This calendar of feasts, still incomplete, has two main features:
1. They are the feasts that involve a pilgrimage, a journey to the Sanctuary. Before Josiah’s reform in 622 B.C., these feasts were celebrated at local sanctuaries, and people would travel to the nearest sanctuary. After the reform, everyone had to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the only valid sanctuary for the celebrations.
2. The feast required men’s attendance. This likely reflects the patriarchal nature that runs throughout the Bible and assumes that males sanctify females, either as fathers or husbands. However, it could also aim to correct what we often see in our communities: when religious events are organized, the majority of attendees are typically women. Many men believe attending such activities threatens their manliness; perhaps this was also true in Israel, which explains the emphasis on men’s presence, without implying women and children are absent.
He concludes this section with several sacrificial commands (18f) typical of the priestly stream (P). These agricultural feasts and their method of celebration assume that the people are already settled in the land.