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Pentecost
(807 words)

Along with Easter (deriving from Passover), Pentecost is the only Jewish feast to have found a place in the Christian calendar. The term comes from Gk. pentēkostē, “50th [day],” which was used in Hellenistic Judaism (Tob. 2:1; 2 Macc. 12:32). The reference is to the festival on the 50th day after Passover.

1. OT

In the OT Pentecost is a harvest festival at the end of the wheat harvest. The usual term for it is the Festival of Weeks (ḥag [haš]šābuʿôt, Exod. 34:22; Deut. 16:16, etc.), with reference to the seven …

Cite this page
Roloff, Jürgen, “Pentecost”, in: Encyclopedia of Christianity Online. Consulted online on 30 September 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2211-2685_eco_P.64>
First published online: 2011
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004169678, 20080512



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