Text -- Deuteronomy 16:13 (NET)

The Festival of Temporary Shelters

16:13 You must celebrate the Festival of Temporary Shelters for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Deu 16:13

¹ tn The Hebrew phrase חַג הַסֻּכֹּת (khag hassukot, “festival of huts” or “festival of shelters”) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is now preferable to the traditional “tabernacles” (KJV, ASV, NIV) in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. Clearer is the English term “shelters” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), but this does not reflect the temporary nature of the living arrangement. This feast was a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt, suggesting that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.

² tn Heb “when you gather in your threshing-floor and winepress.”