What Does Leviticus 23:2 Mean in the King James?
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The “feasts” are appointments in time, proclaimed as shared gatherings set apart for the LORD.
THE MEANING
These appointed times belong to the LORD: they are called “my feasts.” Their set-apart character is made public as the people gather around them. Time itself becomes marked by an appointment shared with others.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that these days are merely human occasions or private preferences: the verse names them as the LORD’s appointments and calls them public gatherings.
THE ROOT
מוֹעֲדֵי
mo'adei
GROWS FROM
י־ע־ד
y-ʿ-d
To appoint, set a time, or designate a meeting.
The word rendered “feasts” first names appointments, times set aside to meet. The verse joins those appointments to proclamation and assembly, making the appointed time a shared gathering.
ALSO GROWS
mo'ed: Appointed time; meeting.
מוֹעֵד
The singular form shows the appointment at the heart of the plural translated “feasts.”
ya'ad: To appoint, designate, or meet by appointment.
יָעַד
The verb carries the act of setting a time that the verse calls the LORD’s own.
תִּקְרְאוּ
tiqre'u
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־א
q-r-ʾ
To call, summon, or proclaim; the same root also carries the sense of reading aloud.
English gives “proclaim” and “convocations” as separate ideas, but Hebrew links them through the same call-root. The appointed times are proclaimed as called assemblies, with “set apart” describing the character of the gathering.
ALSO GROWS
miqra: Calling, reading, or assembly; convocation.
מִקְרָא
This is the root-family behind “convocations,” linking the gathering to the act of calling.
qeri'ah: Calling or reading aloud.
קְרִיאָה
This noun preserves the root’s movement from a voice that calls to a summons people can hear.
THE PATTERN
A God-appointed time becomes a set-apart gathering through public calling.
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.THE THREAD
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:The Hebrew verb translated “proclaim” here and “call” in Joel comes from the same root, קרא (qara), meaning to call or summon. Leviticus names the gatherings with a noun from that same root, so the proclamation and the assembly belong to one movement.
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