Background for John 7:1-8:59
Like most of John, chapters 7-8 are
set at a Jewish Feast (7:2, 14, 37). The
Background of the Feast of Tabernacles: Purpose––Celebrate
God’s provision for the year and remember the temporary shelters in which the
Israelites lived when God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Annual Routine––After the autumn harvest
it was a national coming together to celebrate in Jerusalem. During the Festival––The feast lasted eight days. For seven days
the adult males would live in temporary dwellings of branches constructed for
the occasion (Lev 23:33-36,
39-43). Each day there were set sacrifices (Num 29) and the people came
together for the reading of scripture (see Ezra 8:14-18). During the public scripture readings the people
would each carry an etrog
(traditional citrus fruit) and wave branches from palms, willows, and myrtles
(Lev 23:40). At the time of Jesus, the festivities included a daily water
ceremony and a lamp-lighting in the temple court of the women (m.suc. 4:9; 5:1-2; see also Brown, AB, 326-27, 343-44). The Water Ceremony included a priest getting
a container of water from the pool of Siloam in the city and bringing it to the
temple where it was poured out in thanksgiving before the Lord. The Candle Lighting took place on the
first day of Tabernacles. It was on this day that the young priests’
apprentices would light the seventy-five foot tall candles which were located
in the court of the women in the temple. According to the Mishnah––the book which records the Jewish traditions at the time
of Jesus––there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem
that did not reflect the light from the candles (m.suc. 5:3). Bible Reading at
the Feast of Tabernacles: From the time of Ezra, the Jews developed a set
of scripture readings for each Sabbath, Fast, and Religious Celebration of the
year. What passages were read in association with the Feast of Booths in John
7-8? Of the several passages which were read, Zechariah 14:1-21 probably was
the basis of both the water and light ceremonies and the text upon which Jesus’
self-claims base themselves.
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