Exodus 23:14

23:14 “Three times ¹  in the year you must make a pilgrim feast ²  to me.

Exodus 23:17

23:17 At ³  three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord God. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 16:16

16:16 Three times a year all your males must appear before the Lord your God in the place he chooses for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Temporary Shelters; and they must not appear before him ⁵  empty-handed.

Psalms 84:7

84:7 They are sustained as they travel along; ⁶ 

each one appears ⁷  before God in Zion.

¹ tn The expression rendered “three times” is really “three feet,” or “three foot-beats.” The expression occurs only a few times in the Law. The expressing is an adverbial accusative.

² tn This is the word תָּחֹג (takhog) from the root חָגַג (khagag); it describes a feast that was accompanied by a pilgrimage. It was first used by Moses in his appeal that Israel go three days into the desert to hold such a feast.

³ tn Adverbial accusative of time: “three times” becomes “at three times.”

⁴ tn Here the divine Name reads in Hebrew הָאָדֹן יְהוָה (ha’adon yÿhvah), which if rendered according to the traditional scheme of “Lord” for “Yahweh” would result in “Lord Lord.” A number of English versions therefore render this phrase “Lord God,” and that convention has been followed here.

⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

⁶ tn Heb “they go from strength to strength.” The phrase “from strength to strength” occurs only here in the OT. With a verb of motion, the expression “from [common noun] to [same common noun]” normally suggests movement from one point to another or through successive points (see Num 36:7; 1 Chr 16:20; 17:5; Ps 105:13; Jer 25:32). Ps 84:7 may be emphasizing that the pilgrims move successively from one “place of strength” to another as they travel toward Jerusalem. All along the way they find adequate provisions and renewed energy for the trip.

⁷ tn The psalmist returns to the singular (see v. 5a), which he uses in either a representative or distributive (“each one” ) sense.