Pentecost/Shavuot

Most Christians are familiar with Luke’s description of the events on Pentecost in Acts 2 and their significance in the establishment of the early church. Few, however, are aware of the Jewish backdrop to this day. The Jewish name for this holiday is Shavuot, meaning “weeks.” Shavuot is a harvest festival, celebrating the end of the barley harvest and the first fruits of the wheat harvest (Exod 34:22; Num 28:26; Deut 16:10). The term “Pentecost” is a Greek word referring to the fiftieth day of counting the harvest after Passover (Lev 23:15–16). It is one of the three pilgrimage festivals, meaning God commanded the Jewish people to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate it (Exod 23:16–17; 34:22–23; Deut 16:9-11, 16).

According to Jewish tradition, Shavuot represents the annual commemoration of the day God gave the Torah to the nation of Israel on Mount Sinai (Exod 19:1–6). This means that the entire nation was celebrating the anniversary of God’s covenant with Israel—on the same day God fulfilled His promise to send the Holy Spirit. The parallels between the giving of the Torah and God’s gift of the Holy Spirit reinforce the significance of the arrival of God’s promised Spirit on Pentecost.