You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens ָ ‫ּבַּסֻ ּ֥כ ֹת ּתֵ ׁשְ ֖בּו ׁשִ ב ַ ְ֣עת

בַּסֻ ּ֥כ ֹת ּתֵ ׁשְ ֖בּו ׁשִ ב ַ ְ֣עת י ִ ָ֑מים ּכ‬

in Israel shall live in booths, in order that
future generations may know that I made the
Israelite people live in booths when I brought
them out of the land of Egypt, I the LORD
your God.
‫ָל־הֽאֶ ז ְָרח֙ ְּבי ִׂשְ ָראֵ֔ ל‬
‫י ֵׁשְ ֖בּו ּבַּסֻ ּכ ֹֽת׃ לְמַ עַ ֮ן י ֵדְ ֣עּו ד ֹֽר ֹתֵ יכ ֶ֒ם ִ ּ֣כי בַּסֻ ּכ֗ ֹות‬
‫אֹותם מֵ ֶ ֣א ֶרץ‬ ֖ ָ ‫ִיאי‬ ֥ ִ ‫הֹוׁשבְּתִ ֙י אֶ ת־ּב ְֵנ֣י י ִׂשְ ָראֵ֔ ל ּבְהֹוצ‬ ַ֙
‫מִ צ ָ ְ֑רי ִם אֲ ִנ֖י י ְה ָו֥ה אֱ ֹלהֵ ֶיכֽם׃‬

Lev 23:42-43

‫ שנאמר וברא ה' על מכון הר ציון ועל מקראיה ענן יומם ונוגה‬.‫ אין סכות אלא ענני כבוד‬,‫רבי עקיבא אומר‬
‫אש להבה לילה כי על כל כבוד חופה ישעיה ד‬

“These are the words of R. Eliezer. R. Akiva says: "succoth" refers to the clouds of glory, as in
(Isaiah 4:5) "And the L rd will create on the entire base of Mount Zion and on all of its
branchings a cloud by day and smoke with a glow of flaming fire by night, on all the glory, a
canopy.”

Mechilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 12:35

“Sukkoth occurs in the autumn. Late summer and autumn are the hardest seasons in the
desert. The heat of summer has long since dried up the succulent annual grasses and plants, as
well as the water sources that were collected from the previous winter’s rains. This year’s rains
have not yet come, and it is still hot. The livestock must still be watered every day. Hence, the
nomads must stop their migrating and camp within easy access to a “well of living waters”
(Genesis 26:20; Song of Songs 4:15). At this time, the temporarily stationary Bedouin take
advantage of the respite from migration to fold up and repair their winter tents dwelling
instead in booths that they construct from the most common shrub in the area. In northern
Sinai, they use Artemisia monosperma—wormwood; in southern Sinai, the booths are
assembled from palm fronds.”

Bailey, Clinton. “How Desert Culture Helps Us Understand The Bible,” Bible Review 7.4 (Aug 1991): 14-
21, 38.

Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is ‫שְׁ מַ ע י ִשְׂ ָראֵ ל ה' אֱ ֹלהֵ ינּו ה' אֶ חָ ד‬
one

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,
Maker of all that is, seen and unseen.

There is no god but God. Muhammad is the ‫ال إله إال هللا محمد رسول هللا‬
messenger of God.
11 While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was
near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
12 So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and
then return. 13 And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten [f]minas and said to them,
‘Do business with this [g]until I come back.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent [h]a
delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned,
after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money,
be called to him so that he might know what business they had done. 16 The first appeared,
saying, ‘[i]Master, your [j]mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done,
good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over
ten cities.’ 18 The second came, saying, ‘Your [k]mina, [l]master, has made five minas.’ 19 And
he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Another came, saying, ‘Master, here
is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you
are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’
22 He *said to him, ‘[m]By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know
that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?
23 Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected
it with interest?’ 24 Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it
to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas
already.’ 26 I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who
does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 27 But these enemies of mine,
who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”

Luke 19:11-27 (NASB)

“Americans love this story because it seems to be a kind of homespun capitalism on the lips of
Jesus. We imagine the master in the story to be an analogue for God and thus see the story as
divine affirmation of our Western economic practices of trading and investment.

The problem, however, is that given the “limited good” outlook of ancient Mediterranean
cultures, seeking “more” was considered morally wrong. Because the pie was “limited” and
already all distributed, anyone getting “more” meant someone else got less. Thus honorable
people did not try to get more, and those who did were automatically considered thieves[...]

Of course the elite tried to deflect accusations of getting rich at the expense of others by
having their affairs handled by slaves—exactly what is described in the story Jesus tells [...]

The returning master admits to what the third slave knew ahead of time: that he is a “hard”
(the Greek term here, skleros, is used by ancient writers to describe someone who is cruel,
merciless or arrogantly inhumane) man who “reaps where he did not sow and gathers where
he did not scatter seed” (Matthew 25:24). The perfect definition of a thief! [...]

[T]he third slave is told he should have invested the money with bankers so the master could
have at least earned interest on his money. But seeking interest from another Israelite was
forbidden by the Torah (Deuteronomy 23:19–20) [...] Eusebius is quite explicit that the hero of
the story is the third slave who refused to cooperate in the investment schemes of the greedy
master (Theophania 22).”

Rohrbaugh, Richard L. “Biblical Views: Reading the Bible Through Ancient Eyes,” Biblical Archaeology
Review 42.5 (Sep/Oct 2016): 22, 62