Bible Feasts & institutions

+ Write a new article

The books of the Bible and its events, parables, places and concepts · Articles: 79 (2,444 in the whole category)

A 6

AltarAn altar is a raised structure built of earth, stone, or similar materials for offering sacrifices to God and for worship. The altars of the patriarc…
Altar of Burnt OfferingThe altar of burnt offering stood in the courtyard of the tabernacle and of the Temple in Jerusalem, and burnt offerings and other animal sacrifices …
Altar of IncenseThe altar of incense was a small gold-overlaid altar that stood in the holy place of the tabernacle and the temple, where incense was burned morning …
Altar of IncenseThe altar of incense was a small gold-overlaid altar that stood in the Holy Place of the Old Testament tabernacle and temple, in front of the veil of…
AnointingAnointing is a biblical rite in which oil is poured on or applied to a person or object to set it apart for God. In the Old Testament it was performe…
Ark of the CovenantThe Ark of the Covenant was a gold-overlaid wooden chest made at God's command in the time of Moses. It held the stone tablets of the Ten Commandment…

B 5

BetrothalIn the Bible, betrothal (espousal) is the stage before marriage in which a man and a woman become legally bound to each other. It appears in Old Test…
Biblical Weights and MeasuresBiblical weights and measures are the units of length, weight, volume, and currency that appear in the Bible. They include the cubit, shekel, talent,…
BirthrightThe birthright is the firstborn son's right of precedence in inheritance and in representing the family, passed down from his father. It is best know…
Breastplate of JudgmentThe breastplate of judgment was a square ornament worn on the chest, over the ephod, by the high priest of Old Testament Israel. It held twelve preci…
Burnt OfferingThe burnt offering is an Old Testament sacrifice in which the offering was burned whole on the altar and presented to God. Its procedure is set out i…

C 8

Captain of FiftyA captain of fifty is an Old Testament title for a person who governed or commanded a unit of fifty people. The title appears in passages such as Exo…
Captain of ThousandsA captain of thousands is the biblical term for a leader who governed or commanded a unit of one thousand. In the Old Testament it denotes a judicial…
Casting LotsCasting lots was a customary way of settling matters that people found difficult to decide for themselves by drawing marked objects. In the Bible it …
Census of QuiriniusThe census in Luke 2 was a registration of inhabitants carried out by order of the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus. Because of this census, Joseph and …
CircumcisionCircumcision is the rite of cutting away the foreskin of the male genital organ. In the Old Testament it was the sign of the covenant between God and…
Cities of RefugeThe cities of refuge were six towns designated by Old Testament law where a person who had killed someone unintentionally could escape blood vengeanc…
Consecration of the PriestsThe consecration of the priests was the seven-day ceremony in which Moses installed Aaron and his sons as priests of Israel. The command for it is re…
Continual Burnt OfferingThe continual burnt offering was the regular burnt offering in Old Testament Israel in which the priest burned one young lamb every morning and anoth…

D 4

Day of AtonementThe Day of Atonement was an annual holy day of Old Testament Israel, observed on the tenth day of the seventh month, on which the high priest entered…
Dietary LawsThe dietary laws are the regulations in the Old Testament law that distinguished the clean foods the people of Israel were permitted to eat from the …
Division of AbijahThe division of Abijah was the eighth of the twenty-four priestly divisions established in the time of David for rotating temple service. In the Gosp…
Drink OfferingThe drink offering was an Old Testament offering in which a beverage such as wine was poured out to God, usually alongside the burnt offering or the …

E 1

EphodThe ephod was a vest-like outer garment worn by the high priest in the Old Testament. There was also a linen ephod worn by priests, and the ephod ser…

