Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:

DEUTERONOMY 16:13KJV
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Deuteronomy 16:13 (KJV)

What does Deuteronomy 16:13 mean?

Deuteronomy 16:13 instructs the Israelites to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after they have gathered in their grain and wine from the harvest. The verse sets the timing and length of this festival, connecting it to the agricultural cycle and the completion of the harvest.

In this verse, Moses is speaking to the people of Israel as they prepare to enter the land of Canaan. The Feast of Tabernacles, also called Sukkot, was a time for the community to remember their journey through the wilderness and to give thanks for the harvest. The verse highlights both the practical aspect of celebrating after the work of gathering crops and the religious importance of marking this event with a week-long festival.

The Hebrew behind Deuteronomy 16:13

  • "observe" (עָשָׂה, ʿasah): This word means to do, make, or keep. Here, it emphasizes that the people are to actively keep or celebrate the festival, not just acknowledge it.
  • "feast" (חַג, chag): This word refers to a festival or pilgrimage feast. It signals that this is a communal, joyful occasion with religious significance.
  • "tabernacles" (סֻּכָּה, sukkah): This word means booths or temporary shelters. It points to the practice of living in makeshift dwellings during the festival, reminding the people of their ancestors' time in the wilderness.
  • "gathered" (אָסַף, asaf): This word means to collect or bring in. Its use ties the timing of the festival directly to the end of the harvest, underlining the connection between agricultural blessing and religious celebration.

Why Deuteronomy 16:13 matters

  • Deuteronomy 16:13 clarifies that the Feast of Tabernacles is not just a random celebration but is specifically linked to the agricultural harvest, grounding the festival in the rhythms of daily life.
  • The verse shows that religious observance in ancient Israel was closely connected to gratitude for material provision, blending worship with thankfulness for the land's produce.
  • This instruction sets the stage for the following verses, which explain how the festival is to be celebrated and who should be included, emphasizing community and inclusion.

Where else these words appear

“wine” Hebrew H3342 · used in 16 verses

  • Numbers 18:27 And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.
  • Job 24:11 Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
  • Hosea 9:2 The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.

“tabernacles” Hebrew H5521 · used in 29 verses

  • Genesis 33:17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
  • 1 Kings 20:16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
  • Job 38:40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

“corn” Hebrew H1637 · used in 36 verses

  • Genesis 50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
  • 1 Samuel 23:1 Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.
  • 1 Chronicles 21:22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

“feast” Hebrew H2282 · used in 55 verses

  • Exodus 10:9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
  • Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
  • Psalms 81:3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.