Category:Pentecost

Pen"te*cost, n. Etym: [l. pentecoste, gr. 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.

See also: Descent of the Holy Spirit

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---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Pentecost - I.e., "fiftieth", found only in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; Acts 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8). The festival so named is first spoken of in Exodus 23:16 as "the feast of harvest," and again in Exodus 34:22 as "the day of the firstfruits" (Numbers 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 Leviticus 23:15; Numbers 28:27. Besides the sacrifices prescribed for the occasion, every one was to bring to the Lord his "tribute of a free-will offering" (Deuteronomy 16:9). 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).