G1859 — ἑορτή (heorte)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G1859
Original: ἑορτή
Transliteration: heortē
Pronunciation: heh-or-tay'
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: Of uncertain affinity
Occurrences: 25 unique verses (27 tokens) in NT
First Occurrence: Mat 26:5 — "But they said, Not on the feast [day], lest there be an uproar among the people."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Of uncertain affinity; a festival: — feast, holyday.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 051 — Festivals
Other words in domain: γενέσια (G1077), ἐγκαίνια (G1456), ἑορτάζω (G1858), εὐφραίνω (G2165), νεομηνία (G3561a), νηστεία (G3521), πανήγυρις (G3831), πάσχα (G3957), πεντηκοστή (G4005), σκηνοπηγία (G4634)

Domain Neighbors (051 — Festivals)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total vv	Primary KJV Translation
G1077	γενέσια	2	birthday
G1456	ἐγκαίνια	1	feast of the dedication
G1858	ἑορτάζω	1	let us keep the feast
G2165	εὐφραίνω	5	rejoice
G3521	νηστεία	6	fasting
G3831	πανήγυρις	1	general assembly
G3957	πάσχα	27	passover
G4005	πεντηκοστή	3	Pentecost
G4634	σκηνοπηγία	1	of tabernacles

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
feast	22	88.0%
a feast	1	4.0%
of an holyday	1	4.0%
the feast.)	1	4.0%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
John	15	1.7
Colossians	1	1.1
Luke	4	0.3
Mark	2	0.3
Matthew	2	0.2
Acts	1	0.1

John dominates with 60% of all occurrences. The word is entirely absent from the Epistles apart from Col 2:16 and from Revelation. Its concentration in John reflects that Gospel's structuring of Jesus' ministry around Jewish festival pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Passover / Feast of Unleavened Bread¶

Luke 2:41 — "Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover."
Luke 22:1 — "Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover."
John 2:23 — "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name."
John 13:1 — "Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come."

2. Feast of Tabernacles¶

John 7:2 — "Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand."
John 7:14 — "Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught."
John 7:37 — "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried."

3. Unspecified Jewish Feast¶

John 5:1 — "After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem."
John 6:4 — "And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh."

4. Going Up / Pilgrimage to the Feast¶

John 7:8 — "Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come."
John 7:10 — "But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret."
John 12:20 — "And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast."
Luke 2:42 — "And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast."

5. Feast-Day Customs and Practices¶

Mat 27:15 — "Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner."
Mark 15:6 — "Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner."
John 13:29 — "For some of them thought... that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast."
Acts 18:21 — "I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem."

6. Avoidance of the Feast for Political Reasons¶

Mat 26:5 — "But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people."
Mark 14:2 — "But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people."

7. Shadow / Type in Pauline Usage¶

Col 2:16 — "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days."

Grammatical Distribution¶

Case	Count	%
Accusative (ASF)	11	41%
Dative (DSF)	8	30%
Genitive (GSF)	5	19%
Nominative (NSF)	4	15%

The accusative dominance reflects directional usage — going up "to" the feast. The dative reflects temporal/locative usage — events occurring "at" the feast.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
Ἰησοῦς (Iesous)	G2424	7x (28%)	Jesus' actions at/during the feast
λέγω (lego)	G3004	7x (28%)	Speech acts related to feast attendance
ἀναβαίνω (anabaino)	G305	6x (24%)	"go up" to the feast (pilgrimage)
ἔρχομαι (erchomai)	G2064	6x (24%)	"come" to the feast
Ἱεροσόλυμα (Hierosolyma)	G2414	6x (24%)	Jerusalem as feast destination
πάσχα (pascha)	G3957	5x (20%)	"feast of the passover"
Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaios)	G2453	4x (16%)	"feast of the Jews"
ἀπολύω (apolyo)	G630	3x (12%)	Prisoner release custom at the feast
θόρυβος (thorybos)	G2351	2x (8%)	Fear of uproar at the feast

Word Family / Cognates¶

G1858 ἑορτάζω (heortazo) — verb: "to keep a feast" (1x — 1 Cor 5:8)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
חַג (chag)	H2282	feast	chag = specific pilgrimage festival with dancing/procession; heorte = general term for any sacred festival
מִשְׁתֶּה (mishteh)	H4960	feast	mishteh = banquet/drinking feast (social meal); heorte = religious observance
δοχή (doche)	G1403	feast	doche = reception/banquet (convivial entertainment); heorte = sacred calendar festival
לְחֶם (lechem)	H3900	feast	lechem (Aramaic) = feast/meal (Dan 5:1); heorte = religious observance

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
חַג (chag)	H2282	50	7.96	Primary — pilgrimage festival
מוֹעֵד (moed)	H4150	34	5.46	Appointed time/meeting
מַצָּה (matstsah)	H4682	13	6.40	Unleavened bread (feast of)
סֻכָּה (cukkah)	H5521	10	6.56	Booth/tabernacle (feast of)
חֹדֶשׁ (chodesh)	H2320	24	4.88	New moon
חָגַג (chagag)	H2287	6	6.87	To celebrate a festival
שָׁבוּעַ (shabuwa)	H7620	5	6.33	Week/feast of weeks
שַׁבָּת (shabbath)	H7676	9	4.79	Sabbath
עֲצָרָה (atsarah)	H6116	4	6.63	Solemn assembly

The LXX uses heorte to render both חַג (chag, the specific pilgrimage festivals) and מוֹעֵד (moed, the broader "appointed times"), collapsing two distinct Hebrew concepts into a single Greek term.