Basic HTML Version
they be agreed?” Whether they have agreed on a time or a place of meeting, or on the
meeting itself, is ambiguous.
The meaning of
is fixed within the context of Israel’s religion. First, the
festivals came to be known as the “appointed times” or the set feasts. These festivals
were clearly prescribed in the Pentateuch. The word refers to any “festival” or
“pilgrimage festival,” such as Passover (Lev. 23:15ff.), the feast of first fruits (Lev.
23:15ff.), the feast of tabernacles (Lev. 23:33ff.), or the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:27).
God condemned the people for observing the
ritualistically: “Your new moons and
your appointed feasts my soul hateth …” (Isa. 1:14).
The word
also signifies a “fixed place.” This usage is not frequent: “For thou
hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of
God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation [
], in the sides of the north
…” (Isa. 14:13). “For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to
$
for all living” (Job 30:23).
In both meanings of
—“fixed time” and “fixed place”—a common
denominator is the “meeting” of two or more parties at a certain place and time—hence
the usage of
as “meeting.” However, in view of the similarity in meaning between
“appointed place” or “appointed time” and “meeting,” translators have a real difficulty in
giving a proper translation in each context. For instance, “He hath called an assembly
[
] against me” (Lam. 1:15) could be read: “He has called an appointed time against
me” (
NASB
) or “He summoned an army against me” (
NIV
).
The phrase, “tabernacle of the congregation,” is a translation of the Hebrew
(“tent of meeting”). The phrase occurs 139 times— mainly in Exodus, Leviticus,
and Numbers, rarely in Deuteronomy. It signifies that the Lord has an “appointed place”
by which His presence is represented and through which Israel was assured that their God
was with them. The fact that the tent was called the “tent of meeting” signifies that
Israel’s God was among His people and that He was to be approached at a certain time
and place that were “fixed” (
) in the Pentateuch. In the
KJV
, this phrase is translated
as “tabernacle of the congregation” (Exod. 28:43) because translators realized that the
noun
(“congregation”) is derived from the same root as
The translators of
the Septuagint had a similar difficulty. They noticed the relation of
to the root
$
(“to testify”) and translated the phrase
as “tabernacle of the testimony.”
This phrase was picked up by the New Testament: “And after that I looked, and, behold,
the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened …” (Rev. 15:5).
Of the three meanings, the appointed “time” is most basic. The phrase “tent of
meeting” lays stress on the “place of meeting.” The “meeting” itself is generally
associated with “time” or “place.”
The Septuagint has the following translations of
&
< 3=
eorte| (“feast;
festival”). The English translators give these senses: “congregation” (
KJV
,
RSV
,
NASB
,