F 7

Feast of DedicationThe Feast of Dedication is a Jewish festival commemorating the Jews' recovery and rededication of the Jerusalem Temple after it had been defiled by t…
Feast of FirstfruitsThe Feast of Firstfruits was an Old Testament rite, described in Leviticus 23:9-14, in which the first sheaf of the spring barley harvest was waved b…
Feast of TabernaclesThe Feast of Tabernacles is one of the three pilgrimage feasts of Israel. Observed after the autumn harvest had been gathered, it began on the fiftee…
Feast of TrumpetsThe Feast of Trumpets was an Old Testament festival observed on the first day of the seventh month of Israel's religious calendar. It was marked by t…
Feast of Unleavened BreadThe Feast of Unleavened Bread was a seven-day festival, beginning the day after Passover, during which Israel ate bread without leaven to commemorate…
Feast of WeeksThe Feast of Weeks was one of Israel's three pilgrimage festivals, at which the firstfruits of the wheat harvest were offered. It was observed after …
FirstbornThe firstborn are the first offspring of the womb, among both people and livestock. The Old Testament law required that the firstborn be set apart an…

G 1

GleaningGleaning was an Old Testament legal institution requiring that fallen ears of grain and leftover fruit be left at harvest for the poor and the strang…

H 6

Heave OfferingThe heave offering (Korean *geoje*, 擧祭) was, in the Old Testament sacrificial system, a portion taken from a sacrifice or gift and set apart for Go…
Hebrew ServantIn Old Testament law, a Hebrew servant was an Israelite who had been sold into the service of a fellow Israelite because of debt or poverty. The law …
Herod's TempleHerod's Temple is the Second Temple in Jerusalem as extensively renovated and expanded by Herod the Great beginning in the late first century BC. It …
High PriestThe high priest held the foremost position among the priests of Old Testament Israel, an office whose holder entered the Most Holy Place on the Day o…
Holy ConvocationA holy convocation (Korean seonghoe, 聖會) was a "sacred assembly" in which the people of Israel were called together on days appointed by God to res…
Holy of HoliesThe Holy of Holies, or Most Holy Place, was the innermost chamber of the tabernacle and of the Temple in Jerusalem. The ark of the covenant was kept …

I 1

Incense OfferingThe incense offering (Korean bunhyang, 焚香) was an Old Testament institution of worship in which incense was burned so that its fragrance and smoke …

J 3

Jewish CalendarThe Jewish calendar is the calendar used by ancient Israel and the Jewish people. It reckons months by the waxing and waning of the moon and adjusts …
JubileeThe Jubilee was an Old Testament institution established in Leviticus 25. In the fiftieth year, after seven sabbatical cycles, land that had been sol…
Judges of IsraelThe judges were leaders whom God raised up after the death of Joshua and before Saul became king to deliver Israel from foreign enemies and to govern…

K 1

Kinsman-RedeemerThe kinsman-redeemer (Hebrew goel) is an Old Testament institution referring to a close relative who paid the price to recover land or freedom that a…

L 4

LampstandThe lampstand was a furnishing of pure gold that stood in the Holy Place of the tabernacle and the temple. It had a single central shaft with six bra…
Levirate MarriageLevirate marriage was an ancient Israelite institution in which, when a husband died without a son, his brother married the widow so that the firstbo…
LevitesThe Levites were members of the Israelite tribe descended from Levi, the son of Jacob. Rather than receiving land as an inheritance, they were set ap…
Levitical CitiesThe Levitical cities were the forty-eight cities, together with their surrounding pasturelands, that the tribes of Israel set aside as dwelling place…

N 2

NaziriteA Nazirite was a person who, having made a special vow, separated himself or herself to the LORD for a set period or for life by abstaining from wine…
New MoonThe new moon (Korean *wolsak*, 月朔) was an ancient Israelite observance held on the first day of each month, when sacrifices were offered and trumpe…

O 1

Old Testament SacrificesThe Old Testament sacrifices were the system, established by the Mosaic Law, through which Israel presented offerings to God at the tabernacle and th…

