Feast

Feast - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

As a mark of hospitality (Gen. 19:3; 2 Sam. 3:20; 2 Kings 6:23); on occasions of domestic joy (Luke 15:23; Gen. 21:8); on birthdays (Gen. 40:20; Job 1:4; Matt. 14:6); and on the occasion of a marriage (Judg. 14:10; Gen. 29:22).

Feasting was a part of the observances connected with the offering up of sacrifices (Deut. 12:6, 7; 1 Sam. 9:19; 16:3, 5), and with the annual festivals (Deut. 16:11). "It was one of the designs of the greater solemnities, which required the attendance of the people at the sacred tent, that the oneness of the nation might be maintained and cemented together, by statedly congregating in one place, and with one soul taking part in the same religious services. But that oneness was primarily and chiefly a religious and not merely a political one; the people were not merely to meet as among themselves, but with Jehovah, and to present themselves before him as one body; the meeting was in its own nature a binding of themselves in fellowship with Jehovah; so that it was not politics and commerce that had here to do, but the soul of the Mosaic dispensation, the foundation of the religious and political existence of Israel, the covenant with Jehovah. To keep the people's consciousness alive to this, to revive, strengthen, and perpetuate it, nothing could be so well adapated as these annual feasts." (See [207]FESTIVALS.)

Feast - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

FEAST, n. [L. festum.]

1. A sumptuous repast or entertainment, of which a number of guests partake; particularly, a rich or splendid public entertainment.

On Pharaoh's birth day, he made a feast to all his servants. Gen 40.

2. A rich or delicious repast or meal; something delicious to the palate.

3. A ceremony of feasting; joy and thanksgiving on stated days, in commemoration of some great event, or in honor of some distinguished personage; an anniversary, periodical or stated celebration of some event; a festival; as on occasion of the games in Greece, and the feast of the passover, the feast of Pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles among the Jews.

4. Something delicious and entertaining to the mind or soul; as the dispensation of the gospel is called a feast of fat things. Isa 25.

5. That which delights and entertains.

He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.

Prov 15.

In the English church, feasts are immovable or movable; immovable, when they occur on the same day of the year, as Christmas day, _c.; and movable, when they are not confined to the same day of the year, as Easter, which regulates many others.

FEAST, v.i.

1. To eat sumptuously; to dine or sup on rich provisions; particularly in large companies, and on public festivals.

And his sons went and feasted in their houses. Job 1.

2. To be highly gratified or delighted.

FEAST, v.t.

1. To entertain with sumptuous provisions; to treat at the table magnificently; as, he was feasted by the king.

2. To delight; to pamper; to gratify luxuriously; as, to feast the soul.

Whose taste or smell can bless the feasted sense.