FEAST OF, a solemn festival of the Hebrews, observed after
harvest, on the fifteenth day of the month Tisri, Lev. xxiii, 34–44. It
was one of the three great solemnities, wherein all the males of the
Israelites were obliged to present themselves before the Lord; and it
was instituted to commemorate the goodness of God, who protected them in
the wilderness, and made them dwell in tents or booths after they came
out of Egypt. (See _Feasts_.) This feast continued eight days, of which
the first and last days were the most solemn, Lev. xxiii, 34, &c. It was
not allowed to do any labour on this feast, and particular sacrifices
were offered, which, together with the other ceremonies used in
celebrating this festival, were as follows: The first day of the feast,
they cut down branches of the handsomest trees, with their fruit,
branches of palm trees, and such as were fullest of leaves, and boughs
of the willow trees that grew upon the sides of brooks, Neh. viii, 16.
These they brought together, and waved them toward the four quarters of
the world, singing certain songs. These branches were also called
hosanna, because when they carried them and waved them, they cried
Hosanna; not unlike what the Jews did at our Saviour’s entry into
Jerusalem, Matthew xxi, 8, 9. On the eighth day they performed this
ceremony oftener, and with greater solemnity, than upon the other days
of the feast. They called this day _hosanna rabba_, or “the great
hosanna.”
harvest, on the fifteenth day of the month Tisri, Lev. xxiii, 34–44. It
was one of the three great solemnities, wherein all the males of the
Israelites were obliged to present themselves before the Lord; and it
was instituted to commemorate the goodness of God, who protected them in
the wilderness, and made them dwell in tents or booths after they came
out of Egypt. (See _Feasts_.) This feast continued eight days, of which
the first and last days were the most solemn, Lev. xxiii, 34, &c. It was
not allowed to do any labour on this feast, and particular sacrifices
were offered, which, together with the other ceremonies used in
celebrating this festival, were as follows: The first day of the feast,
they cut down branches of the handsomest trees, with their fruit,
branches of palm trees, and such as were fullest of leaves, and boughs
of the willow trees that grew upon the sides of brooks, Neh. viii, 16.
These they brought together, and waved them toward the four quarters of
the world, singing certain songs. These branches were also called
hosanna, because when they carried them and waved them, they cried
Hosanna; not unlike what the Jews did at our Saviour’s entry into
Jerusalem, Matthew xxi, 8, 9. On the eighth day they performed this
ceremony oftener, and with greater solemnity, than upon the other days
of the feast. They called this day _hosanna rabba_, or “the great
hosanna.”