John 7:2

The feast of Tabernacles occurred six months after Passover (John 6:4). That year it fell on September 10-17, A.D. 32. [Note: Hoehner, p. 143.] It was a fall grape and olive harvest festival (Exodus 23:16; Leviticus 23:33-36; Leviticus 23:39-43; Deuteronomy 16:13-15). In Jesus’ day it was the most popular of the three required Jewish feasts. [Note: Josephus, Antiquities of . . ., 8:4:1.] It commemorated the Israelites’ sojourn in the wilderness. Many devout Jews built temporary shelters out of branches and lived in them for the week to simulate the wilderness conditions in which their forefathers had lived.