In the first place and chiefly, the history of the solar festivals,
that of those festivals which follow the seasons of the year,
claims our attention.
III.I.1 In the Jehovistic and Deuteronomistic parts of the Pentateuch
there predominates a rotation of three great festivals, which alone
receive the proper designation of _hag_:
"Three times in the year shalt thou keep festival unto me, three times
in the year shall all thy men appear before the Lord Jehovah,
the God of Israel" (Exodus xxiii. 14, 17, xxxiv. 23; Deuteronomy xvi. 16).
"The feast of unleavened bread (maccoth) shalt thou keep; seven days
shalt thou eat _maccoth_ as I commanded thee, in the time appointed
of the month Abib, for in it thou camest out from Egypt; and none
shall appear before me empty; and the feast of harvest (qasir),
the first-fruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field;
and the feast of ingathering (asiph), in the end of the year,
when thou gatherest in thy labours out of the field."
So runs the command in the Book of the Covenant (Exodus xxiii. 15, 16).
The Law of the Two Tables (Exodus xxxiv. 18 seq.) is similar:
"The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep.
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