. atonement (“to make things right, to reconcile”): The day is about restoring a right relationship between God and His people.
Hebrew: כִּפֻּרִים (kippurim, H3725) — “atonement, covering.” The root means to cover or wipe away. The day is about sin being dealt with so that the people can stand before God.
See also: Leviticus 16:29-30; Hebrews 10:1-4.
Leviticus 23:29-30
The warning is strong. Someone who ignores the day by refusing to humble himself, or by working as usual, shows he does not take God’s way of dealing with sin seriously. Being cut off means losing his place among God’s people.
BSA: cut off (“expelled, separated”): The person is removed from the community and from the covenant blessings.
Leviticus 23:31-32
Again no work at all. The day is a Sabbath of complete rest and a lasting rule. It lasts from evening to evening, from the ninth day at sundown to the next sundown. The people are to stop everything and attend to their need of God’s mercy.
BSA: humble (“afflict, deny”): The people deny themselves and face their need before God.
Hebrew: נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, H5315) — “soul, life, self.” The Hebrew speaks of afflicting the nefesh, the whole person. The day involves the inner self and the body together.
Leviticus 23:33-34
The last great feast starts on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. It is the Feast of Tabernacles, also called Booths. It lasts seven days and follows soon after the Day of Atonement. After sin is dealt with, God’s people celebrate before Him.
BSA: Tabernacles (“booths, temporary shelters”): The name points to the simple huts the people lived in during this feast.
Hebrew: סֻכּוֹת (sukkot, H5521) — “booths, huts made of branches.” A sukkah is a rough shelter of branches, not a house. It reminds Israel of their wilderness journey and God’s care.
See also: John 7:2.
Leviticus 23:35-36
The first day is a holy gathering, and offerings are made daily for seven days. An eighth day closes the feast with another solemn gathering. No regular work is done on either of those days. The feast ends with a set-apart day before God.
BSA: solemn (“serious, reverent”): The eighth day is a closing assembly of reverent attention to the LORD.
Leviticus 23:37-38
The verses summarize the list of feasts and the offerings that belong to each day. These are in addition to the regular Sabbath offerings and to the personal gifts, vows and freewill offerings of the people. Required worship does not replace willing generosity.
BSA: freewill (“voluntary, spontaneous”): Some gifts are given from the heart, apart from any command.
Leviticus 23:39
The Feast of Tabernacles falls after the harvest has been gathered in. The people celebrate seven days, with complete rest on the first and the eighth. It is the joyful thanksgiving at the end of the farming year.
BSA: complete rest (“sabbath, solemn rest”): The first and eighth days are kept as Sabbath-like days of rest.
See also: Deuteronomy 16:13-15.
Leviticus 23:40
On the first day the people gather fine fruit and branches from palm, leafy trees and willows. They are told to rejoice before the LORD for seven days. Worship is meant to be glad, with the harvest’s beauty on display.
BSA: rejoice (“be glad, celebrate”): Joy is commanded here as part of worship.
Hebrew: וּשְׂמַחְתֶּם (u-semachtem, H8055) — “and you shall rejoice.” The verb means to be glad and show it. Joy is part of the command, not an extra.
See also: Nehemiah 8:15.
Leviticus 23:41
The feast is kept every year in the seventh month. It is a lasting rule. Each year Israel’s calendar comes around to this season of thanksgiving and joy before the LORD.
BSA: permanent (“everlasting, age-during”): The feast is to be kept as long as there are generations to keep it.
Leviticus 23:42-43
All native-born Israelites live in booths for seven days. The reason is memory. Future generations are to know that God made their ancestors live in booths when He brought them out of Egypt. Every house-dweller steps back into the wilderness story and remembers God’s care.
BSA: know (“understand, learn, perceive”): The booths are a teaching tool so that children will learn what God has done.
See also: Deuteronomy 16:13-15.
Leviticus 23:44
Moses passes the list on to the people. The feasts are now Israel’s to keep. In them the nation is taught to rest, remember, repent, give thanks and rejoice, with God at the center of the year.
BSA: appointed (“set, fixed”): The set times belong to the LORD, and Moses simply announces them.