SEV Biblia, Chapter 23:34
Habla a los hijos de Israel, y diles: A los quince días de este mes séptimo será la fiesta de los tabernáculos al SEÑOR por siete días.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Leviticus 23:34
Verse 34. The feast of tabernacles] In this solemnity the people left their houses, and dwelt in booths or tents made of the branches of goodly trees and thick trees, (of what kind the text does not specify,) together with palm-trees and willows of the brook, ver. 40. And in these they dwelt seven days, in commemoration of their forty years' sojourning and dwelling in tents in the wilderness while destitute of any fixed habitations. In imitation of this feast among the people of God, the Gentiles had their feasts of tents. Plutarch speaks particularly of feasts of this kind in honour of Bacchus, and thinks from the custom of the Jews in celebrating the feast of tabernacles, that they worshipped the god Bacchus, "because he had a feast exactly of the same kind called the feast of tabernacles, skhnh, which they celebrated in the time of vintage, bringing tables out into the open air furnished with all kinds of fruit, and sitting under tents made of vine branches and ivy."-PLUT. Symp., lib. iv., Q. 6. According to Ovid the feast of Anna Perenna was celebrated much in the same way. Some remained in the open air, others formed to themselves tents and booths made of branches of trees, over which they spread garments, and kept the festival with great rejoicings.
"Sub Jove pars durat; pauci tentoria ponunt; Sunt, quibus e ramis frondea facta easa est.
Pars sibi pro rigidis calamos statuere columnis; Desuper extentas imposuere togas." Ovid, Fast., lib. ill.
Concerning this feast of tabernacles, see the note on John vii. 37, 38; and for the various feasts among the Jews, See the note on "Exod. xxiii. 14".
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 34. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying , etc.] Giving them directions about keeping a feast, in which the whole body of them had a very special and particular concern: the fifteenth day of this seventh month ; the month Tisri or September: [shall be] the feast of tabernacles [for] seven days unto the Lord ; the design of which was, partly to give thanks for the fruits of the earth, now all gathered in, ( Leviticus 23:39); but chiefly to commemorate the dwelling of the children of Israel in tents and booths, during their forty years’ abode in the wilderness, ( Leviticus 23:43); whereby their posterity in later times would be led to observe the difference between them and their forefathers, who lived in tents or booths, pitched sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another, in the open fields, in wastes, and deserts; whereas they dwelt in spacious cities, fortified towns, and magnificent houses; and were possessed of various kingdoms and nations, as was the land of Canaan: the reason, the Jews say f832 , why this feast was kept at this time of the year and not at the season when they went out of Egypt and first dwelt in booths, as at Succoth which had its name from thence, ( Exodus 12:37), was this; because then the summer season began when men commonly used to build tabernacles to shelter them from the heat of the sun, wherefore, if the feast had been kept at that time, it would not have been known that it was kept at the command of God, and in remembrance of the above circumstance; but the month Tisri or September being usually a cold and rainy season in those parts, men were wont to leave their tabernacles and go into their houses; and so it was a plain case that the feast was observed not for convenience or through custom, but that it was at the command of God they went out of their houses into tabernacles at this season of the year, in commemoration of the miraculous benefit of dwelling in tents under the clouds of glory: and they also say, that for this reason it was ordered to begin on the fifteenth day, because it was on the fifteenth day of the month (though of another month) they went out of Egypt, and the clouds began to protect and accompany them; and this was enjoined them seven days, to teach them that the miraculous benefits of God are always and every day to be remembered: the Jews have a whole treatise in their Misnah, called “Succah”, the “booth” or “tabernacle”; in which they give an account of the form and fabric and measure of their tabernacles, and of their dwelling and dining in them; and of the branches they carry in their hands, and of the manner of carrying and shaking them; and of the pouring out of water at this time, and of their piping and singing and other rites and ceremonies attending this feast; (see Gill on “ John 7:2”); besides, the uses of this feast before mentioned, it was typical of spiritual and evangelical things, and especially of the incarnation of Christ, whose human nature is the true tabernacle, in distinction from those typical ones, and in which he is expressly said to “tabernacle” among us, ( John 1:14); and it is highly probable that his incarnation or birth was at the time of this feast; at which time the temple of Solomon, a type of Christ’s body, was also dedicated; and this season of the year suits better than that in which it is usually placed; and his baptism and the time of his death show it; (see Luke 1:1,8 3:22); and as Christ, our passover, was sacrificed for us at the exact time of the passover, and the firstfruits of the Spirit were given on the very day of Pentecost, or feast of firstfruits; so it is most likely, that Christ was born, or first began to tabernacle in human nature at the feast of tabernacles, which we, in Gospel times, are to keep, by believing in the incarnate Saviour, and by attending to the Gospel ordinances he has appointed, to commemorate the benefits of his incarnation, sufferings, and death, ( Zechariah 14:16,17); moreover, the dwelling of the children of Israel in booths in the wilderness, and so at this feast in commemoration of it, may be an emblem of the tabernacles of the saints in their present wilderness state: this world, through which they are passing, is like a wilderness to them; their bodies are called tabernacles, which are pitched for a while; and their state and condition here is that of sojourners, pilgrims, and travellers; yea, these tents and tabernacles may be figures of the several particular churches of Christ, in the present state of things, which are set up for a while for the convenience, comfort, refreshment, and joy of the spiritual Israel of God; (see Psalm 46:4 84:1).
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 33-44 - In the feast of Tabernacles there was a remembrance of their dwellin in tents, or booths, in the wilderness, as well as their father dwelling in tents in Canaan; to remind them of their origin and their deliverance. Christ's tabernacling on earth in human nature, might als be prefigured. And it represents the believer's life on earth: stranger and pilgrim here below, his home and heart are above with his Saviour. They would the more value the comforts and conveniences of their own houses, when they had been seven days dwelling in the booths It is good for those who have ease and plenty, sometimes to learn what it is to endure hardness. The joy of harvest ought to be improved for the furtherance of our joy in God. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; therefore whatever we have the comfort of, he mus have the glory of, especially when any mercy is perfected. God appointed these feasts, "Beside the sabbaths and your free-wil offerings." Calls to extraordinary services will not excuse from constant and stated ones __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
דבר 1696 אל 413 בני 1121 ישׂראל 3478 לאמר 559 בחמשׁה 2568 עשׂר 6240 יום 3117 לחדשׁ 2320 השׁביעי 7637 הזה 2088 חג 2282 הסכות 5521 שׁבעת 7651 ימים 3117 ליהוה׃ 3068
