John 2:13

2:13 Now the Jewish feast of Passover ¹  was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ² 

Exodus 23:14-17

23:14 “Three times ³  in the year you must make a pilgrim feast ⁴  to me. 23:15 You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days ⁵  you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time ⁶  you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before ⁷  me empty-handed.

23:16 “You are also to observe ⁸  the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year ⁹  when you have gathered in ¹⁰  your harvest ¹¹  out of the field. 23:17 At ¹²  three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord God. ¹³ 

Exodus 34:23

34:23 At three times ¹⁴  in the year all your men ¹⁵  must appear before the Lord God, ¹⁶  the God of Israel.

Leviticus 23:2-4

23:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘These are the Lord’s appointed times which you must proclaim as holy assemblies – my appointed times: ¹⁷ 

The Weekly Sabbath

23:3 “‘Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, ¹⁸  a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.

The Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread

23:4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you must proclaim at their appointed time.

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 ¹⁹  empty-handed.

Matthew 3:15

3:15 So Jesus replied ²⁰  to him, “Let it happen now, ²¹  for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John ²²  yielded ²³  to him.

Galatians 4:4

4:4 But when the appropriate time ²⁴  had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

¹ tn Grk “the Passover of the Jews.” This is first of at least three (and possibly four) Passovers mentioned in John’s Gospel. If it is assumed that the Passovers appear in the Gospel in their chronological order (and following a date of a.d. 33 for the crucifixion), this would be the Passover of the spring of a.d. 30, the first of Jesus’ public ministry. There is a clear reference to another Passover in 6:4, and another still in 11:55, 12:1, 13:1, 18:28, 39, and 19:14. The latter would be the Passover of a.d. 33. There is a possibility that 5:1 also refers to a Passover, in which case it would be the second of Jesus’ public ministry (a.d. 31), while 6:4 would refer to the third (a.d. 32) and the remaining references would refer to the final Passover at the time of the crucifixion. It is entirely possible, however, that the Passovers occurring in the Fourth Gospel are not intended to be understood as listed in chronological sequence. If the material of the Fourth Gospel originally existed in the form of homilies or sermons by the Apostle John on the life and ministry of Jesus, the present arrangement would not have to be in strict chronological order (it does not explicitly claim to be). In this case the Passover mentioned in 2:13, for example, might actually be later in Jesus’ public ministry than it might at first glance appear. This leads, however, to a discussion of an even greater problem in the passage, the relationship of the temple cleansing in John’s Gospel to the similar account in the synoptic gospels.

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ 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.

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

⁶ tn Heb “in it.”

⁷ tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; the nuance of permission works well here – no one is permitted to appear before God empty (Heb “and they will not appear before me empty”).

⁸ tn The words “you are also to observe” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn An infinitive construct with a preposition and a pronominal suffix is used to make a temporal clause: “in the going in of the year.” The word “year” is the subjective genitive, the subject of the clause.

¹⁰ tn An infinitive construct with a preposition and a pronominal suffix is used to make a temporal clause: “in the ingathering of you.”

¹¹ tn Heb “gathered in your labors.” This is a metonymy of cause put for the effect. “Labors” are not gathered in, but what the labors produced – the harvest.

¹² tn Adverbial accusative of time: “three times” becomes “at three times.”

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ tn “Three times” is an adverbial accusative.

¹⁵ tn Heb “all your males.”

¹⁶ 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.

¹⁷ tn Heb “these are them, my appointed times.”

¹⁸ tn This is a superlative expression, emphasizing the full and all inclusive rest of the Sabbath and certain festival times throughout the chapter (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 155). Cf. ASV “a sabbath of solemn rest.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

²⁰ tn Grk “but Jesus, answering, said.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “replied to him.”

²¹ tn Grk “Permit now.”

²² tn Grk “he”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²³ tn Or “permitted him.”

²⁴ tn Grk “the fullness of time” (an idiom for the totality of a period of time, with the implication of proper completion; see L&N 67.69).