Feast

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

A — 1: Ἑορτή (Strong'S #1859 — Noun Feminine — heorte — heh-or-tay' )

"a feast of festival," is used (a) especially of those of the Jews, and particularly of the Passover; the word is found mostly in John's Gospel (seventeen times); apart from the Gospels it is used in this way only in  Acts 18:21; (b) in a more general way, in  Colossians 2:16 , AV, "holy day," RV, "a feast day."

A — 2: Δεῖπνον (Strong'S #1173 — Noun Neuter — deipnon — dipe'-non )

denotes (a) "the chief meal of the day," dinner or supper, taken at or towards evening; in the plural "feasts,"  Matthew 23:6;  Mark 6:21;  12:39;  Luke 20:46; otherwise translated "supper,"  Luke 14:12,16,17,24;  John 12:2;  13:2,4;  21:20;  1—Corinthians 11:21 (of a social meal); (b) "the Lord's Supper,"   1—Corinthians 11:20; (c) "the supper or feast" which will celebrate the marriage of Christ with His spirtual Bride, at the inauguration of His Kingdom,  Revelation 19:9; (d) figuratively, of that to which the birds of prey will be summoned after the overthrow of the enemies of the Lord at the termination of the war of Armageddon,  Revelation 19:17 (cp.   Ezekiel 39:4,17-20 ). See Supper.

A — 3: Δοχή (Strong'S #1403 — Noun Feminine — doche — dokh-ay' )

"a reception feast, a banquet" (from dechomai, "to receive"),  Luke 5:29;  14:13 (not the same as No. 2; see ver. 12).

A — 4: Γάμος (Strong'S #1062 — Noun Masculine — gamos — gam'-os )

"a wedding," especially a wedding "feast" (akin to gameo, "to marry"); it is used in the plural in the following passages (the RV rightly has "marriage feast" for the AV, "marriage," or "wedding"),  Matthew 22:2,3,4,9 (in verses   Matthew 22:11,12 , it is used in the singular, in connection with the wedding garment); 25:10;  Luke 12:36;  14:8; in the following it signifies a wedding itself,  John 2:1,2;  Hebrews 13:4; and figuratively in  Revelation 19:7 , of the marriage of the Lamb; in  Revelation 19:9 it is used in connection with the supper, the wedding supper (or what in English is termed "breakfast"), not the wedding itself, as in ver. 7.

A — 5: Ἀγάπη (Strong'S #26 — Noun Feminine — agape — ag-ah'-pay )

"love," is used in the plural in  Jude 1:12 , signifying "love feasts," RV (AV, "feasts of charity"); in the corresponding passage,  2—Peter 2:13 , the most authentic mss. have the word apate, in the plural, "deceivings."

 1—Corinthians 10:27  Mark 14:2 John 2:23  John 10:22Dedication.

B — 1: Ἑορτάζω (Strong'S #1858 — Verb — heortazo — heh-or-tad'-zo )

"to keep festival" (akin to A, No. 1) is translated "let us keep the feast," in  1—Corinthians 5:8 . This is not the Lord's Supper, nor the Passover, but has reference to the continuous life of the believer as a festival or holy-day (see AV, margin), in freedom from "the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

B — 2: Συνευωχέομαι (Strong'S #4910 — Verb — suneuocheo — soon-yoo-o-kheh'-o )

"to entertain sumptuously with," is used in the Passive Voice, denoting "to feast sumptuously with" (sun, "together," and euochia, "good cheer"), "to revel with," translated "feast with" in  2—Peter 2:13;  Jude 1:12 .

King James Dictionary

Feast n. L. festum.

1. A sumptuous repast or entertainment, of which a number of guests partake particularly, a rich or splendid public entertainment.

On Pharaoh's birth day, he made a feast to all his servants.  Genesis 40 .

2. A rich or delicious repast or meal something delicious to the palate. 3. A ceremony of feasting joy and thanksgiving on stated days, in commemoration of some great event, or in honor of some distinguished personage an anniversary, periodical or stated celebration of some event a festival as on occasion of the games in Greece, and the feast of the passover, the feast of Pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles among the Jews. 4. Something delicious and entertaining to the mind or soul as the dispensation of the gospel is called a feast of fat things.  Isaiah 25 . 5. That which delights and entertains.

He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.

 Proverbs 15 .

In the English church, feasts are immovable or movable immovable, when they occur on the same day of the year, as Christmas day, &c. and movable, when they are not confined to the same day of the year, as Easter, which regulates many others.

FEAST,

1. To eat sumptuously to dine or sup on rich provisions particularly in large companies, and on public festivals.

And his sons went and feasted in their houses.  Job 1 .

2. To be highly gratified or delighted.

FEAST,

1. To entertain with sumptuous provisions to treat at the table magnificently as, he was feasted by the king. 2. To delight to pamper to gratify luxuriously as, to feast the soul.

Whose taste or smell can bless the feasted sense.

