Pentecost - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Pentecost :  (noun)
1: seventh Sunday after Easter; commemorates the emanation of the Holy Spirit to the apostles; a quarter day in Scotland [syn: Pentecost, Whitsunday]
2: (Judaism) 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]

Based on WordNet 2.0

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.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

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). Based on 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).



Based on Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [Bible_Dictionary]:

Pentecost, fiftieth



Based on Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [Bible_Dictionary]:
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