P 9

Peace OfferingThe peace offering is an Old Testament sacrifice prescribed in Leviticus 3 and 7. Its fat was burned on the altar, and its meat was shared between th…
PriestIn Old Testament Israel, the priest held an office that stood between God and the people, offering sacrifices and teaching the Law. The New Testament…
Priestly DivisionsThe priestly divisions were a system, described in 1 Chronicles 24, in which David divided the priests descended from Aaron into twenty-four groups t…
Priestly GarmentsThe priestly garments were the holy garments made, according to Exodus 28, for Aaron and his sons to wear when they ministered in the tabernacle. The…
Prohibition of InterestThe prohibition of interest is an Old Testament legal provision that forbade charging interest when lending money or food to a poor neighbor. It appe…
ProphetA prophet is a person called by God to receive His word and deliver it to the people on His behalf. In the Old Testament many prophets were active, f…
Purification after ChildbirthPurification after childbirth is an Old Testament ordinance under which a woman who had given birth, after completing a prescribed period, brought of…
PurimPurim is a Jewish festival observed on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews in the Persian …
Purity LawsThe purity laws are regulations of the Old Testament law that distinguish between the "clean" and the "unclean" in persons and objects and prescribe …

Q 1

Queen MotherThe queen mother is a biblical term for a woman who, as the mother of the king, held an official position at the royal court. It is best known from t…

R 4

Red HeiferThe red heifer is a purification ordinance found in Numbers 19. A red heifer without blemish was burned whole outside the camp, and its ashes were mi…
Redemption of the FirstbornThe redemption of the firstborn is a provision of the Mosaic Law by which the firstborn son in Israel was set apart as belonging to God and then rede…
Roman CitizenshipRoman citizenship was a legal status that the Roman Empire conferred on its citizens. In the New Testament, Paul invoked this status to avoid scourgi…
Ruler of TensA ruler of tens was a leader placed over a unit of ten Israelites who governed them and judged minor disputes. The office appears in Exodus 18 and De…

S 7

SabbathThe Sabbath is the seventh day, appointed by Old Testament law as a day on which people were to cease from work, rest, and keep the day holy to God. …
Sabbatical YearThe sabbatical year was an institution of Old Testament law under which the land was to rest every seventh year and debts owed by fellow Israelites w…
SanhedrinThe Sanhedrin was the supreme council in Jerusalem during the New Testament period. Presided over by the high priest, it dealt with the religious and…
ShowbreadThe showbread consisted of twelve loaves set continually before God on the golden table in the Holy Place of the tabernacle and the temple. The loave…
Sin OfferingThe sin offering is one of the Old Testament sacrifices prescribed in Leviticus. Offered for sins committed unknowingly and for ritual impurity, it i…
StoningStoning is a method of execution in which an offender is put to death by a group of people throwing stones. The Old Testament law prescribed it for a…
SynagogueIn the New Testament era, the synagogue was a local community meeting place where Jews gathered on the Sabbath and other occasions to read and study …

T 5

TaxesTaxes are money or goods collected from the people by a state or by the temple. The Bible mentions taxes under Egypt, the Israelite monarchy, Persia,…
Temple GatekeepersThe temple gatekeepers were Levites who guarded the gates of the tabernacle and the temple in Jerusalem and oversaw entry, the storehouses, and the t…
Temple TaxThe temple tax was a payment made by adult Israelite men for the upkeep of the sanctuary (the tabernacle and later the temple) and its worship. It or…
TetrarchTetrarch (Korean *bunbong wang*, 分封王) is a New Testament term for a ruler under the Roman Empire who governed a portion of a divided territory. It…
Trespass OfferingThe trespass offering was one of the Old Testament sacrifices. Through the offering of a ram, it made atonement for sins that caused loss with respec…

U 1

Urim and ThummimThe Urim and Thummim were objects in the Old Testament that the high priest carried in the breastplate of judgment and used when seeking God's will. …

W 1

Wave OfferingThe wave offering (Hebrew tenufah) was a rite of Old Testament worship in which an offering was presented to the LORD by being waved before Him. The …

Y 1

Year of ReleaseThe year of release is an institution prescribed in Deuteronomy 15 under which, every seventh year, Israelites were to release debts owed to them by …