Charles Buck Theological Dictionary

In a religious sense is a ceremony of feasting and thanksgiving. The principal feasts of the Jews were the feasts of trumpets, of expiation, of tabernacles, or the dedication, of the passover, of Pentecost, and that of purification. Feasts, and the ceremonies thereof, have made great part of the religion of almost all nations and sects; hence the Greeks, the Romans, Mahometans, and Christians, have not been without them. Feasts, among us, are either immoveable or moveable. Immoveable feasts are those constantly celebrated on the same day of the year. The principal of these are Christmas-day, Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas or Purification; Lady-day, or the annunciation, called also the incarnation and conception; All Saints and All Souls; besides the days of the several apostles, as St. Thomas, St. Paul. Moveable feasts are those which are not confined to the same day of the year.

Of these the principal is Easter, which gives law to all the rest, all of them following and keeping their proper distances from it. Such are Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, Sexagesima, Ascension-day, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday. Besides these feasts, which are general, and enjoined by the church, there are others focal and occasional, enjoined by the magistrate, or voluntarily set on foot by the people; such are the days of thanksgiving for delivery from war, plagues, &c.; such also are the vigils or wakes in commemoration of the dedication of particular churches. The prodigious increase of feast-days in the Christian church, commenced towards the close of the fourth century, occasioned by the discovery that was made of the remains of martyrs, and other holy men, for the commemoration of whom they were established. These, instead of being set apart for pious exercises, were abused in indolence, voluptuousness, and criminal practices. Many of them were instituted on a pagan model, and perverted to similar purposes.

See Holy Day

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 19:3 2 Samuel 3:20 2 Kings 6:23 Luke 15:23 Genesis 21:8 Genesis 40:20 Job 1:4 Matthew 14:6 Judges 14:10 Genesis 29:22

Feasting was a part of the observances connected with the offering up of sacrifices ( Deuteronomy 12:6,7;  1 Samuel 9:19;  16:3,5 ), and with the annual festivals ( Deuteronomy 16:11 ). "It was one of the designs of the greater solemnities, which required the attendance of the people at the sacred tent, that the oneness of the nation might be maintained and cemented together, by statedly congregating in one place, and with one soul taking part in the same religious services. But that oneness was primarily and chiefly a religious and not merely a political one; the people were not merely to meet as among themselves, but with Jehovah, and to present themselves before him as one body; the meeting was in its own nature a binding of themselves in fellowship with Jehovah; so that it was not politics and commerce that had here to do, but the soul of the Mosaic dispensation, the foundation of the religious and political existence of Israel, the covenant with Jehovah. To keep the people's consciousness alive to this, to revive, strengthen, and perpetuate it, nothing could be so well adapated as these annual feasts." (See Festivals .)

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

Châg ( חָג , Strong'S #2282), “feast; festal sacrifice.” Cognates of this noun appear in Aramaic, Syriac, and Arabic. Biblical Hebrew attests it about 62 times and in all periods, except in the wisdom literature.

This word refers especially to a “feast observed by a pilgrimage.” That is its meaning in its first biblical occurrence, when Moses said to Pharaoh: “We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our Rocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord” (Exod. 10:9). ) Châg (or chag ) usually represents Israel’s three annual “pilgrimage feasts,” which were celebrated with processions and dances. These special feasts are distinguished from the sacred seasons (“festal assemblies”—Ezek. 45:17), the new moon festivals, and the Sabbaths (Hos. 2:11).

There are two unique uses of châg . First, Aaron proclaimed a “feast to the Lord” at the foot of Mt. Sinai. This “feast” involved no pilgrimage but was celebrated with burnt offerings, communal meals, singing, and dancing. The whole matter was displeasing to God (Exod. 32:5-7).

In two passages, châg represents the “victim sacrificed to God” (perhaps during one of the three annual sacrifices): “… Bind the [festal] sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar” (Ps. 118:27; cf. Exod. 23:18).

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( v. t.) To entertain with sumptuous provisions; to treat at the table bountifully; as, he was feasted by the king.

(2): ( n.) That which is partaken of, or shared in, with delight; something highly agreeable; entertainment.

(3): ( n.) To eat sumptuously; to dine or sup on rich provisions, particularly in large companies, and on public festivals.

(4): ( n.) To be highly gratified or delighted.

(5): ( n.) A festive or joyous meal; a grand, ceremonious, or sumptuous entertainment, of which many guests partake; a banquet characterized by tempting variety and abundance of food.

(6): ( v. t.) To delight; to gratify; as, to feast the soul.

