John 7:2, The Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles. A casual reading of this verse (and other similar references in the Gospels to the “Jewish festivals”) may lead one to believe that the biblical feasts are of Jewish origination and thus for the Jews only. This is a prevalent notion in the mainstream church. However, understanding the Gospel writer’s comment in the cultural and spiritual context in which it was written will shatter this erroneous concept.

A study of the Bible will first reveal that the biblical feasts were given not only to the Jews, but to all the tribes of Israel by YHVH himself when he gave them the Torah after the children of Israel left Egypt.

Second, in the first century, different religious sects had different calendars so that they observed the biblical feasts at different times. For example, the Samaritans had their own calendar that differed from that of the mainstream Jews. Moreover, the Dead Sea scrolls reveal that the Essenes toyed around with several calendars. Within mainstream Judaism, there was even a difference of opinion (between the Sadducees/Boethusians and Pharisees), for example, as to when to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost.

So when John uses the term, “the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles” he’s not indicating that the feasts were of Jewish origination and thus belonged exclusively to the Jews, but rather which calendar he’s referring to or on which days certain feasts were to be observed.