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pentecost |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Pentecost \Pen"te*cost\, n. [L. pentecoste, Gr ? (sc. ?) the fiftieth day Pentecost, fr ? fiftieth, fr ? fifty, fr ? five See {Five}, and cf {Pingster}.] 1. A solemn festival of the Jews; -- so called because celebrated on the fiftieth day (seven weeks) after the second day of the Passover (which fell on the sixteenth of the Jewish month Nisan); -- hence called also the {Feast of Weeks}. At this festival an offering of the first fruits of the harvest was made By the Jews it was generally regarded as commemorative of the gift of the law on the fiftieth day after the departure from Egypt. 2. A festival of the Roman Catholic and other churches in commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles; which occurred on the day of Pentecost; -- called also {Whitsunday}. --Shak. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: Pentecost n 1: seventh Sunday after Easter; commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles; a quarter day in Scotland [syn: {Pentecost}, {Whitsunday}] 2: Jewish holy day celebrated on the sixth of Sivan to celebrate Moses receiving the Ten Commandments [syn: {Shavous}, {Shabuoth}, {Shavuoth}, {Shavuot}, {Pentecost}, {Feast of Weeks}] From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]: Pentecost i.e., "fiftieth", found only in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8). The festival so named is first spoken of in Ex 23:16 as "the feast of harvest," and again in Ex 34:22 as "the day of the firstfruits" (Num. 28:26). From the sixteenth of the month of Nisan (the second day of the Passover), seven complete weeks, i.e., forty-nine days, were to be reckoned, and this feast was held on the fiftieth day The manner in which it was to be kept is described in Lev. 23:15-19; Num. 28:27-29. Besides the sacrifices prescribed for the occasion, every one was to bring to the Lord his "tribute of a free-will offering" (Deut. 16:9-11). The purpose of this feast was to commemorate the completion of the grain harvest. Its distinguishing feature was the offering of "two leavened loaves" made from the new corn of the completed harvest, which with two lambs, were waved before the Lord as a thank offering. The day of Pentecost is noted in the Christian Church as the day on which the Spirit descended upon the apostles, and on which under Peter's preaching, so many thousands were converted in Jerusalem (Acts 2). From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]: Pentecost, fiftieth
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