(7): ( n.) A festival; a holiday; a solemn, or more commonly, a joyous, anniversary.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(properly מַשְׁתֶּה , Mishteh' , Δοχή , when a hospitable Entertainment; and חָג , Chag , Ἑορτή ) , when a Religious Festival ) . To what an early date the practices of hospitality are referable may be seen in  Genesis 19:3, where we find Lot inviting the two angels "Turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house and tarry all night, and wash your feet; and he pressed upon them greatly, and they entered into his house; and he made them a feast;"' which was obviously of an impromptu nature, since it is added, " and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat" ( Judges 6:19). It was usual not only thus to receive persons with choice viands, but also to dismiss them in a similar manner; accordingly Laban, when he had overtaken the fleeing Jacob, complains ( Genesis 31:27), "Wherefore didst thou steal away from me and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, and with tabret, and with harp ?" See also  2 Samuel 3:20;  2 Kings 6:23;  Job 8:20;  1 Maccabees 16:15. This practice explains the reason why the prodigal, on his return, was welcomed by a feast ( Luke 15:23). Occasions of domestic joy were hailed with feasting; thus, in  Genesis 21:8, Abraham "made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned." Birthdays were thus celebrated ( Genesis 40:20): " Pharaoh, on his birthday, made a feast unto all his servants" ( Job 1:4;  Matthew 14:6; compare Herod. i, 133). Marriage feasts were also common. Samson ( Judges 14:10) on such an occasion "made a feast," and it is added, " for so used the young men to do." So Laban, when he gave his daughter Leah to Jacob ( Genesis 29:22), " gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast." These festive occasions seem originally to have answered the important purpose of serving as evidence and attestation of the events which they celebrated, on which account relatives and neighbors were invited to be present ( Ruth 4:10;  John 2:1). Those processes in rural occupations by which the divine bounties are gathered into the hands of man have in all ages been made seasons of festivity; accordingly, in  2 Samuel 13:23, Absalom invites all the king's sons, and even David himself, to a sheep-shearing feast, on which occasion the guests became "merry with wine" ( 1 Samuel 25:2 sq.). The vintage was also celebrated with festive eating and drinking ( Judges 9:27). Feasting at funerals existed among the Jews ( 2 Samuel 3:33). In  Jeremiah 16:7, among other funeral customs, mention is made of "the cup of consolation, to drink for their father or their mother," which brings to mind the indulgence in spirituous liquors to which our ancestors were given at interments, and which has not yet entirely disappeared in Lancashire, nor probably in Ireland (Carleton's Irish Peasantry; England in the Nineteenth Century, vol. ii). To what an extent expense was sometimes carried on these occasions may be learned from Josephus (War, 4:1, 1), who, having remarked that Archelaus "mourned for his father seven days, and had given a very expensive funeral feast to the multitude," states, " which custom is the occasion of poverty to many of the Jews;" adding, "because they are forced to feast the multitude; for if any one omits it he is not esteemed a holy person." (See Entertainment).

As among heathen nations, so also among the Hebrews. feasting made a part of the observances which took place on occasion of animal sacrifices. In  Deuteronomy 12:6-7, after the Israelites are enjoined to bring to the place chosen of God their burnt offerings, tithes, heave offerings, vows, free-will offerings, and the firstlings of their herds and flocks, they are told, "There shall ye eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all' ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee" ( 1 Samuel 9:19;  1 Samuel 16:3;  1 Samuel 16:5;  2 Samuel 6:19). These sacrificial meals were enjoyed in connection with peace offerings, whether eucharistic or votive. The kidneys, and all the inward fat, and the tail of the lamb, were burnt with the daily sacrifice; the breast and right shoulder fell to the priest, and the rest was to be eaten by the offerer and his friends, on the same day if the offering were eucharistic, on that and the next day if it were votive ( Leviticus 3:1-17;  Leviticus 7:11-21;  Leviticus 7:29-36). To the feast at the second tithe of the produce of the land, which was to be made every year, and eaten at the annual festivals before Jehovah, not only friends, but strangers, Widows, orphans, and Levites were to be invited, as well as the slaves. If the tabernacle was so distant as to make it inconvenient to carry thither the tithe, it was to be turned into money, which was to be spent in providing feasts at the place at which the festivals were held ( Deuteronomy 14:22-27;  Deuteronomy 12:14;. Tobit i. 6). Charitable entertainments were also provided, at the end of three years, from the tithe of the increase. The Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow were to be present ( Deuteronomy 12:17-19;  Deuteronomy 14:28-29;  Deuteronomy 26:12-15). At the feast of Pentecost the command is very express ( Deuteronomy 16:11), "Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are among you." Accordingly, Tobit (ii, 1, 2) affirms, "Now when I was come home again, in the feast of Pentecost, when I saw abundance of meat, I said to my son, go and bring what poor man soever thou shalt find out of our brethren, who is mindful of the Lord." The Israelites were forbidden to partake of food offered in sacrifice to idols ( Exodus 34:15), lest they should be thereby enticed into idolatry, or appear to give a sanction to idolatrous observances ( 1 Corinthians 10:28). (See Alisgema). For further particulars as to social entertainments, (See Banquet); and as to sacred occasions, (See Festival) .