Exodus 23:17
New International Version
“Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD.

New Living Translation
At these three times each year, every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the LORD.

English Standard Version
Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD.

Berean Standard Bible
Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

King James Bible
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

New King James Version
“Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

New American Standard Bible
Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

NASB 1995
“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

NASB 1977
“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Legacy Standard Bible
Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.

Amplified Bible
Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Christian Standard Bible
Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.”

American Standard Version
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord Jehovah.

Contemporary English Version
Your men must come to these three festivals each year to worship me.

English Revised Version
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"These are the three times each year that all your men must come into the presence of the Master, the LORD.

Good News Translation
Every year at these three festivals all your men must come to worship me, the Lord your God.

International Standard Version
Three times a year all your males shall appear in the presence of the Lord GOD."

Majority Standard Bible
Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

NET Bible
At three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord GOD.

New Heart English Bible
Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Webster's Bible Translation
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

World English Bible
Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Three times in a year all your males appear before [the] face of the Lord YHWH.

Young's Literal Translation
'Three times in a year do all thy males appear before the face of the Lord Jehovah.

Smith's Literal Translation
Three times in the year every male of thine shall be seen to the face of the Lord Jehovah.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thrice a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Three times a year, all your males shall appear before the Lord your God.

New American Bible
Three times a year shall all your men appear before the LORD God.

New Revised Standard Version
Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Three times in the year all your gift offerings shall appear before the LORD your God.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Three times in a year all your commemorations shall appear before LORD JEHOVAH your God.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Three times in the year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Three Yearly Feasts
16You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field. 17Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD. 18You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.…

Cross References
Deuteronomy 16:16
Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.

2 Chronicles 8:13
He observed the daily requirement for offerings according to the commandment of Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual appointed feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

1 Kings 9:25
Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD, burning incense with them before the LORD. So he completed the temple.

Leviticus 23:4-44
These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times. / The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. / On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. ...

Deuteronomy 31:11
when all Israel comes before the LORD your God at the place He will choose, you are to read this law in the hearing of all Israel.

2 Chronicles 30:21-23
The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and priests praised the LORD day after day, accompanied by loud instruments of praise to the LORD. / And Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who performed skillfully before the LORD. For seven days they ate their assigned portion, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers. / The whole assembly agreed to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy.

2 Chronicles 35:17-19
The Israelites who were present also observed the Passover at that time, as well as the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. / No such Passover had been observed in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel ever observed a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, the Israelites who were present, and the people of Jerusalem. / In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was observed.

Nehemiah 8:17-18
The whole assembly that had returned from exile made booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated like this. And there was great rejoicing. / Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. The Israelites kept the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly, according to the ordinance.

Psalm 84:7
They go from strength to strength, until each appears before God in Zion.

Isaiah 1:12
When you come to appear before Me, who has required this of you—this trampling of My courts?

Matthew 5:17
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

Luke 2:41-42
Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. / And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the Feast.

John 7:2
However, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near.

Acts 2:1
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

Acts 20:16
Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.


Treasury of Scripture

Three items in the year all your males shall appear before the LORD God.

Exodus 34:23
Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

Deuteronomy 12:5
But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

Deuteronomy 16:16
Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

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Appear Face Items Males Presence Sovereign Three Times
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Appear Face Items Males Presence Sovereign Three Times
Exodus 23
1. Of slander, false witness, and partiality
4. Of charitableness
6. Of justice in judgment
8. Of taking bribes
9. Of oppressing a stranger
10. Of the year of rest
12. Of the Sabbath
13. Of idolatry
14. Of the three feasts
18. Of the blood and the fat of the sacrifice
20. An angel is promised, with a blessing, if they obey him














Three times a year
This phrase refers to the thrice-annual pilgrimage festivals that the Israelites were commanded to observe. In the Hebrew context, these festivals are known as the Shalosh Regalim: Passover (Pesach), the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). These festivals were not only religious observances but also times of communal gathering and celebration, reflecting the agricultural cycles of ancient Israel. The number three often symbolizes completeness and divine perfection in the Bible, underscoring the importance of these festivals in the spiritual life of the Israelites.

all your males
In ancient Israelite society, males were often seen as representatives of their households. The command for all males to appear before the Lord emphasizes the patriarchal structure of the society and the role of men as spiritual leaders. This requirement also highlights the communal aspect of worship, where the collective gathering of the community's representatives was a powerful expression of unity and devotion to God.

must appear
The Hebrew root for "appear" (ra'ah) implies not just a physical presence but also being seen or presenting oneself. This suggests an active participation in the worship and acknowledgment of God's sovereignty. The act of appearing before the Lord was a demonstration of obedience and reverence, reinforcing the covenant relationship between God and His people.

before the Lord GOD
The phrase "before the Lord GOD" signifies the presence of Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God of Israel. This is a reminder of the personal and relational nature of God, who desires to be in communion with His people. The use of "Lord GOD" (YHWH Elohim) combines the personal name of God with His title as the Almighty, emphasizing both His intimacy and His majesty.

the God of Israel
This title reaffirms the identity of God as the specific deity of the Israelite people, distinguishing Him from the gods of surrounding nations. It underscores the unique relationship between God and Israel, rooted in the covenant promises made to the patriarchs. This identity as the God of Israel is central to the understanding of the Israelites' national and spiritual identity, reminding them of their chosen status and the responsibilities that come with it.

(17) Three times in the year.--The terms of this verse, as compared with Exodus 23:14, limit the observance of the three festivals to the males, but add the important requirement of personal attendance at a given place. By "all thy males" we must understand all of full age and not incapacitated by infirmity or illness.

Verse 17. - Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God. This seems to moderns a very burthensome enactment. But we must remember that Palestine is not bigger than Wales, and that great gatherings had great attractions for many in the ancient world, when they were the only means by which information was spread, and almost the only occasions on which friends and relations who lived far apart could expect to see each other. The European Greeks had, in their Olympian and other games, similar great gatherings, which occurred once or twice in each year, and, though under no obligation to do so, attended them in enormous numbers. It may be doubted if the religious Hebrews felt the obligation of attendance to be a burthen. It was assuredly a matter of great importance, as tending to unity, and to the quickening of the national life, that they should be drawn so continually to one centre, and be so frequently united in one common worship. Most students of antiquity regard the Greek games as having exerted a strong unifying influence over the scattered members of the Grecian family. The Hebrew festivals, occurring so much more frequently, and required to be attended by all, must have had a similar, but much greater, effect of the same kind.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Three
שָׁלֹ֥שׁ (šā·lōš)
Number - feminine singular
Strong's 7969: Three, third, thrice

times
פְּעָמִ֖ים (pə·‘ā·mîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 6471: A beat, foot, anvil, occurrence

a year
בַּשָּׁנָ֑ה (baš·šā·nāh)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8141: A year

all
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

your males
זְכ֣וּרְךָ֔ (zə·ḵū·rə·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 2138: A male

are to appear
יֵרָאֶה֙ (yê·rā·’eh)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7200: To see

before
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the Lord
הָאָדֹ֥ן ׀ (hā·’ā·ḏōn)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 136: The Lord

GOD.
יְהוָֽה׃ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel


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OT Law: Exodus 23:17 Three times in the year all your (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 23:16
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