Holidays in the Old Testament

In a few places in the Old Testament, an overview can be found of the holidays that must be observed. A number of the festivals are inspired by the old harvest calendar. Other festivals stem from the celebration or commemoration of important events.

Overviews of holidays in the Old Testament can be found in:

The most important festivals mentioned are:

There are several words for “holiday” in Hebrew. The most important of these are moed and hag. Moed is fairly commonplace and is used for all manner of festivals. Hag is especially used for the three big annual festivals: the Passover, the Harvest Festival and the Festival of Shelters.

The three great annual festivals in the Old Testament were originally harvest festivals. These festivals were first mentioned in Exodus 23:14-17, which also calls on the people to appear before the Lord. After the Temple in Jerusalem was built, the festivals became pilgrimage festivals, during which time everyone travelled to the Temple.
At these great annual festivals, work was forbidden (see also Sabbath). These festivals are not just for the Israelites explicitly, but also for foreigners.

The festival calendar of the Old Testament has clearly developed over time. The calendar slowly became more extensive and the theological emphasis shifted. The Temple played an important part in this. The dates also became more exact, which allowed everyone in Israel to celebrate the festivals at the same time.