81:3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon, 1
and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins. 2
81:4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel; 3
it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.
1 tn Heb “at the new moon.”
sn New moon festivals were a monthly ritual in Israel (see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 469-70). In this context the New Moon festival of the seventh month, when the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated (note the reference to a “festival” in the next line), may be in view.
2 tn Heb “at the full moon on the day of our festival.” The Hebrew word כֶּסֶה (keseh) is an alternate spelling of כֶּסֶא (kese’, “full moon”).
sn The festival in view is probably the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths), which began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month when the moon was full. See Lev 23:34; Num 29:12.
3 tn Heb “because a statute for Israel [is] it.”